Lawrence Watt-Evans: Realms of Light

And it was… interesting to know thateveryone on Epimetheus thought Grandfather Nakada was dead, thatthe assassination had been successful. I wasn’t sure whether it wasgoing to make my job easier or harder, but it definitely pulled upsome new menus.

One was the possibility that he really was dead, and that I’d been hired by an actor-I didn’t thinkit could be a simulation; sims aren’t that convincing. I could smell the old man when we spoke, and we shook hands when heleft me on his ship, it wasn’t just image and audio.

Maybe an actor with a good makeover…

But why would anyone bother? And how hadwhoever it was gotten me the run of the old man’s yacht?

No, I’d spoken to the real Yoshio Nakada, andhe’d still been alive when I left Prometheus.

“I notice you aren’t denying it,” hesaid.

“I’m not confirming it, either. I’m trying tofigure out how I’m going to get you out of here-you and Dadboth.”

“You can’t.”

“I’m not convinced.”

“Look, I’m going to have almost enough moneywhen my contract’s up-why don’t you just leave me here untilsunrise, then loan me the difference out of all the fat fees you’recollecting?”

“You know better than that. Once the sun isover the rim of the crater the fare off-planet is going to beeverything you can afford, no matter how much that is. It’ll leaveyou broke. If I try to contribute, it’ll leave me broke.”

He tried to look as if he didn’t agree withme, but it didn’t work. He shifted aps.

“You can’t get me out, all right? Don’t worryabout it. Do your job. Get Dad out if you really want to, and ifyou can, then go back to your magic spaceship and fly back toAlderstadt. I’ll be fine. I may be broke when I land on Prometheus,but so what?”

“So I’d prefer you to not be.”

“If I break my contract with IRC, I’ll beworse than broke. Come back when it’s run out.”

“I can’t come back.”

“Why not? Make that part of your fee.”

I looked around, wondering just where thecams were, and what software would be processing this scene. Then Iturned back to my brother.

“Break your contract,” I said. “The fine’slimited to a million credits, and I can cover that.”

He stared at me as if I’d been pixelated.“How did you know that, and where would you get a millioncredits?”

“My client.”

“Well, your client must know that whateverthe official fine is, IRC isn’t going to be content with that.”

I couldn’t argue with that-unless ’Chan wasunder someone’s protection, someone like Grandfather Nakada, IRCwas likely to be vindictive. I knew that from first-handexperience.

“Why can’t you just wait for me? What’s therush?”

I wished I knew who or what would bereviewing the recordings of this conversation, but it seemed apretty safe bet that Yoshio Nakada wouldn’t be on the alert list;after all, if ’Chan was right, everyone in Nightside City thoughthe was dead, and the old man himself had said he had no reliablecommunication with anyone on Epimetheus.

“’Chan, I made a deal to get you out as mydown payment. I don’t start the investigation until you and Dad areon Prometheus. You think my client’s willing to wait untilsunrise?”

“So put it on hold! Go ahead and do your job,then come back for me.”

“You really think I’ll be able to findNakada’s killer?”

That stopped him dead.

“Oh,” he said. “I assumed… I mean, Ithought… I always thought you were pretty good at what youdo.”

“I’m not bad,” I said. “But think aboutit-someone went after Yoshio Nakada . You asked me when Istarted working for people who have their own ships, and I tried toclick past it, but you had a good point. I’m a widget. I’m going totry, I’m going to put in an honest effort, but I’m just an ordinarydetective. I can’t hack the universe’s code. Anyone who could getpast Nakada’s security can probably hide her tracks well enoughthat I’ll never find her. My client’s playing a long shot, hiringme. If that long shot comes in, if I find whoever’s behind it, thenwe’re smooth, I get paid and you get a free ride to Prometheus, but’Chan, what if it doesn’t pay off? I can’t ask for a fee I haven’tearned.”

“Well, you could ask ,” he saidwryly.

“But I wouldn’t get it. But if I get you offEpimetheus now , that’s my deposit, I can keep that. Getit?”

“I get it,” he acknowledged. “And Iappreciate the try, Carlie, but it’s not going to work. I’m stuckhere. Find Dad, take him back to Prometheus with you, do your job,and if you pull it off you can come back for me, and if you can’t,hey, I’m no worse off than I was an hour ago.”

I sighed. I wasn’t ready to give up, but Ialso saw I wasn’t going to convince ’Chan of anything unless Icould bring something new to the conversation, something I hadn’tthought of yet. “Fine,” I said. “Can you help me find Dad?”

He shook his head. “No. I didn’t evenremember the name of the company. I don’t know anything more thanyou.” He glanced at the wall display. “I need to get back towork.”

“When do you get off? In case we want totalk.”

“Midnight. But I’ll probably be too tired todo anything but sleep, and what is there to talk about?”

I grimaced. “Probably nothing,” I said, “butI’m keeping on open mind.”

“You do that, Carlie.” He headed for thedoor. “And see if you can find out who killed Yoshio Nakada. Dothat, and we’re all set.”

“Yeah. I’ll try. Good night, ’Chan.”

Then the door closed behind him and I wasalone in the break room.

I looked at the wall. The hype for SeventhHeaven was still displayed.

“Locate nearest human-operated office forSeventh Heaven,” I said. I thought I’d do better persuading a humanto cooperate than software.

The hype vanished, and a map appeared, withdirections. I snorted.

Seventh Heaven had an office directly underthe Ginza. Very handy for the gamblers whose luck ran out. All Ihad to do was go back up the service corridor and out into thelower level of the casino, then take an elevator down two storiesinto Trap Under and follow the signs. I trotted out the door andheaded for the casino.

When I reached the turn where I didn’t headfor the door I’d come in through, a voice said, “You are notauthorized beyond this point.”

“I’m heading to an office down on B3,” Isaid. “Seventh Heaven Neurosurgery. Nothing to do with IRC or theGinza.” I kept walking.

For an instant, it didn’t reply. Then itsaid, “If you diverge from your announced route, you will beescorted from the premises and risk trespassing charges.”

“I love you, too,” I said. “I won’tdiverge.”

And I wouldn’t. I wasn’t giving up on mybrother, but I wasn’t going to be able to fly him away as easily asI’d hoped. For now, I was going after Dad, and once I had him, Iwould worry about ’Chan.

I told myself I should also look into thisstory that Yoshio Nakada was dead. If I could trace it back to itssource, that might tell me something useful. I didn’t really thinkI could clean out the conspiracy; I’d told ’Chan the truth aboutthat. I was operating far beyond my specs, and I knew it.Grandfather Nakada must have known it, too, but hiring me hadn’tcost him anything he couldn’t easily spare, so why not? Play enoughlong shots, and eventually one of them will come in.

I wondered what other programs the old manwas running. Surely, I wasn’t the only one.

But whether I was the only one or not, I’dbeen hired to do a job, and I was going to do my best to do thatjob.

I wished I had my old office com, in myoffice out on Juarez. It had all the software I’d need to rootthrough half the data on Epimetheus. I’d brought a selection of mybest wares with me from Alderstadt, but that wasn’t the same ashaving the network I’d spent years building up here in NightsideCity.