Time's Chariot Read Online Free Page A

behind him. 'He
was so . . . so alive, Hossein. He enjoyed existing so
much. And look around you – he was so tidy ! If Li
had wanted to kill himself he'd have used one of
the bureaux.'
    'I know how much he meant to you, Marje . . .'
    'And retirement! Li was going to retire any day
now! He had it all arranged . . .'
    Retirement? Rico thought, with another glance
around at this mini-palace in the Himalayas.
Retirement meant moving out into space, to one of
the retirement worlds; the one concession the
space nations made to their native Earth to prevent
their home world from being completely overrun.
Well, if Daiho had to chuck all this in . . . maybe the
suicide idea had something to it.
    The man sounded like someone who wasn't used
to having to sound sympathetic. 'Let's not jump to
conclusions,' he said. 'We should wait for the
autopsy report.' Rico carefully didn't think of how
much body there would be left to perform an
autopsy on, after a fall from that height. 'For now,
Li would want you to get on with the job. Who are
you?'
    Rico was only half listening and it took a
moment to realize he was being addressed. He
turned round, fingers pressed innocently to his
chest. The man and the woman were both looking
at him. The woman's eyes were red and damp: she
had taken the loss of the Commissioner hard. The
man's pale eyes were just hostile and his head was
tilted to one side, as if Rico looked familiar in some
way.
    'Op Garron,' Rico said. He remembered he was
playing Security. 'And you, sir?'
    The man was taken aback. 'Hossein Asaldra. I'm
the personal assistant to—'
    'Me, Marje Orendal,' said the woman. 'I'm Head
of Psychological Profiles at the College . . . and
apparently I've been appointed Acting
Commissioner to replace Li. Commissioner Daiho.'
    'Have we met before?' Asaldra said. He still had
that quizzical look on his face.
    'You're the new Commissioner for Correspondents?'
Rico said to the woman, caught
off-guard. He hadn't expected to bluff with this
level of seniority. On the other hand, she was
sufficiently senior that he could ignore Asaldra's
question quite safely.
    'Acting,' the woman repeated.
    'What are you doing here?' Asaldra said,
apparently deciding, as Rico already had, that the
answer to his last question was 'no'. ' You people
have already been over this room.' He spoke
blandly, almost sounding bored, but still managed
to convey animosity.
    Rico decided the truth was called for. 'I'm looking
for a field computer,' he said. 'Comm . . . the late
Commissioner booked it out and never returned it.'
    The woman rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
'Bureaucracy goes on. Well, carry on looking, Op
Garron.'
    'It will be returned to Fieldwork when the
Commissioner's effects are cleared,' the man said.
'Why is a field computer any concern . . .' He
paused and his face went blank for a moment.
He was symbing into the copy of the College database
held somewhere in the apartment and Rico
knew the bluff had just evaporated. 'There is no
Security Operative Garron,' he said. 'There is a
Field Operative of that name. You're not Security,
are you?'
    'My partner and I made an appointment with
the household,' Rico said. 'We were expected.'
    'Why's a field computer so important?' Orendal
said.
    Rico gave an embarrassed grin. 'I, um, stored
data on my last field trip and never downloaded it,'
he said. 'I thought it might still be there . . .'
    'Your sloppy work is your problem, not ours,'
Asaldra said. 'I think you had better leave and stop
intruding on the Acting Commissioner's grief.'
    Since the Acting Commissioner was standing five
feet away from him and perfectly capable of speaking
for herself, Rico felt his blood rising.
    'Of course,' he said directly to her, 'you have to
ask why the Commissioner would check out a field
computer if he was going to—'
    'That will do,' Asaldra said. 'I've had enough of
this. I'm calling Security.'
    'Just shout,' Rico said. 'They're everywhere.'
    But a Security Op was already in the