Such an innocuous thing, the glowball. And the explanation might be innocuous, too: Maybe Yel‚n had simply given it to the NMs, or maybe they'd swiped it themselves. Surely it was a trivial item in a high-tech's inventory. The fact that she hadn't demanded a late-night session was a good sign. After he dot a good sleep, he might be able to laugh at Genet.
Wil walked along the edge of his lot. He reached the gate.. and stopped cold. Crude letters were spraygunned across the gate and surrounding wall. They spelled the words LO TECH DONT MEAN NO TECH. The message had scarcely registered on his mind when white light drenched the scene. Yel‚n's auton had dropped to man-height beside Wil. Its spotlight fanned across the gateway.
Brierson stepped close to the wall. The paint was still wet. I t glittered in the light. He stared numbly at the lettering.
Polka-dot paint, green on purple. The bright green disks were perfectly formed, even where the paint had dribbled ;downwards. It was the sort of thing you see often enough on data sets-and never in the real world.
Yel‚n's voice came from the auton. "Take a good look. Brierson. Then come inside; we've got to talk."
FIFTEEN
The lights came on even before he reached the house. Wil walked into the living room and collapsed in his favorite chair. Two conference bolos were lit: Yel‚n was on one, Della the other. Neither looked happy. Korolev spoke first. "I want Tammy Robinson out of our time, Inspector."
Wil started to shrug, Why ask me? He glanced at Della Lu, remembered that he was damn close to being arbiter in this dispute. "Why?"
"It should be obvious now. The deal was that we would let her stay in realtime as long as she didn't interfere. Well, it's sure as hell clear someone is backing the NMs-and she's the best suspect."
"But suspect only," said Lu. The spacer's face and costume were a strange contrast. She wore frilly pants and halter, the sort of outfit Wil would have expected at the picnic. Yet he hadn't seen her there. Had she simply peeped, too shy or aloof to show up? Whatever personality matched the outfit, it scarcely fit her expression now. It was cold, determined. "I gave her my word that "
Yel‚n slapped the table in front of her. "Promises be damned! The survival of the settlement comes first, Lu. YOU of all people should know that. If you won't hobble Robinson, then stand aside and let--"
Della smiled, and suddenly she seemed a lot deadlier, a lot more determined than Korolev-with all her temper-ever had. "I will not stand aside, Yel‚n."
"Um." Yel‚n sat back, perhaps remembering that Della was one of the most heavily armed of the travelers, perhaps thinking of the centuries of combat experience Lu had had with hey weapons. She glanced at Brierson. "Will you talk some sense to her? We've got a life-and-death situation here."
"Maybe. But Tammy is only one suspect-and the one who is most carefully watched. If she was up to something, surely you'd have direct evidence?"
"Not necessarily. I figure I'll need a medium recon capability for at least another century of realtime. I can't afford a `no-sparrow-shall-fall' network; I'd run out of consumables in a few months. I have kept a close watch on Robinson, but if her family stashed autons before they left, it wouldn't take much for her to communicate with them. All she has to do is give away some trinkets, make these low-techs a bit more dissatisfied. I'll bet she has high-performance bobblers hidden near the Inland Sea. If she can lead her little friends there, we'll be looking at a lot of long-term bobbles-and an end to the plan."
If the Robinsons had prepared their departure that carefully. they were probably responsible for Marta's murder, too. "Hog 'bout a compromise? Take her out of circulation for a few months."
"I promised her, Wil."
"I know. But this would be voluntary. Explain the situation to her. If she's innocent, she'll be as upset by all this as we are A three-month absence won't hurt her announced goals, and will very likely prove her innocent. If it does, then she could have a lot more freedom afterwards."
"What if she doesn't agree?"
"I really think she will, Della." If not, then we'll see if f my integrity can stand up to Yel‚n as well as yours does.
Yel‚n said, "I would buy a three-month bobbling-though we may go through this same argument again at the end of it."
"Okay. I'll talk to Tammy." Della looked down at her frilly outfit, and a strange expression crossed her face. Embarrassment? "I'll get back to you." Her image vanished.
Wil looked at the remaining bolo. Yel‚n was in her library. Sunlight streamed through its fake windows. Night and day must have little meaning to Yel‚n; that made Wil feel even more tired.
Korolev diddled with something on her desk, then looked back at Wil. "Thanks for the compromise. I was on the verge of doing something... rash."
"You're welcome." He closed his eyes a moment, almost succumbing to stun-induced sleepiness.
"Yes. Now we know our worst fears are true, Inspector. Agrav glowballs. Polka-dot paint. These are completely trivial things compared to what we have already given away. But they are not on the gift inventory. It's just like Phil says. Marta's murderer is not done with us. Someone or something is out there, taking over the low-techs."
"You don't sound so sure the Robinsons are behind it."
"... No, that was partly wishful thinking. They have the clearest motive. Tammy would be the easiest to handle.... No. It could be almost any of the high-techs."
Brierson was too tired to keep his mouth shut. "Do we even know who those are?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if the murderer is masquerading as a low-tech? Maybe there's a surviving graverobber."
"That's absurd." But her eyes went wide, and for nearly fifteen seconds she was silent. "Yes, that's absurd," she repeated, with a trace less certainty. "I've got good records on all the rescues; we made most of them. We never saw any unusual equipment. Now, a masquerader might have his high-`tech gear in separate storage, but we'd know if he moved much of it.... I don't know if you can understand, Brierson: We've had total control of their stasis from the beginning. An advanced traveler couldn't tolerate such domination."
"Okay." But he wondered if Lu's reaction would be the same.
"Good. Now I want to get your impression of what you saw today. I watched it all myself, but "
Wil held up a hand. "How about waiting till tomorrow, Yel‚n? I'll have things sorted out better."
"No." The queen on the mountain wasn't angry, but she was doing to have things her way. "There are things I need to know right now. For instance, what do you think spooked Kim Tioulang?"
"I have no idea. Could you see who he was looking at when he panicked?"
"Into the crowd. I didn't have enough cameras to be more definite. My guess is he had lookouts posted, and one of them signaled that Mr. Bad was in the area."
Mr. Bad. Phil Genet. The connection was instantaneous, needed no supporting logic. "Why make a mystery of it? Give Tioulang some protection and ask him what he has in mind."
"I did. Now he won't talk."
"Surely you have truth drugs. Why not just bring him in and-" Wil stopped, suddenly ashamed. He was talking like some government policeman: "The needs of the State come first." He could rationalize, of course. This was a world without police contracts and legal systems. Till they were established, simple survival might justify such tactics. The argument was slippery, and Wil wondered how far he would slide into savagery before he found solid footing.
Yel‚n smiled at his embarrassment-whether from sympathy or amusement he could not tell. "I decided not to. Not yet, anyway. The low-techs hate me enough already. And it's just possible Tioulang might suicide under questioning. Some of the twentieth-century governments put pretty good psychblocks in their people. If the Peacers inherited that filthy habit... Besides, he may not know any more than we do: Someone is backing the NM faction."