Alastair Reynolds: The Prefect

"I gather there was a problem with their long-distance shuttle. It was simpler to move the entire ship and rely on one of our own short-range shuttles. We had the facilities to cope, and Dravidian's crew seemed happy enough to be entertained at our expense.". It was the first mention of the captain's name.

"Trade talks?". Anthony Theobald looked at Dreyfus as if the question was absurd.

"What other reason is there to deal with Ultras?"

"Just asking. How were the talks running?".

"Agreeably, at first.".

"And then?".

"Less agreeably. We weren't experienced in dealings with Ultras. I'd hoped matters wouldn't come to such a sorry pass, frankly. We had some financial difficulties and I'd been hoping that the affair between Vernon and Delphine would ease matters somewhat … but that wasn't to be. In the end we had no choice but to deal with Ultras."

"What were you hoping to sell?".

"Delphine's works, of course.". Dreyfus nodded as if nothing more needed to be said, but filed the information away for future reference.

Thalia had already informed him that the other two stable witnesses were Delphine Ruskin-Sartorious and her lover, Vernon Tregent.

"And when the crew visited you – who were you dealing with, primarily?"

"Dravidian, in the main."

"How'd you take to him?"

"I found him straightforward enough for a cyborg, or chimeric, or however they wish to be called. He appeared interested in some samples of Delphine's work. He felt he could get a good price for them around one of the other worlds."

"Where was his next port of call?"

"I confess I don't recall. Fand, Sky's Edge, the First System, some other godforsaken place. What did it matter to me, once the works were sold?"

"Maybe it mattered to Delphine."

"Then you can take it up with her. My sole concern was the economic benefit to Ruskin-Sartorious."

"And you got the impression Dravidian was offering a fair price?"

"I'd have preferred more, naturally, but the offer appeared reasonable enough. Judging by the state of his ship and crew, Dravidian had his own financial difficulties."

"So you were happy with the deal. You sold the goods to the Ultras. Dravidian said goodbye and took his ship away. What happened next?"

"That isn't how things played out. Negotiations were winding to a close when Delphine received an anonymous message. She brought it to my immediate attention. It suggested that Dravidian was not to be trusted: that the price he was offering us was far below a realistic market value, and that we would be much better off dealing with other Ultras."

"But you had no access to anyone else."

"Until then. But the message hinted that there might in fact be interested parties."

"How'd you react?"

"We consulted. I was suspicious, urging that we should conclude our business with Dravidian. We had a deal. But Delphine demurred. She used executive privilege to block the transaction. Vernon supported her, of course. I was furious, but not half as furious as Dravidian. He said the honour of his ship and crew had been impugned. He issued threats, saying that what we'd done would cost Ruskin-Sartorious gravely."

"And then what?"

"His crew returned to their ship. Our shuttle came back. We saw the Accompaniment of Shadows move away." Anthony Theobald spread his hands.

"And that is all I remember. As you have been so thoughtful as to remind me, I am a beta-level simulation: reliant for my perceptions on the distributed surveillance systems of the habitat. Those perceptions would have been processed and consolidated in the core, but it would not have been an instantaneous process. There would not have been enough time to incorporate those final observations into my personality model before Ruskin-Sartorious was destroyed."

"At least you remember something."

"You'll hear the same story from the others." Anthony Theobald peered intently at Dreyfus.

"There are others, aren't there? "

"I can't say. I haven't completed my interviews.".

"Do you intend to question Dravidian?".

"I'll question anyone I think might have an angle on the attack.".

"You can't let this atrocity go unpunished, Prefect. Something unspeakable happened to Ruskin-Sartorious. Someone must pay for that.".

"I'm pretty sure someone will," Dreyfus said. When he had returned the simulation to storage – very much against its wishes – Dreyfus took a minute to note his own thoughts into his compad. Perhaps his clarifying statement concerning his views on beta-levels hadn't helped matters, but he'd sensed an undeniable hostility from the Ruskin-Sartorious patriarch. It would be a mistake to read too much into that, though. No one liked Panoply very much, and the resurrected dead were no exception.

He invoked the second valid recoverable, opting to take a slightly less harsh tack.

"Hello, Vernon," Dreyfus said, addressing the younger-looking man who'd just appeared. He had a pleasant, trustworthy face and a headful of tight blond curls.

"Welcome to Panoply. I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but in case my colleague didn't make it clear, your primary is dead.".

"I gathered," Vernon Tregent said.

"I still want to know about Delphine. Your colleague wouldn't tell me anything. Did she make it out? Did you get anything from her beta?".

"We'll get to that. I just need to clarify something first. I don't mean this to sound hurtful, but there are people who believe in the sanctity of beta-levels, and people who don't, and I'm afraid I'm one of the latter.".

"That's fine," Vernon said, with an easy shrug.

"I don't believe in the sanctity of beta-levels either.". Dreyfus blinked a double-take.

"How can you not believe? You are one.".

"But my responses are governed by Vernon's beliefs, as demonstrated on countless occasions. Vernon didn't think beta-levels were anything more than clever simulacra. He was very vocal in that opinion.

Hence, I share that view.".

"Good … " Dreyfus said, less sure of himself.

"That'll make life a lot easier." Then some impulse caused him to volunteer more information than he'd normally have considered wise.

"We've recovered Delphine. I still have to interview her, but my colleague thinks there'll be enough there to serve as a useful witness."

Vernon closed his eyes. He raised his chin, as if giving thanks to the blank white infinity that served as a ceiling.

"I'm glad. If anyone deserved to get out, it was Delphine. Now tell me what happened.".

"Does the name Dravidian mean anything to you?".

"If you mean the Ultra captain … then yes, it means a lot. What happened?".

"You don't remember?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I did.". It was the same story as Anthony Theobald, Dreyfus thought. No memory of the final events because the recording systems hadn't had time to update the beta-level models in the processor cores.

"Your habitat was destroyed," he said.

"The captain – we'll assume Dravidian gave the order – appears to have decided to slash it open with his engine.".

"Dravidian wouldn't have … "

But Vernon trailed off, as if the very repugnance of the crime was only now hitting home.

"I can't believe he'd have done something so vicious, so out-of-proportion. There's no doubt that this happened?"

"I've crawled over the ruin myself. Forensic evidence is watertight. And one of my other witnesses says that Dravidian didn't like it when the deal went sour.". Vernon pushed his fingertips against his temples, screwing up his eyes.

"I remember that we were close to settling things. Then the message came through … Delphine received it, I remember." "Saying not to trust Dravidian?".

"Saying we could get a better offer elsewhere. Anthony Theobald was angry, of course: he wanted those funds so badly he was prepared to sell Delphine's art for its scrap value." Vernon clenched his fist in emphasis.