Then Vergon bought us two tickets and we hurried to the security lines, ending up behind a couple of hairy and stinky Srendians. It was like standing behind a blue carpet that had been soaked in formaldehyde.
He looked at me. “You were in love with her?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you marry her?”
I shrugged. “I would have, but she ran out on me. I guess I wasn’t rich enough or powerful enough for her.”
“You were fortunate then.”
I laughed, though he reacted in surprise, as if he hadn’t meant it as a joke.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” I said. “Bwer-Fwer said there was a problem with the transfer process. Do you know what happened there? He was worried your mind got scrambled, but you seem fine.”
We got to the front of the line and he hand-printed the ticket-checker. Androids didn’t have fingerprints like humans, but they did have unique digital signatures; the machine beeped and said his name, his flight time, and his departure gate. An older human couple ahead of us craned their heads around. So it’d begun: He’d been recognized, and I’d only feel better once we were airborne. His flight and identity verified, Vergon was about to step through the security tunnel. He looked at me, dropping his voice to a whisper.
“The only problem that I know of—” he began.
But I never learned what the problem was. There was an electric shriek and the center of Vergon’s chest exploded in flames.
He crumpled over, and a blue wave of fire enveloped his body, eating it up, turning it into nothing but dust. It was a plasma bolt—there was no way to stop it from completely disintegrating him. People screamed and stampeded. My shock lasted only an instant, and then I turned and saw the attacker fleeing—the blond android who’d pursued me earlier, dressed in the orange and red flowery garb of the local monks.
I took off after him. He was much faster, but he made the mistake of glancing over his shoulder at me. In the meantime, a sweeperbot rolled into his path and he tripped. I was on him in a second, my laser pistol jammed up into his chin. His eyes remained passive; he might have been watching a food processor churning out cheese.
“Tell me who you’re working for!” I cried.
Beneath my legs, his chest felt warm and getting warmer. He closed his eyes, and I realized what was happening, rolling off of him just before his body exploded.
I woke up in the spaceport’s infirmary, two shiny medical robots tending to my wounds and a dozen green-uniformed police waiting in the wings. I had a few nasty cuts on my face and arms, and a minor concussion, but otherwise I’d been lucky. It was nearly four hours before I was able to convince the police I had nothing to do with Vergon’s death, and then they were gracious enough to let me out a back door so I could avoid the hordes of media gathered outside.
I left the spaceport and walked under a blazing sun to a little hole-in-the-wall diner, sequestering myself in the com-com unit at the back. It smelled like piss and smoke inside, and even through the glass door I could hear the wince-inducing Nelsani harp music playing from the diner’s speakers.
Ginger answered my page within ten seconds. She was in the back of a plush pod, the seats dark leather, and her silver glittering outfit looked like it was made of diamonds. The camera was angling from a low viewpoint, giving her three breasts the appearance of an imposing mountain range.
“You killed him,” I said.
She looked puzzled. “Whatever are you talking about, dear? Did you find Vergon?”
“Don’t lie to me, Ginger. I’m sure you’ve seen the news by now.”
At my saying this, she turned to her right and punched something out of my view. She said nothing for a moment, then sighed.
“How sad,” she said, and she didn’t sound sad at all. “He meant everything to me.”
“Like hell he did. You killed him.”
“That’s quite an accusation, Duff. You have some proof of this?”
“I’ll get some.”
She smiled primly. “Oh, I don’t think so. You can’t prove something that isn’t true.”
“Ginger—”
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said, “I’ve got a company to save from takeover. And with me in charge, you better believe things are looking up for Vergon Enterprises.” She looked at me levelly. “Because I’ll do whatever it takes to get to the top. You know that, Duff, don’t you?”
“Damn it, Ginger—”
“In fact, I always like being on top.” Her smile turned coy. “Maybe you should come visit me and I’ll show you exactly what I mean. I guarantee that by tomorrow we’ll see eye for an eye on this.”
“It’s eye to eye, you idiot,” I said, and punched off.
I was shaking, and I wanted to smash something. Ginger had won. That wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that for just an instant, a tiny flicker of a moment, I’d actually thought about taking her up on her offer. It made me feel lousier than I’d felt in my entire life.
It was only then that I realized why I’d taken the case at all. Crazy as it was, I’d secretly been hoping I could win her back.
Returning to Versatia, I threw myself into my work checking the hotel security, hoping it would help put the whole mess with Ginger out of my mind. It didn’t. I found myself following what was happening with Vergon Enterprises and Granger Holdings with great interest, secretly praying that Granger would put Ginger out on her ass. Granger might still put thousands out of work, but at least Ginger wouldn’t gain from it.
I’d always been of the atheist persuasion—I’d seen too much to believe in any sort of almighty god—but what happened next was enough to challenge my conviction. Somebody must have heard my prayers, because Granger got control of Vergon Enterprises within a month. Not only that, but the way the deal went down left Ginger out in the cold with only a few million credits in her pocket. A few million was certainly nothing to sneeze at, but it was less than one hundredth of one percent of what her estate had been worth before Granger took over. She was all over the vids threatening to sue, insisting a great injustice had been done, but all the legal experts said there was nothing she could do.
More amazingly, Granger didn’t break up Vergon Enterprises. They expanded it. People didn’t lose their jobs. They got raises. New stepdock deals with planets coming into the Unity Worlds fell into place, almost as if Granger had been holding back on making those deals until the takeover was finished. If Vergon was still alive, he would have been incredibly happy at how it had all turned out—if he could have felt happiness, that was.
That’s when I figured out what had really happened.
The rain fell in torrents, slicing into the thick Nelsani jungle. I stepped into the hut and lowered my hood. Despite the weather, the little shop was bustling, the aisles full of customers browsing the gear. I found Asif at the counter, handing a box of shoes to a hairy Srendian and her hairy child. I waited until they shuffled away.
“Busy day,” I said.
He turned in my direction, smiling the plastic salesman’s smile, but when he recognized me it faded.
“You,” he said. “I’m surprised to see you here again.”
“Really?” I said. “I guess you don’t think very highly of me then.”