The Price of Shadow
Part 3



==========

He climbed the stairs slowly, unsure whether his fatigue was in the body or the 
soul.  Transport from Johannesburg to Windhoek had been quick and simple, 
compared at least to the other travels he had made of late, but his own 
apartment seemed alien after so much absence.  He left his bag and came back 
here where he knew he would feel at home.  

At the top of the wide stone staircase, he leaned against a column to rest.  The 
marble was cool against his cheek, and from the entryway, a weary man, eyes dark 
with sadness, pondered him, his own reflection in the great brass doors.  He 
pushed himself inside, pausing in the cavern of the lobby to find his vision 
amongst the shadows.  He turned and walked without a path in mind, choosing only 
to move away from the paths of others, seeking quiet, solitude, and peace.  

Peace.  Now there was a ministry dedicated to peace.  In every regional office, 
staffs of people just like Yani were working to see that he was at peace.  
They'd best work harder.  He turned again, away from a table of students, 
through the large glass doors that sheltered a reading room lit by small green-
shaded lamps.  In the cool and fragrant air of the stacks filled with ancient 
leather bound volumes, he stopped to draw down a text.  Irony coaxed a laugh 
from him as the pages fell open.  The austere surrounding of the law library 
amplified both sound and sense of inappropriateness, and he glanced about to be 
sure he was alone. 

Here he was again, disturbing the peace, even here in these hallowed halls.  He 
smiled to himself at himself.  Whose help had he enlisted in this current 
insurrection, he wondered?  He examined the page more closely.  The Supreme 
Court of the United States of America.  Early twentieth century.  A dissenting 
opinion.  Of course, he would find the dissenter.  Louis D. Brandeis.  What 
trouble shall we cause today, Justice Brandeis?

Slowly, he savored the text.  "Experience should teach us to be most on our 
guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent."  He 
wondered what Brandeis would think of the Ministry of Peace and of Commissioner 
Paoletti.  "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by 
men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."  Unsure still if he would 
describe Paoletti so innocently, he nonetheless returned Justice Brandeis' 
opinion to its place in the stacks.  He let his hands rest there upon the supple 
leather of the bindings and drew deep, fortifying breaths flavored with the dust 
of centuries of wisdom.  

The objective of the Ministry of Peace, Paoletti had said, was to help humans 
find peace with themselves, so it will be easier to attain peace with other 
planets.  He straightened, adjusted his glasses, and made a mental note to thank 
Commissioner Paoletti.  He understood clearly now.  And there were a few things 
he needed to check before going back to Mars. 

==========

"You're in my seat."  He hadn't expected to find his sister here, and from her 
reaction, he guessed she hadn't expected him either.  

"I thought you were in Johannesburg," she said as she embraced him.  "KJ, what's 
this?"  She gently fingered the wound on his brow.  He hadn't managed to hide 
the truth from Aiyanna; he didn't try to keep it from Saada.   

"Kijana, are you all right?  My god, what do the police say?"

He was sure she had many other questions as well, and he wanted to avoid all of 
them.  "I'm the big brother, remember?  I take care of you."  He regarded the 
various maps strewn over the table.  "What are you about here?  I thought you 
had moved to the new dig site.  Don't tell me you're moving again?"

Her sign spoke more of anger and disgust than of fatigue or resignation.  "We 
started digging, and we've been bringing significant samples out of the top 
layers.  Now I'm told that my backers don't feel we should go forward.  They 
claim there's a fault line undermining the site."

"Is there?"

"No!"  Her response drew sharp hisses from nearby readers.  "KJ, I've checked 
every geological survey I can find for the area," she whispered,  "and there is 
no trace of any instability."

"So they're looking for an excuse to pull your funding."

"Yeah, but..." She wrinkled her nose, and for a moment, in his eyes, she was six 
years old again.  It made him smile.  "They had an out.  The agreement was that 
they'd fund the first stage and then decide if they felt it worth the full 
investment."

"And if they felt it wasn't?"

"Then all pieces found revert to me, and I'm free to negotiate funding 
elsewhere."

Kijana sat back in his chair and considered for a moment.  "What did you bring 
up, Sis?"  She pulled a sheaf of papers from the briefcase on the chair beside 
her and handed it to him.  He scanned the catalog.  "That's it?"  

"That's it?  I think that's pretty impressive."

"Well, yes, from an archeological point of view.  Just about everything here 
suggests the need for further investigation.  I guess I meant...  I don't know.  
I was looking for something... controversial.  Something dangerous."  She showed 
him her empty palms.  

Kijana considered the list again before handing it back to Saada.  He shifted 
forward in his chair and leaned close to her.  "Saa, they don't want anyone to 
dig there.  They don't want to fund your dig and they don't want you to find 
other funding.  They want this dig stopped."  He watched for her reaction.  
"Why?" 

Fear crackled like lightening in the darkness of her eyes.  She forced a breath.  
"KJ, is it possible you're getting just a little paranoid?"

He settled back in his chair with a laugh.  "Oh yeah, entirely possible.  So you 
tell me, what do you make of it?"

Saada turned back to the maps scattered in front of her.  Her head shook gently 
side to side.  "Exactly the same thing you do," she whispered.  "And it scares 
the hell out of me."

His hand surrounded hers, but it was she who squeezed.  They exchanged a sad 
smile.  "So what are you going to find down there, Saa?  What is it they want to 
keep buried?"  

"That's what mystifies me, KJ.  This is, as best we can tell, a wholly new 
civilization, a culture we've never seen before.  How can you be afraid of 
something you've never even seen?"

"Oh, that's easy," he laughed.  "But why are you assuming it's fear?  And are we 
sure it's never been seen before?"  He looked at the documents strewn before 
her.  "Who are these backers?"

"I don't know exactly.  That's the other thing that has me a little spooked.  I 
made the deal through Doctor Morden..."

"The guy Hutcheson was introducing around?"

"Yes.  He refers to them as his associates, private investors.  I've never 
gotten much more than that out of him."

"I thought he was with IPX?"

"Yeah."  Her eyes darted about the room.  "You're not the only one."

He glared at her.  "Meaning?"

She rattled her head as if to clear away a nightmare.  "I went to see Professor 
Hutcheson this morning.  I thought he might know something more about Morden's 
associates, since he's so high on Morden."  She shifted nervously in her chair 
and dropped her voice even a bit softer.  "Kijana, he was going on and on about 
Morden and how wonderful he is, but he was also certain that Morden was working 
for IPX.  Assigned to a science vessel called the Icarus, according to 
Hutcheson.  I told him that Morden said he was no longer with IPX but he 
wouldn't have any of it.  He actually got rather nasty with me." 

They sat together for a few moments and though no words were spoken, the glances 
practiced over twenty years of growing up together communicated in the silence.  
Finally, Kijana turned to the computer.  "So what have you found out about the 
Icarus?"

==========

Michael Garibaldi slowed his step and paused to realize that his shift was truly 
and finally over.  There had been no end to the annoyances today, most of them 
ultimately petty, but all of them seemingly urgent.  He had been in every sector 
of the Station at some point today, dealing with the thefts, the fights, the 
break-ins, the pickpockets and con artists, and the endless stream of would-be 
smugglers who presented themselves in Customs.  Every damn sector, and tired as 
he was, it felt as though he had walked every damn hallway.  He was weary now, 
and easily irritated, which was why at this moment, in this sector, in this 
hallway, not fifty feet from the door to his quarters, it was pissing him off 
big-time that some wise ass was lurking in the shadows trying to follow him. 

At the entrance to his quarters, Garibaldi reached a hand to the security panel 
as though to key the access code, but executed a quick about-face.  "Show 
yourself, or every security claxon on this station will be ringing in ten 
seconds."

A pale, slender figure stepped forward and silently bowed.  As Garibaldi's hand 
moved over the security console, his head, already cocked to one side, pulsed 
forward, a wary acknowledgement of the man's identity.  He ushered the man 
through the opening door, followed, and called for lights.  

The stranger faced Garibaldi again and again bowed.  "Thank you for seeing me, 
Mr. Garibaldi."  

Michael gestured toward the man on the man's right shoulder.  "You're one of 
Sinclair's people?"

"Yes, Mr. Garibaldi.  I'm a Ranger.  Terence Latimer."

"So, you got information for me, Latimer?"

A bit of color suffused the man's angular face.  "I'm afraid this visit is a bit 
different, Mr. Garibaldi.  I need to ask for your help."

Suspicion prickled on Michael Garibaldi's neck but he scrubbed it away with an 
open palm.  These were Jeff's people.  He had made the decision to trust them.  
"What exactly do you need?"

"Your chief medical officer here on the station is a Doctor Stephen Franklin, I 
believe."  Garibaldi nodded.  "Is he the same Doctor Franklin who destroyed his 
notes on alien species rather than turn them over to EarthGov during the Earth-
Minbari war?"

"Yeah.  That's Stephen.  So what's the deal?"

"It's important that I talk with Doctor Franklin.  I believe he may have 
information that is crucial to my mission."

"Hell, you don't need me for that.  Just call Medlab and make an appointment."

"Please, Mr. Garibaldi.  This conversation must take place in complete 
confidence, and it must happen now.  Lives are at stake."

==========

"Well, hello there, stranger!"  Aiyanna Trudeau smiled broadly as Saada's face 
appeared on the message screen.  

"Hi!  How's the new job?"  

Trudeau glanced around to be certain there were no coworkers within earshot to 
disturb or to eavesdrop before the two old friends giggled their way through all 
the news and gossip.  

"Yani, I actually called to ask a favor of you," Saada explained when they had 
run out of subjects.  "Would you do a little research for me?"

"Sure, if I can.  What is it you need?"

"You remember Doctor Morden?"  Seeing Aiyanna's frown, she added, "from 
President Mitchell's reception?"

"Oh!  Yes!  The one Hutcheson was so high on."

"Right.  I'm trying to find out a bit more about the man.  Do you have access to 
the records of scientific exploration ships?"

"I think so," she said.  "Hang on, let me see.  Looks that way.  What ship?  Do 
you know?" 

"Great.  Yeah.  Would you find out what you can for me about a ship called the 
Icarus?"

"Searching now.  Why are you checking out Doctor Morden?"  Mischief sparkled in 
her grin.  "He didn't strike me as your type."

Saada gasped as a shiver ran through her.  "Not at all, dear.  He's front man 
for some investors, that's all."

"Ew.  Hang on."  For a moment, Aiyanna occupied herself with other windows on 
the data screen.  "Ew," she repeated.  "So what do you want to know about the 
Icarus?"

Saada stopped, mouth open.  "I don't know exactly," she said finally.  
"Anything, I guess."

"Well, for starters, it no longer exists," Aiyanna volunteered. 

"What?"

"It was exploring out on the rim.  The ship was lost with all hands."

"That's not possible," Saada muttered. 

Aiyanna looked quizzical.  "It's sad, I know, Saa, but these things happen."

"No," the woman insisted.  "Yani, are you sure you have the right ship?  Did you 
spell it correctly?"

The young woman read back her data entry, then read aloud the information that 
had been retrieved.  "I'm sorry, Saa.  The Icarus was lost.  Why did you care 
about that ship anyway?"

"Yani, can you get the crew manifest?"

"Yes, I think so.  Hold on."

"Check the crew listing, Yani.  Who is... who was the archeologist on the 
Icarus?"

"According to this, it was..." Aiyanna turned back to her friend, wide-eyed. 

Saada nodded.  "Doctor Morden was the archeologist on board the Icarus."

==========

She wouldn't have thought to look for him here.  It was only the prompting of a 
librarian that brought her to the science library.  Mrs. Oldham had always been 
fond of the Akirais, and that morning she had, as usual, taken note of Kijana's 
reading.  Chemistry, mostly, she had said, when she suggested Saada might look 
for him here.  

Here indeed he was, surrounded by a sea of books, hunched over the computer, 
frantically scribbling notes by hand.  She cleared the papers from the chair 
beside him and sat down.  "KJ?"

"Second," he mumbled, his eyes never leaving the screen. 

She waited, as seconds became minutes.  Gently, she placed a hand on his 
shoulder and immediately dodged the sweep of a forearm toward her face.  "Oh 
god, Saa, I'm sorry!"  Her brother reached out to steady her.  "I'm so sorry.  I 
guess this whole thing with the attack has left me jumpier than I realize."  

As she nodded her agreement, Saada tried to force a smile.  "Well, I'm afraid 
what I have to tell you may only make it worse."  She had his full attention 
now, and she summarized her conversation with Aiyanna.  "KJ, if the Icarus went 
down with all hands..."

Her brother nodded and sat back to reflect.  "Either the gentleman presenting 
himself as Doctor Morden is an impostor...."

"And a good enough one to fool Hutcheson," she pointed out. 

"...  Or the losses were not total when the Icarus went down, and EarthGov 
records are in error."

"Would you let the government list you as dead?" she asked. 

"I might, if there were an advantage in it."

"So, in either scenario, we return to the same question: why?"  She dropped back 
in her chair.  "The guy always did give me the creeps," she muttered. 

"The why is interesting, but it's not, I think, what's important right now.  
Your last statement is more to the point.  Do you want to do business with this 
man?  Whether this is a ruse or a resurrection seems less relevant than the fact 
that this is not a man you want as your partner."

A corner of her mouth curled, turning her tight-lipped smirk into a cantilevered 
question mark.  "Sure.  I could accept the fantasy they're handing me and shut 
the dig down.  Then I can watch while someone else moves in there and takes 
credit for the find."  Her elbows plopped down hard on the tabletop.  "I'm not 
willing to do that, KJ."

"I know you don't want to lose this one, Sis, but it might be better to let it 
go than to risk involving yourself with Morden and whoever it is he represents.  
There's something very wrong about the whole situation."

"I never thought I hear that from you!"  He peeked at her over the top of his 
glasses.  "Kijana Akirai," she said emphatically, "you are the last person on 
the planet I'd ever expect to tell me to give up.  It's certainly not the way 
you conduct your own affairs." 

Kijana followed his sister's harsh glance to the documents strewn around him.  
"I know."  He cast about for something to occupy his sight.  "I don't know why," 
he said finally meeting her eyes.  "You're going to ask me why I can't let this 
go, and I don't have a good explanation.  Maybe it's the fact that so many 
people want me to.  Maybe it's all the things that don't make sense.  But I have 
to finish this one."

"Even if it finishes your career?"  He didn't answer that one. 

"Saa, for Earth to colonize Mars was basically a losing proposition.  It's a 
hostile environment.  It's not particularly self-sufficient.  It was difficult 
and expensive to create the colony, and it's difficult and extremely expensive 
to maintain it and supply it and govern it and defend it...."

He shifted in his chair to face her.  "The only pay off, and it's not a great 
one, is the mining industry.  We profit on what we pull out of the Martian rock.  
But even there, things aren't right.  There could be more profit, but the 
opportunity is ignored, with no good explanation.  And when you try to follow 
the path of the profit, things disappear."

"Disappear?" she asked, as a shiver made her gasp.  "Who disappeared?"

"Not who.  What.  The Martian mines bring out a variety of ores, including 
osbornite.  The conglomerate purchases all of them, including the osbornite.  
And then it disappears.  It isn't resold, it isn't processed, it isn't 
warehoused, it isn't given out as souvenirs.  It simply drops off the books, out 
of the record keeping.  Not there."

"What's so special about osbornite?"  She tried to remember her geology.  

Kijana turned back to his books.  "As best I can tell, its one distinguishing 
feature is that it exists only on Mars."

==========

"I'm concerned to find you still here, Doctor."  The voice was ice on her spine.  
Its owner always seemed to appear, unexpected, unannounced, unheralded, a 
specter materializing from the shadows.  Yet this time, she had expected him.  
Saada had come back here to the dig site knowing Morden would appear, as though 
her presence could summon him.  That chilled her even more. 

"I am still here, Doctor Morden, and I'm glad to see you."  She turned to face 
him as she spoke and pulled down a long draught of hot, dry air to steel 
herself.  "I wanted to talk with you about the future of this project."

"It would not appear the project has a future, Doctor.  As I said, I'm concerned 
that you haven't cleared the site.  The instability in this area...."

"Any instability in the area is my problem to worry about, Doctor Morden.  I've 
been giving the matter serious consideration, and I believe it would be best for 
all concerned if I sought funding elsewhere."

"Doctor Akirai, if you go forward with this, you'll be putting yourself and your 
crew in danger."

"Perhaps.  And I understand that your associates would not want to take such 
risks.  We should conclude our business then.  Your associates will be free to 
pursue other interests with no obligation to me and no responsibility for any 
further excavations, and I will be free to pursue or not to pursue this site, as 
I choose."  She tipped her head up to stare him full in the face.  "Is there any 
problem with that, Doctor?"

Morden's eyes stared back at her, dark tunnels narrowing as she tried to see 
within, strangling the light.  He smiled then, white teeth in counterpoint to 
the darkness of the man.  "As you wish, Doctor.  I will notify my associates."

"And may I ask, Doctor Morden, that you return the artifacts which you took to 
show your colleagues?  It was our agreement that any materials would revert to 
me."

"Of course, Doctor.  I'll see that those are returned to you promptly."  He drew 
an organizer from his inside pocket and made a note.  "I do hope you will 
reconsider, Doctor.  I understand your disappointment at the prospect of 
abandoning this dig, but I would be remiss if I did not remind you of the 
serious danger involved in pursuing it.  My associates have made it very clear 
to me that continued digging at this site could be life-threatening."

Saada wondered how a human being could deliver a statement like that with such a 
broad smile.  "Thank you, Doctor, and please thank your associates for their 
cooperation and their concern."  She broke eye contact finally.  "You'd best be 
on your way, Doctor, if you hope to clear the desert before dark."

"If that's what you want, Doctor Akirai...."

==========

Aiyanna would livid when she found out he was here.  He had sent a time-delayed 
message, worded as carefully as he could manage, scheduled to arrive after his 
flight left for Mars.  He knew it only postponed the argument, but he couldn't 
risk having her dissuade him.  

Kijana Akirai had prepared a bit more carefully for this trip to the Zero G.  
This time he dressed for ease of movement and speed of flight, and didn't 
complain if the look was a little more street-wise and a bit rough.  He taped up 
old injuries before he dressed, just in case his attackers took another shot.  
And this time, he trusted no one.  He left the hotel presuming he was being 
followed, entered the club expecting confrontation, made each contact assuming 
he was among enemies. 

He wasn't in the bar long before he was summoned to the back table.  Membership 
in that exclusive little fraternity had not changed, although one of the men 
sported a fresh scar over his left eye.  

"Given your idea of a warm Martian welcome, I'm not sure I want to join you," 
Kijana remarked with a glance toward the offered chair.  "At least, not 'til I 
heal."  He waited for reaction, putting Latimer's set-up theory to the test.  
The scarred man began to rise, but his counterpart motioned him down.  Rising 
himself, he again signaled his partner to relax, and came round to stand beside 
Akirai.  A large man, he moved menacingly close, but spoke softly at Akirai's 
shoulder.  

"Comments like that are liable to upset people, especially people who recently 
got a bit roughed up themselves.  We're not your enemies, and I think you know 
that.  So why don't you just sit down?"

Kijana obeyed and waited for the man to sit before he spoke again.  "The last 
time I came in here I was looking for information.  This time I'm looking for an 
explanation.  So far, I haven't gotten either one."

"You know what went down."

"I know what one man said he heard went down.  I don't know anything about his 
sources, and I don't know a hell of a lot about him.  If you've got some good 
reasons why I should believe that story, I'd like to hear them.  But I have to 
tell you, if I were trying to sell the story that the cops had raided my crib 
and rousted my people, I wouldn't be setting up housekeeping in the same spot."

"It wasn't cops."  This from the scarred figure, the smaller of the two men.  
Kijana looked his way, one eyebrow raised.  He continued.  "We know the cops, 
know who's by the book and who's on the book.  These guys were new.  Bureaucrat 
types.  Almost looked like PsiCops, but without the uniform."

"Interesting," Akirai agreed, "but not especially relevant.  They found you 
here.  Why come back?"

"Why give away another location?"  The brawny man across the table studied 
Akirai as he spoke the words, and Kijana recognized they were question, answer, 
and challenge.  He met the stare with one of his own, then gave a calculated nod 
and a hint of a smile. 

For the next few hours, the three men talked quietly, ordering rounds of beers, 
and now and then putting up a roar of wholly unwarranted laughter for the 
semblance of a bar room group.  The view of the Free Mars movement on EarthGov's 
resistance to Martian independence, the information Akirai had once before come 
here to find, was unfolded for him.  While it helped to fill in the picture, it 
was no longer what weighed on his mind.  When conversation dwindled, he took his 
leave, noting the slightly built man with the Asian features and the ramrod 
posture who followed at a distance. 

Prudence prescribed a well-lit and public route back to his hotel, but prudence 
would not have brought him back to this run down dome a second time.  On the 
dingy and deserted platform of the shadowy tube station, his escort made a move.  
Appearance suggested Kijana had the advantage in both size and agility, but that 
confidence was deflated as quickly as his lungs when his assailant landed the 
first blow to his midsection.  His attempts at defense were feeble, serving only 
to emphasize the fact that the man was extensively trained in the martial arts.  
He was searching for an escape and the breath to run for it when he saw the pike 
land.

Akirai's attacker reeled as the blow struck him from behind.  The momentary 
distraction was enough to let Kijana scramble to his feet and put some distance 
between them.  He scurried to the far end of the platform, stopping only when he 
realized that the man had not followed.  Slumped against a post, he watched the 
new, brief combat.  The staff sang through the air, answered by the opponent's 
woofs of pain.  The man dropped, sweeping his body round to knock the legs from 
under the other, who rolled backward and on to his feet.  Kijana felt a rush of 
air and heard the growing rumble signaling the approach of the tube car.  If 
others arrived on the platform, strangers who knew nothing of the origins of 
this bout, they might intervene in ways dangerous to themselves, to Akirai, and 
to the man who had come to his rescue.  

Pushing off the pillar, Kijana staggered toward the two men.  The small, dark 
man had found his feet again, and when he raised his arms in defense, a blade 
glinted in his hand.  Akirai froze, and in that instant realized there was no 
safety to be found.  Nothing on the platform would afford him protection if that 
blade sailed for him.  The man's eyes darted from his quarry to his adversary 
and back.  The tube car screeched as it braked for the station, a painful 
metallic scream.  Its echo was accompanied by a ferocious percussion, an 
aggressive, arrhythmic clatter of pike breaking blade and bone.  The dark man 
dropped again, this time to stay down, his grasp on consciousness too tenuous to 
manage a scream.  In the sudden quiet of the station, a gasp reverberated, the 
pneumatic sigh of the opening doors mingling with the whoosh of the pike 
magically collapsing and disappearing into the folds of its owner's duster. 

A strong hand grabbed Akirai by the sleeve and propelled him toward the empty 
tube car.  "Let's go," Terry Latimer admonished, following him into the cabin 
just as the doors closed.  The two men dropped into seats as the car lurched 
into motion. 

"Do I need to tell you that coming down here was stupid?"  Latimer asked when 
the sounds of their breathing had quieted.  

Akirai shook his head.  "Have you taken permanent assignment as my guardian 
angel?" 

Latimer smiled.  "Far from it.  I didn't even know you were on Mars until I saw 
you in Zero G tonight.  But I figured you had a tail.  You do realize someone 
else will take his place fairly quickly?"  Akirai's nod did nothing to appease 
the man.  "What the hell did you come back here for?  The people you're playing 
with do not fool around."

"Who am I playing with Terry?  We never did figure that out.  Or did we?"

As the car made another stop, Latimer looked left and right.  "It looks like a 
whole cast of characters," he said when they were again in motion and alone.  
"Mars Conglomerate paid for the last attack, but this one, and the one on Zero 
G, track back to EarthGov.  They've put together a new crew, calling themselves 
the Ministry of Peace.  Expect to see ads soon for what they're calling Night 
Watch.  They're going to offer to pay people to report their friends and 
neighbors."

The sick rush that swept Akirai had nothing to do with the uneven motion of the 
tube car.  His heart called to Aiyanna.  "What do they want with me?" 

"Maybe it's time you told me that," Latimer said.  "A guardian angel has the 
right to know these things."

Kijana rested elbows on knees and cradled his head in his hands.  He felt the 
motion of the cabin slow and stop as it reached the next station, but he did not 
look up.  He entrusted their safety to his guardian angel.  Finally, without 
raising his head, he asked, "you've got medical training, don't you, Terry?"  He 
looked up to see why the answer didn't come right back.  

Latimer looked uncomfortable, but he nodded.  "Yeah.  But this is our stop.  
Let's see if we can get you back to the hotel before we talk about this."

==========

"Anything?"  Kijana asked, still staring out the tiny portal that served as the 
window of the hotel room.  He was too high above the street to distinguish the 
features of the people below, but his imagination studied each one, searching 
for assassins.  

Latimer hopped down from the top of the desk, and held out a hand.  "Someone's 
been busy."  Three tiny metallic objects lay on his palm, and he fingered them 
as he spoke.  "These two are audio only.  One was near the com unit and one, 
believe it or not, in the bathroom.  This one," he went on, lifting the slightly 
larger one, "is audio and video, and was aimed at the desk.  The boys are 
reading over your shoulder, KJ."

"So now they know you found them."

"Not necessarily.  Electronic eavesdropping is a common business strategy, and 
very few practitioners of such espionage go in afterwards to clean up.  These 
could just be leftover from some earlier commercial snooping."  He dropped the 
devices in the trash and sat down.  "You do know you're not going to see 
anything out that window, especially if they've got a sniper looking for a 
target." 

Kijana jumped back from the window and smoothed the drapes into place, drawing a 
sympathetic smile from Latimer.  "Relax, KJ."  

Akirai dropped down on the edge of the bed and returned his head to his hands, 
resuming the position he had held for most of the tube ride.  Latimer leaned 
toward him and spoke softly.  "OK, KJ, let's have it.  Yes, I have medical 
training.  How does that help?"

Slender brown fingers slipped back over wiry black curls as Kijana drew a 
calming breath.  "You know I was looking at the economic issues involved in the 
debate over independence, and specifically at the mining industry?"

"Yes, and you said you had found some irregularities in the whole mining 
operation, and in how Mars Conglomerate was conducting business."

Akirai nodded.  "I was trying to understand why Mars Conglomerate would buy up 
the production of the mines without regard to natural market factors.  My theory 
was that there was something in the transfer that was more valuable than they 
wanted to let on, so I started tracing the path of each of the separate elements 
that come out of the Martian mines."

He rose, crossed behind Latimer, and tapped a few keys on the computer.  "Each 
of the elements follows a fairly normal processing path, through refining to 
manufacturing and export, or in some cases, export first, then manufacturing 
later."  Latimer turned to view the information on the little screen.  "I was 
worried about the arsenic," KJ continued, "because Edgars Industries clearly 
didn't want to talk to me.  They get all of it.  But eventually I got to someone 
inside, and I think I believe his account of what they're using it for."

Latimer nodded as he read.  "That's pretty standard now.  Arsenic hasn't 
seriously been used as a poison in centuries.  It's too easy to trace."

"What about osbornite?"

Craning his neck, Latimer looked up at Kijana.  "What about it?"  He swiveled 
around as KJ returned to sit on the edge of the bed.  "It's a mineral thus far 
found only on Mars.  Related to what we would call heavy metals, but with some 
significant differences from the elements we'd generally classify that way.  
It's not in great supply, more a trace element.  Why?"

"What's it used for?"

Latimer stared off toward the window, searching back through memories of college 
science courses for an answer.  "Not a clue," he said, looking back at Akirai, 
"but I expect you've found out in your research."

"No."  He rocked his head side to side slowly.  "I was able to trace everything 
else that comes out of the mines here, but the osbornite disappears.  There's no 
record of it being refined, processed, sold, warehoused, nothing."

"Maybe it's not."

"Then why is the Conglomerate buying it?  If it's going to be discarded, why 
isn't it discarded at the mines?  And aren't there regulations about disposal of 
material like that?"

Latimer nodded.  "It has to be handled carefully to prevent contamination of the 
water supply."  

"So there would be records of its disposal?"

"Yes."

"No."  Kijana rose and began to pace.  "No records of disposal.  No records of 
anything.  Nothing.  Where's the osbornite going, Terry?  And why?"

Latimer sat silent, his eyes on the floor beyond KJ's feet, but his gaze 
somewhere far distant. 

"Terry?"

The pale figure spun in his chair until he again faced the computer.  His 
fingers flew over the panel, and as KJ stepped up close behind, he could detect 
the readouts of files from a medical library.  The text, dense in both 
appearance and meaning, spoke of heavy metal poisoning.  A few more quick 
touches brought up a new search, this one Kijana recognized, having himself 
researched osbornite extensively.  "I should have seen it."  The angry words 
fell from Latimer as he snapped off the display.  

"Seen what, Terry?"

The Ranger rose, taking the few steps the little room would allow.  "You asked 
me once about the uniform I wear, about the Rangers."  He turned to see Kijana 
nod.  "You remember I said the Rangers include humans and Minbari?"  

"Yes, watchers, you said."

"Rangers have been dying, KJ.  Our people go into dangerous situations, and yes, 
sometimes we lose someone because of it.  But this isn't Rangers being killed in 
the line of duty, not the usual battle casualties.  This is illness, some sort 
of epidemic taking down our people.  That's why I was sent here, to try to find 
out what it was and how to stop it."

"Why here?  Why Mars?"

"The greatest concentration of deaths are here on Mars.  Some on Earth, but 
fewer, far fewer.  Now I think I know where your osbornite went.  We were able 
to trace the pathology we're seeing to a poison, an agent that causes severe and 
rapid damage to the brain.  The pathology didn't match any known poison.  We 
knew we were looking at something engineered, but we didn't know what."

"Osbornite?"

He nodded.  "Not in pure form, but it could be an osbornite derivative.  It 
would have had to be engineered with some real sophistication to make it that 
selective."

"Selective?"  Akirai watched the Ranger as he waited for acknowledgment of his 
question.  The gentle blue eyes moved like those of a dreamer.  Somewhere in his 
mind, Terry Latimer was at work.  

Finally, the Ranger responded, a bit startled when the query penetrated.  "It's 
a targeted poison, KJ," he said with a sigh.  "Only Minbari Rangers are dying."

"Could that be a coincidence?  A pattern of exposure?" 

Latimer shook his head.  "The toxin might produce some mild dizziness or 
disorientation in humans, maybe a bout of nausea until the body clears it, but 
no great harm.  In the Minbari system, it's fast-acting and lethal."

"And engineered to be that way?"

"Yes."  He studied the ceiling for a moment, then faced Akirai straight on.  
"Kijana, during the Earth-Minbari war anyone with xenobiology expertise was 
forced to turn over everything they knew to EarthGov.  They were looking for a 
bioweapon that could be used against the Minbari."

"And you think they've found it."

"Most of the research came to nothing.  We simply didn't know enough about the 
Minbari.  But I've just come from talks with a doctor who refused to turn over 
his notes, destroyed them rather than give them up, and what he knows about the 
Minbari could have led to this kind of toxin."

"But he destroyed his notes."

"Yes, but if they got hold of the same information by other means..."

Kijana nodded and walked to the computer.  "My fiancée is something of an expert 
on the Minbari, and she's recently taken a job with this Ministry of Peace.  I'm 
not proud of the fact that I was snooping, but I had a look at some files she 
left around when I was with her in Johannesburg."  He called up a file on the 
computer.  "I think this will support your theory."

Latimer read only a few paragraphs before dropping heavily into the chair and 
casting his eyes upward.  A long sigh escaped him, and when it was done, he 
squeezed his eyes closed and heaved to his feet.  "So this is why you came 
back?" he asked Akirai.  "You suspected this was where your missing osbornite 
was going?"

Kijana nodded.  "But how do we prove it?  And what do we do when we can?"

"Proof is my job," Latimer replied.  "I thank you for your help, Kijana, but for 
your own safety, leave Mars, and leave this field of research.  Go home and find 
something wonderfully innocent and politically correct to publish.  This is not 
your fight."

"Whose fight is it, Terry, if it's not mine?  I've already got people trying to 
kill me.  You expect me to just forget it ever happened?"

They argued to a draw.  Ultimately, Latimer left to carry the information about 
osbornite to those who might find an antitoxin.  Kijana moved a number of files 
over to a data crystal, then wiped any record of them from the computer.  He 
secreted the crystal inside an empty bottle in his toilet kit, and packed his 
bag for home.  The com unit flickered to life on command, and when he had 
arranged his transport, he called for local news.  Stretched out on the bed, he 
heard little of the broadcast.  

He bounced from the bed to his feet and crossed fleetly to the computer.  
Quickly, before the resolve left him, he sent another message to Aiyanna, an 
impassioned plea for her to leave her job at the Ministry, and meet him in 
Windhoek when he returned.  She would want reasons, he knew, reasons he could 
not give her this way, reasons she would never accept as long as she needed 
them.  

==========

A gentle chime demanded Aiyanna Trudeau's attention as she reviewed the flimsies 
spread across her desk.  She set one sheet aside carefully as she turned to the 
computer message.  

"Good morning, Commissioner," she said brightly to the onscreen image.  "How can 
I help you?"

Unsmiling, Wesley Paoletti furrowed his brow.  "I'm sorry I'm not able to have 
this conversation face to face, Aiyanna, but I'm needed in Geneva just now, and 
I didn't feel this could wait."  Aiyanna let the smile slip from her face.  
"Aiyanna, is it true that Doctor Akirai has gone back to Mars?"

The metallic taste that invaded Aiyanna's mouth threatened to sicken her.  "I 
had a message yesterday, sir," she said, wishing she could leave it at that.  
"By the time it arrived, he was already on his way."

"Aiyanna, can't you impress on him the foolishness of his actions?  The two of 
you could have a wonderful life in Johannesburg, but this rabble rousing has got 
to stop.  I've interceded where I could, Aiyanna, out of my fondness for you, 
but the authorities are quite upset with the nonsense the Doctor is propagating.  
Frankly, this whole situation has already made me look foolish, and I simply 
cannot do anything else to protect him.  

"Find him, Aiyanna, and talk some sense into him, before it's too late.  I've 
got to get to a meeting now but I expect this whole matter closed by the time I 
get back to the office."

Paoletti offered no goodbye, or at least Aiyanna did not hear one.  Her mind was 
too full of deeper concerns to worry about pleasantries.  The hand on her 
shoulder made her jump when a coworker gently pointed out the bleating of her 
message signal.  

She tried to calm herself as she brought up the call.  The flickering of rich 
brown skin tones as the image formed brought Kijana's name to her lips, but 
Saada's face materialized.  "Good morning, Yani.  I'm sorry to bother you at 
work."

Aiyanna steadied herself with slow breath.  "That's OK, Saa.  What's up?"

"Yani, have you heard from KJ recently?  He's not answering my calls." 

Quickly, softly, Aiyanna related the message she had received about KJ's return 
to Mars.  Saada was no happier than she had been at the news. 

"That's it?  Just that he's going to Mars?  No word on why or when he'll be 
back?"  

Red curls fluttered as the young woman replied in the negative.  "That's all, 
Saa, unless there's something in today's mail.  Let me look."  She opened 
another window on the screen and scanned the morning mail.  Her eyes skimmed 
over the message list to pick out the only name that mattered.  She opened 
Kijana's message hungrily, mumbling to Saada to wait.  The content of the 
missive resurrected the pervasive nausea that Paoletti's call had caused.  

"Yani!"  Saada snapped.  "What is it?"

Aiyanna realized her friend would have seen the panic in her face.  "He says 
he's on his way home, Saa, but he doesn't give flight information."

"Yani, what's wrong?" 

Trudeau shuddered, a reaction she did not hide from her friend.  "So, why were 
you trying to reach him, Saa?" she asked, false cheer in her voice and real fire 
in her eyes.  Both were calculated to let Saada know that the conversation could 
not be pursued in this setting, and the clues were not wasted.  

"I wanted to get his advice and reactions.  I'm going to try again to convince 
Mitchell to fund the dig." 

"Then your other source of funding...."

"Is dead," Saada said flatly.  "I've asked for the return of my samples and let 
them know that we'll have no further connection."

"What do you think your chances are with Mitchell?"

Saada shook her head.  "Not good, but I don't know where else to turn now.  I'm 
going to ask Hutcheson to put in a good word for me, but I don't know."

"If there's anything I can do...."

"Thanks, Yani.  I miss you, partner.  I feel like this dig is as much yours as 
mine."

"I wish I could be with you.  You know I'll be thinking about you."

"I know.  Thanks.  Look, I have to run.  I've got an appointment with Hutcheson.  
If you hear from KJ, tell him to call me, OK?"

"Will do.  And good luck."  Trudeau closed the message window, but continued to 
stare at the screen.  She heard the words of Kijana's message in her head 
although she did not read them again.  Slowly, she turned back to the flimsies 
on her desk, gathered them into a tidy stack, and set them in a folder.  The one 
sheet she had set aside she lifted, reread, and slipped into her briefcase.  

Paoletti wanted the matter closed.  Her job was to give him what he wanted.

==========

"Good God!  What are you saying?"  The force of Hutcheson's reaction made Saada 
Akirai recoil.  "Do you realize what you've done?"

"Professor, I've terminated my business arrangement with Doctor Morden and his 
associates," she repeated as calmly as her confusion would allow.  "It was their 
wish to stop all activity at the site.  I have chosen to release them from their 
commitments and continue on my own.  In order to do that..."

"No!  You cannot do this.  You must contact Doctor Morden immediately and tell 
him that you've changed your mind."

Confusion gave way to irritation in Saada's brain.  "I have not changed my mind, 
Professor, and I have no idea of how to reach Doctor Morden if I did.  I have a 
meeting with President Mitchell in a few hours, and I'd like to have your 
support when I ask him to fund the project."

"This project belongs to Doctor Morden and his associates.  You cannot involve 
the university in this.  It will..."

"This project belongs to me, Professor," she interrupted, "and I intend to see 
it through."  She took a few steps and a few breaths to calm herself.  
"Professor, I know you recognize the potential of this find.  Can I count on 
your support?"

"I'll have none of this!"  His voice was strident again.  "I've told you what 
you must do.  If you insist on courting disaster, I'll have no part of it.  Get 
out!  Get out of my house!  Go now!  And don't come back!"

==========

She pounded the keypad with a fury that only muddled the access code.  Slamming 
her briefcase to the floor with an expletive, Saada tried a second time to gain 
entry to her apartment.  When the second attempt got likewise jumbled, she 
summoned every bit of rationality left to her and kicked the door. 

It opened.  In the wedge of space created by the movement, Aiyanna Trudeau 
appeared.  "Problem?" she asked, red curls bouncing around her face as looked 
from Saada's scowl to the spilt case at her feet and back again.  A small smile 
managed to light Saada's eyes before her fear and frustration demanded a more 
serious demeanor. 

Aiyanna swung wide the door, and the two women stooped to gather up the 
briefcase and its scattered contents.  "What are you doing here?"  Saada asked.  
"Shouldn't you be in Johannesburg?"

"I was able to get some time away, and Kijana asked me to meet him here when he 
got back from Mars.  Of course, he didn't tell me when that would be.  I was 
hoping maybe he let you know."

Saada shook her head as she poured the baggage from her arms onto the desk.  
Leaving it haphazardly strewn about, she turned back to her friend.  "I haven't 
heard a word from him."  She sighed heavily, and a shimmer of a tear colored her 
voice when she spoke.  "Oh, Yani!  I think I need a drink."

Aiyanna rose from the corner of the sofa where she had perched.  "Saa, what's 
wrong?"  She approached the woman with arms wide and concern obvious.  

Saada accepted the hug, and for a moment surrendered to a weepy urge.  Then she 
straightened, wiped her cheeks, and strode into the kitchen.  "Can I get you 
anything?"

"Yes.  An explanation.  Saa, I don't remember the last time I saw you like this.  
What's happened?"

As her friend took down glasses from the cabinet, Aiyanna could see that the 
wheat colored linen suit, which stood in contrast to the warm brown of Saada's 
skin, was patchworked with polygons of sweat.  She took the tumblers from 
Saada's hands and issued orders.  "Sit down and tell me what happened.  I'll fix 
you something."

Saada did as instructed.  "I had an appointment with Mitchell today," she 
explained. 

"I take it this meeting did not go well?"

"Horrible.  He was completely dismissive.  I tried to talk about the potential 
of the dig.  He said the university can't fund fantasy.  I tried to talk about 
the importance of the finds.  He brushed me off.  Every archeologist thinks his 
or her latest find is the most important, according to President Mitchell."

Aiyanna handed her a glass.  "Ouch.  He sounds charming.  Did you show him the 
samples?"

"Yes!  And he had the gall to contend that he had seen the same artifacts 
elsewhere."

"He doesn't know what he's looking at!" 

"That's what I thought.  So I tried to explain to him that the markings were a 
wholly unknown script, and he informed me that he was at a lecture last week in 
which IPX presented video salvaged from the Icarus, and this script was clearly 
in evidence."

"IPX?  Morden!"

"That was my thought."  She banged her glass down on the counter.  "Now I know 
why he wanted to show those samples to his associates."

"Did you explain this to Mitchell?"

"And admit that I'd been conned?"  Saada snorted.  "No, I found other ways to 
embarrass myself.  I let my anger get the best of me, and started raising my 
voice with Mitchell, who, of course, promptly raised his in return."  She sighed 
and dragged a hand over the rigid muscles in her neck.  "Oh Yani, that's not 
even the worst of it.  Just when Mitchell was ready to throw me out, his 
secretary came running in with word that Hutcheson has had a stroke."

"What?  When?"

"It must have happened while I was in Mitchell's office.  I saw the professor 
just a few hours earlier.  I went to him to ask him to back me with Mitchell."

"I hope he did."

"No!  He did throw me out.  He was livid when he heard I disassociated myself 
from Morden.  Kept insisting that I had to go get back in his good graces.  Told 
me I didn't know what I had done.  He even told me this dig belongs to Morden 
and his associates."

"Bullshit!"

"Yeah, my sentiments, too, although I didn't put it quite that way."

"Is Hutcheson all right?"

"He's in critical care at the university medical center.  I couldn't get any 
information.  They say only family is allowed in."

"Does Hutcheson have any family?"

Saada shrugged.  "None that I'm aware of.  Oh god, Yani, what a mess this has 
become!"

Aiyanna considered for a moment.  "Look, I'm sorry about Hutcheson, but there's 
nothing you can do to help that situation.  As for funding the dig, you can't 
just give up.  So Morden has undercut you by passing the stuff he's seen off as 
his own.  Fine.  May he burn in hell for it.  But you've got to go back to 
Mitchell - after you've both cooled off - and show him stuff he hasn't seen 
anywhere else because Morden hasn't seen it."

"What?  They funded the initial dig.  They had the right to see everything that 
came out during that time.  I didn't hold anything back."

"Of course not.  You have ethics, unlike some people we know.  But that was 
then, and this is now."

"Meaning?" 

"Meaning we go back out to the dig site and we find something that will impress 
Mitchell."

"The dig is shut down, Yani.  The crews have been released.  It's a dead site."

"Good.  Then there won't be anyone looking over our shoulders.  Come on, Saa.  
Let's throw our gear in the jeep and drive out there.  We can rig lines before 
we climb down so we have a way to hoist anything heavy."

"Yani, that's an untested climb."

"Have I ever taken you into danger on a climb?"

"Often."

"And you loved it.  Come on, Saa.  Let's go out there and find something to 
knock Mitchell's socks off."

Saada shook her head in the negative.  "This is not a good idea, Yani," she 
cautioned.  "Are you sure you can rig the hoist?"