“That will take a while to arrange, but it will certainly be possible. In the meantime, is there anything else?”
“Yes. You can have one of your ops walk us through the actual procedures of getting in and out of the other building and guide us over the route the thief must have taken. Hm. That might not be clear. I don’t mean on comsynth, but the actual route, out there in the building.”
“Why? Comsynth can give you far more data than you’d get just looking at walls.”
“We prefer to have a variety of sources and as many primary impressions as time and circumstances allow.”
Prehanet stood. “I’ll take you myself; that way there won’t be difficulties about what you’re to see. My aide can deal with OverSec.”
Prehanet waved a hand at the shield that enclosed the large asteroid, pulled the hand around in a wide curve to take in the transfer tubes that led to the other asteroids that made up the Market. “As you see, this is a closed environment which can be separated from the other nodes at an instant’s notice, one of the benefits of operating at Marrat’s Market, along with a certain docility in the workforce and the opportunity to maintain control over the product until we’re paid for it-though we are careful to guarantee our clients anonymity as well as safety and quality products. We have a quiet but considerable reputation in the realm of pharmaceuticals and the mechanisms by which they are delivered. I should tell you that it was my advice to the Directors to write off the stolen articles and replace them as quickly as possible. It’s my opinion that this is a one-off operation, so we don’t have to bother ourselves with notions of repetition.” He turned. “The lab building.”
The lab’s facade was a trapezoid two stories tall, with a modified holoa playing across it, a field of sunflowers blowing in a gentle wind, swaying against a deep blue sky; the entrance was concealed until someone on the slidewalk was within arm’s reach of it. Behind them, the administration building where Prehanet had his office was a more conventional four-story structure of matte black stone and black glass windows; the kephalos that controlled both buildings was buried in the bedstone of the asteroid beneath Admin.
“Ordinarily, clients are not permitted in this area except when taking delivery; I doubt any of those involved discussed the arrangements with outsiders.”
“YOu can never be sure,” Rose murmured. “People do the most idiotic things. You might like to know that Digby echoed what you said when he spoke to the Director who hired us. That it would be a difficult, perhaps impossible, and certainly expensive business to locate the thief, and the possibility of recovering what was stolen is somewhat remote. There was one item the Director was very… mmm… anxious to reclaim.”
“Yes, well, we won’t discuss that out here.” Prehanet stepped onto the slideway. “We don’t issue passes to the labs. Unless someone is with me or with a designated op, they have been deepscanned and a template made. Every individual who presents himself has to match one of those templates, otherwise the door won’t open. Anyone out of his, her or its area or off the designated route to a workstation will trigger first a vocalized warning, then an alarm every time he or she passes a checkpoint without proper authorization. So this cannot be a matter of someone working here.”
“No doubt you occasionally have a false alarms when someone’s strayed.”
“One or two every few months. Mostly the more independent workers cause them,, lab techs on a looser rein than the contract labor. They seldom do so twice. We have a few prima donnas..” He stepped from the slidewalk, took Rose’s arm to help her into the entrance alcove. Shadith he left to hop down on her own. “… who are at present too valuable to discipline,” he finished. “They are always causing trouble. No alarms any time during the theft window, however. Stand there, please. A moment.” He waved Shadith back. “If you’ll wait. We’ll set your temporary template next. May I remind both of you that the template is wiped the moment you leave the building. This is a one-time pass-through.”
The corridor they stepped into was provided with demiholoas of sunflowers mixed with other scenes to give a sense of airiness and expansiveness at first glance, though Shadith wondered what seeing the same thing for months if not years could do to the perceptions of the people working down here. A slidewalk ran down the center, but the exec ignored it and led them to the right, his boots silent on the springy flooring.
“The storage space for the ananiles is in the first sub-floor. There’s a lock on the door, but that’s more to keep down pilferage than for any actual security reasons. The ampoules are packed in numbered, standardized lots, sealed in ceolplas wrapping. Inventory control is very strict and we have almost no leakage.” He stopped at the mouth to the dropshaft, frowned as Shadith tapped his arm. “What is it?”
“Are dropshafts the only method of moving from floor to floor?”
“You have a problem?” He eased back so her hand fell away.
“No.” She gave him one of her most ingenuous smiles. “The Director didn’t include a schematic for this building in the packet he passed to Digby, so I was just wondering if there were alternate routes. You know, like emergency ladders if the power goes for some reason.”
“I see. There is such a ladder. The doors are locked, however, and those locks will only open if the power fails. Any attempt to interfere with any lock will activate alarms and send security ‘hots to that location. Even if there are no alarms, the kephalos checks the locks periodically. They were, of course, also checked the moment the thefts were discovered, found untouched and intact. Hm. There’s also the cleaner’s lift, but that is limited to one specific female and her cleaning ‘hots. There are no other routes.”
“Thank you, despoi’ Prehanet.”
They stepped into a corridor much like the one on the floor above. Two turns later they were in a tunnel rather than a corridor, the rock of the asteroid given a perfunctory polish and fitted with strip lighting; the walls were interrupted at short intervals by doors of gray plasteel with numbers shoulder-high in the center. He stopped in front of 22, flattened his hand on the palmplate, then stepped aside as the door slid open and a light came on in the cubicle beyond.
“As you can see, we have refilled this order. The buyer will be here tomorrow to pick up his goods. To increase the security we have installed EYEs in the storeroom and along the corridor. An unnecessary expense, but whatever helps the Directors sleep soundly will be done. They know my opinion, in case you’re wondering.”
Shadith moved past him and stood in the center of the cubicle looking around. No dust. “Was the due date pushed back at all?”
“Yes. We informed the buyer that there was an accidental contamination of the, Phase Three drugs, that they would have to be replaced.”
“The former due date?”
“The morning after the theft. Why?”
“Do buyers inspect the merchandise before it’s loaded?”
“Sometimes.”
“Do you always clean the cubicles before the person arrives?”
“It depends upon the individual. This particular buyer, yes. There is an aversion to dust or any other signs of uncleanliness. The cubicle and every container in the shipment is cleaned thoroughly on at least three nights before it is to be inspected. But if you’re interested in the cleaner, you’ll get no joy there. She has passed a thorough probing and has no connection with the theft. And there is only one breather involved, the rest are ‘bots.”
“I see. Nonetheless I’d like a schedule of her movements on a typical cleaning pass. Rose?”
“If you’re done, then I am.”
The laboratory where the object had been stored looked open and airy despite being on the sixth level below ground; it was also quite empty. They’d passed a number of men, women, and others moving along the slideways and looking intently thoughtful or filled with purpose as soon as they caught sight of Prehanet. The only voices Shadith heard were those coming round corners; it seemed that the exec induced a zone of silence around him as he moved.