"Don't be." Derec disliked talking about his past-lack of past, really. The one thing he shared with Ariel that would never change: both of them were recovered amnesiacs, victims of Burundi's Fever. The damage the disease caused left them permanently incapable of recovering memories from before its onset.
But they had rebuilt their lives. Derec had used Earth as a focus, a home base, a place from which to find…what he needed to find.
"Ariel doesn't share your appreciation," Rana said. "She told you that?"
"We had a couple of long talks. She needed a sympathetic ear, I think, that would go away later."
"Well. I don't know, though. She's here. She requested an Earth posting. "
"Hm. By the way, not to change the subject but…what about Bogard?"
Derec sighed. "Bogard. Most of Bogard is in a crate stashed in a lockup in the embassy. Thales keeps teasing at his matrix. Of course, without sufficient memory, there's only so much Thales can do."
"We've got the memory here."
"Believe me, the thought did cross my mind. And Thales'. If possible…"
Rana smiled conspiratorially. "I don't see a problem. We'll do what we can."
He gestured at the encryption sequence. "How big is this?"
"I'm using a five-digit key."
"Five. Isn't that a little excessive?"
"All these years on Earth and you're still not paranoid enough. Actually, I'm encrypting against positronic intrusion. I'm letting Thales choose the key. That way you or I can't give it away."
"And Thales won't. Impressive."
"Thank you." She regarded him thoughtfully. "And thanks for wanting to work with me again. I hope I can help."
"Believe me, it helped just seeing you."
Rana looked startled, then laughed nervously. "I missed you."
Derec felt a warm rush of blood flow through his scalp and face. Surprised, he looked away.
A tone sounded, and Rana looked over at the comm console. "Ah. We have security." She tapped in a command. "Thales?"
"I am online, Rana. How are you?" Half an hour later, the robot arrived, encased in a dull gray canister, rolled on a gurney between Palen and Hofton. Its entry attracted attention from the huddle of technicians, who watched it all the way across the lab until it disappeared behind the blind Rana had erected.
Derec waited for Palen to open the case. The lid peeled back with a soft snik. It was much as he had seen in the storage closet: An older model DW-12-or perhaps even, now that the light was better, a DW-10 with modifications-stretched out like a corpse in a coffin. Derec pressed two fingers against the place where its ear would be. A small panel on the chest slid away to reveal a screen. Derec touched the screen, setting it aglow. A string of alphanumerics scrolled rapidly over it, stopped, then disappeared, leaving behind a flashing red dot.
"It didn't hurt to try, " he said. "Thales, the self-diagnostic is junk. We'll have to do this from first principles."
"I am prepared, Derec," Thales replied.
Palen frowned at the link perched on the console.
"Resident Intelligence, " Derec explained as he began connecting cables to various jacks in the robot's head and torso. He had to wipe accrued grime off a couple of them. "A disembodied positronic brain configured to act as a primary systems processor."
"Uh-huh," Palen said. "Like the one that went crazy in Union Station last year?"
Derec hesitated. "Basically. Only this one is mine and no one has tampered with it but me. So you needn't worry about it hallucinating. " He finished the connections. "Run synchronous pattern test, Thales. Test link. "
"Working, Derec." A moment later: "The link is fine. We can proceed."
"Is there anything left in there?"
It took nearly two minutes for Thales to answer.
"Damage is considerable, Derec, but I detect a few orderly sectors. Memory nodes have not been corrupted."
Derec exchanged grins with Rana.
"What does that mean?" Palen asked.
"It means," Derec said, "that we have a good chance of salvaging something for you. "
Twelve
Ariel felt a momentary surge, like the rush from falling, as the limo left the embassy. She could not pin down in memory the last time she had been out side the Spacer mission. She swallowed dryly, waiting. The further the transport carried from the garage, the calmer she became; after a time, she laughed at herself.
She opened her datum and accessed current files. A list of reports scrolled down the screen-detail work she had neglected for months. The complaints sorted themselves automatically in a separate column, apart from the regular stock and shipping reports all Aurorans were required to file. Three firms came up more often than any other, one of them filing eighteen complaints over the last six months, all of them having to do with delayed or lost exports.
Carsanli Intercomp built domicile environmental control units, adaptable to a wide range of habitats. Their principle customers were Settler colonies. Ariel was impressed with their logic-they built the units on Earth, using part Spacer technologies and part Terran, and shipped through Terran distributors, which minimized their Spacer presence. A lot of Spacer firms conducted business in a similar fashion, but often had a difficult time in the manufacturing end due to restrictions on factory space and local regulations concerning employment and vending requirements. In an unusual arrangement, Carsanli leased a factory already owned and operated by a Terran firm-Imbitek-from whom they also bought the Terran components.
The company kept its offices in the Convention District of D.C. Ariel recognized the area as she entered it. She used to come here twice a week, before so many Spacer businesses had abandoned Earth. There was still a large Spacer presence, though, and she had no sound reason for having neglected her duties.
The limo stopped at the main entrance to the offices. She stepped out and looked around. This was a warehouse area. People in worktogs or officewear filled the passages as First Shift opened. She caught a few frowns and curious looks from passersby, but ignored them. Steeling herself, she entered the building.
"Ambassador Burgess," said a tall Auroran who greeted her. Behind him stood a broad reception desk and the company seal on the walclass="underline" an oblate disk filled with a moil of multihued shapes that reminded Ariel of feathers. "Welcome to Carsanli Intercomp. I'm Farin Holiye, general manager. This is most unexpected."
She grasped his hand briefly. "Things have been unusually complicated recently. I apologize for taking so long to come down."
Holiye smiled brightly. "Not at all, not at all. Please, this way. We can talk in my office."
Ariel followed him through a door and up a short flight of stairs. He waved her into a wide, dark-paneled office.
"May I offer refreshment?" he asked, heading for a sidebar.
"No, thank you. I have a rather full schedule today. But I wanted to see you first. "
"Ah. Yes, well…" He gestured to a pair of plush chairs on opposite ends of a low table. "I don't wish to begin with a complaint-"
"I'm aware of the number of reports you've sent," Ariel said, sitting. "I'm here now."
"Yes…well, the basic problem is that several consignments of product have gone missing; I think it's accurate to say stolen. Insurance has compensated for them, of course, but we've lost three major customers over it."
"You sent them replacements?"
"Of course, but those went missing, too. It was very aggravating."
"Shipments to the same clients…that's very interesting. May I see the manifests?"
"Certainly." He went to his desk and returned with a slate. "I had them prepared for you."
Ariel scanned the columns. Four very large orders purchased by a construction firm on Epsilon Coriae never arrived. As Holiye had claimed, insurance covered the loss, but the Settler company canceled the contract. ITE attributed the loss to piracy and pled lack of jurisdiction once the shipments left the solar system. She scrolled further and noted several other shipments lost. All of them had been slated for Settler companies.