Final Inquiries (2 page)

Just seeing the first one made it hard for Hannah to keep from showing surprise. He was a being with a roughly centaurlike body plan; four legs and a muscular tail on the rear or horizontal torso, and a forward vertical torso that supported two arms and a vaguely wolflike head on a flexible neck. He was a Kendari--and not just any Kendari.

"Hello, Brox," Jamie said, speaking in Lesser Trade Speech. "It's been a while. It is pleasant to see you again."

"I can only wish it was under better circumstances, Special Agent Mendez," said Brox. "I greet you--and you as well, Senior Special Agent Wolfson."

"I greet you as well," said Hannah. Brox 231. What in space could have brought
him
to Kelly's private office? Brox. Senior Inquirist of the Kendari Inquiries Service--the rival counterpart of UniGov's Bureau of Special Investigations. In short, an enemy agent representing humanity's deadliest rival. But Brox had also been their partner on the Reqwar investigation. Wry, irascible, irritating--but also courageous, honorable, and honest, willing and able to act for the long-term benefit of all, rather than scoring short-term points for himself. Reqwar could easily have ended in disaster, in death for all of them, if not for Brox 231.

But Brox was not the only visitor in the room. At least maybe he wasn't. There was
something
else in the room, but it was hard to tell whether it was an object or a living being. It stood by the door. It was greyish pink, and consisted of an egg-shaped torso that had five projections sprouting from it, which roughly corresponded in size and position to the legs, arms, and head of a human being. It stood about one hundred eighty centimeters tall.

The five limbs or tentacles or growths or whatever they might be called were slightly flattened front to back, and the featureless "head" gently tapered to a point. On closer inspection, the head almost looked as if it was formed out of two limbs that had been fused together. The arms were little more than elongated flipperlike things, with no distinct fingers, hands, or joints. The legs ended in rounded-off, flat-bottomed stumps, with no distinct feet. The thing stood on its two leglike supports, swaying back and forth almost imperceptibly, its arms limp at its sides. It looked slightly potbellied somehow.

Its skin was very slightly translucent, and Hannah could just make out what looked like, not bones, exactly--more like a mechanical armature--in the hands. And there was something solid, roughly egg-shaped and skull-sized inside the head. If it was a head.

"Uh, what is that?" Jamie asked.

Hannah signaled for him to be quiet. It might well be a
who,
rather than a
what,
and there was no sense in giving needless offense to the--the whatever or whoever it was. A glance at Commander Kelly told Hannah that her boss wasn't going to be much help. Possibly Kelly wasn't much more certain of the situation herself. "Hello?" Hannah said in a tone of voice halfway to making it a question.

"This unit acknowledges you," said a flat, mechanical voice that didn't seem to come from any particular spot on the "unit's" body. The thing did not look toward Hannah, or shift its position or posture in any way. It simply continued to stand there, swaying back and forth ever so slightly.

"And we acknowledge you," said Hannah. "Please forgive us if we are uncertain how to behave. We have no experience of any beings similar to yourself." That was putting it mildly. But whatever it was, it would do no good to cause it offense.

"You are incorrect," the mechanical voice replied. "Humans have interacted many times with the Vixa."

"Then we must apologize again," said Hannah, speaking carefully. "We were unaware that you were a Vixan. You do not resemble the ones we have seen."

"This unit is not a Vixan," it replied, but made no other remark.

"The, ah, unit, has been provided by the Vixa to facilitate communication," Brox put in.

"Oh," said Hannah, resisting the temptation to say anything else.

Jamie was less tactful. "That's ah, not working out too well so far," he said.

"Ah, but give it time," said Brox. "At least that is what I am told. This is a Simulant Interlocutor between Vixa and Alien Humans, but it has only just been initiated, just started adapting itself to human behaviors and appearance. I was assigned a similar 'unit' some days ago--built so as to resemble a Kendari, of course--and already it has achieved a high degree of function." Brox paused and looked again at the simulant. "That is to say, higher than this," he added drily.

"You make it sound like we need it for an interpreter or something," said Jamie. "Humans communicate okay with Vixa. Heck, even
I've
talked to Vixa without any big problems. What do we need an, ah, Interlocutor for?"

"You don't, mostly," said Kelly. "And you likely won't on this mission. I'm not all the way clear on this, but as I understand it, the Vixa we'll be dealing with will need it. Very high-ranking fellows, and all that."

"Wait a second," Hannah protested. "You mean like, Sixes?"

"Not only Sixes," said the Kendari. "Quite possibly Threes as well."

"Okay, I'm lost," said Jamie. "Could someone just back up a little and explain this a bit more?"

"I can," said Kelly, "but we don't have time for more than the ten-second version. The Vixa that humans usually deal with are Nines--nine-limbed Vixa, or maybe even Twelves--middle-rankers and low-status types. The six-limbed Vixa are the elite--and the three-limbers are more or less their royalty. And the elite and the royals can't be seen dealing with grubby little Younger Race beings like us. So they use Simulant Interlocutors like this one as go-betweens."

"I've never heard of any such thing," Hannah objected.

"It is a new policy," Brox said. "A new Preeminent Director has taken over, and has set about making changes. It is claimed that he is merely reinstituting the right and just laws that were in place the last time Younger Races erupted out into the starlanes." Brox hesitated, and then spoke further. "I do not wish to contradict you, Commander Kelly, but the ranks of the Vixa biocastes are far more complex than what you have suggested. There are subcastes and subrankings of all sorts, such that it is possible--though rare--for, example, a Nine to outrank a Six."

"Umm, I don't want to seem rude," said Jamie as he looked at the gently swaying simulant. "But I don't quite see how we're going to get a lot of talking done if we're working through our new friend."

"The situation is complicated and somewhat unclear, but suffice it to say you will do your own talking. The simulant's role is largely ceremonial. Furthermore, the simulant will adapt to you," said Brox. "It's already started reshaping itself to resemble human form. It will learn social cues from you, and it will integrate the various data stores that have been pumped into it. It will get better and better at its job." Brox glanced over at the simulant. "And the sooner the better, so far as I'm concerned. I might add that accepting the simulant is an absolute requirement. Refuse it, or exclude it from observing your work, and the arrangements will be terminated."

Kelly nodded. "I'm not going to refuse, and I'm ordering you two to cooperate with the simulant. They might do you some good. After all, dealing with Vixan Sixes and Threes can be somewhat--challenging."

"Challenging enough that there's a standing order that BSI agents not do it," said Jamie. "Not unless they've done a six-month course on Vixan protocol and another course on resisting torture."

Hannah found herself wishing that Jamie hadn't known about that standing order. If he did, he'd likely seen the case report that had led to its being instituted. The file wasn't pleasant reading.

"Well, consider that standing order countermanded for the duration of this mission," said Kelly.

"So now we know we'll be dealing with high-ranking Vixa, even though we shouldn't," said Hannah, "and we'll be working with Brox here, even though he's an enemy agent. No offense intended, Brox."

"None taken," Brox said.

"Good," said Hannah. "But with all that established, could you please tell us what the assignment actually is?"

"No," said Kelly, obviously very unhappy. "Because I don't know myself."

"Security is very tight," said Brox.

"So
you
know what the assignment is?" asked Jamie.

"Oh, yes," said Brox. "However, I am authorized to say very little at this time. I am permitted to say that I have been given the task of conducting Final Inquiries regarding an incident that has just taken place."

Hannah crossed her arms and let out a low whistle. "Final Inquiries" was what the Kendari Inquiries Service called a death investigation. But no one launched Final Inquiries if the victim had died at home in advanced old age in his, her, or its sleep. It was obvious that Brox wasn't supposed to come out and say it was a murder investigation, but apparently it was all right for him to give very broad hints.

Brox went on. "I can tell you that it was the humans involved in the negotiations who suggested we keep the circle of knowledgeable personnel as tight as possible. They were the ones who suggested the tightly controlled brief in the interests of not endangering any more beings than necessary."

"But it
was
deemed necessary to endanger Special Agent Mendez and me?"

"Regrettably, yes. I must refrain from saying more. Explaining the form of the danger in question would in and of itself release potentially dangerous information."

"I don't like this," said Kelly. "In fact, let's just say that's one of the great understatements of the year. But my orders were very clear, very specific, and very emphatic. It's you two they want, and it is you two that they're going to get." She checked her pocket comm. "Good. Kosolov and the Quartermaster's Office are both reporting task complete. We're clear to go."

"Wait a second," Jamie protested. "You mean, that's the briefing? We're done? We can't even go back to our desks?"

"Right on all counts, Agent Mendez," said Kelly. "There's no time, there's no more information anyway, and now that you know as much as you do, the more we keep you two out of sight, the better. And that goes double for our guests. Maybe triple. So you're leaving. Now."

She turned, opened the door behind her, and led the way down the corridor. Brox trotted along behind her. The simulant stomped along behind Brox, struggling to keep its balance and working hard to keep up with him. It somehow gave the impression that it was traveling blind, navigating mostly by luck. Hannah and Jamie brought up the rear, neither of them eager to get too close to the simulant. Part of it was simply the desire to avoid collision with the clumsy simulant--but that was far from all of it.

Hannah's subconscious had already decided the sim was not an intelligent being, but instead a thing, an object. It was a machine, like a bicycle, a computer, or a coat hook. There was no need to treat it with the respect due to an Elder Race xeno. But it wasn't that simple. Echoes, whispers, of the old Frankenstein story flitted about in her memory as she watched the awkward, lumbering
thing
moving ahead of them. She wasn't so sure how much the sim would facilitate communications--but it was going to do just fine at giving them nightmares.

Kelly was taking them on a roundabout route through the maze of corridors that made up BSI's orbiting headquarters, no doubt doing her best to keep their two unusual guests out of sight. She was leading them at a brisk enough pace that Hannah nearly missed one or two turns. At last, Kelly hustled them all into an elevator. The simulant walked straight into the back of the elevator car and stopped, with its face--or where its face would have been--right up against the rear wall. All three humans, and Brox as well, managed to find ways to get as far away from it as possible.

They reached the docking-bay deck and the elevator doors opened. They got off--the simulant simply walking in reverse rather than turning around first.
We're going to be cooped up in a starship with this thing for a week?
Hannah asked herself as she watched it do a sort of three-point turn before following along behind Brox.

That was the usual routine, at any rate. Get the briefing, rush like hell for the docking bay, and boost off to the crime scene, who knows how many light-years away. The only snag was that the journey from one star system to another took days, sometimes weeks. That was the reason for the hurried departure. You had to hurry, precisely because the trip would take so long.

But this time, Commander Kelly was taking things to an extreme. No briefing at all. No time to gather data or ask any questions. Only as they arrived at Docking Bay 27 did it dawn on Hannah that Bay 27 wasn't even big enough to service the
Sherlock
-class ships, the smallest interstellar craft the BSI used.

No briefing and no starship, either,
Hannah realized with a shock as they entered the bay and saw the vehicle in it. She had heard Kelly talk about it, but it hadn't really registered. They were going aboard a jeep-tug, a pocket-sized vehicle made for the interorbit transfers of cargo or personnel. It was designed so its interior could be configured to carry any needed combination of cargo and people. At the moment, it was rigged with four human passenger chairs, and a sort of couch or pad for Brox. A collection of gear and supplies was stowed in the back, held down by cargo netting. Kelly was already climbing aboard the little craft.

"Hold it a second," said Jamie, standing in the docking bay and peering through the hatch of the jeep-tug. "Ah, ma'am? Commander Kelly?
You're
going on this mission?"

Kelly looked startled. "Me? No. No, of course not. I'm going to chauffeur you to your long-distance ride. That way we don't have to waste time or take chances by briefing a pilot. Come on. Get aboard."

Brox was already halfway up the ramp. Jamie and Hannah followed him inside, sat down, and strapped in. The simulant paused at the base of the ramp, standing stock-still for a moment. Then it very deliberately leaned forward at its ankles--or at least where its ankles would be--before heading up the ramp, adjusting its internal balance to compensate for moving up a ramp. It clomped aboard, straightened up, then paused and seemed to consider the sight of Hannah and Jamie seated in the forward pair of passenger seats. It then shifted to look forward at Commander Kelly in the pilot's seat.