"You have not yet identified yourself," Hofton said. "Mr. Avery is not obligated to answer that."
"Are you a lawyer?"
"No, sir. If I were I would have settled this matter by now. I'm giving you the benefit of a less predatory disposition. "
The man in the suit stepped forward, his face reddening. "That man," he said, jabbing a finger at Derec, "does not leave this planet. "
"I repeat," Hofton said calmly, "do you have a valid warrant?"
Derec watched, stunned, as if time had stopped. Hofton did not flinch, did not smile, did not do anything that might have looked like an actionable gesture. The man in the suit reddened further.
"You have no authority to prevent him, " Hofton said finally. "If you attempt to do so, the Auroran embassy will file a formal complaint. If you do not have that warrant, I can also promise that you will no longer hold the position you currently do. Now, there's an easy solution. Kopernik is technically Earth. A satellite, true, and not on the ground, but if you check you will see that it qualifies as Earth. Mr. Avery is not leaving Earth."
"That's facile," the man in the suit said.
"Yes. But legal."
One of the uniforms was smiling. The man in the suit stepped back.
"I'll be contacting my people on Kopernik," he said. "We'll have this conversation sooner or later."
"You'll have plenty of time then to enjoin Mr. Avery from further travel outsystem," Hofton said. "Now, if you don't mind, we have a shuttle to catch. " Hofton turned to the custom attendant. "Please return my original disk now."
The attendant paled visibly and handed over another disk.
"Thank you," Hofton said and grabbed the container and the bag. "Mr. Avery?"
Shaken, Derec managed to walk toward the debarkation concourse.
Halfway to the shuttle, he glanced at Hofton. "How true was all that?"
"Mostly," Hofton said. "I was guessing that they had no warrant, which is the only reason I could think that might prevent them from detaining us. As for what the Auroran embassy would do if he had insisted-which he could have… well, I rather doubt they'd risk an incident over you. "
"You bluffed," Derec said in amazement.
Hofton nodded. "Successfully, I think." Derec took his briefcase from the Kopernik customs inspector, nodded curtly, and walked forward, into the debarkation lounge. From space, Kopernik Station resembled a child's construction from struts and blocks and spheres, additions over time added to the original dumbbell configuration giving the impression of an abstract modelbuilder's idea of a tree. Symmetry could be sensed but not directly observed.
The interior looked no different from any brightly-lit warren on Earth. The debarkation lounge resembled the foyer of a hostel. Derec had dozed during the last half-hour of the flight and felt slightly muddled. He searched for signs directing him to the Spacer section, which should be nearby. He noticed a pair of women off to his right who seemed to be waiting for someone.
Then he saw a station security officer to the left, also watching for someone. Anxious, he increased his pace.
"Mr. Avery?" a man called from behind him.
A sickly warm sensation erupted within him, spreading out from his stomach.
"Sir," Hofton called.
"Mr. Avery-" the man repeated.
"Derec, wait," a woman said.
Derec hesitated at the familiar voice, almost turned to look, and stumbled a few steps. A passerby caught his arm, steadying him. Derec jerked away. "Sorry," he muttered. "Thank you. "
"Derec, " Hofton said, coming around to block his path.
"Derec," came the familiar-sounding voice again. Female. Where?
One of the two women he had noticed grinned at him. Thick mahogany hair haloed her rounded face. She wore a loose-fitting shift and pants, Auroran-style. Derec stared at her, sure he should know her and unable to name her.
Standing beside her was the second woman-taller, dark-skinned, athletic, dressed in a suit that suggested a uniform. She radiated authority and he wondered what trick or bluff Hofton could do now to get them to the Spacer embassy. He swallowed hard and made himself stay put.
"Sir," Hofton said. "I believe our contact is here."
"Hi, boss, " the familiar woman said.
Derec stared, recognizing her now. "Rana…? Rana Duvan…?"
Her grin widened.
"Mr. Avery?" the dark woman asked quietly, stopping within arm's length.
"Y-yes?"
"I'm Sipha Palen," she said, extending a hand. "Coren told me to expect you. I apologize for being late."
Tentatively, Derec clasped her hand. The grip was dry and strong. Abruptly, he felt very foolish.
"Ms. Palen, yes. I-" He looked past her at Rana. "Would you excuse me?"
He set his briefcase down at Hofton's feet and embraced Rana. Her arms came around his back and squeezed him.
"I don't-" he began.
"It's good to see-"
"-what are you-?"
"-too long-" she commented.
"-can't believe it, you look-"
Derec's breath escaped in a heavy sigh, simultaneously with Rana 's sharp laugh. He stepped back. Her eyes glistened and she wiped at them impatiently.
"What are you doing here?" Derec asked.
Rana smiled. "I'm your embassy contact."
"Embassy…?"
"Long story," she said. "Later." She nodded in Sipha Palen's direction. "Business."
Palen watched with a bemused gleam in her eyes, hands clasped behind her back.
"Sorry," Derec said. "Rana and I used to work together. It's been a while since we saw each other."
"Of course," Palen said.
"Um…yes, Mr. Lanra said you'd meet us. You're chief of security?"
"Every bit of it, " she said, smiling. "Welcome to Kopernik. "
"Thank you. I believe I'm supposed to oversee an excavation on a positronic brain?" He looked at Rana, who shrugged.
"We haven't let it out of our lockup yet, " Palen said. "Now that you're here, we can get started."
"Rana is more than qualified-"
"Coren and I have agreed to a certain protocol in this case. You are part of it."
"I see. Well, then, let's get started. I understand there's a time limit?"
"There is. I'll take you to the robot directly and we'll all escort it to the Auroran embassy, if that's acceptable to you, Ms. Duvan. "
"I'm not in charge of the embassy," Rana said. She glanced at Hofton. "If it's been cleared with Yart, then…"
"I've already secured the appropriate clearances," Hofton said. "Ambassador Leri is aware that certain unusual circumstances prevail. We have his cooperation."
"Good," Sipha Palen said. "Then…?" She made a gesture for them all to proceed.
Derec retrieved his briefcase and they fell into a group, he and Palen in the lead, Hofton and Rana following. As they passed beneath the arch leading to the main concourse, Derec glanced to the left and saw a tall man in a knee-length ivory coat. His face was almost as pale as his coat, but mottled, as if from scarring. The faintest trails of hair traced across his scalp above a high forehead, and sharp, golden-green eyes shifted slowly, intently. He stood facing the customs aisles, as if waiting for someone, but as they walked by, he turned to watch Derec and his companions. It seemed to Derec, just for a moment, that the man smiled. Too brief to get a firm sense about it, but Derec thought he recognized a sign of familiarity and satisfaction in that expression.
Then Derec was through the archway and out of sight. He had never seen the man before. He knew he did not want to meet him. The reaction was irrational and after several steps he dismissed the entire episode as a leftover of his anxiety.
Must be Palen's man, he thought. It made sense. By the time they reached the embassy branch, Derec had forgotten all about him. Palen's section looked cramped. The doors were narrow and the passageways claustrophobic. The main desk nearly filled the front office, the bulkheads behind it filled with communications equipment that appeared constantly active. As they' entered, two uniformed officers looked up from where they sat behind the long, heavy counter.