I guess I just like to see the bad in things.
I found several tools, paid actual cash and used anonymous cash cards, and went completely unquestioned. I said little enough that accents weren’t a problem, so I didn’t even have to attempt one. I boxed up wires, control modules, some drills and other brute force items, tubing, a small welding rig. We could fabricate a lot here if we needed to.
Assuming he was here.
When I came back, she said, “There’s an interesting death on the news.”
“What?” I asked.
She toggled from screen to wall holo so I could see.
An Ivan Janich, the owner of KnoledgeKnode had been out in his personal lifter, and it seemed that there was a malfunction with the pressure system. Somehow, the oxygen filter had been swapped the wrong way. He’d breathed pure nitrogen until he passed out. The craft continued until pinged by flight control, which realized there was an onboard emergency, and landed it. Two rescuers passed out and needed help while trying to treat him. Too late, he was dead.
Silver cut the sound and zoomed in on what imagery there was of the relevant components.
She said, “You can’t install one incorrectly. Safety feature. You have to physically remove the housing, and install a replacement one. They don’t make those, for obvious reasons. It was a custom job.”
“Fascinating,” I said.
That was a ninety-nine percent hit on him being here.
“Okay, usual stuff. DNA, any specific purchases. Victim is owner of a moderate market business. This is new and significant. He’s not got fingers in everything, and he doesn’t have tremendous amounts of capital. Who pays high dollar to bump off an entertainment nerd?”
“Someone with gambling debts, or who wants a chunk of his action.”
“Good,” I said. Yes, that sounded likely. “Watch the stocks and any sudden offers his heirs take.”
“That might be months.”
“It might,” I agreed. “We do what we can.
“Meantime,” I said, “we have to assume he’s using our same techniques to track us. He had a four-day lead, yes?”
“Four and some hours.”
“He could have got into their port cameras, or set up drone flies.”
“I’ll sweep regularly and repeatedly,” she said, sounding tired. “Look, I realize I have to do all this, but I only have so many hands, so much time, and so many comms.”
“It’ll get worse as we get closer,” I said. “Prioritize as you need, ask me if you have to.”
“I will.” She slumped, sighed, stretched and arched, her breasts amazingly taut, then bent back over touchpad, controls and mic.
She actually didn’t grumble nearly as much as she claimed she had. She managed to get past it fast. Unless it was because I scared the hell out of her.
“Silver, question.”
She looked up, and I asked her, “You don’t complain much. Is that because of me?”
She looked a bit surprised.
“No! You treat me very well. Most officers can’t help being a bit condescending, or presumptive. You’ve treated me as an equal, and I don’t have nearly your qualifications.” She smiled with a quirk. “This excludes those first couple of days, when you were acting the psycho.”
“I wasn’t acting,” I said. Then I realized that’s not what she needed to hear. I couldn’t manage to joke well enough to get past it. I just continued. “I don’t want my only team member getting burned out. If you reach any limits, tell me.”
“I will,” she said. “I think what’s got me is the urgency, the time constraints, the increasing risk.”
“Those will burn you out, too.”
“Noted. Please let me get back to work.”
I pointed and smiled.
Almost at once she said, “News reports his car was in the shop. I have a location.”
“We’ll drive over,” I said.
Actually, I dressed and drove over while she mined more data, after I had her diddle the car so I’d have an excuse to be there. She did so with a pry bar and a grunt that told me she wasn’t happy about the distraction.
Traffic wasn’t great. These people didn’t have the automatic controls Earth had, and they weren’t as sophisticated as we are. They mostly drove safely, but dully. A few tried performance driving, so they were idiots and reckless. Still, it was better than Mtali and I prefer the freedom to the locked-in driving of Earth.
In thirty minutes I saw it. It was a very upscale garage with shrubs and color-shifting light tubes. Very nice. As I pulled in I saw they even had a fountain.
I parked on a broad apron surrounded by manicured shrubs punctuated with flowers. The grass was maintained with a combination of nano-trimming and regular caretaking, and stopped exactly at the edge. The surface was cut gray granite flagstones.