Free The Devil and Deep Space by Susan R. Matthews Page A

seemed, very expensive stuff. The two Perand chairs in front of the desk alone were worth three or four times Mergau’s annual salary on the casual market. “Please,” Brecinn urged. “Sit down.” She was playing it well; Mergau could appreciate that. There was little indication in her tone of voice of the impatience that she had to be feeling.
    Mergau settled herself in one of those very severe, very expensive Perands. “Now that I have your attention I’m not quite sure where to start, Admiral. Can I be sure that our conversation can be privileged?”
    Meaning, Are your privacies in place ? And, by extension, I want to talk business, and it’s not precisely open–air business . Admiral Brecinn toggled the remote, looking past Mergau as her door sealed itself shut.
    “Privacy is in effect, Dame, at your request. What is this all about?”
    Mergau frowned, to present the appearance of concentrating. “Well. Yesterday’s unplanned and unfortunate event. Very awkward. One anticipates a good deal of interest from Fleet — too much interest for any reasonable person to be asked to tolerate, if you ask me.”
    She used the phrase with deliberate intent. She herself had always been careful to minimize her exposure to reasonable people as a class: because benefit bred obligation. But everybody knew about the existence of reasonable people. And Clerks of Court had more opportunity than most to place themselves in a position to be of use, and to gain insight.
    Admiral Brecinn did not react to the phrase in itself. She was clearly testing Mergau out, unsure of Mergau’s position. “Well, it is very unfortunate, Dame. Yes. And it will be an annoyance to have a stream of investigators through here. But what can we do? Cowil Brem is dead.”
    Very deliberately, Mergau shrugged. “Accidents happen. Why should they be allowed to upset the normal course of operations? Fleet has enough upset on its hands just now. The Bench is not well served by diverting police resources to investigate miscellaneous training accidents when they’re needed to keep the peace during the selection process.”
    Civil unrest was a fact of life. It was only to be expected that it would increase during the period of uncertainty between the death of one First Judge and the selection of the next.
    “You state the obvious, Dame, but what can be done? And you’ll excuse me, but I have a lot of work to do. So if . . . “
    Mergau held up her hand to stop the Admiral, interrupting politely but firmly. “That is my issue exactly, Admiral Brecinn. What is to be done? I think I may be able to offer some assistance.”
    On the face of it, it was an impertinent thing to say. Mergau put full weight on the words, enough to give the Admiral pause, and was rewarded with Brecinn’s raised eyebrow, encouragement to continue.
    Mergau leaned forward. It put her at an odd angle because of the peculiar slope characteristic of the chair; hominids of Perand’s class were by and large longer in the torso than the Jurisdiction standard.
    “Admiral Brecinn. Let me be utterly blunt with you. There’s been an accident. There will be an investigation. It will cost money, and investigations almost always get out of control. Unimportant and unrelated issues are turned up by auditors anxious to justify the expense of their investigation. It’s all so unnecessary.”
    She had Brecinn’s full attention now. The Admiral wasn’t giving her many cues; Brecinn was corrupt, but not stupid. Mergau liked dealing with corrupt people. Stupid people were just boring; and frequently endangered one’s own goals.
    “All we need is a suitably logged confession set, Admiral, and we can close this unfortunate incident with minimal expense and exposure. I can help. If you are interested.”
    Picking up a decorative stone from her desk Brecinn turned the smoothly polished thing over and over in her fingers; thoughtfully. “It’s my fiduciary duty to the Bench to weigh the costs and