Poseidon's Wake

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

No one dared speak of murder, at least not to begin with. But it was the only thing any of them was thinking.

Two things quickly became apparent. Dr Nhamedjo conducted an examination of his body — what remained of it — and arrived at a clear medical conclusion. Mposi had almost certainly not been conscious when he entered the well. Despite the gash on his forehead, there were no traces of blood anywhere in the Knowledge Room, and no sign that he had struggled or suffered obvious distress in there. The presumption was that he had been hurt somewhere else — knocked out or killed — and then transported to the Knowledge Room, with a view to having the nanomachines break down and dispose of his body.

That was the second thing: the nanomachines in the well had been reprogrammed to enable them to process and absorb human tissue.

It was not supposed to be possible, Vasin told them. Granted, nanotechnology was, by its nature, almost infinitely protean. The difference between a medicinal form and a military version lay only in the expressed instruction mode — the deep-programming architecture. But Vasin had been assured that it was all but impossible to change one to the other, especially given the limited resources available on her ship.

Someone had managed it, though.

‘It wasn’t a perfect solution,’ Vasin said, when Goma and Ru were in her cabin two hours after Mposi’s body was found. ‘So I’m told. The nanotech’s returned to a safe configuration, but it’s still contaminated by the presence of many kilos of organic matter — enough to affect its efficiency.’ She looked up sharply. ‘I am sorry, Goma, but I see no gentle way to speak of these things.’ Goma held her composure with a force of will — there was nothing to be gained from going to pieces now.

‘Whoever did this,’ Ru said, ‘they’d have known their way around the working of the well pretty thoroughly, wouldn’t they?’ Goma was grateful to Ru for speaking so bluntly. It was more than she could have done.

‘They’d have needed more than basic familiarity with the systems,’ Vasin said.

‘Then they weren’t expecting a perfect solution, just a means of buying time. If they could hide the body this way rather than keeping it in a cabin — somewhere easily searched — they might have bought themselves a few days.’

‘For what?’ Goma asked. She was drained, shocked, numbed — so overcome with grief that she could not begin to feel it as a distinct mental state. She was swimming in it, breathing it into her lungs. The only emotion she felt was a sense that the universe had been wrenched rudely off course, carrying her along with it. She had to speak to Mposi about this. He would have something sensible and calming to say, a way to lessen her problems.

Uncle. Uncle. Uncle.

‘This wasn’t planned,’ Ru offered. ‘That’s my take on it, anyway. Someone killed him, and it wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Why would anyone ever think killing someone on a ship was a good idea?’

‘Because they were insane,’ Goma said.

‘They killed him,’ Ru went on, ‘but there wasn’t time to make it look like an accident or find a better way of disposing of the body. This was the best alternative they could come up with. They knew it would be discovered sooner or later — you can’t just lock the Knowledge Room and expect no one to notice — so all they needed was a little time to… hide their tracks, maybe.’ She looked up sharply. ‘Gandhari — whoever did this?’

‘Yes?’

‘They had a means of locking that door. A bangle like yours — or the capability to alter one. It can’t be someone like Goma or me — we knew next to nothing about this ship until we were aboard it.’

‘So technical staff — one of my own people? Is that your suspicion?’

Ru hesitated then nodded. ‘I’m sorry, but who else could it be? A scientist, maybe — but I’m one of them, and my expertise doesn’t begin to extend to this kind of thing. Nor does Goma’s. Mposi himself couldn’t have done this, even if he had a reason to.’

‘He wasn’t wearing any clothes,’ Goma said. ‘How did he get from his room to the well without someone noticing?’

‘I suspect he was dressed, whether he was moving on his own or being carried,’ Vasin said. ‘Whoever did this probably feared the nanotechnology wouldn’t treat his clothes and his body in the same fashion. They must have undressed him in the Knowledge Room, then taken the clothes somewhere else. Easier to hide clothes than a body — easier to dispose of them later, too.’

‘Why?’ Vasin asked. ‘What did he do, that someone had to kill him for?’

‘I have a good idea,’ Goma said. ‘Mposi told me something not long ago. You can check with Crucible, if you like, Gandhari. He was in contact with them.’

‘About what?’ Vasin asked.

‘Sabotage,’ Goma said, with a sort of flat resignation. ‘They warned him there was a possibility of it. Something on this ship — a weapon, maybe, that you don’t know about, put aboard by people who don’t want this expedition to succeed.’

‘Why didn’t he tell me?’

‘He was trying to gather more information. I don’t think he wanted to come to you with something half-baked, especially if it was a false alarm.’

‘Dear god,’ Vasin said. ‘What kind of weapon was he thinking of? What was he looking for — how much did he tell you?’

‘You had better speak to Maslin Karayan.’

‘He’s the suspect? Is that what Mposi told you?’

Goma closed her eyes. This was all too much, a surfeit of troubles over and above those she had already accepted.

‘Maybe. There’s someone else you should look at. Karayan was asking what Mposi knew about Peter Grave.’ She swallowed. ‘We see him as a Second Chancer, but he’s different from the others. There’s something about him. Even they don’t trust him.’

‘You think he killed Mposi?’ Vasin asked.

‘Why don’t you ask him?’ Goma answered.

Before the news of Mposi’s death reached the entire ship — which it was bound to do, with or without official disclosure — Vasin declared a state of emergency, a condition-yellow situation. This was wisely chosen, being only one level above the routine condition green: not serious enough to suggest that the ship or its occupants were in immediate peril, but sufficient to limit the movements of crew and passengers, and oblige everyone who was already in their cabins to remain there. It was the kind of alert that might attend a problem with the air supply, such as the presence of a mild toxin or a breakdown of the proper equilibrium of component gases. There had been a couple of condition-yellow situations since they left Crucible, and the encounter with the Watchkeeper had elevated the emergency status a whole two levels above yellow, so this development was neither unprecedented nor liable to cause panic.

‘Do you want us to return to our room?’ Goma asked Vasin.

‘No — you’re here now so you might as well stay. I can’t completely eliminate you as suspects — or anyone else, for that matter, including myself, until we have more evidence — but the fact that you were actively searching for Mposi and directed our attention to the Knowledge Room… Well, if you had murdered him — and again I am sorry that we must speak so bluntly, Goma — but if you had done it, you would not be in such a rush to bring the body to my attention.’

‘I appreciate your compassion, Gandhari,’ Goma said, ‘but he was murdered, and the only way to find out who did it is to talk about it. I might as well get used to it.’

While they waited in her quarters, Vasin’s immediate subordinates had sealed the Knowledge Room and were now sweeping the rest of the ship, with a particular view to apprehending Maslin Karayan and Peter Grave.

‘In theory,’ Vasin said, ‘the bangles’ localising function should enable us to identify the killer just by backtracking everyone’s movements and finding out who was with Mposi since you last saw him. But whoever did this clearly knew their way around both the bangles and the nanomachines in the Knowledge Room. If they could tamper with one, they could just as easily tamper with the other — concealing their movements, if necessary. Still, it looks like they were in a rush — perhaps they were not as thorough as they might have wished.’

It took under thirty minutes to find the two men and bring them both to Vasin’s quarters. Neither showed any signs of having offered resistance, but of the two, only Maslin Karayan looked like a man who had just been dragged out of bed. He had a puffy, dishevelled appearance — even his beard was unruly.

Peter Grave by contrast was fully dressed, clean-shaven and had been apprehended en route to his cabin, apparently on his way back from the connecting spine.

They were in the formal stateroom adjoining Vasin’s private quarters. Vasin was seated behind her desk, Aiyana Loring and Nasim Caspari to either side of their captain and Ru and Goma at one end of the desk. Maslin Karayan and Peter Grave were seated opposite Vasin, and Dr Nhamedjo stood off to one side with his arms folded.

‘Do you know why you’re here?’ Vasin asked the two Second Chancers.

‘I’m waiting for you to explain why we’re under a yellow emergency when there is clearly nothing wrong with the ship,’ said the older man, bristling with righteous indignation.

‘What’s happened?’ asked Grave, his tone milder but still demanding of answers.

‘Mposi Akinya is dead,’ Vasin said. ‘He was found a few hours ago, in the Knowledge Room. The nanomachinery was in the process of digesting his body. Aiyana — can you confirm what happened?’

‘Machines had been reprogrammed — their core architecture altered? Very difficult thing. Process of disposal would have been complete.’

‘Would anything have alerted us about what had happened to him?’ Vasin asked.

Loring shook vis head, but the gesture was equivocal. ‘Not immediately? Nanotech was programmed to revert to a safe mode once the body was broken down. Conceal obvious evidence of its earlier reprogramming? Safe enough in the well — wouldn’t have started trying to dissolve you. All that absorbed biomass? Affected it in subtle ways, but take an expert to spot the signs.’

Both men remained silent. Eventually Maslin Karayan said, ‘I do not know what to say. We had our differences, but my respect for Mposi was total.’

‘I heard you arguing,’ Goma said before anyone else had a chance to respond. ‘I came to see Mposi and you were shouting at each other.’

‘That was months ago,’ Karayan said. ‘Besides, I had no grudge against him — it was just differences of opinion. Heartfelt differences, true, but I don’t go around killing the people I disagree with. And even if I did, I’d be a fool to hurt Mposi, knowing what you’d think.’

‘I’m aware of your background, Maslin,’ Vasin said, tapping one of several printed papers laid out on her desk. ‘On the face of it, there’s nothing in it to suggest any expertise with nanomachinery. If you had such skills, would you tell me?’

‘And incriminate myself?’

‘No, but the sooner our relevant technical experience is out in the open, the quicker this will be over. The same goes for you, Peter — if there’s anything in your history that isn’t in your biographical file, I want to know about it now.’

‘What about Aiyana?’ Karayan said, looking at the other scientist. ‘Haven’t you as good as admitted your own expertise with nanomachinery?’

‘Know enough to understand how difficult this was, Maslin,’ Loring answered. ‘Well beyond my capabilities. Basic expertise, different thing. General grasp of shipboard communications and security functions? Circumvent the security protocol on the bangles? Could if I wanted to.’

‘So could many of us,’ Caspari said, ‘but Aiyana hasn’t stated any sort of open opposition to this expedition, and the two of you have.’

‘That’s a gross mischaracterisation,’ Karayan said, flinching back as if he had been pricked with a needle.

‘You in particular,’ Caspari went on. ‘When you saw you could not prevent the expedition from happening, you used your political leverage to join the crew. Fundamentally, though, you’re still opposed to it. You are here to observe, to influence critical decision-making, but given the opportunity — as the Watchkeeper proved — you wouldn’t hesitate to send us back to Crucible. If sabotage was one of the tools at your disposal—’

‘Nasim,’ said Dr Nhamedjo gently, ‘we are all aggrieved by what has happened. Many of us share a basic scepticism where the activities of the Second Chancers are concerned. But we must not allow that scepticism to colour our judgement.’

‘So much for your neutrality, Doctor,’ Karayan said.

‘Medicine is science, Maslin, and to me your tenets are fundamentally regressive and anti-scientific. I do not think my personal views are a surprise to anyone.’

The doctor’s wide, boyish face appeared, to Goma, to contain a steeliness of character she not detected before. But he was still smiling, and his manner was as peaceable as it had ever been.

‘You are here by democratic means, though,’ Nhamedjo continued, ‘and you are human beings, with spouses and children. I presume some of them may be able to vouch for your whereabouts when Mposi was missing. Frankly, though, I don’t need their testimony to convince me that you played no part in this. Why would anyone hurt Mposi Akinya?’

‘Tell them what you know,’ Vasin said, nodding at Goma. ‘For the benefit of everyone present.’

As numb as she felt, unwilling as she was to start thinking of her uncle in the past tense, she forced some composure upon herself. ‘Mposi was in contact with Crucible.’

‘We all are?’ Loring said.

‘This was different. Some kind of private, political channel — a secret hotline. It makes sense that a man like my uncle would have something like that. Anyway, they told Mposi we had a problem.’

Caspari’s hands were perfectly steepled. ‘What kind?’

‘A threat, aboard the ship. A sabotage device, something like that, and maybe someone to operate it. That’s as much as he told me.’ Goma swallowed — it was harder than she expected, just keeping the tremble out of her voice. She knew that if she let her mental defences down for an instant, she would soon be a sobbing wreck. ‘Mposi asked me to keep an eye out. He couldn’t risk dragging Captain Vasin into it until he was sure of his facts. But there were no suspects I could suggest.’

‘Except me,’ Karayan said, ‘I presume?’

Goma looked down at her own hands, useless and sweaty in her lap. Nothing had prepared her for this, not even a life on Crucible with a mother the world detested.

‘Actually, Maslin, of the two of you, I suspected Peter first.’

Grave looked at her sharply and started to say something, but Maslin Karayan cut him off.

‘What did Mposi say about Peter, Goma?’

She thought back to that conversation, trying to piece it together in her memory without adding layers of half-truth and supposition. ‘Just that you didn’t know much about him.’

Dr Nhamedjo leaned in. ‘Aren’t you both Second Chancers?’

‘We are,’ Grave stated, speaking before Karayan had a chance. ‘But the movement is far more heterogeneous than outsiders tend to presume. The expedition put unusual pressures on us — testing divisions that were already present. The twelve of us don’t stand for one strand of Second Chance thinking — we represent an assortment of viewpoints, from the progressive to the conservative.’ He squared his shoulders. ‘Maslin didn’t know me when I joined the ship — that’s true enough. But why would he? I came from a different part of Crucible, from a different strand of the Second Chance movement.’

‘A more conservative one, more strongly opposed to the expedition?’ Ru asked.

‘We all have our beliefs,’ Grave replied equably.

‘What is her role in this?’ Karayan asked, nodding at Ru with blatant contempt.

‘Her role is that she was with me when we found my uncle being eaten by nanomachines,’ Goma said. ‘And I’d take one of her over ten of you any day.’

‘Thank you,’ Vasin said, with a barely audible cough. ‘Tempers are high and nerves are raw, but we still have to live aboard the same ship. Until we’ve formally got to the bottom of this, none of us is yet considered a suspect. We are all just potential witnesses — some of whom may hold clues to what happened. Is that understood?’

Grave mouthed an almost silent, ‘Thank you.’

‘Have you anything to say about a potential sabotage effort?’ Vasin asked him.

‘I am here as a legitimate member of the delegation. But I was also tasked to maintain vigilance against a possible threat, whatever it might turn out to be, and from whichever direction.’

There was a moment of silence. Goma shared the surprise and disbelief of those around her. Oh, please, she mouthed to herself. But before she could frame a more eloquent objection, Vasin was already speaking.

‘And the nature of this threat?’

Grave’s voice sounded small. ‘It wasn’t clear.’

‘Why was no mention of this made before departure?’ Caspari asked.

Grave cleared something from his throat, his tone becoming more confident. ‘The agreement to allow the expedition was fragile enough as it was. If word had got out about a possible sabotage threat, it would have been bad for the expedition and twice as bad for the Second Chance movement.’ Grave was looking at Karayan now, as if he might have been appealing to his support. ‘Of course, we had our arguments against the expedition in broader terms, but this was not the way for it to end. It was in the best interests of all concerned to continue as normal, but inform me of the possible threat.’

‘Can any of this be confirmed by Crucible?’ Vasin asked.

‘I don’t know. I was entrusted with this information under conditions of great secrecy. There are no names I can offer, no hidden cabals. Maslin — were you made aware of any similar concerns?’

‘If I had, I’d have spoken up already.’

Grave looked down, his expression impassive. He had been abandoned by his one possible ally, but the development did not appear to surprise him.

‘I’ll speak to our government,’ Vasin said. ‘Maybe they can confirm Mposi’s side of things, at least — this hotline, the threat of which he was made aware. But it’ll take at least fifteen days to hear from them. Until then, we’re on our own. I’m afraid I must look closely at Second Chancer involvement — but that doesn’t mean I’m making an automatic assumption of guilt on anyone’s part. Maslin — you were asleep, with your wife and family. Your children have their own sleeping areas, but you’d all have known if anyone was coming or going?’

‘Yes. I was in my room all night.’

‘And, Peter — you were up and about, weren’t you?’

He nodded; it would have been pointless to deny it. ‘That’s correct.’

‘You appeared to be on your way back from the connecting spine. You’re allowed access to some areas of it — we all are — but I’m not sure why you needed to be there.’

‘Mposi asked to meet me there. When he didn’t show up, I started making my way back.’

‘How well did you know Mposi?’

‘Well enough.’

‘To murder him?’ Goma asked.

‘To believe him,’ Grave answered levelly. He held her eyes with his, the intensity of his gaze unnerving. ‘And I didn’t kill him. Which means someone else did.’