Mark Tiedemann - Chimera

A few moments passed before Thales responded. "Based on the data I have just reviewed, am I correct that Mr. Lanra suspects a robot in the deaths?"

"He does."

"That is not possible."

"I explained that to him. But he's an Earther-he believes positronics are inherently evil. Still, I don't have a better explanation for the body found in the holding cell."

"The damage is singular."

Derec grunted. "That's one way to look at it. For now, though, I want you to give me a program for a remote presence. I have to go up to Kopernik Station to try to salvage the DW-12 they have. It may be the only witness to what happened in the cargo bin. I'll need you to help me sift through what's left of its brain. I don't think I can take all of you, and even if I could I'm not sure I want to risk you outside Auroran territory."

"According to my memory, the positronics laboratory on Kopernik is more than ample for our purposes. Do we have a free comm channel to the Auroran branch on Kopernik? I will need to establish that they have the facilities."

"Ariel's setting that up now. I'll be on a shuttle in less than five hours, so we have to set this up quickly."

"I have analyzed the data provided."

"Good. I'd like to hear your assessment."

"There are a number of inconsistencies, primary among them is the connection between the death of the Brethe dealer and the deaths of the baleys. Except for the suggestion that a robot is involved, there is no basis I can see for the link between them. If a robot is not involved in one or the other or, as is more likely, both, then the Brethe dealer is an entirely separate issue and a complication in the investigation of the murdered baleys."

"And if a robot is involved?"

"The likelihood of finding a robot capable of such crimes being as remote as it is, then there would be grounds to link the two, as it would be logical that only one such robot exists. But that prompts a number of questions, all of which require factors of chance and coincidence that recomplicate the central question. Such a robot would need to be transported to and from Kopernik on a regular basis, in a short period of time. "

"Increasing the chance of discovery, " Derec noted.

"Precisely, even given the capabilities described by Mr. Lanra of a robot able to hide from surveillance tools. It should be pointed out that it is not accurate to suggest that only a robot could use masking capabilities. For a robot, however, the risk of discovery in this instance would be unnecessarily higher. There is nothing in the data provided concerning the baleys that implicate a robot. This crime could just as well have been committed by humans."

"How would the assassin escape? Everyone in the cargo bin was dead and the seals showed no indication of having been opened between the time the baleys boarded and Chief Palen's people opened it up on Kopernik."

"Human history is overfull with examples of suicide assassins. However, barring that, I lack sufficient information to rule out all possible methods of escape."

"What about the crack in the bin?"

"There is insufficient information for me to speculate productively about that. It could be a structural flaw in the material."

"All right, set that aside for the moment. Can you still access Terran data sources?"

"Of course."

Despite the fact that it was incapable of emotion, Derec nevertheless heard a note of smug pride in Thales' statement.

"Of course," he echoed. "I want you to run a search for any recent murders or accidental deaths that bear similarities to the Brethe dealer. "

"That will require me to access certain law enforcement datums."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, but it will take more time. I may not have that information for some hours. Unless you do not care about detection."

"Do it right, Thales. I don't want the TBI on our backs about this. You said there were a number of inconsistencies. Continue."

"All the passengers but one succumbed to a neurotoxin. Why not all of them? Nyom Looms carried her own rebreather. The question is why? Did she anticipate trouble? Was she sharing the primary rebreather before donning her own? And if there was time for one to remove the rebreather mask, why not more? The DW-12 unit appears to be trying to shut the rebreather off. This suggests that the bin was pressurized and contained sufficient atmosphere that shutting down the rebreather would not constitute further threat to human life. "

"The crack. "

"Why would they use a damaged bin? It is reasonable to assume that an inspection would have revealed the crack prior to its transfer to an orbital lifter-unless, as I already suggested, it was a structural flaw which manifested only after lift-off. But it also seems reasonable to assume the crack was made specifically to force the passengers to continue using the rebreather, as the air would leak out, thus guaranteeing that they would be poisoned. "

"So the crack was made after the bin had been transferred," Derec said.

"If it was intentional, that is reasonable. But by whom?"

"Or what. That brings us back to the robot hypothesis."

"Which remains unlikely. The opening is too small for a robot to pass through, and since the DW-12 is the only one present-and is still present-in the bin, then we can rule it out."

"The masked robot?"

"Being undetectable by surveillance equipment would not render it invisible to plain sight. It would still have been in the container. There are other possibilities for creating such a crack. "

"Coren Lanra says he saw it board."

"But it was not there when the bin was opened. Either it left before arrival on Kopernik, even before it left Earth, or Mr. Lanra is mistaken."

"Agreed," Derec said, nodding. "But there are no tools in the bin. It appears that whoever made the opening also left."

"Unlikely."

"Again, I agree. Continue."

"There is evidence of an absence. Not all the cradles in the bin are occupied. Two appear to have been empty when the bin was opened. One can be accounted for by the victim found suspended from the ceiling. The other was simply empty. Both were provided with rebreather masks. From the appearance of both empty cradles, one was occupied."

Have to ask Lanra about that, Derec thought. "So? They miscounted. "

"One assumes these bins are prepared in advance. That they would contain the exact number of cradles necessary for a single shipment seems unlikely. However, if they did outfit this one to specific requirements, why would there be an extra?"

"Possibly someone elected not to go at the last moment?"

"Not an unreasonable hypothesis, Derec."

Maybe one of the late Nyom Looms' charges still lived, then. One not involved in the murder, at least, since that empty cradle remained unaccounted for.

"I have a question, Derec," Thales said.

"Yes?"

"Should I suspend my work on Bogard's positronic matrix for the duration of this assignment?"

"Why would-? Oh."

Memory, Derec realized. Normally Thales possessed far more memory than either of these chores required, but already Bogard's problem took up more than Thales possessed. The hasty move from their former housing at the defunct Phylaxis Group building meant a good portion of Thales' auxiliary memory buffers waited, unused, in storage. Having access to Kopernik's buffers, however, represented an opportunity for Thales to once more utilize its full potential.

"We'll wait," he decided. "Find out what facilities you can use on Kopernik. Maybe you can divide functions. "

"I would appreciate the opportunity to test several hypotheses concerning Bogard. Kopernik's facilities would offer that chance."

"We'll find out. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Will identification of the deceased be provided?"