Penny wouldn't sell it, davis caldarola said emphatically.

There's nothing here to sell anyway, shannon said. The actual assembly bay control programs use a form of flexible fuzzy logic which is quite sophisticated, they might be reasonably valuable to a rival manufacturing company, but they're hardly exclusive. And in any case,she waved an arm at the console, they're not here. These files are just manufacturing records.

Which leaves us with a search, i said.

You got it, boss.

OK, genius, search it for what?

She flashed a smile, and started typing rapidly on a keyboard. Her programs don't have restricted access, only the files. So let's see.the data on the screens began to change as she called up various system menus. her head swivelled round like a vigilant owl as she checked the ever-changing display formats. «gotcha!» a sharply pointed fingernail tapped one of the screens. This is the one. According to the log record she was using it the day before she died.long columns of purple and green numbers fell down the screen. shannon blinked, and peered forwards eagerly. Holy shit. Boss, it's a tracer program which looks for gold.

Gold?i queried.

Davis Caldarola gave a small start. I only just caught it out of the corner of my eye. And he covered fast, turning it into a perplexed scowl. Interesting.

Yes, shannon said. It's a fairly basic routine; it just runs through the files and pulls any reference for gold.

And Penny Maowkavitz was using it to search the Cybernetics Division files? Which file has the same log-on time as the search program?

Way ahead of you, boss.the screens were running through menu displays again, too fast for the data to be anything other than a fluorescent smear.

In my own mind I was starting to assemble a theory, segments of the puzzle manoeuvring round each other, slotting together. There was a strong sense of conviction rising, buoying up my flagging confidence. Progress was coming too fast for it to be mere coincidence. Eden.

Yes, Chief Parfitt.

Tell me about the asteroid rock you digest; does it contain gold?

Yes.

And other precious metals?

Yes. Silver and platinum are also present in small quantities.

«But everything is relative,» I whispered. Eden digests over two hundred thousand of tonnes of rock each year, that's what Wallace Steinbauer told me. And had been doing so ever since it was germinated.

Davis Caldarola had turned even paler. Do you separate these precious metals out and store them in the silos in the southern endcap?i asked.

Yes.

What is the current quantity stockpiled in the silos?

I am holding one thousand seven hundred and eighty tonnes of silver; one thousand two hundred and thirty tonnes of gold, and eight hundred and ninety tonnes of platinum.

«I never knew that,» Shannon said. She had stopped typing to look at me in astonishment.

Me neither, i said. It wasn't in any briefing I received. In fact, I doubt the JKSP board even knows about it. I expect the information that Eden could extract precious metals as well as ordinary ones was hidden away in some technical appendix that nobody ever looked at, that's if Maowkavitz ever bothered to mention it at all.

Why?shannon demanded.

Well, Davis?i said heavily. Why don't you tell us?

I didn't know, he blurted.

I don't believe you, Davis. It was an extremely subtle deception; and one which must have been planned right from the very start. In other words, it was Penny Maowkavitz's idea.

His jaw worked silently, then he slowly lowered his head into his hands. «Oh God, you've got this all wrong.»

So put us straight, i said.

It was never for personal gain. It was all for Boston, everything she did was for us.

She was going to reveal the existence of the precious metal stockpile after independence,i said. Then it could be used for Boston's buyout of JSKP shares.

You know?he asked in surprise.

It seems logical.

Yes. It was all so beautifully simple. Only Penny could be this elegant. Nobody has ever attempted to extract precious metals from asteroid rock before. Sure, precious metals are present in the O'Neill Halo asteroids, but the quantities simply aren't large enough to warrant building specialist extraction units on to the existing furnaces. Given the mass of ore involved, it isn't cost-effective. But in Eden's case it costs nothing for the digestive organs to extract them from the ore. Like you said, she never told the JSKP board the metals were being automatically refined; and nobody ever thought in those terms. The board never expected to receive gold from Jupiter.

And what you don't know, you can't act upon, i said. Neat.

She just wanted what was best, he insisted staunchly.

How many other people knew?i asked.

Only the four of us. Penny thought that it would be a very hard secret to keep. People would be tempted.

I expect she's right. So you and she knew; who were the others?

Antony Harwood and Eric McDonald.

Not Bob Parkinson? He is Boston's leader now, after all.

Davis Caldarola let out a contemptuous snort. No way! She said she didn't trust him any more. Not since this row over the timing. She said he was showing his true loyalties now the crunch was coming. I know she didn't want him as a trustee any more, she was going to replace him.

OK, I know Harwood. Who's Eric McDonald?

He used to be in charge of the Cybernetics Division, before JSKP brought in their management whiz-kid Steinbauer. Eric is still up here; he got shunted sideways into the cloudscoop operation, supervising the microgee industrial stations which produced the pipe.

Steinbauer didn't know?

No. Hell, he's not even a Boston member.

I looked enquiringly at Shannon. I'd guess that Penny Maowkavitz has been checking up on Steinbauer. If anyone was likely to find out about the stockpile, it would be him. Blowing that subterfuge to the JSKP board really would guarantee his promotion.

Most likely, yes, boss.

So what was the last file Maowkavitz reviewed?

She consulted one of the screens. Now that's a funny one; strictly speaking it isn't a Cybernetics Division file. It's the maintenance log for a Dornier SCA-4545B two-man engineering capsule. JSKP has about sixty of them up here, tending the industrial stations and the He3 operations. But, boss, this log hasn't got the UN Civil Spaceflight Authority codes; I'd say it was some kind of bootleg copy.

The data on the screen didn't mean anything to me. Run the gold search program, i told her.

Her finger stabbed down on the enter key.

Bingo.

•   •   •

Can you actually see Steinbauer yourself?i asked rolf.

Yes, sir; he's in his office, two down from the one I'm using.

What's he doing?

Using the computer, I think. He's sitting at the desk, anyway.

OK, under no circumstances are you to approach him.i turned the jeep onto one of the main roads running the length of the habitat. at the back of my mind i was aware of eden clearing all other traffic from the road ahead of me, and diverting people away from the cyberfactory cavern where steinbauer had his office. i twisted the accelerator, pushing the jeep up to fifty kilometres an hour, top speed.

Boss, shannon called, I make that over two hundred and twenty modifications to the capsule systems; he's been replacing everything from wiring to thermal foil.