Part 22 (1/2)

”I would say so,” Ixil said dryly. ”He was on the commando team that penetrated the Patthaaunutth Star Transport Industries plant on Oigren.”

I turned my head to look at him. ”You're kidding. Our Almont Nicabar?”

”So it says,” Ixil a.s.sured me. ”Furthermore, from the listed dates, it appears he resigned from the service barely three months after the mission's failure.”

A funny sensation began to dig into my stomach. That was when I remembered six years being mentioned: Nicabar had said that was how long ago he'd resigned from the Marines. ”Is there any mention of why the mission failed?”

Ixil gave me an odd look. ”As a matter of fact, there's a note that suggests inside information might have been leaked to the Patth. Are you seeing a connection?”

”Could be,” I said grimly. ”Three months is just the right length for a private confidential court-martial.”

”You sure?”

”Trust me,” I a.s.sured him. ”I went through one, remember? One other thing. I told you about seeing three more of the Lumpy Clan back in that taverno. What I.

didn't tell you was that Nicabar reacted rather strongly when we got our first glimpse of one of them. Strongly for Nicabar, anyway.”

For a moment Ixil digested that in silence. ”Still, there must not have been a real case against him, or he wouldn't have been allowed to resign and leave gracefully.”

”But there must have been enough of one for them to hold him for court-martial in the first place,” I pointed out.

”Unless there was no court-martial involved,” Ixil also pointed out. ”It might have just been three months of general debriefing.”

”And he then picked up and left a promising ten-year career just for the h.e.l.l of it?” I shrugged. ”Well, maybe. Still, bad feelings might explain why he jumped his last s.h.i.+p just because they were mask-s.h.i.+lling for the Patth. Is there anything else?”

”Various details of his life,” Ixil said, scanning down the text. ”Nothing all that interesting, though again you'll want to look them over when you're up to deciphering Kalixiri again. Mostly public and official-record material-Uncle Arthur must not have had time to have anyone dig deeper than that.”

”I'm sure he'll have the really juicy details later,” I said. Uncle Arthur's knack for getting his hands on supposedly confidential information was legendary. ”The trick will be how we get hold of it. Who's next?”

”Hayden Everett,” he said. ”He was indeed a professional throw-boxer for two years, leaving the ring twenty-two years ago.”

”Was he any good?”

Ixil shrugged. ”His win/loss record would say no. Still, he did last two years on the circuit, so he must at least have had stamina.”

”Or was just a glutton for punishment,” I said. ”I wonder if the circuit back then went into Patth s.p.a.ce.”

”I don't know,” Ixil said. ”However, you might be interested in knowing that his last fight was a contested loss to Donson DiHammer. That name sound familiar?”

”It certainly does,” I said, frowning. Twenty years ago DiHammer had been atthe epicenter of one of the biggest scandals ever to hit organized throw-boxing.

”He was wholly owned and operated by one of the partners in the Tr'darmish Spiracia s.h.i.+pping conglomerate, wasn't he?”

”You have a good memory,” Ixil confirmed. ”We have the highlights listed here.

Plus the interesting fact that Tr'darmish Spiracia was one of the first companies to go bankrupt when the Talariac came onto the scene.”

”Interesting,” I murmured. ”You sure it wasn't just a case of bad management or overextension?”

”Not sure at all,” Ixil said. ”Spiracia's directors certainly had a reputation for corporate edge-walking. Don't forget, too, that the Talariac didn't even appear until a good six years after that fight and four years after the DiHammer scandal broke. If Everett was partially owned by the Patth, and if they took his defeat that personally, it would imply a long grudge on their part.”

”As grudges go, six years wouldn't even be a regional record,” I told him.

”Another question to put on our next wish list for Uncle Arthur. Who's next?”

”Chort,” Ixil said, peering at the reader. ”Full name... never mind, it's unp.r.o.nounceable. He's been in the s.p.a.cewalking business only four years, which puts him barely into journeyman status. That might explain why he was available for Cameron to hire on Meima.”

”Not to me it doesn't,” I said. ”Crooea are still the cream of the s.p.a.cewalking crop; and just because Chort hasn't got twenty years' experience is no reason why he should have been free in the middle of nowhere like that.”

”Have you asked him about that?”

”Not yet,” I said. ”Come to think of it, I never got around to getting Tera's story, either. I'll have to remedy that soon. Anything else on him?”

”No indication of any direct ties between him and the Patth, if that's what you mean.” Ixil frowned suddenly. ”Hmm. Interesting. Did you know that the Craean economy has been expanding at an annual rate of nearly sixteen percent over the past twelve years?”

”No, I didn't,” I said. Considering the Spiral average, that kind of sustained growth was practically unheard-of. ”Does it say what it was pre-Talariac?”

”Yes,” he said after a brief search. ”Between one and two percent. And that was in their better years.”

I shook my head. ”The stuff Uncle Arthur comes up with. Does he include an explanation for this remarkable economic boom?”

”Apparently, the Crooea grow and export a considerable range of perishable food delicacies that can't handle normal preservation methods,” Ixil said. ”The greater speed of the Talariac has vastly increased their potential market.”

I grimaced. ”Which puts them right at the top of the list of governments ripe for Patth pressure.”

”Yes,” Ixil said. ”Fortunately, I doubt they know a Craea is aboard the Icarus.”

”Unless they've gotten to Cameron and made him talk,” I said. ”He's presumably the only one who knows the whole crew list.”

Ixil frowned again. ”I thought your current theory was that Cameron was in ashallow grave somewhere back on Meima.”

”I have no current theories,” I told him sourly. ”All I have are useless, outdated ones that couldn't hold glue with both hands.”

Ixil didn't say there, there, but from the expression on his face he might just as well have. ”Next on the list is Geoff Shawn,” he said instead. ”For someone only twenty-three years old, he's compiled a remarkable record: a long string of academic awards and honors, plus an almost equally long list of legal troubles.”

”Serious ones?”

”Not particularly. Traffic citations, semi-vandalistic pranks, some petty theft of university electronics property-that sort of thing.”

I grunted. ”Typical hotshot student genius. Brilliant and knows it, and figures none of the usual rules apply to him. Does it mention anything about his jaunt out to Ephis?”

”Not a word,” Ixil said. ”Of course, he did say no one knew about that, didn't he?”

”That's what he implied,” I agreed doubtfully. ”But the more I think about it, the more I wonder if he and his buddies could really have pulled it off without at least being noticed.”

Ixil pondered that a moment. ”In which case,” he said slowly, ”it would raise the question of whether his borandis dependence is really a medical matter at all.”