Mark Tiedemann - Chimera

"Damage is considerable, Derec, but I detect a few orderly sectors. Memory nodes have not been corrupted."

Derec exchanged grins with Rana.

"What does that mean?" Palen asked.

"It means," Derec said, "that we have a good chance of salvaging something for you. "

Ariel felt a momentary surge, like the rush from falling, as the limo left the embassy. She could not pin down in memory the last time she had been out side the Spacer mission. She swallowed dryly, waiting. The further the transport carried from the garage, the calmer she became; after a time, she laughed at herself.

She opened her datum and accessed current files. A list of reports scrolled down the screen-detail work she had neglected for months. The complaints sorted themselves automatically in a separate column, apart from the regular stock and shipping reports all Aurorans were required to file. Three firms came up more often than any other, one of them filing eighteen complaints over the last six months, all of them having to do with delayed or lost exports.

Carsanli Intercomp built domicile environmental control units, adaptable to a wide range of habitats. Their principle customers were Settler colonies. Ariel was impressed with their logic-they built the units on Earth, using part Spacer technologies and part Terran, and shipped through Terran distributors, which minimized their Spacer presence. A lot of Spacer firms conducted business in a similar fashion, but often had a difficult time in the manufacturing end due to restrictions on factory space and local regulations concerning employment and vending requirements. In an unusual arrangement, Carsanli leased a factory already owned and operated by a Terran firm-Imbitek-from whom they also bought the Terran components.

The company kept its offices in the Convention District of D.C. Ariel recognized the area as she entered it. She used to come here twice a week, before so many Spacer businesses had abandoned Earth. There was still a large Spacer presence, though, and she had no sound reason for having neglected her duties.

The limo stopped at the main entrance to the offices. She stepped out and looked around. This was a warehouse area. People in worktogs or officewear filled the passages as First Shift opened. She caught a few frowns and curious looks from passersby, but ignored them. Steeling herself, she entered the building.

"Ambassador Burgess," said a tall Auroran who greeted her. Behind him stood a broad reception desk and the company seal on the wall: an oblate disk filled with a moil of multihued shapes that reminded Ariel of feathers. "Welcome to Carsanli Intercomp. I'm Farin Holiye, general manager. This is most unexpected."

She grasped his hand briefly. "Things have been unusually complicated recently. I apologize for taking so long to come down."

Holiye smiled brightly. "Not at all, not at all. Please, this way. We can talk in my office."

Ariel followed him through a door and up a short flight of stairs. He waved her into a wide, dark-paneled office.

"May I offer refreshment?" he asked, heading for a sidebar.

"No, thank you. I have a rather full schedule today. But I wanted to see you first. "

"Ah. Yes, well…" He gestured to a pair of plush chairs on opposite ends of a low table. "I don't wish to begin with a complaint-"

"I'm aware of the number of reports you've sent," Ariel said, sitting. "I'm here now."

"Yes…well, the basic problem is that several consignments of product have gone missing; I think it's accurate to say stolen. Insurance has compensated for them, of course, but we've lost three major customers over it."

"You sent them replacements?"

"Of course, but those went missing, too. It was very aggravating."

"Shipments to the same clients…that's very interesting. May I see the manifests?"

"Certainly." He went to his desk and returned with a slate. "I had them prepared for you."

Ariel scanned the columns. Four very large orders purchased by a construction firm on Epsilon Coriae never arrived. As Holiye had claimed, insurance covered the loss, but the Settler company canceled the contract. ITE attributed the loss to piracy and pled lack of jurisdiction once the shipments left the solar system. She scrolled further and noted several other shipments lost. All of them had been slated for Settler companies.

"You also complained about delays?"

"Several times," Holiye said expansively. "We thought it was a problem with our exit port so we tried to get it changed, but the request was tangled up and has still not been acted upon." He pursed his lips. "This is one of the things I understood your office dealt with…"

"Of course. Again, I apologize. I'll look into it immediately. What port are you using?"

"Petrabor."

Ariel looked up. "Was any reason given for the delays?"

"A number of times they claimed a routing glitch in their logistics programs. Once they simply said that the shipment had been overlooked by the dock crew. I found that intolerable."

"How long has this been going on?"

"We've always had a few problems," Holiye said, "but we expect some loss and delay. Space is vast and people are people. But I'd say in the last two years it's become chronic."

"I see…" She handed back the manifest. "How long have you been working with Imbitek?"

"Years. "

"Any problems?"

"No. In fact, since the previous chairman was replaced, things have gotten even better. The new CEO seems very dedicated to providing service."

"Mmm. How is it you drew Petrabor Spaceport?"

"The main factory is in Kiv Sector, just south. Petrabor is the closest port capable of handling the quantities in a timely fashion."

"Of course if they keep losing or misplacing shipments…"

"Exactly-the benefit of faster service from larger capacity is offset by the nuisance factor."

"Well, if I recall," Ariel mused, "the Arkanleg port or even Kyro should be able to handle the traffic. I'll look into getting you rerouted." She stood. "Um…the stolen shipments…is there any pattern? Anything about them that strikes you as consistent?"

"Well, no. We usually always use the same shipping line, as we always have. The destinations are always different, too."

"I see. Well, thank you. I'll look into that, too, but I can't promise anything. "

Holiye stood. "I appreciate you taking an interest, Ambassador."

Finally, Ariel heard in his voice. She nodded, shook his hand, and let him see her out. Several hours later, Ariel let herself reluctantly into Derec's apartment. Her head buzzed with too much information. She had visited four more firms, following up the complaints. Between the sense of guilt over neglecting her duties and the amount of abuse these companies had suffered from lost shipments, unexplained delays, and shabby treatment by warehouse managers and shippers, Ariel felt humiliated and angry.

All of them shipped out of Petrabor.

Terran authorities had paid no attention because they were Spacers.

And the pattern included her.

Negligence is a disease, she thought bitterly, and I caught it.

Holiye's assessment that the problem had become chronic in the last year appeared accurate. Someone was taking advantage of her truncated authority. The abuse was clear and unmistakable, but since her office was the clearinghouse for the complaints, no one had bothered to put it all together. Why should they? It was her job and she had stopped doing it.

Time to straighten it all out…

She would have preferred transferring Thales to her own rooms or even into a standard lab facility, but either option would have taken too long. She considered running a realtime link from here to her apartment, but the more remote access existed, the greater the chance of eavesdropping. The Terrans, especially-as backward as their tech seemed in some areas, they were disconcertingly advanced in others.