Vittariel swore under his breath. Chetta sighed, and rubbed around her warp eye. ‘Well, that’s better than nothing, I suppose. We’ll have to see if this can help us at all.’ She pulled a data crystal out of her pocket. ‘It’s the pict-feed from the star port over the dates we’re looking at. Everyone who arrived on this planet through Ascension City will be recorded here.’

‘How did–? Oh,’ Vittariel said, cutting himself off. ‘Alexun.’

‘Alexun,’ Chetta confirmed, handing the crystal to Tekoa.

‘What do you hope to gain from this, though?’ Vittariel asked her. ‘Are you expecting someone to walk through the immigration controls in a robe with letters reading “I AM HERE TO DESTROY THE PLANET”?’

‘Of course not,’ Chetta snapped. ‘But we only have the records for who came in. We have the pict-feed covering who comes in and goes out, and we can match up the names to faces based on time of arrival. If someone arrives but hasn’t yet left, and the ship that brought them is no longer in orbit, then they’re still here somewhere. Perhaps we can narrow down a suspect field, at least in terms of people we can possibly do something about.’

Vittariel shook his head in disgust. ‘You’re clutching at straws, Chetta.’

‘I’m doing what I can to ensure we’re safe,’ Chetta told him. ‘If you have any better ideas then feel free to contribute them.’

‘High lady?’ Tekoa put in nervously. ‘Your idea… it is good, of course, but there are days of footage to watch, and multiple different entry and exit gates. I couldn’t possibly cover it all in any sort of timescale.’

‘I’m well aware of that,’ Chetta told him, ‘which is why you’ll be getting some help. I’m going to put together a team of staff to review the footage with you. You’ll be in charge of organising them – I thought that would play to your strengths as a former junior sub-prefect.’

Tekoa’s face brightened. Emperor help her, the man actually enjoyed that sort of thing! ‘High lady, it would be my honour to serve.’ He took the crystal from her and slotted it into the cogitator’s interface, then bent over his work again. Vittariel watched him for a second longer, then moved away and jerked his head at Chetta to follow him to the far side of the room. Chetta sighed, but obliged him.

‘Well?’

‘You’ve not shared much with me about what Krane and DuVoir have turned up,’ Vittar murmured.

‘There’s been precious little,’ Chetta replied softly. ‘The killer or killers have left few traces.’