The automatic weapon was in clear sight. The constituent parts were clipped securely into the shaped and customized recesses of a cushioned board. The inner working surfaces were bright – the rest of it was matt black. The barrel was short, the magazine at least a third of a metre long.

‘That’s an assault weapon,’ I said. ‘Is that standard police issue?’

‘Command and control,’ Frejah said, intoning the form of words. ‘I am licensed to carry it, and my authority is renewed every seven days. I retrain every month.’

The lid came down swiftly.

‘I was just asking,’ I said. ‘You still claim there are no crimes on Dearth?’

‘Asking is your right as a citizen serf.’ She held out a hand, and gave me an unforced smile. ‘Well, this is goodbye. It has been most interesting to meet you, Todd.’

We shook hands, then we kissed lightly on the cheek. We muttered conventional thanks and farewell. We had made no plans to meet again, nor was there ever any expectation that we might. I said something about the fact that I hoped the case she was working on would soon be resolved, and she replied to wish me well with my writing career.

Then she added something odd: ‘Closing the case might be something you can help with. I told you how it began.’

She moved quickly to the car door. We were both under the insistent freezing rain, and unprotected against the icy temperature. I gathered up my stuff and dashed towards the terminal building. Before I had passed through the automatic triple doors I heard the now familiar roar of the roadster’s engine.

I missed the boarding gate closure by three minutes. I walked slowly back to the main part of the terminal, making a swift decision: rather than hang around for another two or three hours in the terminal, waiting for the next plane, which anyway would land me back in Salay in the early hours of the morning, I decided to go to an airport hotel.

Once I was in my room (whose door was opened with an electronic card, but the room was otherwise free of warnings about mutability), Jo and I exchanged messages on the internet for half an hour. She said she was still looking through the reference books, had found a couple of possible mentions. I confirmed the spelling of the names with her. Then I went to the hotel restaurant for dinner.

In the morning I caught the first flight out, landing on the island of Salay Ewwel, the first. After a short internal flight to Raba, the fourth, I was home in the early afternoon.

The house, the beach beyond, the surrounding forest, were bathed in a balmy heat. The sounds of insects and birds, children on the beach, the scent of trees.

Questions, Questions

11

Questions, Questions