The Thousand Emperors by Gary Gibson Page B

they’re all located somewhere in this star system, but not necessarily on
Vanaheim itself.’
    ‘Whoever did this, then,’ said Luc, ‘must have had an unprecedented level of access to your security systems.’
    ‘I think,’ muttered Cripps, ‘that’s what I’d call stating the fucking obvious.’
    Borges sniggered. ‘Any other incisive observations you’d like to make, Mr Gabion?’
    Luc felt heat rise in his face, but knew the danger of responding directly to such an insult. ‘Vasili was running away from something when he died,’ he said, turning his attention
back towards the corpse and pointing towards the glass doors. ‘He was running from someone standing at the entrance to the library. As for the murder weapon, it’s pretty obvious it was
a plasma beam of some type, set to tight focus.’
     Borges scripted.
    Cheng threw a fierce look at Borges, who fell immediately silent.
    ‘Please continue,’ said Cheng, turning back to Luc.
    ‘If the weapon used to kill Vasili had been set to wide-focus, or aimed at him while he was standing, it would have shattered the rest of the glass in those doors,’ he said, nodding
towards the patio. ‘The angle of the scorch-marks shows the weapon was aimed downwards. Vasili was already on the ground when he died, although it’s anyone’s guess whether he fell
or was pushed down.’ He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Did anyone find a weapon?’
    ‘No, but the radiation levels in here are sky-high,’ said the second, unnamed woman in the group. ‘We’re all going to need immediate cell-regeneration therapy. I can
arrange for you to receive medical attention before you return to Temur.’
    ‘An excellent suggestion, Alicia,’ said Cheng. ‘Is there anything else you can tell us?’ he asked Luc.
    Luc tried not to think about the deadly radiation already seeping into his bones and muscles. ‘Has anything been touched or moved since he was found here?’
    Victor Begum spoke up. ‘Not a thing. Zelia can vouch for that.’
    ‘Who actually found him?’
    ‘No one,’ said Zelia. ‘His home security network alerted us, but only once it rebooted itself a little over two days ago.’
    Two days ago? ‘And that’s how long he’s been lying here? Two days?’
    ‘Criminal investigations are not our area of expertise,’ said the woman named Alicia. ‘Given the sensitive nature of things, it took us . . . some time to reach a collective
agreement on a way forward.’
    Luc stared at her. In other words, they’d spent the past forty-eight hours squabbling about what to do before bringing him here.
    ‘So far I’d say he’s making a better initial assessment than your own, Bailey,’ said Cheng, with an air of joviality that seemed misplaced given the surroundings.
‘Maybe we should give Mr Gabion your job?’
    Nothing like making a very dangerous enemy , thought Luc, as Cripps’ hawk-like glare settled on him once again. The sweat had dried on his skin, coating him in a chill
clamminess.
    Luc glanced towards the nearest bookshelf, as much to avoid looking at Cripps as anything else. Many of the volumes there had become spotted with ash. He reached out and touched the spine of
one, his fingertips black when he studied them.
    ‘Did the house put the blaze out?’ he asked.
    ‘Obviously,’ snapped Cripps.
     Cheng scripted.
    ‘How could it do that, if the house’s AI systems had been shut down?’ asked Luc.
    ‘Only the house’s higher cognitive functions were affected,’ Zelia explained. ‘Something like the sprinkler system wouldn’t have been affected by the
sabotage.’
    ‘Would the killer have known that?’ he asked.
    ‘Why do you ask?’ Cripps demanded, his voice taut.
    ‘Maybe whoever did this meant for the library to burn down,’ said Luc. ‘Maybe they thought that when they disabled the house’s