Free Judgment at Proteus by Timothy Zahn Page B

problems,” he said grimly. “His disappearance strongly implies one or more of those problems may have intensified.” He cocked his head. “But my question was serious. Have you any better options to suggest?”
    “Oh, please,” I scoffed. “If you’re going to set a trap, at least make it an interesting one. I was an Intelligence agent—of course I know about the locator transponders in most comms. I also know where they’re located, how they function, and how to disable them.” And, I didn’t add, routinely did so, dropping my comm and Bayta’s out of the system whenever we looked to be going into danger. “And since Minnario apparently hasn’t been located that way, I presume his locator was in fact disabled. Logra Emikai?”
    “You are correct,” Emikai acknowledged.
    “The more interesting question,” I went on, watching Wandek closely, “is whether Usantra Wandek is suggesting I might have done away with my own lawyer. What reason could I possibly have for doing such a thing?”
    “Who knows how Humans think?” Wandek countered, the mottling of his blaze intensifying a bit. The effect was oddly hypnotic. “More importantly, there can be only a handful of individuals on the station who have the knowledge and skill to disable the transponder.”
    “Really?” I looked at Emikai. “How many of the patrollers aboard Proteus have that skill?”
    “I would guess between one and ten percent,” Emikai said. “I believe many communications techs would also possess the necessary knowledge.”
    “There you go,” I said to Wandek. “Ten percent of the patrollers on a station this size means we’re talking hundreds or thousands of people. And that’s just the Filiaelians.”
    “Do you accuse one of us?” Wandek demanded stiffly.
    “I accuse everyone, and I accuse no one,” I said. “It’s no different than a doctor who suspects all illnesses until he’s narrowed down the list of possibilities.”
    “Perhaps,” Wandek said reluctantly. “Just be certain that your list of possibilities include all aboard Kuzyatru Station, and not merely the Filiaelians.” He turned to Emikai. “I assume you are in charge of this investigation. How do you intend to proceed?”
    I looked at Emikai in mild surprise. “ You’re in charge here?”
    “ Chinzro Hchchu has assigned me to supervise all matters concerning you and your pending case,” Emikai explained. “Since Attorney Minnario is with you, his disappearance falls within my authority.”
    “So what do we do?” I asked. “Because Usantra Wandek is correct: if Minnario’s lying injured off in some corner, his physical problems could make his situation critical.”
    Emikai gave a whinnying sigh. “Unfortunately, the tools at our disposal are severely limited,” he said. “None of the monitors shows his location, we have no recordings of his movements, and so far no one interviewed remembers seeing him after his departure from the security office over two hours ago.”
    “What about DNA sniffers?” I suggested. “Surely you still have the records from when he entered Proteus Station.”
    “That has already been tried,” one of the Jumpsuits said in badly accented English. “There is insufficient remaining nucleic in the security station.”
    “The air in Kuzyatru Station is cleaned as it is recirculated,” Emikai explained. “That limits the usefulness of nucleic sniffers.”
    Another nice bonus for the Shonkla-raa. “Then we need to focus the search in the most likely places for him to have gone,” I said. “In order, I would guess those to be places where he could get food or rest, look up the details of the Slisst Protocols, or get medical attention.”
    “What would he wish with the Protocols?” Wandek asked.
    “He needs to know how the Proteus legal structure will affect our defense,” I said.
    “Your analysis makes sense,” Emikai said, gesturing to the Jumpsuit at the monitor bank. {Institute a search of Mr.