“And the second thing?”

  “The last few times we were alone together, he talked endlessly about Black Star. He’d become obsessed with them.”

  OK, so that was a bit more grounded. Not to mention indirectly connected to the deceased’s cause of death.

  Hoshi joined the interrogation.

  “Is that why you asked about Motif?”

  Eliza nodded. “What I said before was true. Ulbrecht would never take any illicit drugs – and certainly not Motif. He was fanatical about his health.”

  “I hate to break it to you, Eliza, but that drug has screwed up a billion lives and counting. Many of those people were smart, healthy, and appeared to be responsible. Anyone can have a lapse in judgment. Perhaps Ulbrecht ...”

  She spoke through steeled jaws.

  “Never. He was the strongest man I knew. I loved ...” Eliza took a deep breath and gathered herself. “He wanted to make the future better for us all. Ulbrecht believed his mind was a gift intended for that single purpose.”

  Hoshi offered a supporting hand, while Trevor reset his strategy before his own paranoia kicked in.

  “If I hear you correctly, Eliza, you’re suggesting the drug we found in Ulbrecht entered his body against his will. Yes?”

  She nodded, so Trevor threaded that needle.

  “OK. Let’s say for the moment that Motif was involved. I’m neither confirming nor denying. If someone wanted Ulbrecht dead, there are far more effective ways of killing him. Less than four percent of users die from an MOD.”

  Hoshi nodded, but Eliza shrugged.

  “I can’t explain it, Deputy. Will there be a toxical report?”

  “Certainly. If his cause of death was more complicated, our lifetechs will find out. What else can you tell us, Eliza? The others in your group talked about the Raison Club.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Be careful what you take from those cudfruckers. Pardon my bite. They were all jealous of Ulbrecht. Everyone who knew him was. But yes, he loved the club scene. It was a release.”

  “Did you spend much time with him there?”

  “No. I needed sleep. Ulbrecht ... he had more energy than he knew what to do with.”

  “Did he ever mention any specific people he met at Raison?”

  “No. He invited me many times. Said I needed what the club offered, but nothing specific. I don’t cater to that lifestyle.”

  Hmm. What it offered. Motif, perhaps?

  “OK. You’ve given us enough to move forward. Hoshi, anything you’d like to ask?”

  The Second Deputy surprised Trevor.

  “Eliza, did you know Ulbrecht threatened another student’s life? Someone also from Yaniff.”

  Shit. How did Trevor let that nugget slide past?

  “Oh. Yes. That was weeks ago. He had an argument with a friend from back home. It wasn’t a serious threat.”

  “So, you were there?”

  “No. He mentioned it to me later. He actually felt bad about it.”

  “What was the student’s name?”

  Eliza tapped her forehead.

  “Oh. It’s ... he’s on a different track. Oh. Yes. Orval. I don’t know his last name. Sorry.”

  Hoshi smiled. “Erdogan. We already know.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not thinking clearly. There’s probably more I can tell you. After I go home, I’ll meditate on everything.”

  “Thank you, Eliza.” Trevor regained the lead. “You can contact us at Haven Sec Admin whenever you feel comfortable. We’ll make ourselves available. In the meantime, I recommend you don’t mention what we discussed. Think you can do that?”

  “I give you my word. Please, find who did this to Ulbrecht.”

  He wasn’t about to make promises he couldn’t keep. A pair of students entered the break room; time to shut this down.

  “We’ll pursue every angle, Eliza. Now, if you’re up to it, why don’t you return to 417. Your mentor seemed insistent.”

  She bowed her head.

  “You have no idea. Thank you both.”

  Trevor and Hoshi said nothing after Eliza left, but their presence drew whispers from the other visitors.

  “Perhaps some place less public,” Trevor mumbled.

  After they entered the nearest lift without company, Hoshi said:

  “I was wrong, Trev. I thought this trip would be a waste of time.”

  “And now?”

  “If there’s even a chance she’s right about Ulbrecht ... what have we walked into?”

  “Damned if I know. But I intend to find out. You’ll have my back on this when we report in to Dorrit. Yes?”

  She winced at the sound of his name.

  “He’ll say it’s mad conjecture. A grief-stricken lover. Jealous rivals. A headmaster trying to protect the school from scandal.”

  Trevor heard the Chief raging already.

  “Ah, yes.” The lift opened to the administrative level. “Good men and women who represent the best of the human race. Hard workers under great stress, trying to deal with a shocking loss. We must protect the institution from scandal.”

  “A coverup?”

  “He won’t think of it that way. They never do.”

  They muffled the conversation while approaching the headmaster’s office. Thet’s answers appeared to be filled with misdirection, but Trevor needed to be sure.

  “For now, we don’t mention Eliza Hutton’s accusation.”

  She yanked his arm.

  “What? We can’t do that. It’s a direct violation of ...”

  “I know the regs, Hoshi. It’s not for long. I have some avenues I want to pursue. If she’s credible, I’ll know before day’s end. Then we’ll tell Dorrit.”

  He saw skepticism in those conservative eyes.

  “What is it, Hoshi?”

  “Holding back information got you booted from Harmony Sec Admin. Are you willing to take that risk again?”

  OK. There it was. She was fishing.

  “Did some heavy reading over lunch, I see. Look, it’s more complicated than the HSA report. When I’ve known you long enough to trust you, I’ll fill you in. You won’t get a better offer.”

  She let go of his arm.

  “It’s your career, Trev.”

  He couldn’t resist a chuckle.

  “What’s left of it.”

  Trevor made a beeline for the exit, a storm of tasks in need of sorting as soon as he returned to Haven. He began the day intent on steering clear of rough patches, focusing only on how to make right with Ana. Now the job wrapped its predictable tentacles around him. Like always, little would stand between Trevor and the answers he sought.

  Which went to the core of the problem.

  He kept his head down as they passed through the lobby but couldn’t help notice the greeter stare at them like a woman forever offended.

  Trevor might have brushed it off were the path out of Maynor clear. Instead, as he flashed his wrist plate against the LinkPass reader, another deputy entered.

  “Shit,” he muttered before flashing a phony grin.

  13

  TREV.” THE ESA DEPUTY held up a hand. “Why did I think it might be you?”

  The man spoke with no obvious antagonism.

  “Been a few weeks, Thomas.”

  The deputy winked at Trevor’s partner.

  “Hoshi Oda. Good seeing you again. Hooked you up with the Lifetime Deputy, did they?”

  She extended a hand.

  “Chief Dorrit wanted me to learn from a man of experience.”

  “You won’t find more than in this guy. Don’t know if experience equates to wisdom in Trev’s case.”

  Hah, hah.

  Enough with the banter, Trevor thought. He shook Second Deputy Thomas Quinlan’s hand.

  “I doubt you just happened to be in the neighborhood, Thomas.”

  The deputy consumed his smile.

  “I was redirected from patrol. ESA received a call that Maynor students were being harassed by an off-sector deputy. No one from Haven or Harmony had checked in with our Admin today, so I suspected it might be someone who tends to be proactive, as they say. You came straight to mind.”

  Thomas’ accusations of protocol violation were never subtle.

  “I’m not side-stepping the regs. We’re investigating a death that occurred in Haven. I’m lead.”

  “And there was no harassment, Thomas,” Hoshi added. “We asked routine background questions.”

  Thomas had slimmed down considerably from the man of chiseled granite who arrived on Amity three years ago.

  “Not what the complainant claims, but we’ll see about ...”

  “There, Deputy!”

  A familiar voice interrupted the reunion. The greeter Deena neared, finger pointed at Trevor.

  “They’re the ones. They ignored me when I told them to wait for the headmaster. Then they barged into his office and demanded an audience. Then they refused to leave and disrupted a private mentee class.”

  Deena lost her permanent smile. That didn’t bother Trevor so much as how she knew their activities. Appeared she was more than a sweet face to welcome visitors.

  “Thank you,” Thomas told her with a dismissive wave. “I’ll take care of this. Feel free to return to your duties.”

  “Make sure they are barred from Maynor.”

  Thomas didn’t reply. Rather, he escorted them to the public docks and tapped into his wrist plate.

  “A death, you say? Maynor student?”

  Trevor confirmed the basics without mentioning Motif.

  “Lifetechs will finish their report in a few hours. Probably just a case of a fool who got carried away and lost his life. I wanted to make sure we covered the angles before the news goes public.”

  Thomas weighed the explanation with tongue in cheek – a tic that hadn’t changed in decades. To Trevor’s surprise, the ESA deputy shrugged.

  “Sounds like a reasonable response. I doubt you harassed anyone. Ruffled a few egos, maybe. But that’s your style, Trev.” He stepped closer with a menacing glare. “Look. I don’t want to mess with your investigation, but I’ll have to add a note for the record. How about you check in with us next time? A courtesy.”

  “Sure, Thomas. I appreciate the soft touch.”

  A rap on the shoulder preceded a self-satisfied grin.

  “Old friends have to look out for each other,” Thomas said. “I’ll let you two on your way and smooth the ruffles inside Maynor.”

  Trevor thanked the Second Deputy with just enough syrupy gratitude to pass muster then hopped on a rifter and plotted a course to the Crossway. Hoshi soon brought up the obvious.

  “Old friends, he said. How long have you known Thomas?”

  Yeah, well, he couldn’t avoid it.

  “Unfortunately, most of my life.”

  “So, he’s an Earther?”

  “Thomas Quinlan was my first-ever bully. The anti-Chancellor bigotry was more intense back then. I was twelve, he was sixteen.”

  Her jaw slipped in obvious fascination.

  “Now he’s here. What are the odds?”

  “Not as long as you think. We were neighbors in Philadelphia Redux. Swarm attacked the city, destroyed part of our building. Connor and I lost everything. Our mother, the flat. His family survived. His parents weren’t jackasses. They looked after us.”

  Memories. He never learned how to shut off the worst ones.

  “They were very generous,” Hoshi said.

  He accelerated the rifter with the Crossway in clear view.

  “They thought it would be temporary. Four days later, we got the news about Father. He was killed in the last battle of the war. A few days turned into two years. That’s how long it took Grandfather Max to concern himself with us.”

  “I assume you and Thomas became friends?”

  Trevor cleared his throat.

  “We tolerated each other. Not long after Connor and I moved on, he joined the UNF. I lost track of him, which was for the best. He meant to make a career of it, but the UNF downsized. He spent a few years working various badges back home. Three years ago, he applied for an Amity rotation. Deepstreamed me. Asked for a personal recommendation.”

  “Did you?”

  Connor once joked that marriage would make Trevor soft. The kid brother wasn’t wrong.

  “He was going through a rough patch. I reviewed his jacket ... and yeah. I vouched for him to Central with one caveat: That they station him in a different sector.”

  “You have a big heart, Trev.”

  “Not for Thomas. I did it to repay his parents.”

  “Good you did. No telling what sort of hard-ass might have taken us through the ringer if Thomas hadn’t shown up.”

  Trevor wanted to put this matter to bed.

  “Don’t be deceived, Hoshi. I’d wager my pay stamp he’s playing an angle. Thomas applied for a promotion not three months after he arrived. He’s never risen past Second Deputy even though he was retained for a second rotation. I heard through the chain he thinks someone is blocking him.”

  “Ah, so he’s as paranoid as you.”

  “Nope.” He snuck in a wink. “He’s been blocked at every turn.”

  Did he see confusion or disgust in her frown?

  “Why, Trev?”

  “I gave him a break in a moment of weakness. I keep hoping he’ll resign and leave the station.”

  “Huh. He probably suspects you.”

  “If not, he’s a moron. I’m sure he was pissed when I moved into this job. He wants that First bar.” Trevor knew he gave away too much. “We never had this discussion, Second Deputy.”

  She looked away as they neared the lift.

  “Never, First Deputy.”

  Trevor said little on the return train but assured Hoshi he’d try to play nice with Dorrit.

  “I’ll spend the next few hours in the office. We have research to do. If the Chief needs to spit fire, I’ll be a willing target.”

  Haven Sec Admin’s layout matched the other two offices, so Trevor found his private space and settled in without need for acclimation. Even the café kiosk was equidistant from the one he often used in Harmony.

  He nodded to the other deputies, most of whom he knew in passing – especially those on second rotation. If they were curious about how he was adjusting or wanted the full scoop on what brought him to the “working class” sector of Amity, no one seemed willing to start the queue, which suited him just fine.

  He laid out instructions for avenues he wanted Hoshi to pursue and began transcribing his notes from the interviews. That lasted all of ten minutes.

  “A word,” Chief Hannibal Dorrit said, casting a sudden shadow.

  Trevor followed him into a double-sized glass office he once dreamed of occupying on Harmony. Dorrit kept a largely clean desk, apparently to leave room for the hologlyphs of family. Trevor counted at least ten kids, all of whom he assumed were grands.

  “Please,” Dorrit motioned to a chair which naturally sat low against the Chief’s elevated lift. Trevor knew the routine.

  “I’m sure you’ll soon submit a report?”

  “Putting it together. We made some interesting discoveries over there. Need to follow up.”

  Dorrit winced as his carcass fell into the big seat. He reached for his left knee, which he flexed.

  “My ever faithful wife insists I spend more time in the fit room. What would you advise?”

  OK. Another game-player. Trevor didn’t have time to be set up.

  “I never comment on personal health choices, Chief. Seems a bit ... I don’t know ... personal.”

  Dorrit massaged the knee, as if that would help.

  “Come now, Trevor. You’re not known for being apolitical.”

  Fair enough.

  “I spend an hour a day in the fit room. You’re more than welcome to join me, Chief. I’ll share my wealth of advice.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t about to happen. Dorrit released his hand and plopped it on the clear desk, upon which he leaned forward.

  “I’ve spent ten uncomfortable minutes conversing with Sharif Al-Jani. He’s concerned that you created a stir inside Maynor. Now, Sharif is by all accounts an unbearable prude who makes my moderate approach to the job seem downright unbridled. However, he is my equal and can choose to leap over me with Central. I’ll not have it. Do you understand the implication?”

  Trevor had never run afoul of ESA Chief Al-Jani, but the man was known to be territorial and a high-quality friend to the boards of Halifax, Atumwa, and Mullen.

  “I might, Chief, but I’d prefer you speak plainly.”

  “Then I will. Trevor, I find myself deeply conflicted by your presence. So much so, that I recognize we got off on ill-mannered footing this morning. I’d like to square a few things before I send you back to your desk.”

  Trevor anticipated a dragon spitting fire; instead, he found a reasonably composed and even contemplative boss.

  “I’m at your mercy, Chief.”

  “Perfect.”

  Dorrit pointed to the panoply of hologlyphs.

  “You’re a family man, Trevor. You appreciate having loved ones. Especially your daughter. Yes?”

  “I do. Although my family is much more compact.”

  “Hmm. My parents were fruitful, as they say. Nine brothers and sisters. Four grandchildren of my own, and twenty-four nieces and nephews. One withering problem. All but my wife live on Catalan. I see them four times a year. Once a standard quarter. As I grow older, heavier, and less fond of risk, I find myself wishing those reunions were more frequent. Permanent, actually.”

  Here we go. Everyone always needed a story to back their way into an explanation of their worldview. Trevor played along.

  “Sounds like a man who’s planning to retire soon.”

  Dorrit snapped a finger and pointed at Trevor like firing a gun.

  “My rotation ends in five months. Fulfilling the contract ensures a handsome pension. My wife and I have plans. I intend to make them reality. Which means I have no interest in anything other than a soft landing to this job.

  “On my last day, I want Central to honor me with a cake and a trinket of their choice then a private ride to the spaceport. I intend to drink wine for the duration of the ninety-minute wormhole and never, not ever, set foot on Amity again. Now, this isn’t to say I have no interest in the station’s well-being. Of course, I do. Its success remains vital to the Collectorate’s future. And I want my people to protect it against threats both interstellar and domestic.