Mirage

Eleven

Ariel got out of bed with the feeling that something was not right. Perhaps it was only that she had gotten five hours of sleep.

She found Mia in the living room, occupying one of the oversized sofas. Her portable datum propped on her lap, a cup of coffee on the end table, and various disks scattered on the pillow beside her, she looked more like a business traveller than a government agent. Ariel was larger than Mia, and the borrowed robe seemed to swallow the smaller woman.

The picture window was milky-white, allowing in morning light but not the view.

"Good morning, Ariel," R. Jennie said, trundling in with a tray of breakfast.

"'Morning" Jennie."

Mia looked up and smiled briefly. "Hi."

"You look better," Ariel said. "How do you feel?" She glanced around the room until she found Bogard, halfway between Mia and the door, standing against the wall. It seemed somehow shrunken now, not nearly as imposing as the previous night.

"Rested," Mia said. She winced slightly. "Sore. My treatments weren't finished."

R. Jennie set the tray on the breakfast table by the window. Ariel thought about moving it to the coffee table before Mia, but it was not too far away. And Bogard still made her a little nervous.

Ariel sat down and lifted the cover from her eggs and hamsteak. "I'll make the call to take care of that after I eat. What are you going to do afterward?"

"After what?"

"After you're healed."

"That's what I'm trying to decide. I can't very well hide out here for the rest of my life. And I doubt you could get me an open passport to Aurora."

"You might be surprised what I can get you."

Mia raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. She tapped the keypad on her datum for a few minutes while Ariel carved her ham and drank down half her cup of coffee. Ariel wondered if she should have Jennie prepare a large carafe for the day.

Mia sighed heavily, then set the datum aside. She rubbed her face, then folded her arms. "I can't run. If I do, we'll never find out who did this."

"The media are all blaming the Managins."

"That might be partly true," Mia said. "I think it was Managins that actually did the killing. I've started a search protocol on a couple of names that might be relevant and one of them came up within seconds: Lemus Milmor. He's a known affiliate of OSMA, the Order for the Supremacy of Man Again. He's in our database under a 'To Be Watched' flag because he was rejected by a Settler's group for assaulting two people."

Mia shook her head. "Still. The Managins are a large faction, true. Lot of members, broad base. But to subvert the security systems in a place like Union Station? And get all those people and all those weapons in without being detected at some point? And then to put me under surveillance and try to kill me? No. They have the motive but not the resources. Not on their own."

"There are other factions."

"I've been going through the list," Mia said, gesturing at the datum. She grabbed her cup and cradled it. "TerraFirst, Primists, the HLA, the Fraternity of Organic Supremacy-if you take bits and pieces of several of them, you might get an effective team together that could attempt something like this. But they hate each other almost as much as they hate Spacers and robots." Mia frowned. "Sorry."

"For what? Are you a member of any of these organizations?"

"No… well, maybe. The largest faction would have to be the Terran government."

"But you don't go around killing Spacers to prove your point. Forget it." Ariel shrugged. "Any other candidates on your list?"

"There's been corporate resistance to these talks all along."

"Positronics is a threat to homegrown industry. At least, they see it that way. We're not so optimistic."

"What do you mean?"

"It's Spacer belief-an article of faith-that Earth will never allow positronics again. Some of us don't believe that's an absolute-after all, we got a Resident Intelligence installed at one of your largest spaceports-but we doubt Earth will ever embrace our robots to any great degree. Positronics will always be a small presence here."

"So what was this conference supposed to be about?" Mia asked.

"Spacer technology is highly advanced, some of it very far advanced over what's available on Earth. Earth would love to have some of it-like our medical tech-but Earth is afraid that opening the gates just a little will let all of it, including positronics, in. For our part, Spacers are worried about competition from some of your technologies that we find impressive. "

"Like what?"

Ariel ticked the list off with her fingers. "Transportation systems, automated databases, imbedded technologies, quasi-organic biomechanisms. But mainly mass manufacturing systems. Earth has a long history of production engineering that even with all we've done we can't quite match. Frankly, I find the Terran aversion to positronics puzzling considering some of the things your people play with daily. Anyway, there's fear of open trade both ways. Underlying commercial concerns, there's fear of cultural contamination. But the main deal is the black market. Ever since the Tiberius incident, Earth has been treading very carefully. We almost went to war over that."

"If you hadn't backed down-" Mia began.

"If you hadn't found contraband, you mean. It's very difficult to claim injury when the other fellow is right."

"As far as Earth is concerned, that was still an illegal act, boarding the Tiberius."

"But rather than go to war, you listened to Eliton." Ariel heard the edge of impatience in her own voice. Mia did not respond, obviously waiting for her friend to calm down.

Ariel cleared her throat. "This conference was supposed to start a process of… well, of demystifcation between us. A start at debunking some of the erroneous beliefs and tearing down prejudices. Without that process, controlling the illegalities that proliferate between us will never be possible and one of these days we will go to war. Some of us don't think either Earth or the Spacer worlds can survive without each other. At best, though, positronics would always be a token presence, but a way of teaching Terrans not to fear us."

"That's all shot to hell."

"Maybe. I've been doing a lot of damage control. But the heart and soul of the conference is-might be-an agreement to allow positronic inspection of all traffic between Spacer worlds and Earth. We believe the piracies are a front for black marketeering. The Tiberius supports that belief."

"On whose part?" Mia asked.

"Both sides. You can't sell contraband without a market."

"Collusion between legitimate corporations and pirates?"

"Or pirates in the pay of those corporations. Either way, humans can be bribed. Robots can't."

Mia shook her head in wonder. "The newsnets had been going on for months over the proposal for all-robotic inspections of interstellar freighters. That would have been a miracle."

"Maybe. Just short of getting Earthers to accept positronics?"

Mia laughed bitterly. "The Union Station RI was a positronic system. It failed. That's going to be a hard fact to get past."

Ariel covered her reactions with a forkful of egg. The Resident Intelligence at Union Station should not have permitted the catastrophe. There were ample security systems tied into it, it had the capacity and the imperatives to prevent harm to humans. But Mia was right-it had failed. She was right, too, that it would be a difficult wall to break down. Anyone wishing to derail the conference and any future conference could not have wished for a more perfect event. With all the other problems, it may well have made the situation impossible.

But why had the RI failed? It made no sense. Ariel wondered what Derec's Phylaxis Group had found out. She glanced at her com, but quashed the impulse to call him. She looked over at Bogard against the wall-it had failed, too, even with its vaunted "versatility" in interpreting Three Law conditions. That was Derec's concept, his design.

His failure. Mia tensed when the medical robot showed up, but made herself relax and allow it to treat her.

"You should be in hospital," the robot informed her.

"Treat her here," Ariel said. "Strictest confidentiality."

"Confidentiality will be respected unless such treatment places the subject at risk," the robot informed her.

"Understood. Proceed. Do you want me to stay, Mia?"

Mia shook her head. "No, I'm fine. You have things to do."

"In that case, anything you need, ask Jennie. If you have to contact me, do so through her."

Mia nodded, watching the medical robot examine her leg.

Ariel approached Bogard. "You will not admit anyone except me unless you receive an explicit command otherwise."

"Coded?"

"I will say…" Ariel paused. What would she say that would identify her? She wondered if she were being a little too paranoid. She glanced at Mia on the sofa and decided that too much might be just enough. "I will say 'Avernus in Perihelion' and you will match my voice pattern."

"I understand. What are your instructions regarding the visiting robot?"

"Log its identification. Admit no other without my authorization."

"I understand. Have a pleasant day, Ms. Burgess."

Ariel left her apartment with a shudder of relief, as if she had just escaped. Bogard made her anxious and she resented that. No robot should cause ill ease in a human. She wondered at Mia's evident trust in it. Perhaps it took a Terran to come to terms with such a mechanism.

And it had saved her life…

At the end of a short hallway, Ariel boarded a tube. "Embassy level E," she told the mechanism. Several seconds later, she stepped out of the transport into the lobby of her department.

A vaguely humaniform robot occupied the small reception desk. Few Terrans ever came here. Hofton, Ariel's aide, leaned over its shoulder, watching something on its screen. Hofton looked up briefly and nodded, then gave a quick instruction to the robot.

"Ariel," he said, moving to open her office door for her, "it's already shaping up to be one of 'Those Days'."

"I thought it would." She entered her office and immediately switched on the subetheric. "Who called first?"

"They all called at the same time. I was tempted to draw straws to see who I answered first. I decided etiquette demanded it be Setaris. She wants to talk to you, though -she wouldn't discuss anything with me. Next was Gale Chassik from the Solarian embassy. He wants to know the official position of the Auroran business community. I told him we were officially staying put. What certain individuals chose to do was no indication of general policy."

"Good." Ariel sat down at her desk and punched the code for Ambassador Setaris. "Third?"

"Benen Yarick."

Ariel scowled. She wished Yarick would just talk to Setaris and leave her alone. Ariel felt as if her allotment of understanding and patience were being fast used up.

"Just give me a list of the others," she told Hofton… Forward no more calls till I say. I'm not in yet."

"Of course."

"Try to get an official release from the police."

"I imagine that the TBI have assumed control of the investigation, as usual."

"I don't care who it's from. They'd be great." She made a shooing gesture. "I have to joust with windmills now."

Hofton almost smiled as he backed from the room.

Setaris appeared on her com. "Ariel, good morning. "

"Ambassador."

"Please tell me you have good news."

"Well, yes and no. I spent the balance of yesterday talking to our people. A large number of them had already decided not to leave. Not the majority, but enough to surprise me. I managed to use that and a little arm twisting to get most of the rest to agree not to run. I'll need you to sign off on some concessions, but I didn't break the budget."

"I'm sure anything you promised will be reasonable."

"I appreciate your confidence. I'm afraid, though, that there will still be a very visible number bailing out, but that leaves nearly eighty percent of our people willing to wait and see."

"That's not as bad as I thought… so is that the good news?" Setaris asked.

"That's the good part. Last night I spoke to Benen Yarick from Humadros's legation. The survivors want to leave."

Setaris looked pleased. "You did speak to Yarick. Good."

"It's irregular, though. I thought she should speak to you or…"

"Or who, Ariel? Go on."

"Yarick is simply frightened. She claims that even if she brought herself to stay, her state of mind would make her virtually useless at the conference."

"Hm. I suppose I can see her point of view, but… what did you tell her?"

"That it would be a great service to me and the Auroran population here if she reconsidered. As I said, I couldn't convince Yarick to stay, but she said she would talk to the others. I have to return her call this morning. I'm hoping she can tell me they're staying."

"I sympathize with them, of course, but…"

"Is there anyone else on staff that could step in for them if they all left?" Ariel asked.

Setaris sighed. "No, not really. I'm afraid my credibility in this matter doesn't extend quite that far. My position on certain elements of what Humadros proposed is too well known to the Terran delegates. I opposed on principle too much of it to be taken seriously. Oh, and speaking of credibility, I'm starting to get calls about the robotic side of this. Which reminds me. I should have called you last night to tell you, but now is as good a time as then. As of this morning, your credentials have been modified to include ambassadorial authority."

Ariel felt abruptly uneasy. "What prompted this?"

"Let me see… 'Because of the nature of this crisis,' " Setaris quoted, evidently reading something off-screen," 'the liaison from the Calvin Institute has been granted temporary modification of plenipotentiary status. ' "

"What 'nature of crisis' prompted this?"

"The fact that you are the most senior embassy official still alive. Except for me. All I have is junior legates and trainees. And because of the positronic element. The Terrans are claiming a breakdown of the RI at Union Station. You're our positronic expert on the ground, so now you'll be seconded to my department to deal with diplomatic matters relating to the situation. Anything major, of course, you clear with me first, but… congratulations."

Ariel was silent for a few moments. "Have you heard anything concrete from the authorities?"

"They're blaming Managins."

"You don't sound as if you accept that."

"The Managins are a nuisance, certainly, but do you believe they could mount something like this?" Setaris shook her head. "It seems they really have no idea, so they're letting the media dictate explanations. I'll never get used to the Earther taste for the salacious and the absurd."

Ariel glanced at her appointment scroll, just now coming up. "I have another day of dealing with Auroran irrationality. It's the same thing, different character."

Setaris frowned.

"Not an opinion," Ariel added, "I share with anyone other than those who already know."

Setaris's frown changed to a wry smile. "Of course."

"Oh, I received a call-I need to follow up on this, too-from Gale Chassik. He wants our official position on this."

"He's being a nuisance and calling everyone. I think he wants to find inconsistencies he can exploit. Our official position is that the conference is still on and we will wait for the Terran authorities to pronounce on the investigation before taking any other actions. We condemn the act, but we will not be precipitate."

"I see…"

"Anything else, Ariel? I have a full roster, too."

"No, no. Thank you. I'll keep you informed."

"Of course."

The image winked out and Ariel stared at the blank space. Obviously Setaris had already been in contact with Aurora and decisions had been made. Yarick had told her that much. But Aurora could take days or weeks to come up with a policy statement. Spacer time was more leisurely than Earther time, decisions… gestated… until ready. It was one of the sore points between the two governments.

On the other hand, the pace of diplomatic exchange had increased with the piracies. Perhaps someone on Aurora had figured out that hesitation could be expensive when dealing with Earth.

Ariel wondered what sort of "other actions" Aurora might take. Did they already have contingencies?

Her change of status unsettled her. Instead of being gratified at the elevation and the implicit confidence it should signify, she was suspicious. She could not help but think that they were looking for a scapegoat. Given her past, she would be perfect if things went wrong. All they would have to do is issue an official statement, strip her finally and completely of Auroran citizenship, and leave her on Earth, alone.

She entered Beren Yarick's code.

"Good morning, Ms. Burgess," Yarick answered promptly. "I did as you requested. Trina Korolin has agreed to stay-but she's our most junior member. I was unable to convince Gavit Jans. Trina will also have her personal aides-two of them. I'm sorry I couldn't do better."

"What about-"

"I also apologize for the impersonal nature of this response. I've already boarded a shuttle to Kopernik. I regret not having the courage of Ambassador Humadros's convictions. I hope you understand."

"Damn!" Ariel punched the disconnect. A recording. She could not even stay on the ground long enough to give a personal reply.

Perhaps, Ariel thought sourly, she was worried I might actually talk her out of it.

"What a mess," she muttered.

She entered Trina Korolin's code.

"Good morning," the com answered. "Ms. Korolin is temporarily unavailable. Please leave a message and a connection code."

"Ariel Burgess, at the Auroran embassy, Calvin Institute. I would like to have a personal talk, Ms. Korolin, at your earliest convenience."

Ariel ended the connection. She did not want to deal with Chassik yet -he could be abrasive. She looked down her list. No doubt, she knew, it would grow longer by the end of the day. Most of them would want little more than an official shoulder to cry on. They were all afraid.

She touched Hofton's intercom. "Hofton, could you get me a list of the casualties? All of them, Terrans included. And a download from several newsnets of the attack."

"Certainly."

She leaned back in her chair. What about the other Spacer contingents? Of the Fifty Spacer Worlds, about a dozen had sizeable enclaves on Earth, the largest-after Aurora and Solaria-being Acrisia, Pallena, and Saon. Of the rest, only a few tourists or the one-off official on short term business. All tolled, there were perhaps sixteen or seventeen thousand Spacers residing on Earth, soon to be fewer. How were their governments reacting?

Ariel scrolled down her list, searching for calls from the other embassies. Nothing. That did not mean much, though, since they would more likely deal directly with Setaris's office.

But that could change now.

What is it they think I can do? she wondered.

She had not told Setaris about Mia. Not that she had intended to, but now it seemed like a very shrewd decision on her part.

If I have the authority Setaris tells me I have, she thought, then why not use it?

She touched the intercom. "Hofton, find out who is heading the investigation and get me the code."