Wondered if the angels would pay. Then... might be nothing.
But... the Oligari had put me back in business when I'd needed it. Owed the angel something for that. Besides, didn't hurt to have an angel owing me. Better than the other way around. Lots better.
Headed for the Sandurco concourse.
No one stopped me. High speed guideway cost me ten creds and still took a stan.
Flipped off at portal four. Patrollers check and know the dead spots on the first three. Beyond that... secure spaces under Lesser Worlds' Agreement. Whoever... had to be operating secured. Three possibilities.
Tried another maintenance lock. Opened it, but blew the alarm. Got beyond the monitors, but got no traces-just a long empty secure corridor. Space open and emissions zilch.
Went through the same routine after portal eight.
Down twenty creds, and probably another fifty for the alarm, if the patrollers pushed it.
Portal twenty-best bet, and didn't have to gimmick the lock. Oligari's routine found a Trojhors and had me through. No one on the other side. Not even a monitor, just a long corridor, same as around portal four. Felt different. Kept going. Empty space and more empty space. Nothing.
Didn't have much time before the patrollers or Sandurco privsec showed. Took my toolset, measured the field, reset the ID. Then dug out the spare mem from the pouch under my right arm. Boosted the field, set it with the phony of the Oligari and then crammed the Oligari's search routine into the spare. Overrode the safeties, and watched.
That much power on the spare mem-burn it out in less than a stan. Oligari ran that hot forever, but didn't want to do that kind of hackjob on the Oligari.
Took two minutes.
Hotspot a hundred meters ahead, and down fifty. Meant that someone had built a hideaway underground. Not many places near Highport where the fields allow that. Wondered how I'd get down there.
Access hatch and drop shaft behind a phony barrier. Used the back-up mem to fry the lock. Mem was half-gone anyway. Then took the drop at double speed and burst through the screen.
Big fellow, like Ferica, except he had white teeth and was reaching for a burner. Behind him was a pair of gene-overclone cradles. Looked like a med sculptech, renegade. Could find out later.
I didn't wait. Kept moving. May be small, but I'm not slow. Or stupid. Was inside his burner and had my ceramic blade up through his gut to the base of his heart before he could squeeze the trigger.
Burner still blazed across my shoulder. Hurt. Lots. Could barely see. Still managed to knock the burner to the floor. Kicked it out of the way. Sculptech sagged down, dying. He could take his time now.
Two women in the cradles. Restrained. Both naked. Beautiful. Identical. Silver-blond hair, tall, luminous green eyes, fine noses, but strong. Gene-tags'd show them the same.
Both looking at me. Neither spoke.
I couldn't either. Shoulder was hurting more, not less.
Forced another look around the lab. On the shelf to the left of the console was a wide belt, green, trimmed in gold. On the temphook stuck to the wall was a pilot's uniform-AngeLines.
I knew why the angel hadn't told me who the missing woman was. And Saalmo hadn't set me up. The angels had. Someone had wanted me to know what the missing woman looked like, and to have the right equipment.
Slipped the Oligari close enough to the consoles to run a diagnostic. Not one the angels or the Highport admin would have approved. Got a whole web of choices. Could have played games with the angels. No percentage in it.
Accessed the code the angels had given me.
"I've got your missing pilot-and the set up." Fed the coordinates from the Oligari into the web.
"We've got it. Don't move." That was the head angel.
Wasn't about to move. First, doubted I'd get far. Second, had other ideas. Could have waited for the angels, but ... infosnarks have their pride.
Both women in the cradles looked. at me. Finally, the one on the right moistened her lips.
Asked her, "How did they catch you?"
"It was a sophisticated sonic trap. There was a dead zone on one side of the corridor. I stepped around the maintenance floater, and they had me."
Probably the way it was, too. I turned to the other one, on the left. "What do you have to say?"
"It doesn't matter. They'll sort it out."
There was a quiet sadness in her voice. I knew why. So I stepped up to the console and triggered the releases on her cradle. "Better get your uniform on before they arrive."
The woman still in the cradle swallowed.
"I'd have thought you'd let her escape," offered the real angel. "We couldn't do that much to her."
"Not that cruel," I pointed out. "Couldn't do that to anyone. She'd be taken for a fallen angel. They don't last long. Whoever set this up... they knew that."
I didn't say any more because the side doors irised open. Angels and patrollers swarmed inside. The overclone was still in restraints. She didn't even swear.
Lead angel ignored the corpse. She had some kind of scanner. Ran the beam over both women. Then she turned to me.
"How did you know, Mario?"
"Wouldn't be much of a snark if I didn't, would I?" Turned to the head angel and offered her the Oligari, with my left hand. Right wouldn't move. "This belongs to one of yours."
She frowned, then reached out. Touched my shoulder. Lifted away the pain. Then she looked at the burner. "Hold still. This is going to hurt."
Thought what the burner did had hurt, but what she did was sheer agony. Except when she finished, the pain was gone. Just a dull ache.
"It will still take a few days to heal completely. Don't lift anything heavy."
I offered the Oligari again.
She smiled. Didn't take it. "Keep it, Mario. You earned it." Wasn't sure I wanted it. Make me top snark in Highport, for sure, but there's more 'n being top snark that way. Besides, Ferica or someone would make me a mark, so long as I had it.
I handed it to her. "Wouldn't be right." Wouldn't have been.
She understood... in a way. "What would you like?"
"A few creds... and I'd like to see the pilot's ship lift off."
"We'll have to hurry."
So they let me come, up three levels, and on the superguide to the middle of Heaven concourse. I'd never been there. No one sees it except angels, and pilgrims, the saved souls only once. They escorted me all the way through the portal and to the transfer deck.
Everyone stopped there.
The pilot I'd found looked at me with those luminous green eyes.
Knew she'd never be back. Not to Highport. She'd seen too much, and the angels would find some way to keep her on Heaven. She knew it, too. Didn't say anything, but I could tell.
The angels behind us reinforced that.
Pilot looked toward the transdeck. "I have to preflight."
"Have a good trip." Didn't know what else to say.
Stood with the lead angel and watched the screen for a good stan before the golden needle flared, vanished into overspace.
Then I turned.
Head angel looked at me. "There are five hundred creds in your account, Mario, and an open passage to Heaven. Open your whole life. No matter what."
Could tell she meant it. "Thank you. Not ready for that."
"We know."
Neither of us spoke as she escorted me back to the main concourse, left me there not a hundred meters from Moyra. Wondered if that was an accident. Didn't think so.
Waited out of sight of the kiosk for another half-stan, till just before Moyra's shift ended. Then sauntered up.
"Said I'd be here. Your choice. Any place in town-upper level."
Her mouth opened. Then she closed it and smiled.