"Talma!" the human snorts angrily as it faces the window. There is the gentle ting of a musical note followed by the greeting room door opening. Undev Orin stands in the door and bows. "My apologies. Willis Davidge, the investigator still waits for you to bring Yazi Ro."
The human turns from the window and smacks himself gently against the side of his head. "Dammit, that’s why I came up here. Orin, tell the investigator we’ll be right down."
Undev Orin bows and closes the door, leaving Davidge and I alone. The human laughs at himself and says, "I came up here to get you, but I got sidetracked by the view. I seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately." He points toward the smoke, now almost at an end. "It’s been a lot of years since anyone tried to kill me. The last one was the Ovjetah’s nameparent."
I feel cornered. No one yet seems particularly concerned that I was smuggled off Amadeen, but an investigator might. If no one at all cares, there wouldn’t be a quarantine. "I cannot see this investigator."
"Why? You haven’t been here long enough to get in trouble."
"I was smuggled through the Amadeen quarantine―"
"Don’t worry about it," interrupts Davidge. "That’s not a crime on Friendship, and the investigator isn’t a cop—a police officer. This one’s been hired simply to establish what happened last night and who was responsible."
"Hired?"
Davidge nods as he takes my arm and leads me toward the door. "We don’t have police officers acting for the government here." He shrugs and holds out his hands. "No government."
EIGHTEEN
There is a path, steep and icy, from the ledge at the level of the cave to the base far below. We are met at the top of the path. There are two investigators, a Drac and a human, both of whom are employed by Aakva Lua, which means Blue Light. They have with them a Drac operative dressed in a deep blue Aakva Lua uniform beneath its black hooded coat. A second uniformed operative, also a Drac, is at the bottom of the cliff with the corpse. With the investigator are Zammis and Estone Falna.
The Drac investigator’s name is Mirili Sanda, which the human investigator, for some reason, insists on pronouncing santa. Sanda is quite short and plump for a Drac, its eyes so dark they are almost black, making its gaze quite fierce. Its hooded coat is bright blue, as is the flyer in which it and the human investigator arrived. We follow them down the path.
To Zammis, Falna, and Davidge the path down the cliff is just another trail. I, however, can feel unseen forces drawing me to the edges of sheer drops. Only my shame at my fear of heights forces me along. At the bottom we have to climb over and around the slippery boulders to get to Hill’s body. Sanda struggles at the physical challenge where Davidge, Falna, and Zammis appear to have no difficulty. The human investigator is amazing.
The human’s name is Kita Yamagata. Although small for a woman, she jumps from boulder to boulder with the same fearless bearing and disregard of heights with which she climbed down the treacherous path to the base of the cliff. The hood on her blue coat is back displaying her glossy black hair, which she keeps short. Her eyes, too, are very dark, giving her a strange kinship to Sanda. By the time we reach the location, Yamagata is already examining the corpse, her hands covered in special blue gloves.
Between the warmer air and the action of the sea, there is almost no ice on the ocean’s rocky shore. The spray from the breakers washes everything, which is why there is very little visible blood on the corpse, Sanda explains as Falna leans in to examine the body more closely. What blood there is seems to repulse Sanda. It does not bother Yamagata or Falna. I have seen so much of it, I am surprised it bothers me.
Michael Hill landed first on his legs, bounced and came to rest on his back, according to Yamagata.. Falna remarks that it would he surprised if there where any bones not broken. Hill’s clothes, boots, and hooded coat are white, with a few smudges of red. With the snow for a background last night, he would have been almost invisible. Against the green and black sea-washed boulders at the base of the cliff, he stands out like a target. Jeriba Zammis, its head uncovered in the wind, stares at the body as the investigators take their readings and fill their little containers. When Sanda and Yamagata determine that they have done all that they can do with the corpse in its present position, they have their operatives turn it over.
The back of Michael Hill’s white camouflage coat is scorched. Yamagata makes a comment about being half a step ahead of the volcano. A search of the corpse’s pockets produces an expensive leather identification case with Hill’s credentials and permits from Earth IMPEX, Draco, and other governmental authorities. It contains, as well, a company travel pass, pictures of beings of several species, and over sixteen hundred credits in currency. There is the key to his rented flyer, a key to his room at Colony House, an exclusive hotel in First Colony. There is a smashed pocket computer, and Yamagata bags all of it to bring back to the Aakva Lua laboratory. There is nothing I see that connects Michael Hill to the Timans.
Later, up at the mouth of the cave, I stand outside with the others as Kita Yamagata, wearing a protective suit and respirator, enters alone. Sanda explains that Yamagata has experience as an arson investigator, arson being mostly a human way of killing. Falna remarks that Yamagata seems to be a rather competent medical investigator, as well.
While we wait, Sanda goes over the terms of the agreement once more with Jeriba Zammis. Aakva Lua is free to release information to any other investigative company or police authority that may wish to pursue the matter, even if such action is opposed to the legal interests of Jeriba Zammis or other members, employees, or agents of the Jeriba line or Jeriba estate. Aakva Lua may also seek and accept employment from parties other than Jeriba Zammis, using such information, and so on and so forth, la la la. Zammis agrees to it all.
Sanda asks Davidge and me questions regarding Hill’s possible motives. I relate my experience with the IMPEX representative on the ship, and Davidge and I share with the investigator conjectures concerning old vengeance and recent insanity. Davidge does not share our thoughts about the talma and the possible Timan interference. I keep silent on this matter as well.
While Sanda returns to the bottom of the cliff and supervises its operatives in loading the body into an Aakva Lua flyer, I notice once more Zammis’s troubled manner. It is looking at the entrance to the cave, the leather-and-stick door open.
Jeriba Zammis notices me and says, "In doing business I have been to Draco, Earth, and many of the planets colonized by both powers. So many times I have seen populations living as though in the midst of a war zone. The inhabitants divide themselves into tribes, arm themselves, put bars on windows, and live in fear. The wealthy turn their estates into forts and their retainers into armies." It motions toward the cave with its hand. "Thieves, killers, terrorists insane on religion or politics. Gangs of criminals prowling the streets. I believed that Planet Friendship was exempt."
"How can any place be exempt?" I ask.
Zammis looks upon me as though I am mad. "We have no tribes here. The lesson of Friendship is that money, race, and belief are nothing next to fellowship. We are not awash in poverty, crime, or repression!"
Davidge is looking out over the sea. He glances toward Zammis, and says, "Sharks don’t kill because they’re poor, criminal, insane, or repressed, Zammis. Sharks kill because they’re sharks."
"Michael Hill?" demands Zammis. "Michael Hill was a shark? He was a fine, intelligent, imaginative man of business. I know his family. He has taken the repasts here at the estate. Michael Hill was no shark, Uncle."