Mark Tiedemann - Chimera

"Wenithal?" Coren prompted.

"I was not aware we were still doing business with him. Those three divisions I mentioned all used him to fix Customs. Wenithal had an associate in ITE-an adopted son, I think-through whom he got special considerations. When I shut them down, I thought I'd cut him off."

"The payments?" Capel asked.

"Wenithal owns a textiles manufacturing firm. It would be safest to mask the payments as business-as-usual."

"You said you didn't know him," Coren said.

Mikels glared at him. "Do I look like an idiot, Mr. Lanra? I don't know him personally, but in this connection I remember the name. "

Capel pointedly frowned at Coren.

Coren ignored him and pressed on. "And the association. Is there any reason you could think of that Towne would have either of them killed?"

"Not unless they were about to turn against him."

"Might they?"

Mikels shrugged. "I can't see that Wenithal would gain anything, but Damik might. After all, he would have the most to lose in any kind of official inquiry."

"So you knew Brun Damik, too?" Capel asked.

"I didn't say that-"

"Were Damik and Wenithal about to go freelance? Or was it just Damik who thought he could set up his own operation from your leftovers? Is that why you had him killed?"

Mikels laughed. "I'm a businessman, Inspector. I don't have people killed. I have no idea who murdered Damik. "

"So you did know he was dead?" Coren asked.

Mikels started to stand again. "I think our talk is over, gentlemen-"

Coren took the folder Capel had brought with him. Before the inspector could stop him, he walked quickly up to Mikels, slid the picture out, and held it before the industrialist. Mikels stared at it for a long time.

"Do you know her?" Coren asked.

"No." Mikels looked worried now.

"Have you ever seen a body look like that? I've seen a few recently. Something-or someone-crushed them. Must be an incredibly painful way to die."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Whoever did this can slip in and out of secured areas undetected. Some kind of military-grade masking tech. I even know of one victim who was in jail, and no records exist of her death. None."

Mikel's eyes flicked to Capel.

"Why don't you sit down again, Mr. Mikels," the inspector said.

Mikels sank back to the chair.

Coren turned to Capel. "Here's what I think. I think Mr. Mikels has been paying his way through Customs by way of Wenithal and Brun Damik. I think Myler Towne found out about it when he took over and started straightening Imbitek out." He turned back to Mikels. "I think you did a quick estimate of how much this was going to cost you in future revenue and decided to oust Towne. It's backfiring, though, and he's more popular now than ten months ago, when he took over. So you've been cleaning up all the loose ends that could tie you up in litigation and further prison time if they come to light. You 're shutting down the baleys before he does, and you're doing it so that it looks like it was his fault, because, after all, Imbitek is the one in charge of them, isn't it? And you're in jail, so how could you be doing any of it?"

"You have no proof," Mikels said haltingly.

"Oh, but it gets better. When it looked like there was no way you could win a shareholder vote, you arranged to take over part of Imbitek, the part most profitable off Earth. You used the same people you used to funnel baleys all these years to fund the purchase of Captras Biomed. Towne tried to block the sale when he found out who was behind the purchase, but he couldn't. To cap it off, you tried to kill him. Leave Imbitek headless and, after you get out of prison, leave the planet. Imbitek falters, you use Captras as a plat form through which to buy it out, and you end up owning it outright." Coren grinned wolfishly. "Stock transactions leave a pretty good trail for those who can read it. "

Mikels grunted. "You have an excellent imagination. Why should any of this cause me to help you?"

"Because I think you may become a loose end yourself. All this is going on and the profits are rolling and you're still in jail. Someone is going to be thinking pretty soon that you're superfluous. "

"Why would they think that?"

"Because it just might occur to them that they already have Captras Biomed. What do they need you for? To run it? At this point, you're waging a private war, against Myler Towne, to hurt a company that your backers no longer want. This isn't good for profits."

Now Mikels reacted nervously.

"The only thing that bothers me," Coren continued, "that I don't understand, is where all the baleys are going and what Nova Levis has to do with any of this?"

"What does Rega want to know this for?" Mikels demanded.

"Why do you think?"

Mikels shook his head. "I don't know. He's been out of it for years. Why now?"

"Maybe," Coren said slowly, taking a gamble, "it's a family matter."

Mikels grew still. Only the sound of breathing filled the room. When he did not answer, Coren leaned close to his ear.

"This isn't Rega," Coren said. "This is me. I want to know." He leaned closer still and whispered. "Your little vendetta killed a friend of mine. A good friend. This is personal for me."

"Just because you and Damik served together-"

Coren straightened. "Not Damik! But if you know that, then you know the rest. You killed Nyom Looms, you fuck. " He snarled. "I'm sure you know about Nyom and me. She's dead."

"Lanra!" Capel bellowed. "Back off-now!"

Mikel's eyes widened. "I see. That's unfortunate, Ms. Looms' death, but…"

"Cyborgs," Coren said flatly.

Mikels started. "What?"

"Cyborgs. What do you know about them?"

Mikels wiped a hand over his mouth. "May I give you some advice, Mr. Lanra? You should let this go now. You won't help Nyom Looms anymore. All you could do would be to put yourself, your friends, and your family in danger."

"Not really a problem. I don't have any friends and I'm an orphan. Just like Damik."

Mikels sighed and shook his head. "I don't have to talk to you. But Wenithal knows everything. You can ask him. I've never been directly involved. "

"Is that why you've gone to all the trouble to buy Nova Levis?"

Capel grasped Coren's arm. Coren shrugged him off.

Mikels looked startled, then laughed. He stood, then. "My, but you are impressive. If I thought you'd accept it, I'd offer you a job." He walked toward the door. "If you know that much, then you know the rest. You figure it out."

"Why infants?"

Mikels stopped. "Excuse me?"

"The thing I can't figure out-why infants?"

Mikels shook his head. "This interview is over."

Mikels rang the bell for release. A few moments later, the guard took him away, leaving Coren and Capel alone.

"Damn," Coren hissed.

"What do you want to do now?" Capel asked sarcastically. "Is there anyone else you want to roust tonight before I get the full story?"

"I don't know." Coren stared at the door, then looked at Capel. "Don't wait for an apology. "

"I won't. I just wish I understood what just happened here." He pressed a hand against Coren's chest. "You can explain it to me, can't you?"

"Maybe. Where do you want me to start?"

"First things first," Capel said. "Given Mikel's reaction to it-what's a cyborg?"

Coren flashed a half-smile. "Well, as I understand it…"

The corpse on the table smelled cloyingly sweet. Baxin, Sipha Palen's pathologist, directed a squad of devices while speaking aloud his findings for the recorders.

"-lungs are permeated by clusters of nodes which seem to function as storage systems for long-term oxygenation. Secondary vascular system routed through what appears to be a secondary spleen suggests waste gas disposal follows complimentary pathways for storage in…what the hell is that?"