Clarion

CLARION

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door. He stood with his back to it, facing the room. His expression was neutral.

"Well, now," Sabre began, clasping his hands in front of him on the table. With visible effort, he pulled out another smile. "Mr. Avery, I want to assure you we're doing everything we can to find out why that man assaulted you, and to make sure it doesn't happen again. I've instructed my people to give full cooperation to the Guard." He leaned across the table on his elbows to look intently at Dorland. "We've gone through his personal effects, but all we found was his name. Lon Bekman." His eyes were on Dorland, and Paul suddenly realized he was watching for a reaction. Paul could have told him not to waste his time. Dorland was the most sensitive person Paul had ever met, but he was also the most effective at hiding his feelings. "He appears to be an official in some sort of church. Beyond that, we're drawing a blank. Is there any information you can give us?"

Dorland moved back in his chair to put more distance between him and Sabre. He asked cautiously: "What kind of information?"

"Do you know Bekman?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Ever see him before?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't answer that. I didn't see his face in the auditorium."

Sabre frowned. His eyes shifted to Frakes, then back to Dorland. "I understand he was in the front row—"

"The spotlights were in Dorland's eyes," Paul said. Sabre's too-slick manner was beginning to wear on him. "There's no way he could have seen what happened. Besides, he was still in the player's trance."

"The trance?" Sabre's eyes went back to Dorland. "I assumed that was part of the show. Do you really go into a hypnotic trance?" William Greenleaf

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Dorland nodded. He didn't bother to correct Sabre. Despite the commonly held belief, the psiplayer's trance was anything but hypnotic.

"Hmm." Sabre's eyes flicked back to Paul. "I understand you were closer to Bekman when

he—"

"I've never seen him before."

"Do you and Mr. Hanes often watch the show from the control booth?"

"Not the show," Paul corrected. "The audience. Jeffrey is in charge of our security team. He likes to observe from up there. Sometimes I keep him company."

"Was there any reason for concern tonight? From a security standpoint, I mean."

"We got a threatening call," Paul answered. He thought: Why does he keep asking questions when he already knows the answersi "We reported that to the Guard. As far as I can see, they should be handling this. Why is Omega Security involved?"

"This man Bekman wasn't working aione," Sabre said, sidestepping the question. "We know somebody else in the auditorium attracted Mr. Hanes's attention. We think Mr. Avery's life may still be in danger."

"It's the Guard's job to keep law and order, to protect citizens and all that," Paul said. He kept his growing anger under control by an act of will.

"They don't cooperate with Security unless they have to. The local Guard commander would rather pull his own thumbnails out than turn something like this over to you." Sabre started to say something, but Paul raised his voice to talk over him.

"Since he obviously has, I have to assume he's gotten orders from somebody higher up. That means that what happened today goes beyond a crackpot trying'to assassinate a well-known psiplayer." He glanced pointedly at his wristwatch.