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"Youhate this, too, don'tyou?" the important man said.
"Sir?"
An impatient grunt "The blasted light Something
Psych and EcoTech dreamed up between them. Makes me feel as if I were back on
Capella Six."
"For me it was Four," Sev confessed.
Another grunt. "Different war, same jungle. I'd open a window if this place
had windows. Can't peel plastifilm open, more's the pity."
"It's very good of you to make time to see me at all, sir," Sev said
cautiously. So they had a common back-
ground # service in the Capellan Wars? Was that why this highly placed
diplomat had given a mere private investigator ten minutes out of his crowded
schedule?
"Not at all. Do the same for any friend of the family
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who needed help. So. What's your problem, d'Aquino?"
Sev stiffened. "I didn't intend to call on family con-
nections, sir# "
"Then you're a damned young fool," said the gray-
haired man in the conservative blue tunic. "I've been checking your Net
records. Your full name is Sevareid
Bryley-Sorensen d'Aquino# why didn't you use it when you requested this
appointment? You could have gotten in to see me three days sooner. And why me,
if you didn't mean to call on High Families connections?"
"I was not aware that there was a relationship be-
tween our families. Sir," Sev said stiffly. "I came to
Kailas because it was the nearest world with any CDS
representatives high-ranking enough to deal with my problem. And I approached
you because you have the reputation of being one of the two Central Worlds
offi-
cials on this planet who cannot be bribed, threatened, or suborned."
"So you found two honest men, my Diogenes? I'm
flattered."
"Sir. My name is Bryley, not Dio # whatever."
"A classical reference. No matter. What do they teach them in University these
days? But then, you didn't finish your schooling. Why didn't you cash in your
veteran's benefits after Capella IV to complete your education at Central's
expense?"
Sev tried without success to conceal his surprise.
"The Net can supply # um# rather a lot of detail,"
his interlocutor explained gently. "Even about a rather obscure private
investigator who's recently lost his position with Bahati CreditLin # yes, I
found out about that too. Something about a gambling scandal at the
Pair-a-Dice, wasn't it?"
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"It was a lie!" Sev leaned forward, burning with in-
dignation at the memory. "My supervisor # he had anonymous letters about me.
I know who sent them, but I can't prove it,"
"And who might that be?"
The same man who transferred credits into my Net account and played under my
name at Pair-a-Dice #
or maybe he sent one of his flunkies to play the part.
When I went to the casino, they wouldn't tell me any-
thing about the man who used my name."
"No. They beat you # rather badly# and threw you out into the ecocycler in
the back alley." The gray-eyed man surveyed Sev with eyes that took in every
feint mark of healing bruises and scraped skin. "Lucky you didn't wind up
being recycled into somebody's rose garden; we suspect that's what has
happened to a few other people who annoyed the proprietor of that particular
estab-
lishment So. \bu came to your senses, crawled out of the ecocycler before it
began its chop sequence, got treat-
ment for your more obvious wounds from some shady blacklisted ex-doctor among
your underworld friends, and... came halfway across the galaxy to wait three
days for an interview with me. Want me to get you reinstated with Bahati
CreditLin, is that it? Favor for a friend? Teach them not to act on anonymous
accusations against a
High Families lad # even one who's rebelled against his background and is
working incognito?"
"Sir!"
"It can be arranged, you know," said the gray-eyed man, watching Sev closely.
"A word from this office, and Bahati CreditLin will reinstate you, full back
pay, no questions asked. If that's what you want..."
"No, sir."
The gray-eyed man nodded briskly. "Good. I didn't
think so, but one has to be sure. You want to track down the people who framed
you, then."
"More than that." Sev dropped his eyes. "I think I
know who framed me. And why. But it's a long story, and there are High
Families involved. That's why I
came to you, sir. Somebody without that background might be tempted to shove
everything under the car-
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pet for fear of offending someone powerful. And of those in Central
Administration who are High
Families # well # " He spread his hands helplessly." I
don't know the lineages and their reputations. The only two people whose
integrity everyone is absolutely sure of are you and General Questar-Benn #
and she's on some kind of secret assignment, nobody would tell me where."
"How flattering," purred the gray-eyed man.
Belatedly, Sev realized the implications of his words.
"Sir. I didn't mean # 1 am most grateful that you agreed to see me, truly I
am."
"Take that as read. Now why don't you tell me what's going on?"
Sev's cheekbones reddened. His tongue felt like a wad of cotton in his mouth.
Where could he begin? In this cool green-lit office, the madness that had
seized him on Bahati seemed like a dream.
"There was # a girl."
"Ann. You know, there quite often is, in such cases.
And you # made a fool of yourself?" He looked at Sev sympathetically. "You
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know, I can remember the urge to make a fool of oneself over a young lady. I'm
not so old and dried-up as all that. But if this story is going to be
personal, perhaps you'd feel easier continuing it in a less formal
environment? Sometimes I go across town for lunch # there's a cafe in
Darkside. Nothing fancy. But at least it gets one out of this damned jungle
light-
Fifteen minutes later, feeling somewhat as if he'd ac-
tually been through the ecocycler's processing sequence, Sev and the man he'd
come to see were seated at a table in the back of a cavernous, dimly lit cafe.
The one window that might have admitted a little sunlight was curtained by
dusty streamers of glitzrib^
bon and prismawood light-dangles. In one corner of the room, a weedy boy with
long red hair tied in z\
black velvet bow tinkered with his synthocom set, producing occasional bursts
of strident sound that grated on Sev's eardrums.
Even his sleazy story seemed no more than normal, here. He wondered if that
was why they'd come to this dingy place. It seemed an odd setting for a man
who spent his working life meeting with presidents and kings and generals.
"It's quiet here," said the only honest man on Kailas, "and more to the point,
I know there won't be any un-
authorized datacordings made of our conversation;
I'm acquainted with the proprietor of this place. She has quite a number of
visitors who don't want their dis-
cussions overheard or recorded."
"I can believe it," said Sev with feeling.
"So. If that answers your curiosity about why we came here # why don't you
tell me about this girl?
"She was # " Sev stopped, swallowed, searched again for a place to begin.
"She is head of a construction com-
pany based on Bahati. Their most recent contract was for a space station to
catch Net signals and route small-pack-
age traffic between Vega subspace and Central. As pan of my routine duties for
Bahati Creditlin, I was asked to do a final walk-through inspection of the
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