Starbase Human (26 page)

“Yes, sir,” the waiter said, sounding sullen. It amazed Nuuyoma that One Of One Direct could make anyone sullen within such a short interaction.

One Of One Direct let go of the waiter’s arm.

“You don’t like me, do you?” One Of One Direct said to Nuuyoma.

“I don’t know you,” Nuuyoma said.

“You’re predisposed to hate me,” One Of One Direct said.

“You’re trying to pick a fight,” Nuuyoma said. “Why is that?”

One Of One Direct sighed, then glanced at Verstraete. “I suppose you don’t have any information for me.”

“Actually, I do,” Nuuyoma said.

One Of One Direct swung his head back toward Nuuyoma so fast that the table wobbled. Clearly, One Of One Direct was surprised.

“You probably know some of this,” Nuuyoma said, “and I don’t think you know the rest of it.”

“Did you bring me documentation?” One Of One Direct sounded a bit too eager.

“On some of it,” Nuuyoma said. “Some of it is eyes-only for Alliance Security employees.”

One Of One Direct let out a small snort, as if that were expected. “Okay, tell me.”

“I’ll start with the information that I think you already know. If you’re satisfied with it,” Nuuyoma said, “then you tell me some of the information you’d mentioned. If I’m satisfied with that, I’ll tell you more of what I know. And you’ll tell me some things.”

One Of One Direct’s eyes narrowed. He clearly didn’t like Nuuyoma taking over the conversation. Still, One Of One Direct didn’t argue.

“All right,” he said.

The waiter set down One Of One Direct’s drink. Nuuyoma waited until she’d walked away before he began. As he did, his gaze brushed across Verstraete. She was watching closely. She almost looked nervous.

“We discovered that you were right,” Nuuyoma said. “It appears Takara Hamasaki survived the explosions on
Starbase Human
. Her ship broke down just on the edge of the Frontier, and she abandoned it.”

“There’s no guarantee that she was the one who abandoned it.” One Of One Direct’s voice thrummed with frustration. That alone told Nuuyoma that One Of One Direct had found the ship information, but had been unable to go farther.

“That’s correct,” Nuuyoma said. “But she did. And before I tell you how I know that, you get to share with me.”

One Of One Direct leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. He kept one finger on the table, as if that helped him remain centered. He studied Nuuyoma for a moment.

Nuuyoma got the sense that One Of One Direct hadn’t quite expected to be in this position, that he had expected to get some confirmation from Nuuyoma and then leave without saying anything.

Nuuyoma waited. He could wait all night if need be.

The waiter came back with his ogbono soup. It smelled fantastic. He tried not to think about One Of One Direct’s comment about “real” meat. Nuuyoma had no idea what else tasted like goat besides goat. So he was going to assume that was the meat in the soup.

He rolled some fufu between his fingers and dipped it in the soup. One Of One Direct watched him. Nuuyoma would happily finish this meal, even if One Of One Direct never spoke to him again.

One Of One Direct sighed. “I was created by a conglomerate that you would consider criminal. It was called Cloni.”

“Was?” Nuuyoma asked.

“Ah,” One Of One Direct said. “We trade information back and forth.”

“That’s a name you could have made up,” Nuuyoma said.

“But I did not.”

“At least tell me where it was based,” Nuuyoma said.

“Not far from here. On LeirSky.”

“Where’s LeirSky?” Nuuyoma asked. He had familiarized himself with the planets and moons around
Starbase Human
. He hadn’t heard of LeirSky.

“It is an industrial base that orbits the planet Leir,” One Of One Direct said. “It’s huge, and has many industries like cloning—although Cloni is no longer there.”

So the information was easy to give out, and had little consequence. It was as if they were playing a game, and they were starting with their least valuable cards.

“You can check this information,” One Of One Direct said.

“I am,” Nuuyoma said, and then sent the name of Cloni and the industrial base LeirSky to Verstraete to confirm.

“Your woman cannot join us,” One Of One Direct said, as if he knew what Nuuyoma was doing. Of course he knew. He would probably do the same thing under the same circumstances.

“I know,” Nuuyoma said, “but she can research for me while you and I talk.”

Nuuyoma did not correct the phrase “your woman.” He knew that One Of One Direct was trying to irritate him.

One Of One Direct snorted again, then shook his head. The waiter returned, this time carrying a plate of noodles covered in steaming red sauce. She set the plate down so quickly that Nuuyoma thought she almost dropped it on One Of One Direct.

The scent of tomatoes, oregano, and garlic wafted across the table.

Yes,
Verstraete sent.
Cloni was a cloning conglomerate known for designer criminal clones. It made millions, maybe billions, thirty years ago before it was bought out and moved.

“Has she confirmed?” One Of One Direct asked.

Apparently Nuuyoma was letting himself get a bit glazed as he got information through his links. He needed to retrain himself so that he didn’t do that.

Nuuyoma dipped more fufu into the soup. He ate the piece slowly, reveling in the spice and texture. Then he wiped his fingers on the nearby napkin.

“I found no record of Takara Hamasaki after the explosion of the first
Starbase Human
,” he said.

One Of One Direct flushed. “You promised—”

“At least by name,” Nuuyoma said. Then he frowned. “You’re very interested for a man who claims he waited decades to find out this information.”

“I’ve been trying to find her for a long time,” One Of One Direct said. “Your arrival gave me an opportunity.”

Nuuyoma nodded. He wondered if he could use that volatility.

Then One Of One Direct frowned. “You said, ‘at least by name.’ Does that mean you found her another way?”

“Yes,” Nuuyoma said. “Now you give me more information.”

“That’s not enough,” One Of One Direct said.

“It’s what you get,” Nuuyoma said. “You didn’t give me much either.”

One Of One Direct pushed his plate aside. His fingers brushed the pineapple juice glass, but he didn’t pick it up.

“After the spectacular failure of the fast-grow clones on the first
Starbase Human
,” he said, “Cloni got bought out.”

“I know that much from my partner’s quick research,” Nuuyoma said. “It probably won’t take her long to find out who bought out Cloni.”

“Oh, but it will,” One Of One Direct said. “Because there are dozens of shell companies between the buyer and the corporation that bought Cloni.”

Nuuyoma dipped more fufu. He didn’t even look at One Of One Direct. Nuuyoma just continued to eat until One Of One Direct sighed heavily.

“All right,” One Of One Direct said. “The buyer is your precious Earth Alliance.”

Nuuyoma’s stomach clenched. He made himself move slowly so that he didn’t seem surprised. “You know that how?”

“I have tracked all the shell companies,” One Of One Direct said. “I will give you that documentation if you tell me what happened to Takara Hamasaki.”

That sounded like a fair trade. Still, Nuuyoma sent another message to Verstraete.
Are you finding who bought Cloni?

He didn’t look up as he sent it. He just continued to eat.

I’m finding a lot of corporate family trees,
she sent back.
I’m not sure how much work I should do while I’m sitting here.

That was probably as much confirmation as he would get. Nuuyoma took the last of the fufu and sopped up the remaining soup. After he’d eaten it, he said, “I found Takara’s DNA signature. I cannot give that to you because it was on classified documents only available to Security inside the Alliance. But the signature appeared more than once.”

One Of One Direct’s blue eyes seemed even brighter than they had been when Nuuyoma met him. “Tell me where she went.”

“You told me that you could point out who manages PierLuigi Frémont’s DNA now, and I’m not settling for ‘the Alliance,’” Nuuyoma said.

“You’ll have to,” One Of One Direct said. “There is no direct line Frémont DNA on the market.”

“What about clones of clones?” Nuuyoma asked. “You’re leaving a lot of DNA here right now. I could scoop it up and sell it.”

“You could,” One Of One Direct said. “And I guarantee that the buyer would be a front for the Alliance.”

Nuuyoma felt his face heat. “You’re telling me the Alliance tried to destroy Earth’s Moon.”

“I’m telling you that the only place you can buy Frémont DNA and therefore make Frémont clones is inside the Alliance. Through the Alliance.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nuuyoma said, even though it sounded true. It was the same circular information that had led Gomez to take a leave of absence from the
Stanley
.

“Cloni still exists,” One Of One Direct said. “Last I heard, all of the Frémont DNA goes through that company. Figure out what they do with the Frémont DNA and you will find your killers.”

Nuuyoma’s heart was pounding. Would it be that easy? Of course not. If someone inside the Alliance had turned this cloning company into an assassin mill, they would protect it.

“You make it sound so simple,” Nuuyoma said.

“It is simple,” One Of One Direct said. “Cloni has stayed small, and no one pays attention to it. It pays its taxes and reports what it needs to.”

“How do you know this?” Nuuyoma asked.

“Because, unlike personal records, business records are easily available in the open net. The benefits of free trade.” One Of One Direct sounded sarcastic. “Still, I’ll give you all of the documentation. And there is a lot of it. Now, tell me about Takara.”

Nuuyoma took a deep breath. He had to play this right to get the documentation, because he didn’t have nearly as much information as One Of One Direct did.

“The DNA signature appeared on the border between the Frontier and the Alliance two months after the destruction of
Starbase Human
,” Nuuyoma said. “The name attached to the signature was different, but the DNA matched on all levels.”

“She went back inside the Alliance?” One Of One Direct asked.

“Yes,” Nuuyoma said.

“I want to see the documentation,” One Of One Direct said.

“I can give you the name she used and the information she publically declared going through customs,” Nuuyoma said. “I cannot give you the DNA.”

One Of One Direct’s eyes narrowed. Something in them made Nuuyoma want to slide his chair away from the table.

“You said you could help me,” One Of One Direct said.

“I did,” Nuuyoma said. “I also said I would give you everything that I could legally give you. I cannot give you information that can be easily traced to me. Her DNA signature could be traced to me.”

One Of One Direct cursed. “Give me what you have.”

Nuuyoma sent the documentation he had prepared through the public links. It didn’t matter who saw it; anyone could get public border-crossing information.

One Of One Direct put his chair down on all four legs. His eyes glazed over as he stared at the information. For once, he didn’t seem to be playing coy.

Nuuyoma pushed his own plate aside. This time, One Of One Direct’s plate was the one that held congealed food. That was a good sign.

“All right,” One Of One Direct said after a moment. “I will send you all of my documentation if you swear to me you will tell me where she went inside the Alliance.”

“I can do that,” Nuuyoma said.

One Of One Direct tilted his head. “You’re being awfully agreeable for a lawman.”

“I am,” Nuuyoma said. “Lucky for you you’re dealing with a marshal and not someone who works inside the Alliance.”

One Of One Direct snorted a third time, then shook his head. “I’d heard that the Frontier Security Service had its own rules. I hadn’t believed that until now.”

Nuuyoma’s private links pinged. He wasn’t really surprised. He had had a feeling all along that One Of One Direct had hacked most of his links.

Nuuyoma opened the message and found thousands of pages of documentation, all of it corporate security trees, sales documents, and business histories. He forwarded it all to Verstraete.

Confirm that this concerns Cloni
, he sent along with the download.
I know you can’t go through all of it now, but let me know I’m dealing with what One of One Direct
promised
.

Okay,
she sent back.

One Of One Direct looked over at her, then back at Nuuyoma. “Does this mean we should order dessert?”