Shadowplay

CELL 2

Puk watched the dark bug skim along the waves, the image breaking up again and again and seeming to merge with the heaving black water, though it wasn't supposed to do that, there was nothing in the visi-system that would initiate such interference.

He worked over the sensorboards for several minutes, trying to clear up the trouble, but he stopped fiddling when the flit passed the inner ring of the firing range; he wanted them as close as he could get them, he wanted to taste that death. He knew Ginny was recording It and him, he was greedy for that, he wanted to exhibit his lust and its satisfaction. He'd done this before, performed for Ginny's productions, but this was the first time he'd got a part in a major effort, a Limited Edition. He began arming his rats and shrikes, cursing as he fought to lock them onto a target that was proving as illusive as something in a dream. He glared at the screen; the flit was In shards, the readings were flickering as if the mass of the object was shifting aimlessly about. Since he didn't have the actual center available, he set his point-of-aim on the computed masscenter, bared his teeth in a feral grin, and tripped the trigger on the firing jack.

As Cell 1 blanked, Ginbiryol Seyirshi smiled and folded his hands over his stomach. The missiles had ashed the EYEs set on the Avatars along with their flit. In Cell 2, Pukanunk Pousli was leaning forward tensely, scanning the screen, his fingers playing over the console as he used every sensor available to him to sweep the surface of the sea and the air around him. When he found nothing, not even debris from the flit, he relaxed. "Gotcha," he said, excited triumph shrilling his voice.

Ginbiryol shifted in his Chair. "Ajeri, have you reached Makwahkik yet?"

"I was about to before Puk did his pounce. You want me to cancel?"

Ginbiryol got to his feet, stood a moment frowning at the gray emptiness of Cell 1. "No," he said finally. "Tell him what I said to tell him. Just in case that…" he pointed at the Cell, "… is not as final as it seems. If necessary we can prod one of our assets into organizing an attack. I think it would be as well to stir things up to a degree, Makwahkik has become too complacent, he has been ignoring our interests.'"

Ginbiryol followed Shadith's progress about the Hall as she drank glass after glass of the wine and had increasing difficulty maintaining a facade of courtesy as she dealt with the locals. When she found a moment's respite half hidden by a fold of tapestry, he halted the run and played the sequence over in his mind. I made a mistake, he thought. Whatever it was happened after Kiscomaskin left her.

He ran back to the beginning and brought up the image until her face filled the screen, slowed the play until he could see every twitch magnified. Second by second he examined the slow shift of her expressions. He saw nothing to interest him… nothing… nothing… then a slight darkening of her eyes as her pupils widened, then a tightening of the muscles in her face, a change so slight he, would have missed it except for the exaggeration of slowtime. He cycled through that section until her face loosened up and her gaze went vague again, shifted to the beginning of that section, took a light pencil and marked what he considered signifiCant changes.

He thought a minute, then slid the POV around until he was viewing the scene from behind her shoulder and started the run as Kiscomaskin walked off. The mark from the light pencil flared. He froze the scene and found himself looking into the eyes of a small dark man, saw the pupils dilate. Recognition quickly suppressed. Ginbiryol cycled back to the point when Kiscomaskin touched the girl's shoulder, smiled at her and moved off, followed by his entourage; the man seemed to be one of those. He stopped the play, went back to the point where Kiscomaskin came in. Yes, he thought, there he is. I do not know him, I have not seen him before. Local? I doubt it. Offworlder. Smuggler? Probably. And he knows the girl. That could be trouble. He let the recording run until he was back to the moment when the man's eyes met the girl's, then froze the scene and drew a circle about the offworlder's face. He tied into MEMORY and started a search.

While it was running, he turned to the Pilot. Ajeri Kilavez was watching him, one leg crossed over the other, her foot bouncing with impatience. "Come here," he said. When she was beside him, he tapped the screen. "Do you know this man?"

"No."

"He knew the girl."

"So? What's the point?"

"Look at him. An obvious offworlder. Have you forgotten who her friends are? If she managed to get a message to him, do you understand what that means?"

"Yes. Did she?"

"I do not know yet. Wake Number One and call him up here. That first, then get EYEs to Kiscomaskin's base, set up a grid, search the area. If you do it properly, you should find a Lander or perhaps a small starship. Destroy it as soon as you locate it. When you have a moment, call Puk back, tell him to get here fast."

"Yes, sir."

"Questions?"

"You want a rush job, like get it done an hour ago?"

"Yes."

After she left, he sat with his hands one on top the other, resting on his slight paunch, waiting patiently for the search to finish.

The screen flickered, information began to scroll past. Arel, Vejtar y Kleftis age: approx 73, ananile stablized 35+ ht: 167.6 cm weight: 61 kg idf mks: mole, left buttock upper quadrant; lash cuts, back, left, upper quadrant, right ankle, back of left knee; small toe missing, right foot; lobe missing right ear; small scars (shig bites) lower abdomen, left side of face; burn scars, right arm, back of right hand. Homeworld: Lyeta Kayets, Kalakoristeh system Smuggler, small time, will deal in weapons but only certified antiques and lowpower pellet shooters; no energy weapons or highXP, nothing nuclear; prefers perfumes, gems, rare substances; has dealt in ananiles (very cautiously) and pseudo ananiles; will take on just about anything portable that he thinks has value. No convictions Deported as persnongrat: Supigger worlds (came close to a term at contract labor but through judicious bribery slipped clear) Kat'yevla combine (threats of castration, came to nothing, no information as to why that particular punishment was proposed) First entry: Irsud (qv Ffynch Company records, re failure. to capture or stop penetration into Ffynch Co space) Penultimate entry: Avosing (qv freetrader grapevine re Ajin rebellion) Ultimate entry: Kiskai (qv current recordings)

Ginbiryol contemplated the data before him. Shadith was too young and too unimportant to have made an impression on the universe, so there was no point in searching for a direct connection between her and Arel. He rubbed at his nose. Yes, he thought. Why not. "Is there any link between Arel and the Hunter Aleytys?"

The screen flickered, cleared, filled. Irsud: qv Ffynch Co reports. Acc'd to Fynch Rep: the woman Aleytys (not yet Hunter) present at funeral pyre Nayid Old Queen. Disappeared later. Subsequent disruption among ruling Nayids and shutdown of Ffynch Post likely connected to that departure. Enforcer report: Arel spotted leaving. Stingship sent in pursuit. Vanished. Probably destroyed. Means of destruction unknown. Smuggler untouched. Suggestion: Arel took the woman offplanet. Maeve: qv Wei-Chu-Hsien reports, re Chu Manhanu scandal, Arel briefly mentioned, noted as involved in subversion of W-C-H monopoly of maranhedd trade. Aleytys reported onworld after Arel's departure, involved with lorAls against Company. First contact Hunters Inc, hired thereafter. Avosing: qv Freetrader report to Guild MEMORY re abortive Ajin rebellion. Arel reported present at Smuggler's market, Keama Dusta at a time roughly coinciding with presence of Aleytys on Avosing. Her purpose there and activities unknown to freetraders. i ncals closemouthed with outsiders. Contact possible but not verifiable.

Ginbiryol scowled, blanked the screen. He sat tapping his fingers on the chairarm. Slippery. No convictions, only one close call registered. If he gets off the ground, he will be hard to find and harder to catch. He brought up the record of the party, recentered it on Arel.

"Sir."

"Ah, Raqab. Do you know that man?"

Raqab (Number One) inspected the face, shook his head. "No, sir."

"You remember this one, of course." He split the screen and pulled up Shadith's image.

"Yes, sir. Her I remember."

"I understand you know several systems of hand signs."

"Hand and body, sir."

"I want you to watch these two persons and tell me if they are signing and if so, what they are saying."

"What is his profession, sir? That might help."

"Smuggler."

"The systems I know are mostly military, sir."

"I understand. Do what you can." Ginbiryol fiddled a moment, arranged an alternation of frontal images of Shadith and the smuggler, then sat back and waited for Raqab to evaluate and respond.

"There, sir. See that flutter of the girl's fingers as she plays with the zipper? That's a warn-off, universal. His signs-I can't read 'em, might's well forget showing him. Probably he just wants to know what she's talking about. Ah, there, she's spelling something', I think… ah… I can make a guess, there's enough similarity to FLUSN basic… A.R.E.L. Does that make sense? Something, something, has a feeling of more warning, but I can't read it. More spelling. A.L.E.Y.T.Y.S. something S.H.A.D.O.W. something G.I.N.N.Y. S.E.Y.I.R.S.H.I. something, a strong warning, I think, telling him to get away from her fast. That's about it."

"Yes. Well… thank you, Raqab, you may return to your quarters. There will be a bonus added to your stipend to show my appreciation for your efforts."

"Thank you, sir."

Ginbiryol waited until he'd left, then he cleared the station and walked slowly back to watch Ajeri Kilavez at work. She'd wiped half a dozen cells and was using these to organize the search pattern. "Anything yet?"

"Early days, Ginny, barely got the EYEgrid in place."

"Finding that ship has become extremely urgent."

"Why don't I send Puk over there? The lander's got the firepower to take out a considerably bigger ship than that smuggler's pram is like to be. And he could do a backup spiral, the grid's coarse, not enough EYEs to make it finer, even if I ship out the nearest from the Main, they'd get there too late to be useful."

"Yes. Do that. Tell him the smuggler is carrying a message from that girl to the Hunter and has the clout to reach her without wasting time. It seems he is an old friend of hers."

"We're in a nest of them, looks like."

"Yes. It will not be necessary to abort the project if he does slip through the grid, she cannot possibly arrive in less than three months, it will all be over by then. When you get finished there, start the assessment for planting the Banger. When we go, we leave a cinder, let her deal with that if she can."