Asgard's Secret by Brian Stableford Page B

it may contain relevant evidence. Do you know where it is?"
    "No," I said.
"Don't you?"
    "Mr.
Lyndrach's personal records have been erased. We will doubtless locate it in
due course."
    "As a matter
of interest," I said, "what kind of gun was used to shoot the other
seven victims?"
    The Tetron
hesitated, but he must have known that it would be on the evening news.
"They were not shot to death," he admitted. "The immediate
causes of death were various, but they all had numerous broken bones, caused by
their being struck very powerfully with blunt instruments— or, in some
instances, hurled with considerable force into solid walls."
    "Right,"
I said. "A very violent person, Amara Guur. Very violent indeed."
    My room still seemed
very crowded after the Tetrax had gone, although Susarma Lear's men had waited
patiently outside until the coast was clear. Crucero and his companions had
returned to the fold some time ago. I hadn't heard the lieutenant make his
report, but I had no difficulty imagining its contents. The Tetrax did not
anticipate apprehending Myrlin any time soon. They could probably track his
progress by means of one of their communication satellites, if they could
identify his truck—although there were certain to be others making their way
over the surface that would make identification difficult—but they had no
intention of chasing him. They would wait until he returned to Skychain City
and arrest him then.
    Susarma Lear wasn't
convinced, but she checked with me before taking any further action.
"Surely they'll change their minds now that he's wanted for murder?"
she said.
    "He isn't
wanted for murder," I told her. "He's just a potential witness. Even
if he were, they wouldn't try to pursue him. It would be pointless. While he's
on the surface he's visible—don't be fooled by that bullshit about not being
able to identify him—but as soon as he goes down to level one he's out of
reach. They'll wait for him to come back, confident in the assumption that
he'll have to, sooner or later. There's nowhere else for him to go. If he
doesn't come back . . . then they'll stop worrying about it."
    She didn't like it,
but she could see the logic of it. "Well," she said, "at least you must be keen to catch him now."
    "Why?" I asked.
    "Because he
killed your friend," she said. "Surely you didn't believe what you
told the gorilla about this Guur character having done it?"
    "Amara Guur did kill Saul," I told her. "Even the Tetrax must have figured that out by now. Myrlin killed the seven guys who were busy torturing him—not, alas,
before they'd gone over the top and left him beyond help. I don't know about
you, but that doesn't actually fill me with indignation. You might call it
murder, but I call it heroism."
    Her stare wasn't
quite as wrathful as before, but I figured that was because she was getting
tired. She must have had a very long and trying day. "How do you
know?" she said, eventually.
    "Elementary
logic," I said. "Saul went to the C.R.E. to ask for a loan, just as I
did—but he had better bait. He knew the location of a doorway down into level
five, maybe further down than that. Unfortunately, rumours of doorways down to
five are a dime a dozen in these parts. Saul's neither a fool nor a con man,
but when a proposition like that goes before a committee there's bound to be
some idiot who'll throw a spanner in the works. Somebody there knew Saul well
enough to know that he was absolutely reliable, but getting the right decision
through the committee would have needed someone much tougher than Myrlin the
    Superandroid. Guur knew a good thing when
he heard the rumour, though, and he went after Saul.
    "Unfortunately
for Guur, Saul wasn't alone when the kidnappers turned up, so they had to
snatch Myrlin too. Whether they threatened him with fancy blasters like yours
or shot him with anaesthetic darts I don't know, but they made the mistake of
keeping him alive, in case he knew anything useful.
    "One way or
another,