Mark Tiedemann - Chimera

"Then you showed up with your request for data on the same baley group. I knew if I refused, you'd just use another troll and in the end it'd be the same result. I had to change my plans. I thought first maybe you were working for the gatos who'd threatened me. So I ran your profile. Imagine my surprise when I saw 'Special Service' pop up, then DyNan Manual Industries. What I saw, it didn't make sense you'd be hunting down a troll for anybody."

"I appreciate that," Coren said with mock sincerity.

"That didn't change anything. I couldn't know what I'd find if I turned up for my ride out."

"You might have asked me for help. "

Jeta shrugged. "Couldn't. Not then."

Coren nodded. "I understand."

"Yes, well. So I left everything as it was, kept the arrangements intact, and made different plans. I did your job, handed over the data, and headed home to disappear. That's when I was attacked. I got away by being just small enough for some crannies others can't use.

"No one waited for me at my hole, so I cleaned up, packed my stash, and ran. I made plans to go to the Bering port. I don't know how they figured that one, but the same gato found me at the tube in Lyzig."

"How did you escape that time?" Ariel asked after a long silence.

"Screamed." Jeta gave them a wan smile. "Too many people, too much attention. He walked away. I felt like a fool standing there in the middle of the platform yelling at the top of my lungs. But not so foolish I wouldn't do it again if I had to. That's when I decided to find Mr. Lanra here. I thought to myself, 'He started all this, he can fix it: "

"I wish I could, Jeta," Coren said. "I had no idea."

"I saw that pretty quick-you weren't part of those gatos trying to kill me. But you fouled up my egress. You drew attention to it. For all I knew, you were going to show up with immigration cops and arrest them all. I couldn't take the chance. Now…" She swallowed loudly. "I want out, Mr. Lanra. I want away from Earth. I want my life. I'll work for you till you can do all that for me. "

"I'll try, Jeta. I can't promise. I don't even know who these people are. They hacked my system, too."

Jeta blinked, her eyes moist. She nodded calmly and looked at Wenithal. "Who are you?"

"Forgive me, I've been remiss. I'm Ree Wenithal. This is my apartment."

"Ah. Nice place."

"Thank you. "

"Jeta." Ariel leaned on the back of the sofa. "That job you did, the minutes…who was it for?"

"Umm…there's a small matter of confidentiality involved. I'm not sure-"

"Someone is trying to kill you over those minutes," Ariel said, her voice intensely reasonable. "I think it would be understandable for you to set confidentiality aside in this instance."

Jeta nodded. "Yeah, well…it was an intermediary, you understand, but I checked into him before I accepted. The contract was from Myler Towne of Imbitek." Jeta claimed to be dead tired. Wenithal showed her into his bedroom and let her sleep. He went into the kitchen and returned with another cup of coffee. His hand shook slightly as he poured it.

Coren said nothing. He joined Ariel on the sofa and spoke quietly.

"That's not Jeta," he said.

"Then who is she?"

Coren shrugged. "Maybe we'll find out. It's interesting, though-Towne tried to hire me away from Looms. Someone tried to assassinate Towne. He doesn't trust his own security anymore."

Wenithal came back into the room and, cup in hand, sat down in a chair.

"Alda Mikels is being released from prison in a couple of days, " Ariel said.

"If you're wondering if there's a connection, I've been wondering that, too. But what would a disagreement between Mikels and Towne have to do with a bunch of baleys?"

"Perhaps," Wenithal said ponderously, "the connection is sleeping in the next room."

"Seems rather heavy-handed," Ariel said, "to murder fifty innocent people just to get one. Especially after the thing you're trying to prevent has already occurred."

"You mean the delivery of the data she found?" Coren asked. "It doesn't make a lot of sense, but…we have more murders to explain, though."

"Brun's," Wenithal said. "Ms. Fromm said she went through the Baltimor District to set up her egress?"

"She said that, yes," Ariel confirmed.

"Brun headed the ITE customs office in Baltimor, " Coren said. "But…"

"Ghost connections," Wenithal said. "Implications, suggestions, hints-nothing solid. Except that Brun is dead." He stared down at his coffee, eyes narrowed.

"Nyom had nothing to do with any of them," Coren said.

"But her father did," Ariel said. "Maybe Nyom's mystery brother did, too."

"Oh, definitely," Wenithal said.

Coren looked at him. "When I told you Nyom had died, you said something about 'both of them now: What did you mean?"

Wenithal scowled. "You heard that?"

"I cheat a lot," Coren said. "You're not denying it. What did you mean?"

"Rega Looms did have a child before Nyom. A son. A very sick son. A UPD."

"I've heard that abbreviation before," Ariel said, "but I've never been clear on what it means."

"Untreatable Physiological Dysfunction," Coren said.

"I know what it stands for. But what's untreatable? Even if Terran medicine can't deal with something, we have some agreements covering humanitarian aid. Spacer medicine is-"

"Unable to deal with these," Wenithal said. "I'm not clear myself on what they are, but some of them are horrible. Most are just chronically debilitating illnesses; a good portion of them are transmissible. The only recourse is quarantine. Looms' first child contracted one when he was barely a year old."

"So it was institutionalized?"

"Had to be. The law. And it died shortly thereafter. I imagine it crushed him. It would me."

"How did you come to know about it?" Coren asked.

"Rega Looms was one of the principle investors in Nova Levis," Wenithal explained. "A research firm established to take advantage of some of the first influxes of Spacer med tech. Everyone thought it would take off on the market, but it didn't do well the first couple of years. Then, suddenly, it had almost unlimited cash flow."

"Black market?" Ariel asked.

"Worse. It turned out to be the main channel for all those missing babies. We shut it down."

"That's not what the record says," Coren pointed out. "Nova Levis was cleared and operated long after your investigation. "

"The record often disagrees with reality," Wenithal said. "The truth was that too many important people had invested in it and too many of them had embarrassing connections with it. Very simple: We turned off the pipeline, told the public it was clear, and then put it on the market. We disassembled it without harming any of the major shareholders."

"That must have been an impressive list of shareholders, " Ariel said.

"Oh, it was! You'd be shocked."

"Looms divested early, though," Coren said. "Quite some time before it closed."

"I think he did it out of extreme disappointment. They couldn't cure his child, so he wanted nothing to do with it. I can't imagine how he must feel right now."

"Why did you retire after all that?" Coren asked.

"Because I wasn't finished and they weren't going to let me finish. I traced the kidnappings to Nova Levis, but they were going somewhere. I thought it had to be offworld. To save those prominent citizens' reputations, I was not allowed to follow the leads. I was feted, medaled, and promoted-and basically told to drop it. It ate at me till I couldn't stand it anymore. I presented an ultimatum: either I'm allowed to pursue the case or I quit." He raised his hands, palms up, and let them fall.

"You didn't try to look into it yourself?"

"Not very aggressively. I was already known to those involved. I knew I wouldn't be very effective." Wenithal shook his head. "No, this was the only way: wait for someone new, with no attachments to the old case. We couldn't go looking for anyone because that might set off alarms in all the wrong places. "