Part 32 (1/2)
”I got proof,” she said, waggling the print-recorder before she pa.s.sed it over to him. ”And do you have a schematic of the Station? I got some other locations I want to get down before I forget 'em.”
With no hesitation, Boris flipped a sheet from under other hard copy on his desk and flipped it to her.
”Been here,” and she grabbed a marker and circled the point. ”Seven deck, room 7299A, and it'd be interesting to know what it's officially used for because Flimflam made it a dressing room c.u.m food stash, liquor for bribes, tools, and too many vacuum-packed gimmicks for me to identify.”
Boris let her make her notations. With a final flourish she marked the one at the boat bay. ”You'll want to send a security team up there muy p.r.o.nto, boss. Ottey's going to love it. Mind you, the Epoxy 34AS-9 container is empty but that was the one bit of alleged sabotage equipment I could recognize. Smell of the stuff might still make a sensor jump.” She pointed to her markings. ”These are places-as near as I can estimate-where he must have other drops. He put an aide-memoire on the back of the door of room 7299A.” She grinned sardonically.
Boris leaned to one side of his worktop, flipped open the comm, and gave the number. When he had Ottey on-line, he gave crisp requests that were more orders than suggestions to search 7299A and the boat bay storage locker. He paused, listening to a question that was probably just as crisp, if Ca.s.s knew Ottey, and turned back to her.
”D'you know where he is right now?”
She twitched a shoulder as she sprawled into a chair. ”He had a.s.sumed his lowly janitorial persona when he exited 7299A. Once I saw what was inside, I took prints and investigated the one location I was reasonably sure of finding-the boat bay. He's real worried.” She paused to grin maliciously and then sat forward abruptly. ”Oh, tell Ottey that the ventilator shaft in the boat bay site was open, steps up to it and all. I took good prints before I had a look. Must have used small guys or ones with narrow shoulders. Flimflam is a little too broad across the chest.”
”They're on their way,” Boris said, closing the connection.
”I felt it was wiser to report back to you once I'd ascertained the nature of the boat bay location,” she went on, receiving a positive nod from her boss, ”rather than try to discover his current whereabouts. I also found these.” She withdrew the tangle of ID wristbands and let them casually fall from her fingers to the worktop.
Eyes widening with dismay, Boris grabbed the nearest one and popped it into the security clearance unit on one side of his desk. ”Lieutenant Schafer, Supply?” Even as he repeated the name of its wearer, the printout informed Boris that Schafer had been transferred three years ago. He picked up another. ”Commander Uskar, Engineering?” For the past two years, Uskar had been teaching at Newport Naval Base.
”I wonder Flimflam ever bothered to sleep in that cell of his,” Ca.s.s observed wryly. ”Though I guess that once in a while he had to be where he was supposed to be. Those first two IDs would have given him access to wherever he wanted to be. From what I saw stashed away, he could change service branch and ident.i.ty any time he needed to.”
Boris did not bother with the rest of the bands. He reopened the comlink. ”Roznine again. Bindra? Ottey's already gone, has he? Excellent. Something else has come up, if you'd be so kind as to step down to my office?”
Ca.s.s grinned. When the LEO Commissioner spoke in that tone, ”be so kind” meant like right now! Ca.s.s wondered just how Flimflam had acquired them in the first place, since such IDs were worn constantly-by their legitimate owners-and were hard to replicate; perhaps not for a scam artist like Albert Ponce. Or had he just switched counterfeits for the originals?
”For someone supposedly limited to one section of Padrugoi, he certainly had the freedom of the Station,” Boris remarked at his drollest.
”What else could you expect from someone like Flimflam?” Ca.s.s could objectively admire the man's ingenuity and resourcefulness.
”I do not care to speculate,” Boris said repressively, but Ca.s.s was not intimidated and grinned back. ”What I find somewhat surprising is that he didn't try to leave the Station.”
”Well paid to stay aboard until it was worth his while to leave?” Ca.s.s asked with an innocent expression on her face. ”He's been up here long enough to explore the indigenous opportunities to the fullest. And he was involved in the White-Coat Mutiny, wasn't he?” She pointed to the secret caches she'd put on the schematic.
”He was, but only peripherally. Barchenka was no fool and he lost privileges, supporting her.” Boris frowned, fingering his lower lip thoughtfully. ”LEO is going to have to follow different avenues of investigation.”
Ca.s.s knew he was thinking about personnel. LEO was always short of the right kind of personnel, which was one reason she had drawn this duty.
”International LEO already has cooperated with surveillance on s.h.i.+maz's relatives; those who have been up here, at least, for one reason or another, including one Ahmin Duvachek, who demanded a formal Health and Welfare appointment to ascertain if our facility was according Mr. Albert Ponce his human rights.” Boris's expression was ironic.
”Ahh!” Ca.s.s drawled the syllable out. ”You do remember, don't you, boss, that Flimflam was not the brains behind the child-farming scheme.”
”All too true but we haven't been able to establish if s.h.i.+maz is involved in this mess. Though I remind you that he did work with Barchenka.”
”Maybe he's bankrolling it?”
”Haven't traced credit transfers yet. Though Kibon does regularly transfer credits downside. He has relatives, too.”
Ca.s.s opened her eyes wide. ”All G.o.d's chillun got relatives.”
”Credit going out doesn't worry me as much as credit coming in, and we haven't found that yet. It'll be interesting to see what Flimflam has secreted away at these points.” Boris tapped Ca.s.s's marks.
”Nasty man, s.h.i.+maz, waiting so long to get back at Peter.”
”Not just Peter. They've been after General Greene a while, too, but he's slippery. And confidentially, Ca.s.s, this is not the first time Peter's been at risk since he became an official Center employee.”
She was clearly startled by that admission. ”You mean, those clowns on his birthday?”
Boris nodded. ”The Faithful Brotherhood of whatever-it-was has now been traced back to one of Flimflam's Religious Interpretation Groups.”
”Really! Has anyone tried for Tirla?” Ca.s.s asked, sitting bolt upright on the chair, half-afraid, half-resentful that the girl she had rescued nearly six years ago might be at risk again. Roznine's sisterin-law, Tirla, had been more involved with Flimflam and s.h.i.+maz than Peter was.
”Oh, that one,” and Boris's expression was affectionately droll. ”She suspects there have been quite a few attempts. She has a finely tuned sixth sense of survival.” A small smile of approval turned up the comers of Roznine's generous mouth. ”It's only recently that we have correlated those incidents as perhaps part of a larger plot for revenge.”
”Barchenka didn't know her,” her,” Ca.s.s exclaimed, puzzled. Ca.s.s exclaimed, puzzled.
”We don't know that Construction Manager Barchenka is involved at all-bar having had brief visits from two of s.h.i.+maz's relations. We're trying to find out if Ahmin Duvachek is related or connected in some way to her. Though it takes little imagination to see why she certainly would enjoy getting back at Peter and John Greene.”
”That's fer d.a.m.ned sure, boss.” Then she rose. ”How's Ranjit doing? I haven't caught even a twitch from him.”
Boris pursed his lips, but his light blue eyes were amused. ”He's following a different line of investigations, working undercover.”
She nodded acceptance of the tacit injunction. ”Then I'd better get back to turning over every slimy stone in the facility. I shouldn't want that Flimflam got word we were looking for him and hide someplace he didn't mark on that door map.”
”Keep your mind wide open, Ca.s.s.”
”And my s.h.i.+elds up.” She slipped out the door and was gone, moments before Bindra tapped on his door.
Ottey contacted Bindra in Roznine's office and informed them that the boat bay storage locker indeed contained items that could be identified as used in the sabotage of Limo-34 Limo-34. It was being cleared of the evidence. Surveillance equipment had been installed as well as a fast-acting proximity-triggered gas device that would immobilize anyone who entered the locker from either the ventilator shaft or the door. A second team was already dealing with room 7299A and installing similar arrangements.
Boris and Bindra then brought the ID bands to Admiral Coetzer. Controlling his consternation, the admiral instructed Bindra to investigate possible safeguards against future theft and to initiate discreet spot ID checks. It was determined that Lieutenant Schafer and Commander Uskar had turned in the bands they wore on the day of departure downside and no one had thought to see if the bands were legitimate before destroying them, as per regulations. The two officers would have received new IDs on arriving at their new posts.
The admiral contacted the First Base comm officer for a secured line to General Greene and was informed that he was currently in conference with Colonel Watari.
”Put me through, please.”
When Johnny came on, Dirk Coetzer briefly reported what had just been discovered.
”One thing sure, Dirk, there's no way s.h.i.+maz can move around First Base that easily,” Johnny said.
”He's under twenty-four-hour surveillance,” Watari said, subtly criticizing Padrugoi's security. ”He's banded so he can't get out of his cell without setting off a general alarm.”
”That's rea.s.suring,” Coetzer replied at his blandest. ”Johnny, get yourself and Pete back here as soon as possible.”
”Maybe we're safer here,” Johnny had the impudence to remark.
”As you can well imagine, General,” the admiral replied at his most formal, ”we are going to review security measures relating to convicts serving sentences onstation.” He glanced over at Boris who inclined his head, accepting that contingency. ”However,” the admiral went on, ”I do appreciate that Flimflam is an unusual operator. We've had no more than minor disciplinary incidents with anyone else.”