Free Xenopath by Eric Brown

telling himself that her mental anger at him was
justifiable. He smiled and held out Robert Kormier's diary.
    She stood,
facing him, her tanned, lined face innocent of the emotions that
swirled deep within her psyche.
    He wanted to hug
her, tell her that her husband loved her. Instead, he passed her the
diary and said: "Read it. You have nothing to fear."
    Her face,
fleetingly, showed hope.
    He said, "Your
husband was meeting a fellow scientist called Travers. It's important
that I trace him."
    "Sam
Travers? He was a colleague of Robert's. He lives on the southside,
Lohng Kla, Level One. Seventeen Khaosan Road."
    "Were they
friends?"
    "They'd
known each other since university. But Sam was away so much of the
time that Robert hardly saw him. They made sure they met at least
once a year, though."
    "Did
Travers work for Scheering-Lassiter?"
    "No, he was
employed by the Station University."
    "But
Travers was working on Mallory earlier this year?"
    "That's
right. He was on research leave from his department."
    "Did you
know him?"
    She shook her
head. "I met him once or twice. He wasn't my type.
Overambitious, overconfident. Full of himself. But he and Robert got
on."
    He hesitated,
then said, "Your husband and Travers never had reason to
disagree on anything, professional arguments?"
    "Absolutely
not. They shared many of the same views and ideals. They worked
together on many conservation schemes."
    Vaughan made to
leave. "I'm sorry for intruding. I want to find who did this. I
hope you understand?"
    Wordlessly, she
nodded. She hesitated, then said, "I thought you were going to
read me, Mr Vaughan?"
    He looked at
her, then shook his head. "That won't be necessary," he
lied. "I'll show myself out."
    He hurried down
the helical staircase and stepped out into the merciless afternoon
sunlight.

SIX
    TRADERS
    Lohng Kla was a
prosperous district on the south side of the Station, away from the
noise and bustle of the spaceport to the north-west. Parks and
gardens alternated with neat suburbs, the residences of university
workers and affluent students.
    Khaosan Road
paralleled the edge of the station, and a terrace of black polycarbon
dwellings, like beetles on a starting line, overlooked the sea.
    Vaughan found
number seventeen, set back in a lawned garden. It was a surprisingly
small dwelling for the area, just one storey high. He was about to
push the doorbell when he noticed that the door was open an inch. He
pushed it further open and called out, "Hello? Travers?"
    There was no
reply. Cautiously he stepped into a narrow hallway, relieved now that
Kapinsky had insisted on his carrying a weapon.
    He stopped,
activated his implant and scanned.
    Mind-noise
rushed him from every direction. There were people in the houses to
either side, and on the level below. He caught stray strands of
verbalised thought and heightened emotion.
    Now he saw why
the building appeared small from the street: a staircase descended
through the deck. He followed the stairs, scanning as he went. It was
impossible to tell whether the mind-noise below emanated from this
dwelling or others beyond. He deactivated his implant as he arrived
at the foot of the stairs, which opened out onto a gallery
overlooking a lounge with a vast viewscreen giving onto the ocean.
    He paused at the
edge of the gallery, looking down. He fingered the bulk of the pistol
beneath his jacket. Despite what Hermione Kormier thought, he knew
enough not to dismiss the possibility that Travers had killed
Kormier. They had met a couple of times over the past two weeks, and
had been together on a field trip on Mallory. Vaughan was willing to
gamble that, if Travers was not directly responsible for Kormier's
death, then he had information that might help the investigation.
    He thought about
calling out again, but remained silent. He slipped his hand beneath
the flap of his jacket and closed his fingers around the butt of the
pistol, pacing along the length of the gallery and taking another
flight of