As succinctly as he could, Miles summarized the events of the past days, from Jin's arrival at the consulate's back door through the successful arrest of the NewEgypt crew.  He was a little out of breath by the time he finished.  Miles tried not to wince as he imagined the look on Gregor's face as he heard all this out.  Nonplussed?  Pained?  Bland?  Gregor could out-bland Pym.

"So far, no criminal charges have been leveled against me, and I trust I'll be long gone from Kibou-daini before anyone on the other side thinks of it," he concluded in cheerful reassurance.

He sought for an upbeat note on which to end.  "In the department of only on Kibou, we actually got to summon the dead to testify against the bad guys, which is a moment of cosmic justice if ever there was one."

What was that creepy old quote . . . ?  Something read in his Academy days, or more likely on one of his Academy leaves, an ancient tale from Old Earth.  Before cryonics was invented or even imagined, so seeming strangely prescient.  The words were branded in his brain, though their literary source was long forgotten, buried under the chaos of his intervening decades and possibly a touch of lingering cryo-amnesia.  I will break the door of hell and smash the bolts; I will summon the dead to take food with the living, and the living shall be outnumbered by the host of them . . .

Ah, not something he cared to share with Gregor, that.  Gregor, as Miles had reason to know, already had enough creepy crap stuffed into his Imperial head that it was a wonder his skull hadn't exploded.  But it did bring Miles to his finale.

"I shouldn't wonder if Mark's rejuvenation research here doesn't turn out to be more important, in the long run, than my mission.  Too early to judge, but the Durona Group will be something to keep an eye on, and not just ImpSec's spy-eyes, either.  A private word in the ear of Laisa's great-aunt, if she's looking for a better investment than WhiteChrys Solstice, might be a suitable reward for her first bringing the affair to our attention, come to think.

"I missed today's commercial jumpship to Escobar, but I've snagged berths on tomorrow's.  I'm eager to get home.

"And oh, tell Laisa from me—Good catch."

Miles closed the recording, security-sealed it, attached it to his coded report, and sent it on its way.

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty