But she could not sleep. Her head buzzed with too many details.
She glanced at the subetheric and started to see Jonis on the screen. She grabbed the remote and turned up the sound.
"-into it as thoroughly as humanly possible," he was saying, "but so far I'm told we have no leads."
"What about the captured gunmen?" a reporter out of the picture asked. "Has their interrogation produced any tangible results?"
Jonis looked embarrassed. "Frankly, we won't get anything from them. Apparently, they were inadvertently killed while in the process of being apprehended and arrested."
"Killed? By whom? Special Service agents?"
"No, not exactly. I, uh, haven't been given the full details, it's all very classified at the moment, but the, uh, robot assigned to Senator Eliton's security detail may have had something to do with it."
"You mean the same robot that failed to protect Senator Eliton and later exploded, killing the last surviving member of his security team?"
"Uh, yes, that robot. It may have exerted excessive force in the apprehension of the, uh, suspects. It's being looked into."
Ariel glanced over at Mia and saw her friend staring fixedly at the screen, her entire body rigid with attention.
"This doesn't say very much of Senator Eliton's interests in promoting the reintroduction of robots on Earth," the reporter said.
"That may be premature," Jonis said. Still, he looked as if he agreed with the assessment. "We'll have to wait for all the facts and assessments before making a final judgement. I don't want to say anything to belittle Clar's-Senator Eliton's-beliefs."
"Of course. If I may ask-"
"That's enough for now. I have to get to my committee."
"But Senator-"
Ariel turned the subetheric off.
"Shit," she muttered,
"Amen," Mia said.
Ariel made herself stand. She had to call someone. By the time she reached her comline, she decided that it should be Derec.
Seventeen
I should have gone to my apartment, Derec thought as he entered the Phylaxis lab. He stood in the entry, feeling the weariness of the day, gazing at the empty lab.
Not empty. He heard the fragile impact of fingers on a keypad, then saw someone at one of the stations. Rana's console was unattended, the screens blank. The main lights were low.
Derec stepped quietly toward the sound. Halfway down the left-hand aisle, between the banks of equipment and workstations, he saw someone working at a console near the back of the room. His pulse picked up until, a few meters closer, he recognized the man.
"Caro," Derec said.
The man started, jerking his hands from the keypad as he twisted in his chair. Then he sighed heavily and shook his head.
"Hi, Derec."
"Didn't mean to startle you."
Caro waved a hand. "'Sallright,' he said, then yawned. "Final report on the mobile units from Union Station."
Derec thought for a moment, then remembered that Caro and Amson had been assigned to help decommission all the floor robots.
"You just finished?"
"Unless that heartless slaver Chassik calls us back. I sent Amson home. Never saw her so beat. We've been at it-" he glanced at his wrist "-damn, nearly thirty hours."
"Did you have any trouble with Special Service?"
"No, this was mostly off-site. By the time we were informed that Special Service had assumed authority over the investigation, most of the mobiles were gone, back in a warehouse, waiting transhipment."
"Shipment… where?"
"Back to Solaria, I imagine. Ambassador Chassik was most insistent that they all be shut down prior to shuttling, and the positronic logs-such as they were-downloaded and stored."
Chassik. Derec went to his station and sat down. He pulled the folded paper with the sample he had taken from Union Station from his pocket and put it in a drawer under the console.
"You're up early," Caro said.
"Late, actually. When did Rana leave?"
"When I got here, about an hour or so ago."
"Any messages?"
"Not that I know of."
Derec watched Caro work for a time, then heaved to his feet. "I need sleep."
"Are you going home?" Caro asked.
"No, I'll stay here."
Caro nodded absently. Derec drifted across the lab to the com and touched the log to see what messages were in the buffer. Nothing from Senator Taprin. A message from Joler Hammis. Two from Gale Chassik at the Solarian embassy. Three anonymous calls. And a final note from Rana. Nothing from his attorney. He opened Rana's.
"The brain is rebelling," she said. "Mine, that is. I need sleep, much as I hate to admit it. Not much progress after you left with Ms. Burgess. Sorry. Talk to you tomorrow."
He opened Joler Hammis's and was surprised to find a resume appended to a short note.
"It seems Union Station no longer needs the services of a positronic specialist, Mr. Avery. I am available at your convenience. Please call."
The three anonymous calls contained no messages. He shut down the com and went up to bed, his mind working at a low level.
Chassik. Hammis. Robots being shipped back to Solaria.
Details.
He needed sleep badly. "Derec."
"Mmm…"
"Ariel Burgess is on the com. She won't disconnect until she talks to you."
Derec blinked, his eyes gummy. "'M asleep. I'll call her later."
"Derec. Mr. Avery."
Derec rolled over then. Rana never called him "Mr. Avery" unless she was very upset. He ran fingertips across his sleep-encrusted eyes, wincing as a few lashes jerked loose.
"Time?"
"Six-thirty-one."
Derec groaned. "Doesn't anyone sleep anymore?" He sat up and sniffed. The strong aroma of fresh coffee drew his attention. He held out a hand and a moment later felt a cup placed against his palm. Warm. He brought it to his mouth and drank cautiously. "All right. All right, tell her I'll be right there."
"Want me to route the call up here?" Rana asked, walking toward the door.
"Sure."
"And when you're done with that, come down to the lab. I have something to show you."
Derec felt himself nod. He sat there in the abrupt quiet, nursing the coffee, wondering what was so important that he had to interrupt what he remembered to be very good sleep.
"Derec?"
He looked up at the sound of Ariel's voice. "Oh. Yes, Ariel."
"Do you have vid?"
"Is it necessary? You just woke me up."
"Don't brag. I've been up since four, I think. What are you doing?"
"Drinking coffee. "
"After that."
"I have to review Rana's excavation."
"Good. You can tell me what she found when you meet me."
"I'm meeting you?"
"For lunch. At the Franklin Park Home Kitchen."
"What?"
"For old time's sake. You know where it is, don't you?"
"Of course-"
"Good. Then I'll see you there at, what? Eleven-thirty?"
"Sure…"
"Great. I'm looking forward to it."
The connection died and Derec stared at his com-unit. The Franklin Park Home Kitchen, on the K Street Corridor? A home kitchen? Neither of them had had to eat at a public facility in years. He doubted Ariel had been to a home kitchen since her return to Earth four years ago. And why one so far away? The Spacer embassies were south, in the Anacostia District; Franklin Park was north.
"I'm not awake," he said aloud and looked down at his half-empty cup.
He finished the coffee and showered, then stumbled downstairs to the lab, still feeling off-balance.
"Morning," he said.
Rana nodded, staring at her screens.
Derec went to the com and tapped in Joler Hammis's code. He received a request to leave a message.
"This is Derec Avery, Mr. Hammis. I'd be very interested in speaking with you at your convenience. Please let me know when would be a good time. Thank you."
He poured more coffee and sat down beside Rana. She began talking immediately, as if a switch had been thrown.