She looked frightened. "What is it, Mr. Avery? You're the roboticist. Tell us."
"I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it. Coffee couldn't stop it because it was human. Or seemed human. "
"That?" Harwol exclaimed.
"It bled, Agent Harwol. It was-is-organic. Up to that point, Coffee assumed, as did everyone, that it was a robot…" He blinked. "A cyborg."
"A what?" Rana asked. "I didn't think those were possible."
"Aurora stopped research on them a long time ago. Not because they aren't possible-on the contrary, they are very possible. And much too unpredictable. "
"We're impounding all this material," Agent Harwol declared. "I want every bit of it turned over to us before any more of it goes missing. "
"To do what with?" Derec demanded. "You don't have the first idea what any of this means. "
"And you do? No arguments, Mr. Avery-this material is, now under TBI jurisdiction, and you are under arrest."
"For what?"
"Criminal negligence, for a start. Until we find that robot, I'm holding you responsible. You were working for us on this and an important piece of evidence is missing."
"For the sake of-" Palen said. "Stop it. Just what do you think you're accomplishing by all this?"
"I'm putting the lid on a bad situation on its way to becoming worse, Chief Palen," Harwol barked. "You're suspended, pending an investigation into abuse of authority. You had no mandate to indulge in this sort of an investigation-"
"You're going to make a mess of this whole thing-"
"Enough! I want this lab quarantined and everything in it held in stasis till I decide what to do with it. You have overstepped your authority in this matter, and the TBI is now taking over the investigation."
"Damn it-!" Palen began.
Harwol aimed a finger at her as if it were a weapon.
"Another word, Chief Palen," he said. "One more."
She restrained herself with a visible effort.
"You're an idiot," Derec said. "You could've just asked."
"I'm afraid, Agent Harwol, " Hofton said then, "that you lack the authority to make arrests on Auroran territory."
"Kopernik Station is an Earth Incorporated Zone," Harwol said. "Security is handled by Terran authority under specific treaty, which is why Chief Palen here has the authority to police even the Spacer and Settler areas. I am relieving her of that position and assuming that authority."
"That's thin, Harwol," Palen said. "Really, really thin."
"Maybe, but that's what I'm doing. I can damn well make arrests here, and I damn well will. You may file a complaint through proper channels and it will be considered at that time, but till then I am in charge of station security and you-" he pointed at Derec "-are under arrest." "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know. I was under the impression that Auroran embassy grounds were accorded the same privileges as the main mission. "
Hofton looked agonized. Derec had never seen the man so distraught. He sat on the other side of the narrow holding cell, elbows on knees, shoulders hunched, his face stretched by internal doubt and self-loathing.
"You can't be expected to know everything, Hofton," Derec said.
"I don't," Hofton said. "But I should know everything about my job."
Derec looked across, through the mesh of his cell door, to the cell opposite his. The Spacer who had been arrested the day Derec had arrived still waited within it. In all the confusion, he had been forgotten.
"It's understandable," Derec said. "Harwol and the others saw something they don't understand. Naturally, their reaction is to put anything they don't understand in a cell."
"All expectations for rational action and maturity notwithstanding," Hofton said gloomily.
"Doesn't matter. The relevant point is, you still have a job. I accept your apology. Now, let's figure out how to solve our problems."
Hofton continued to stare at a spot on the floor for several seconds. Then he drew a deep breath, straightened, and nodded.
"You're right, of course," he said. "What do you propose?"
"Thales withheld information for some reason. There's no way that robot could have done anything with Thales knowing." Derec thought about that. "Scratch that. Without Thales instigating it. Assuming for the moment Thales won't say anything to anyone but us, then the first opportunity we get to question it alone-"
"That may be very difficult. Harwol has an agent in the lab at all times."
"Hmm. All right, then the first thing we have to do is get some idea of what that thing is we saw in the recovered memories. They all saw that, there's nothing left to hide from the TBI. Contact Ariel, go over it with her."
"You said it's a cyborg."
"That's my best guess, but I wouldn't mind being contradicted. If somebody has a better idea, I'd love to hear it."
"Assuming you're correct, though, what then?"
"Then we have a real problem. Harwol and his people have no idea. If it's a cyborg, it was certainly not created out of thin air. There's infrastructure behind it-industry, an impressive application of technology. Which means money. More than likely, if there's one, there are more."
"Whose money?"
"That's one good question. The other is, what do they have to do with baleys?"
"Baleys in general, or those going to Nova Levis specifically?"
"Right now it could be either one. When you talk to Ariel, find out if Lanra has any statistics on the number of baleys going out each year that arrive dead. Or just disappear."
"With all due respect to Mr. Lanra, how would he get such statistics? The Settler colonies are not all willing to provide Earth with data. Census figures alone represent a major problem."
"Mmm. Well, maybe he knows someone who can get those numbers. I just need to know if one colony above any other is having a problem with this."
Hofton nodded. "I'll see what I can find out. Anything else?"
"Can you go in and out of the lab?"
"For the time being." He grinned wryly. "I'm a bit of a gray area for them. They don't quite know how to handle me. I've threatened them with Ambassador Setaris."
"Then get me an update from Thales."
"Yes, sir. Shall I see about getting you out of here?"
"Eventually, yes. For now, though, I've got some thinking to do, and this is as good a place as any. "
"Yes, sir. Anything else?"
"Call me Derec."
Hofton stood. "I'll see what I can do. Sir."
Hofton placed his hand against the lock pad. The door opened for him; after he passed through, the mesh slid back into place. If Derec had tried to follow Hofton a stunner would have knocked him back very firmly.
A few minutes later, the main door opened again and two of Palen's uniforms brought a man into the block. They escorted him into a cell at the opposite end from the main door, locked him in, and left without glancing at Derec or the other prisoner.
Derec strained to see into the cell of the new inmate, but the man had flopped onto his cot.
Derec looked across the concourse at the other Spacer.
"So what did you do that got you thrown in here?" Derec called.
The Spacer sat up. After a few seconds of contemplation, the man went to his cell door, placed his hand on the lock, and walked out. With a glance in the direction of the newcomer, he came quietly up to Derec's door, opened it, and entered the cell. The door slid shut and the Spacer sat down where Hofton had been sitting.
Derec stared at him. "You're one of Palen's people."
He grinned. "Right on the first guess. They didn't lie when they said you were bright." He extended his hand. "Masid Vorian, station security."
Derec shook Masid's hand. "So I suppose you heard everything we discussed?"
"Most of it. Don't worry about the TBI, though. The cell monitoring system is keyed to Sipha's password. She shut it down after Harwol and his eager fools showed up. So they'll never know what you discussed with your man, or what you and I talk about now."
Derec nodded toward the door. "What about the new prisoner?"
"Must be a legitimate arrest. His escorts would've given me some kind of warning if he was a plant or something. Don't worry-I doubt he can hear our conversation, either."