‘What’s this about?’
‘Easy, Tom. Just let the weapon go. Then we can talk.’
‘Talk about what?’
‘The weapon, Tom. Nice and easy.’
Dreyfus had no use for the rifle. Even if there had been an ammo-cell clipped into it, he was hardly going to open fire so close to the docking bay. But it still took a measure of self-control to let it drift out of his fingers.
‘What’s going on?’ Baudry asked.
Gaffney clicked his gloved fingers at the pair of field prefects still waiting to clear the armoury. ‘Get aboard the ship,’ he said.
‘She asked a civil question,’ Dreyfus said.
‘Field Prefect Tom Dreyfus,’ Gaffney said, before the stragglers had cleared the room, ‘you are under arrest. Please surrender your whiphound.’
Dreyfus didn’t move. ‘State the terms of my arrest,’ he said.
‘Your whiphound, Tom. Then we can talk.’
‘My name’s Dreyfus, you sonofabitch.’ But he still unclipped the whiphound and let it drift after the rifle.
‘I think you’d better explain,’ Crissel said.
Gaffney appeared to have trouble clearing his throat. His eyes were wide, pugnacious, brimming with an almost religious rage. ‘He’s let the prisoner escape.’
Baudry’s look sharpened. ‘You mean Clepsydra, the Conjoiner woman?’
‘Prefect Bancal visited her cell about ten minutes ago and found the cell empty. Mercier was called immediately: Bancal assumed that the doctor had moved her back to the clinic for medical reasons. Mercier hadn’t, though. She’s gone.’
‘I want her found, and fast,’ Crissel said. ‘But I don’t see why Dreyfus is automatically assumed—’
‘I checked the access logs,’ Gaffney said. ‘Dreyfus was the last one to see her before she vanished.’
‘I didn’t release her,’ Dreyfus said, directing his answer at the other two seniors, not Gaffney. ‘And how could I have got her out of that room even if I’d wanted to?’
‘We’ll figure that out in due course,’ Gaffney said. ‘What matters is that you weren’t happy about her being locked up in there, were you?’
‘She’s a witness, not a prisoner.’
‘A witness who can see through walls. That makes a difference, don’t you think?’
‘Where could she be?’ Baudry asked.
‘She has to be still inside Panoply. No ships have come or gone since Dreyfus’s return. Needless to say, I’ve initiated a level-one search. We’ll find her soon enough.’ Gaffney touched a hand to his sweat-tangled hair. ‘She may be a Conjoiner, but she sure as hell isn’t invisible.’
‘You’re wrong about this,’ Dreyfus said. ‘Clepsydra was there when I left her. I sent Sparver to check on her. Why would I do that if I’d set her free?’
‘We can worry about the how and why of it later,’ Gaffney answered. ‘The access logs leave no doubt that Dreyfus was the last one in her cell before she disappeared.’
‘I want a forensic search of that room.’
‘I insist on it,’ Gaffney said. ‘Now, are you going to make a scene, or can we do this like responsible adults?’
‘It’s you,’ Dreyfus said, with the feeling that he’d just got the punchline to a long, drawn-out joke, hours after everyone else.
‘Me?’ Gaffney asked, looking perplexed.
‘The mole. The traitor. The man Clepsydra spoke about. You’re working for Aurora, aren’t you? You sabotaged the Search Turbines. You corrupted my beta-level witness.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘Talk to Trajanova. See what she says.’
‘Oh dear,’ Gaffney said, biting his lower lip. ‘Haven’t you heard?’
‘Haven’t I heard what?’
‘Trajanova’s dead,’ Baudry said. ‘I’m sorry, Tom. I thought you knew.’
Dreyfus stared at her in numb disbelief. ‘What do you mean, she’s dead?’
‘It was a dreadful accident,’ Baudry said. ‘Trajanova was working inside the casing of one of the Search Turbines when it began to spin up. It appears that some safety interlock had been disabled… we can only imagine that Trajanova herself must have done it, because she was in a hurry to get the Turbs back up—’
‘It wasn’t an accident.’ Dreyfus was looking at Gaffney now. ‘You made this happen, didn’t you?’
‘Wait,’ Gaffney said, unfazed. ‘Isn’t this the same Trajanova you used to have issues with? The deputy you fired, the one you could barely speak to without the two of you shooting daggers at each other?’
‘We got over that.’
‘Well, isn’t that convenient.’ Gaffney looked quickly to the others. ‘Does this make any sense to anyone? Quite apart from these slanderous accusations of murder, I don’t recall Dreyfus mentioning a mole until now. Maybe if he had it would lend this outburst a bit more credibility.’ He gave Dreyfus a pitying look. ‘I can’t begin to tell you how undignified this all sounds. I expected better of you, frankly.’
‘He mentioned the mole to me.’ They turned as one to see Sparver hovering at the threshold of the chamber.
‘This is no business of yours, Deputy Field,’ said Gaffney.
‘The moment you shot off your mouth about Dreyfus it became my business. Let him go.’
‘Escort the deputy out of here,’ Gaffney instructed two of his internals. ‘Pacify him if he makes trouble.’
‘You’re making a mistake,’ Sparver said.
‘Tell you what,’ Gaffney said. ‘Why don’t you dump him in an interrogation bubble until he cools off? Got to keep a lid on that temper, son. I know it’s hard, not having a fully developed frontal cortex, but you could make an effort.’
‘There’s a line,’ Sparver said quietly. ‘You just crossed it.’
‘Not before you did.’ Gaffney’s hand hovered over his whiphound, a tacit warning. ‘Now get out of here before one of us does something he might have cause to regret.’
‘Go,’ Dreyfus mouthed to Sparver. Then, louder: ‘Find Clepsydra. Before Gaffney’s people do. She’s in danger.’
Sparver touched his hand to the side of his head, enough of a salute to let Dreyfus know he still had an ally.
‘Well,’ Gaffney said, ‘looks like you got an exemption from the rescue mission, at least. Or were you counting on that?’
Dreyfus just looked at him, not even dignifying the statement with a response.
‘I’ll take his place,’ Crissel said.
It fell to Baudry to break the silence that fell after his words. ‘No, Michael,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to do this. You’re a senior, not a field. This is where we need you.’
Crissel plucked the rifle from the air where it had come to rest. His hands closed around it with probing unfamiliarity, as if he wasn’t quite sure which end was which. ‘I’ll get suited-up and have the rest of the weapons issued,’ he said, with a confidence that sounded ice-thin. ‘We can launch inside five minutes.’
‘You’re not ready for this,’ Baudry said.
‘Dreyfus was prepared to put his neck on the line. Regardless of what’s just happened, we can’t simply abandon those kids aboard the Universal Suffrage.’
‘When was the last time you left Panoply on field duty, as opposed to pleasure?’ Dreyfus asked.
‘Only a few months ago,’ Crissel said quickly. ‘Six at the most. Definitely within the last year.’
‘Did you carry a whiphound?’
Crissel blinked as he retrieved the memories of the trip. Dreyfus wondered how far back he was digging. ‘We didn’t need them. The risk assessment was low.’
‘So hardly comparable to what we’re facing now.’
‘No one’s ever faced anything like this, Tom. It’s new to all of us.’