Heather started. “You don’t think…?”
“No, I don’t. But I can’t be sure.”
“Yes, sir.”
“There’s one more thing.” Redburn took a deep breath. “We’ve never been able to conclusively identify anyone in this group. We have no idea who they are, or who supports them.”
Heather nodded. KR’s shadowiness was one of the constant frustrations of her work.
“However, the information I received linking KR to this riot also contained a disturbing note. Their support may come from very high up.”
“How high?”
“I’ve sent you a file. Look at it carefully.”
“Yes, sir.” Heather stood. She didn’t need to ask any more questions—her expected course of action was quite clear.
She walked out of the office and turned on her noteputer. It beeped four times. One of the messages was titled: Past and current political affiliations of Paladins and Senators.
Her heart chilled. Redburn wanted her to look at her fellow Paladins. Could one of them be supporting the KR? Had their process broken down so far?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a flurry of red hair rushing toward her.
“There you are, Paladin!” Duncan said as he waved a scrap of paper. “I have an urgent message about House Liao…”
22
Pension Flambard, Geneva
Terra, Prefecture X
1 December 3134
Rain was falling again in Geneva, a steady daylong drizzle, and a gray mist filled the street outside the Pension Flambard. Jonah Levin had taken advantage of the pension’s excellent connections to Geneva’s data-and-communications net to spend the day working in his room, putting off until tomorrow those tasks which had to be dealt with in person.
At noon Jonah left the pension long enough to purchase a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery on the corner, then ate the bread at his desk with jam and butter while reading an encrypted report from Burton Horn in Santa Fe, sent to an address Jonah maintained outside of government networks.
Jonah didn’t like having to work outside the networks, because it meant he was seriously considering the prospect of corruption and murder at the highest levels of The Republic. Nevertheless, he had to acknowledge that Victor Steiner-Davion was unlikely, at his age, to have made new enemies outside of his regular circle—and that circle included people who possessed some of the most exalted positions in The Republic of the Sphere. Painful as it might be to contemplate, it was better to take unneeded precautions than to suffer the consequences of a betrayal of trust.
Jonah poured himself a cup of black coffee from the room’s glass-and-silver brewing set, and returned his attention to the report waiting open on his desktop. So far, according to Burton Horn, a visual inspection of Steiner-Davion’s chambers had led the operative to agree with Santa Fe law enforcement: the Paladin had died of a heart attack brought on by overexertion, to wit, self-defense against a murder attempt.
Horn wrote:
The circumvention of all relevant security systems during the critical time period was professionally done. The tampering was evident—minimally—after the fact, but it would have been undetectable on the night. Santa Fe law enforcement remains confident of their ability to locate the killers, given time and the DNA signature taken from bloodstains left at the site. I have left a standing request with them that I be notified if/when they have any individual(s) in custody.
The electronic data in Victor’s office was erased all too easily with an electromagnetic pulse. No muss, no fuss. Whoever was in there didn’t even need to touch his machines.
I have decided to conduct a second interview with Elena Ruiz, Victor Steiner-Davion’s nurse-housekeeper in the last months of his life. By all reports, the Paladin was closemouthed with friends and colleagues alike about his final project. As you are aware, even the subject of his projected remarks at the opening of the Electoral Conclave remains unknown.
It is possible, however, that Steiner-Davion may not have been so reticent with someone like Ruiz, who was not a part of that world. Also, as someone who had daily contact with him, as well as virtually unrestricted access to his living quarters, she may have known or at any rate suspected more about his endeavors than he was aware.
Furthermore—in our first interview, I discovered a possible link between Ruiz and people back in Geneva. She is involved romantically with a gentleman named Henrik Morten. This is suggestive; it would probably repay your efforts to determine if any of the Mallory’s World Mortens by that name are working in Geneva or on Terra in general. The gentleman’s connection with Ms. Ruiz may be only what she says it is. On the other hand—if you will forgive me for saying so—she does not strike me as the sort of person likely to enthrall a young man of Henrik Morten’s probable station by her looks and personality alone.
Jonah closed the message and poured himself another cup of coffee. Burton Horn was indeed a bit of a snob, he reflected—but the operative was also an acute observer of human nature.
If he thought that the unknown Henrik Morten bore investigating, he was probably right.
Office of Senator Leeson, Geneva
Terra, Prefecture X
4 December 3134
The easy part had been confirming Horn’s suspicions. Henrik Morten was indeed of noble blood and seemed to be a promising young man. Jonah found mentions of him connected to trade negotiations in Skye, crafting legislation for military aid to Prefecture IX and organizing humanitarian relief for refugees from attacks by Clan Jade Falcon. Morten, of course, played only a peripheral role in all these activities, but he was prominent enough to get his name mentioned. He was clearly a diplomat on the rise.
The more difficult job was finding out about the man behind the headlines (or, in Morten’s case, the man behind the brief mention buried in paragraph eleven). Jonah knew from long experience that only a small part of a politician’s life was covered by the newssheets.
Luckily, this was an ideal time to be gathering political information, as most high-ranking government officials had gathered in Geneva, awaiting the election. This included Senator Kay Leeson of Prefecture II, who happened to have spent a few years on Kervil.
“Paladin Levin!” she said enthusiastically when he entered her office. “How unusual that we should both be on the same planet at the same time.”
Jonah smiled back. Thin, dark-haired and sharp-featured, Leeson hadn’t changed much in the ten years since Jonah had met her. She had more energy and enthusiasm than her twenty-year-old interns, despite being well over twice their age.
“Good to see you, Senator.”
“Now, I’d love to get caught up with you on things back home, but something tells me that a Paladin walking into my office at eight p.m. with an election imminent is not here for small talk. How can I help you?”
“Well, Senator, the election’s exactly the reason. It’s already started—the bargaining, the negotiating, everything. You know how that works. I, on the other hand—” Jonah spread his hands in a display of helplessness “—have never been gifted on that side of my job. Can you believe I arrived on Terra without a single staff person?”
Leeson laughed and shook her head. “The trappings of office were never your interest,” she said. “No staff? Do you know what those other Paladins are going to do to you?”
Jonah chuckled ruefully. “I know, I know. But I thought maybe you could help me.”