“Not at all,” said the officer. “It’s in the computer if we need another copy.” He paused. “We’ll keep checking from this end, and I assume that you have ... ah, certain private sources?”

The Angel made no reply.

“Well, then,” said the officer, “if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to work.”

“On the saboteur?”

He shook his head. “The scanner’s broken down at one of the passenger terminals,” he said apologetically. “Just one of those days. But I’ll make sure that the office follows up on your mysterious mechanic.”

The Angel stared at him.

“If they haven’t got it solved by tomorrow morning, I’ll take charge of the investigation myself,” he promised with a nervous smile. He backed away, stumbled against a table, apologized, then turned and walked rapidly out of the coffee shop.

“Mind if I take a look?” asked Virtue.

“Be my guest,” said the Angel, handing the card to her.

She stared at the bearded face. “Five’ll get you ten that he’s clean-shaven by now—if all that hair was real in the first place.”

She returned the card to him. He took one last look at it, then slipped it into a pocket, threw a couple of coins on the table, and got to his feet.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Where to?”

“We’re not going to come up with answers hanging around here,” said the Angel. “And the spaceport’s bureaucracy isn’t going to be of any use to us.” He paused. “In a way, this may have been a blessing in disguise.”

“How do you figure that?” she asked.

“Because if I can find the man who sabotaged my ship, I may be able to get a direct line to Santiago. It could save us a couple of weeks.”

“Where will we start looking for him?”

“We aren’t looking for him; I am,” he said firmly. “You’re going back to your hotel to wait for me.”

“The hell I am!”

He stared coldly at her. “If I wouldn’t tell you our next port of call, you may be sure that I won’t allow you to come with me if there’s a chance that I might actually find out where Santiago is.”

She was about to protest again, but something in his colorless eyes made her decide against it.

They walked silently through the spaceport to the vehicle rental area. When they arrived, Virtue turned to the Angel.

“Separate transportation again?” she asked caustically.

He shook his head. “We’ll go together.”

“It can’t be courtesy, and we’ve already ruled out chivalry,” she said suspiciously.

“I want to make certain that you go directly to your hotel.”

“Are you going to stand guard outside my door to make sure I stay there?”