Lane Harbinger

[Cord Hurn]

Abruptly he understood her.

He made no physical effort to pull away. That wasn't necessary. Instead he said gently, kindly, "Forgive me, Lane. You're speaking of the SOD-CMOS fragment you recovered from Godsen's office. Naturally you were unable to identify its id code. I didn't intend to imply otherwise.

"I was referring to Captain Alt's id tag."

Her mouth fell open. With a visible effort she closed it. Her breath came in ragged gasps. As if she'd just become aware of what she was doing, she let him go and stepped back.

"Well, shit, Hashi," she panted. "Of course I traced it. I'm still not stupid. But it doesn't prove anything, either." Gradually her respiration slowed. "It was part of a routine shipment delivered to UMC Home Security three weeks ago.

"I suppose you could say that's incriminating. I mean, how did an HS SOD-CMOS chip end up in a GCES Security id tag? But it isn't evidence. It just indicates UMCHO isn't exactly secure, that's all. Which is something else we already knew."

"Lane, Lane." He waved his arms generously, distributing reassurance in all directions. "As I say, proof is ambiguous. If you could have asked yourself the right question, you would have seen that you've already found a strand of evidence."

And enough strands made a rope.

At the same time, however, he berated himself in silence for not having foreseen this. A routine shipment to Home Security. He could have saved time if he'd guessed that the trail would be so direct; could have taken advantage of his brief tenure as Acting Director--

Perhaps he was no match for Warden Dios after all.

Yet the pressure of the situation left no space for self- recrimination. Without pausing, he remarked, "Three weeks ago, forsooth. And yet the illustrious Cleatus Fane asserts that Nathan Alt was fired twice that long ago."

"Fired?" Lane asked quickly.

"From his position as UMC Security Liason for Anodyne Systems," Hashi explained.

While she absorbed this information, he went on, "The fault for your misapprehension is mine. You were inadequately briefed. I have been distracted with other duties." Other people's emotions. "Despite my failings, however, you have commenced the work we must do." The work which had to be done before Koina ran out of time. "You have begun to trace that chip. Now we will go further. Perhaps we will find strands enough to weave a noose."

As he spoke, Lane appeared to regain her mental poise, her focus, by measurable increments. "How're we going to do that?" she asked sharply. Only the trembling of her hands as she extracted and lit another nic betrayed the strain she felt.

In response Hashi allowed himself to resume his accustomed avuncular manner.

"My dear Lane, it has perhaps not come to your attention that I have placed 'screaming red' security locks of the very loudest sort on all Anodyne Systems' logs and records. In addition, I have covered much of UMCHO with similar seals.

"Here." Hurrying now, he moved to her terminal, opened a DA authorization query screen, and tapped a flurry of keys. Then he pointed a thin finger at the readout. "I have enterd the codes which will grant you access to Home Security records."

"That won't help," she objected. Her hard eyes studied him as if she wasn't sure she could trust him. "They've had plenty of time to edit anything. Or cover it up."

He shook his head. "Doubtless that's true. Nevertheless I suspect they haven't done so. From their perspective, it was inevitable that Captain Alt's false id would be destroyed in the blast. Therefore no one would ever inquire into its provenance." He shrugged. More recently, of course, both the great worm and his prime spawn have been too heavily occupied to undertake the challenge of tampering with Red Priority locks.

"I believe you will be able to determine the use Home Security recorded for that chip."

For a moment Lane scrutinized him warily. Something in her apparently wanted to hold back. She was too tired; too much had been asked of her. Or she'd seen through his pretense of concern--and didn't like what she saw. Yet her gaze seemed to slide of its own accord away from him to the terminal. The lure of the investigation tugged at her. Almost against her will, she moved toward the keypad.

He stepped aside to make room. Sucking hard at her nic, she stared at the screen. Tentatively she reached out through a swirl of smoke and began entering commands.

Impelled by a pang which might have been relief or fear, Hashi turned to his part of the task. Trusting Lane to concentrate in spite of him, he thumbed the intercom toggle.

"Center," he announced peremptorily, "this is Director Lebwohl. On my personal authority, with the utmost priority, I must speak with Chief of Security Mandich at once. Instantly would not be too soon. Then I require a tight-beam transmission channel to Acting Director Min Donner aboard Punisher.

"I will speak with Acting Director Donner as soon as I'm done with Chief Mandich."

The voice from Center hesitated for a second, then answered, "Right away, Director."

Chief Mandich tells Hashi he wants to be left alone to fail in peace. Hashi tells him he can be ordered to obey him by Min Donner. Mandich is told to come to Lane's lab at once by Hashi. Hashi cuts off communications with Mandich, and soon is asking Min for Administration codes to access the design computers at Anodyne Systems. Min gives Hashi the codes on trust, and then Hashi has to contend with an angry Chief Mandich walking into the laboratory, demanding why Hashi should order him to come there.

And we finally get to find out why Hashi has gained new hope for the success of this investigation (in the next two posts).

[Cord Hurn]

"A terminal, Chief Mandich," he ordered. "There." His arm rigid and trembling, he pointed him in front of a terminal near Lane's.

The Chief didn't move. Apparently Hashi had caught his attention: the belligerence in his eyes had turned to uncertainty. Nevertheless he stood where he was.

"Tell me what we're doing," he insisted harshly.

What we're doing. He'd said "we". That was all the opening Hashi needed.

With a few quick keystrokes he logged on to his terminal and began hunting for the file which Min had promised to open for him. As he typed, read the screen, typed again, he asked in a calmer voice, "Lane, what have you learned?"

"One"--she fired instructions at her keypad--"more"--bit her lip, tried another approach--"minute." Then she shouted in triumph, "Ha! Got it."

Abruptly she looked up from her terminal. The vindication in her voice was so intense that it sounded savage.

"Chief Mandich, nobody tampered with Clay Imposs' id tag. They didn't superimpose Alt on it. They made a new one, one for Alt himself, one that gave him all of Imposs' clearances."

The Chief frowned, plainly baffled.

"I traced the SOD-CMOS chop," she went on. "From his id tag. I just finished.

"It was delivered to UMC Home Office three weeks ago in a routine shipment for Home Security. Ten days later"--she indicated her screen accusatively--"that chip was assigned to the office of the UMC Security Liason for Anodyne Systems. To be used for testing code designs."

Hashi wanted to applaud; cheer aloud; shout at the ceiling. Hidden by the lab table which held his terminal, his feet danced a brief jig. If Mandich hadn't been there, he might have invoked a blessing on Lane's weary, brilliant head.

The vindication in her voice was so intense that it sounded savage. Lane is vividly appealing to me as a character because she can so "come to life" back from despair once she can get back to finding answers to a puzzle.

As for Hashi, I find the picture of his legs dancing a jig while sitting down to be rather amusing.

[Cord Hurn]

The Chief of Security stared his incomprehension across the tables.

"'Ten days later,'" Hashi echoed eagerly. "Eleven days ago. Yet great Cleatus Fane in full spate informs us that Nathan Alt was fired as Security Liason several weeks previously.

"How do you imagine he came to possess a chip which can be traced to eleven days ago? If he indeed conspired with the native Earthers, as our good FEA claims, how did he do so with source code which is both current and correct?"

"But"-- Chief Mandich protested inchoately. He tried to close his mouth; couldn't.

"But it is not proof," Hashi said for him. "There you are correct. For that reason, Lane and I must depend on your help."

The Chief still didn't understand: that was clear. Nevertheless his truculence had vanished. He lifted his hands uncertainly, then took a step or two toward the terminal Hashi had indicated.

"What do you want me to do?"

As of on cue, the file Hashi sought opened on his screen.

Min Donner may have been self-righteous and unyielding; she may even have been obtuse. At that moment, however, he loved her. She'd kept her word.

He addressed Chief Mandich more kindly now. Min had restored his benevolence.

"You described the precautions which defend the security of our code designs for the chips produced by Anodyne Systems. First, Administration codes authorize a link between our terminals and Anodyne Systems' computers. After that, DA codes are required to negotiate the necessary datalink protocols. Then ED Security codes must be supplied to grant the terminal operator access.

"We are three." He waved his arms expansively. "I will take the part of Administration. Lane represents DA. You are ED Security in person."

As if he were entirely sure--and had all the time he could need--he concluded, "Together we will break into the Anodyne Systems computers and extract the information we need."

Lane brandished her fists in a mute cheer.

Chief Mandich didn't respond. Clenched in silence, he reached his terminal.

When he was ready he met Hashi's gaze over the top of his screen. His eyes were as feral as the fire in Hashi's blood.

I've had fun going back over how SRD describes how they can obtain evidence, and note that Lane's changing attitude about their chances of success make her indeed a "harbinger" for how well the investigation will go from here on out.

[Savor Dam]

...and we get the classic SRD "clench" instance!

[Cord Hurn]

Agreed, Savor Dam! I plan to get back to this thread in the coming weeks, and am looking forward to posting quotes from Lane's testimony!

[Cord Hurn]

The moral relativity isn't odd to me, but her drive is.

--A

Come to think of it. Avatar, I've known people that had Hashi's moral relativity, just not in the stylized way that HE possesses it.

[Avatar]

He does understand (and articulate) it better than most.

--A

[Cord Hurn]

Moving ahead in the story to when Lane and Hashi and Mandich have found the evidence tying the Nathan Alt kaze to Holt, but Min won't let them tell the Council until she's ready to permit them a communications channel:

[quote="In the chapter entitled "Lane" in This Day All Gods Die was"]Lane Harbinger felt poleaxed by exhaustion--a disconcerting sensation for a woman who often lived on an exclusive diet of artificial stimulants. She hardly knew what to do with herself. Should she put her head down? Close her eyes? That was tempting. But then she would miss--

Instead she lit another nic, gulped down the remains of a flask of coffee laced with hype, and stumbled away from her console toward the lab foodvend for a refill.

Strange-- She could hardly keep her balance. Her knees no longer seemed to hinge normally, and her feet had an imprecise relationship with the floor. Had she ever been this tired? Ever in her life? She couldn't remember.

That, too, was strange. She liked to think of herself as a woman who remembered everything.

She must have been expecting some kind of epiphany. Some small blaze of vindication. Perhaps just a little shaft of triumph. Maybe that was why she felt so disoriented. Nothing of the sort had happened. Her eyes had simply lost their ability to focus, and a minor vertigo had begun to tug delicately at the side of her head.

Reality as she'd always known it had just undergone a radical transformation--and all she could think of to do about it was lie down.

She needed hype. Caffeine. Hell, she needed IV stim. Maybe then she would be able to sort out the situation.

After a couple swallows of coffee, which the foodvend supplied hot enough to raise blisters on anyone else's tongue, she noticed Hashi was ranting.

He stormed back and forth in front of Chief Mandich as if he thought Mandich might appreciate why he was so incensed--as if he'd forgotten that Mandich was Enforcement Division, therefore brain-numb almost by definition. For a moment all Lane heard were dissociated accusations like "irresponsibility" and "arrogance" and "monomania". Monomania, hah! He was a fine one to talk. But then she concentrated harder and recognized several words in a row.

"--refused to authorize a channel!"

Something like nausea squirmed in Lane's stomach. She felt her disorientation getting worse.

"I'm sure Director Donner has a good reason," the Chief of Security retorted stiffly. He should have been as tired as Lane was, but he didn't look it. Instead he looked like he wanted to hit Hashi.

"Of course she has a good reason!" Hashi fumed back. "She is the acting director of the UMCP"--he sneered the words--"and she's developed a passion for it. She adores control. Is that not what ED is for?" He flailed his scrawny arms. "Henceforward no one will be allowed to breathe or think or shit his pants without Her Lordship's authorization!"

"What's going on, Hashi?" She hadn't realized that she could muster the strength for any more confusion.

He wheeled on her with such vehemence that his glasses slipped off his nose. He caught them expertly in midair, however, and slapped them back on to his face.

"Min Donner, in her vast wisdom," he snarled savagely, "refuses to let me contact Koina."

Oh, dear. That was a problem. What was it all for, everything she and Hashi and Mandich had done, if they weren't allowed to tell the Council about it?

But Mandich snapped, "That's not true, and you know it." The brainless fidelity of Min Donner's underlings was legendary. "She didn't say you can't have a channel. She said you can't have a channel until she gives the word. Until she's ready."

"A distinction without a difference." Hashi seethed and spat with exasperation like a beaker of fulminating acid. "Our efforts are wasted. As is the ordeal Koina has been forced to undergo without evidence. And I can scarcely bear to contemplate the consequences for Warden, who has labored with such cunning to bring about precisely these cicumstances.

"Min Donner," he asserted bitterly, "grasps neither the significance nor the urgency of what we have accomplished!"

The Chief's fists strained in front of him. Lane wondered whether he would actually strike Hashi. If he didn't, she worried that might start to trash the lab.

If he did, what would she do? Call ED Security? Ha! That was a joke.

"Bullshit," he snorted. "I'm sure she understands it as well as you do. If she doesn't, it's because you didn't explain it to her. You're so goddamn cryptic"--he punched at the word as if it meant dishonest--"you can't answer a straight question, or tell a straight truth."

Hashi brushed that accusation aside. It might have been as unsubstantial as the smoke from Lane's nic.

Suddenly he rounded on Mandich. "But you could req a channel for me. As Chief of ED Security, and acting ED director, you have the authority. Center will obey you.

"You need not tell them why you desire a channel. You general duties will suffice as explanation." His voice snarled like a hive of wasps. "You have it in your hands to redeem the UMCP as well as Warden Dios."

The Chief stared back in disbelief. Then his face closed. "Go to hell, Lebwohl. I'll see you dead first.

"Do you think I like being the man who let a kaze get Godsen Frik?" Dark fury gathered in his eyes. "The man who missed Alt? I've got so much goddamn responsibility for this mess I can hardly carry it around. If I screw up again, I might as well be dead. I'll sure as hell be useless.

"The only thing I know is my duty. I get my orders from Director Donner. I'm not going to betray my job and my oath by letting you pressure me into insubordination."

"But I must talk to the Council!" Hashi yelled.

To her amazement, Lane thought she heard desperation in his voice.[/quote]

The drama seems realistic, and the exchanges between Hashi and Mandich increase the story's tension. Lane has her own prejudices that seem kind of amusing, such as her thinking that someone from Enforcement Division is brain-numb by definition. The descriptions of Lane in her tired state ring true for me, because unfortunately I have been that tired and still had things to accomplish before I could nap. The blurriness, the distortion of distances, the loss of balance, all of it. It's too bad we never see Lane when she's well-rested and not hyped up on stim. With her brain, if she's refreshed and just enjoying a drink at a party, I'd imagine she'd be very interesting in a conversation. But, as I said, that's all speculation because we never get to see her that way. Just exhausted, stressed, and/or overstimulated artificially.

[Cord Hurn]

Continuing the scene...

[quote="In the chapter entitled "Lane" in This Day All Gods Die was"]She sighed. Her gaze slipped out of focus. He and Mandich blurred into the background.

Thinly she murmured, "Maybe she has a reason." Where had that idea come from? "One you haven't thought of."

But Hashi didn't react with the same indignation he heaped upon Mandich. She'd snagged his attention somehow. He stared at her with his mouth open; bit it shut. The smears on his lenses caught the light in streaks.

"A reason I haven't thought of?" With unexpected restraint, he asked, "Such as?"

He may have recognized that she was nearly comatose.

She levered her shoulders into a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine." After a momentary lapse she added, "She knows more about what's going on than you do."

Mandich nodded fiercely.

Hashi peered at her as if he, too, couldn't focus his eyes. Or couldn't believe what he saw. In an ominous wheeze, he inquired, "Are you suggesting that I must trust Min Donner?"

"I'm suggesting that," Mandich rasped.

Hashi and Lane ignored him.

"You picked her as acting director," Lane wasn't quite sure why she considered this relevant. "I didn't." She seemed to be speaking in her sleep.

"Is her high-handedness my doing?" Hashi protested querulously. "I take your point, however. Why did I ask her to assume my duties, if I was reluctant to trust her? If I was wrong then, I can hardly correct the error now.

"It follows, as you say that I'm forced to guess what her reason might be. Other wise I run the risk of undermining her"--he flung a glare at Mandich--"presumably commendable intentions."

"My God," the Security Chief muttered to himself, "an outbreak of reason. I can't believe it."

Hashi didn't reply. He might not have heard Mandich. Hooking his glasses off his face, he held them with one finger while he rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying to grind his vision clear.

Obliquely Lane remembered the flask of coffee in her hands. She lifted it to her mouth--it seemed to come up from an astonishing distance--and emptied it. Damn, it was already cold. She needed the burn to help her concentrate. Time for a refill.

She got as far as discarding the butt of her nic and lighting another. Then she forgot what she was about to do.

Hashi had put his glasses back on. "Very well," he said as soon as she looked at him. "If she claims the right to choose when the Council will be addressed, I will determine who speaks for us." He squared his shoulders. "Attend your pickup, Lane." He pointed toward her console. "When Director Donner allows us a channel, you will contact Director Hannish."

She nearly fell. Her flask did: when her fingers went numb, it slipped away from her and clanged plaintively on the deck. Had she dropped her nic as well? She must have. It wasn't in either of her hands. She couldn't feel its reassurance between her lips.

Without warning tears began to stream down her face.

"No," she groaned. "Hashi, please. I can't. I'm too--"

All at once she knew exactly what kind of vindication she wanted. She wanted to sit quietly and listen while someone else used the results of her work to make a difference. If she took that risk herself, it would all fall apart.

"You're out of your mind, Lebwohl," Mandich objected. "Look at her. She can barely stand."

"You must," Hashi insisted through her tears. "I am forced to guess at Min's intentions. Therefore I speculate that they concern credibility. She hopes to choose a moment when the Council will be receptive to our evidence.

"But if that is a valid concern, then it is also valid to consider how evidence is presented. And I am--"

He faltered. For a moment, he couldn't speak. He had to move closer to her, stand right in front of her, before he could go on.

"I'm tainted, Lane." She had the odd impression that he was humbling himself: a sacrifice he had made for the sake of something more important. "In recent days I've issued too many statements which the Council--and most especially FEA Cleatus Fane--will deem falsehoods. No doubt I'm perceived as Warden's creature, in service to him rather than to the facts. If he has committed treason, then I have also. That argument will be used to erode the impact of my testimony.

"Chief Mandich is similarly disqualified by his famous loyalty to Enforcement Division."

Mandich scowled at this assertion, but didn't argue with it.

"The truth"--Hashi used that word as if it made him uncomfortable--"will carry more conviction if it comes from you."

He may have been right. Or not. She couldn't tell. But his appeal reached her all the same. The thought the Members might refuse to believe the truth simply because they heard it from him was more than she could bear. The only part of herself she valued, the only part she took pride in, was her ability to sift through the rubble of facts until she found bedrock. And she respected Hashi, not because he was admittedly brilliant, but because he'd never hampered or misused that part of her.

If she had to confront humankind's future in person in order to affirm the results of her work--

"in that case," she told Hashi weakly, "you'd better order up a hypo of stim from the infirmary." She couldn't stop crying. "Otherwise I won't be able to stay on my feet."

Instead of returning to her console, she folded to the deck and covered her face with her hands.[/quote]

Although it seems like Hashi is asking too much of Lane, there's definitely logic in having Lane talk about what the evidence is about. She obviously knows the evidence and how everything connects better than anybody, and even her tiredness attests to the sincerity of her search for facts that lead to the true picture of who is responsible for the kazes. Inspired decision-making by Hashi Lebwohl, without a doubt.

[Cord Hurn]

Going forward to Lane's testimony for the Council:

[quote="In the fifth chapter entitled "Koina" in This Day All Gods Die was"]President Len tried again. "Members--" His voice was a hoarse whisper, raw with strain. "I will allow this interruption. We'll continue talking after we've heard Dr. Harbinger."

"By God!" Cleatus roared; then cut himself off; staggered; clapped a hand to his ear as if his PCR had started screaming at him. For a moment he groped around him, unable to find his balance. Then he seemed to steady himself by sheer force of will. Turning his back, he withdrew to his seat. As he sank into his chair, sweat stood on his forehead, and his eyes seemed to roll in terror.

Koina guessed that Holt Fasner also wanted to hear what Lane would say.

Quickly she told her techs, "Route Dr. Harbinger's channel to the room speakers. President Len's aide will patch you in. Tell her we'll be ready in a minute."

As Abrim's aide hurried to handle UMCPHQ's transmission, the President slumped against the podium. "This is your idea, Director Hannish," he croaked as if he'd damaged his larynx. "You talk to her."

Weakly he beckoned Koina to the dais.

She couldn't hesitate now; couldn't afford uncertainty or fear. Striding rapidly, she approached the dais; ascended to stand beside President Len.

While she waited for his aide to complete the connection from her downlink, she forced herself to face the Council again.

She'd found that difficult the last time, but this was much worse. She had no idea what Lane might say; couldn't imagine what kind of evidence Lane might have uncovered. And where was Hashi? Or Chief Mandich?

What if Cleatus was right? What if Lane had no evidence? What if Hashi--or Min--had ordered her to call in a last-ditch effort to delay Warden's inevitable ruin?

Koina didn't think she could bear to take part in another failure; not like this, with everyone in the room watching her, and Warden's damaged hopes on the line.

But failure and success were out of her hands. In the name of her commitments she could only do her job and accept what happened. Blaine Manse and Sixten sat on the edges of their chairs. Punjat Silat rubbed his chest as if he wondered how much longer his heart would go on beating. Tel Burnish squirmed with tension. None of them had anything else to hope for. When Abrim's aide signaled to her, she buried her fear behind her professional mask; cleared her throat and began at once.[/quote]

We know pretty much what Lane is going to say, if we don't know exactly how she's going to say it. But this introduction to Lane's testimony helps makes sure that the feeling of suspense for the reader get increased all the same.

[Cord Hurn]

[quote="In the fifth chapter entitled "Koina" in This Day All Gods Die was"]"Dr. Harbinger, this is Director Hannish." Thank God her voice didn't quaver. "We're using a patchwork communications setup here. Can you hear me all right?"

"Director Hannish," a woman replied stiffly from the speakers. "I'm Lane Harbinger." Her transmission cleaner than Morn's had been. Apart from a hint of echo and a faint crackle--the gain on her pickup may have been set too high--no distortion touched her voice. "You're coming through fine. Can the Council hear me?"

"Yes, Dr. Harbinger," Koina assured her. "All the Members are here, as well as FEA Cleatus Fane and myself. You're perfectly clear."

"Good," Lane muttered. "I'm too tired to wrestle with technical difficulties." The rasp in her voice sounded like irritation, but it may have been fatigue. "I'm living on pure stim as it is. I almost fell asleep waiting for you to make up your minds to hear me."

Koina winced inwardly. "The issues before the Council are complex, Dr. Harbinger. The Members are moving as fast as they can."

She meant, Help me, Lane. Don't make this harder by alienating them.

Lane sighed. "I suppose they are. I'll try to keep it simple." For a moment her voice seemed to fray out of the speakers. Then she went on more sharply, "Before you reach any conclusions, you should know that the UMC is guilty of treason"

Softly Cleatus growled, "Here we go again."

Several of his supporters nodded. Koina guessed that they were growing restive under the threat of the Dragon's ire.

Lane had said, "the UMC," not "Holt Fasner". Was that significant, or was she just being cautious?[/quote]

I'd say Lane is being cautious, so Holt doesn't try to find some reason to somehow shut her communications down.

[Cord Hurn]

[quote="In the fifth chapter entitled "Koina" in This Day All Gods Die was"]"'Treason' is a provocative word, Dr. Harbinger," Koina countered before anyone else could take up Cleatus' objection. Perhaps you should start at the beginning."

Lane didn't hesitate. "I'm a research tech for UMCPDA," she stated at once. "I don't have anything to do with policy or politics. I deal in facts. Tangible reality. What other people do with these facts is their problem, not mine.

"I've been assigned to study the physical evidence from that last kaze. The one that almost got you. Determine the facts."

Then, however, she faded to silence. The speakers emitted a rough wheeze of respiration, as if she'd dropped off to sleep.

My God, Koina thought in dismay, how long have you been working on this?

Carefully she prompted, "What physical evidence?"

Lane's voice returned with a thud, as if she'd dropped something heavy beside her pickup. "Well, the body, of course. But we also have his id tag and GCES Security credentials."

"How is that possible?" Koina asked. "The man blew himself up." She knew the answer: she was simply trying to help Lane.

"Director Lebwohl grabbed them. Before the kaze went off. I've been working with them since then."

Koina didn't risk so much as a glance at Cleatus. She wasn't sure she could bear it if she saw that Lane's statement didn't surprise him.

"I see. Please go on."

The researcher sighed again. "If you've read ED Security's preliminary reports, you know the id tag and credentials identified a GCES Security sergeant named Clay Imposs, but the man using them was really Nathan Alt."

Now the Council could hear every breath she took. Koina had the disturbing impression that Lane had put her head down with her mouth right on her pickup. Each hoarse intake and exhalation seemed to fill the speakers with a claustrophobic urgency.

"Captain Nathan Alt was UMCPED until Director Donner court-martialed him for dereliction. Since than he's had a number of jobs. Most recently the UMC hired him as Security Liason for Anodyne Systems."

Unnecessarily she explained, "Anodyne is a subsidiary of the UMC. They manufacture the SOD-CMOS chips we use in datacores--and id tags."

Cleatus raised his voice to announce, I revealed all this to Warden Dios yesterday."

Lane took a sharp breath. "Is that Cleatus Fane?"

"It is, Dr. Harbinger," Koina answered.

"Good. I like it." Lane's tone seemed to gather strength, as if she'd found a new source of energy--or been given another dose of stim.

"Mr. Fane," she rasped. "According to our log of that conversation, you told Director Dios Nathan Alt was fired six weeks ago. Because he had dealings with the native Earthers.

"Is that right?"

"It is," the FEA said firmly.

Koina thought she heard a bitter grin in the researcher's voice as Lane retorted, "Well, you're lying."

Half a dozen members gasped. President Len covered his eyes with one hand to conceal his reaction. Unselfconsciously Sixten clenched his old fists in front of his chest like a kid wishing with all his might for a miracle.

Cleatus started to launch a furious rejoinder, them clamped his mouth shut on it. Apparently his master had called him to heel again. Instead of defending himself, he wrapped his arms across his belly and let Lane say what she wanted.

The rest of the room was paralyzed by the crowded strain of her breathing. Simply listening to it made Koina's chest hurt.[/quote]

My favorite part of this chapter is what is relayed next, the step-by-step analysis that proves the kaze had been approved and sent by the highest level of the UMC, and thus by Holt Fasner.

[Cord Hurn]

[quote="In the fifth chapter entitled "Koina" in This Day All Gods Die was"]"The body told us a lot," Lane resumed. "For one thing, it was full of hypnagogic drugs. For another, the bomb had a chemical trigger. The catalyst was contained in a false tooth. Of course, the man himself can't testify. He's too dead." The raw edge of her respiration suggested another grin. "But the circumstantial evidence is clear. Alt entered the Council chamber in a state of deep hypnosis. On a preconditioned signal, he bit doewn to break his false tooth. The catalyst entered his system. A minute or two later he exploded.

"It's also clear that he must have been given the signal by someone in the room. Someone he could see. Or hear. He was in no condition to make decisions himself. So you had a traitor with you during the last session. Since no one's been allowed to leave island, he's probably still there."

"Except Hashi Lebwohl," Cleatus interrupted. "He was here then. But he left. He hasn't returned. And he was in a better position than anyone to give a signal. He could easily have triggered the explosion, and then switched credentials to supply the 'evidence' which makes you think I'm lying."

He was floundering. Koina half expected him to accuse her, as well--or Forrest Ing. But he didn't.

"I guess that's true," Lane murmured. "Interesting idea." She paused like a woman swallowing a yawn. "On the other hand it's relatively easy to prove Director Lebwohl hasn't had access to any SOD-CMOS chips for several weeks. Especially not this particular chip."

As she went on, she began to breathe harder. The speakers carried a heavy throb of exertion. She was near her physiological limits.

"Obviously the id tag and credentials are crucial. They're our best clue to where this kaze came from.

"How were they doctored to identify Nathan Alt as Clay Imposs? That's supposed to be impossible. You can't do it unless you have an intimate knowledge of the code-engine that drives GCES Security clearances. Which leaves out the native Earthers, I think," she remarked. Then she said, "But still, the doctoring should show. If you know how to look. You can't edit SOD-CMOS chips. You can only add layers of new programming.

"In this case, the chip wasn't doctored. It isn't Clay Imposs' original id tag. It's a new tag specifically written to identify Nathan Alt as Clay Imposs. That's probably easier to do. Harder to detect. But you have to be able to get new chips. Not a simple problem. And the job still requires you to know that code-engine. An even tougher problem. In fact, that knowledge may be our most closely guarded secret.

"But Nathan Alt had it. Or he did until he was fired." She snorted wearily. "As UMC Security Liason for Anodyne Systems, he helped design the code-engines."

Koina chafed under the pressure of Lane's difficult respiration. Time was growing short: the command module and Trumpet must be within fifteen minutes of Calm Horizons by now. She already knew about Alt's work with Anodyne. She needed to hear something she could use.

"Where is this leading, Dr. Harbinger?" she put in. "What conclusions have you reached?"

Lane didn't answer directly. "The interesting thing about this id tag," she said between gasps, "is that it's so recent. The programming isn't the only part that's new. The chip is new, too.

"We logged it in a routine shipment to UMC Home Security three weeks ago. Ten days later, according to HS records, the same chip was reqqed by the office of the Anodyne Security Liason. For use in testing code designs. So it went to Anodyne, where the design work is done. The traitor must have acquired it after that." She let out a shuddering gust, then sneered, "But of course Alt was fired six weeks ago.

"You can see the problem. How is it possible that a man with the knowledge to fake a GCES Security id tag got his hands on a SOD-CMOS chip from his former office nearly four and a half weeks after he was fired?"

Involuntarily Koina hels her breath. Her body seemed to think it could counter Lane's stress by refusing air itself.

"We've just completed a legal search of Anodyne's records. In particular, we searched the computers Anodyne uses for code-engine design. It wasn't easy. As I say, those secrets are closely guarded. You need three different kinds of access, all working together. Without any one of them, the other two are useless. But we learned that on the Security Liason's authority that chip was used to study methods for faking id tags. And the same chip was reqqed back from Anodyne by the Security Liason's office four days ago."

A yawn Lane couldn't suppress came from the speakers.

"In both cases the orders were logged by Nathan Alt. Now five and a half weeks after he was allegedly fired."

At last! A flare of hope seemed to go off in Koina's heart. Her relief was so intense that she nearly staggered. Without noticing it, she began to pant for air. At last![/quote]

We keep waiting for Lane to get to the point, but the way she carefully walks us through what she's found makes her evidence seem that much more irrefutable. And Cleatus' reactions by being caught off guard increase Lane's believability to the readers and the Council. Also, there's an intriguing tension with you as a reader having the feeling Lane could lapse into unconsciousness at any moment.

[StevieG]

And there is the answer to the latest Gap quiz question

[Cord Hurn]

[quote="In the fifth chapter entitled "Koina" in This Day All Gods Die was"]If the Members hadn't been trapped in the sound of Lane's breathing, more of them would have reacted. Some of Holt's supporters slumped as if they were collapsing. Others gaped in disbelief and consternation; betrayal. Blaine tried to speak, but couldn't find her voice. However, most of the Council simply stared at the speakers like men and women who sere too aghast to understand what they heard. The ground they'd walked on all their lives--the power and position of the UMC--had begun to crack under them.

In the shocked silence Sixten jumped to his feet and thrust his fists triumphantly at the ceiling.

"This is crazy," Cleatus croaked. The blood had been stricken from his face: he looked as pallid as a cadaver. "Alt must have planned it all along." His lips quivered. His gaze raced around the room, as if he were looking frantically for an escape. "He must have betrayed our entire Security. We fired him. somehow he got back in. Weeks after we got rid of him."

The sight of his fear was all the evidence Koina needed. It confirmed that Lane was right.

"No, Mr. Fane." The researcher seemed to fight her fatigue down for the last time. "You said yourself you changed your security after he was fired. That's on the record. In any case, no one person can break into Anodyne. We've just proven that. Alt must have had clearance from Home Security, as well as the full authority of the Security Liason's office in addition to his personal codes. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get his hands on that chip.

"There's only one possible conclusion. You've been lying all along. Alt was still working for the UMC when he made his plans to replace Clay Imposs. And the traitor who detonated him is still in that room."

Lane faded away; then returned with an effort. "Everything we've done has been logged and recorded. You can access it whenever you want verification."

Still in that room-- The idea took a moment to penetrate. Then it seemed to sting the Members out of their stunned dismay. In a rush they all started talking at once; to each other or their aides; to anyone they could reach.

Koina pitched her voice to carry over the sudden hubbub.

"One last question, Dr. Harbinger. I know you're exhausted. You've done brilliant work, and you deserve rest. But the last I heard this investigation was assigned to Director Lebwohl and Chief of Security Mandich. where are they now? What have they been doing?"

If she could, she wanted to remove any taint that Hashi's tarnished reputation might cast on Lane's testimony.

Lane whimpered softly. Her breathing shook s if she were feverish. Nevertheless she rallied to answer.

"We've been working together. They're back in the Anodyne computers. Getting more evidence. We may be able to trace the id tags, for all three kazes to the same source."

Somewhere she found the strength to finish. "Lane out." But she couldn't toggle her pickup. The speakers produced a thin, snoring rasp until someone closed her channel for her.[/quote]

The shock the Council feels at realizing how Holt and his UMC has betrayed them and humanity reminds me of the old saying, "It isn't what you don't know that's the problem; it's what you know that just ain't so--THAT'S the problem!" Lane may be a fairly peripheral character in the Gap Cycle, but she is pivotal in the fight against the long-term corruption with which the story grapples.

Cleatus' eyes rolled, and sweat splashed down his face: he looked like an animal in torment. His hands make clutching motions he couldn't complete, grasping after support he didn't get from his downlink.

"Why? he objected wildly. "Why would anybody do this? Why would Holt Fasner? My God, you can't believe it. Send kazes against the Council? It's insane! There's been a mistake. Or that"--he sputtered in outrage--"that Harbinger is making it up. You could have been killed." His voice broke into a cry. "I could have been killed!"

His fear was too extreme to be explained by failure. Nevertheless Koina took no pity on him. Suddenly Warden's dreams had come back to life; raised from the dead by Lane's inspired exhaustion and Hashi's cleverness and Mandich's loyalty. The Members had been shocked to the core: they believed her now. She would see Cleatus Fane in his grave before she let this opportunity pass.

"I don't think you were in any danger," she retorted, loud and clear as the ring of a carillon. "I think you're the one who gave Captain Alt his signal to die. You were safe because you could choose when and where he exploded."

Cleatus shook his head. Denials bubbled like froth on his lips. But she didn't stop.

"As for why, I think that's obvious." She hammered the words as if she were nailing shut a coffin. "The Members might have passed Captain Vertigus' Bill of Severence if that kaze hadn't scared them so badly. In any case, Special Counsel Igensard's investigation could have been dangerous to you. God knows it should have been. Under the right circumstances, it might have been fatal.

"Holt Fasner began to suspect that Warden Dios intended to make these crimes public--crimes committed by the UMCP on your CEO's orders. those kazes were sent to pressure the Council into protecting Fasner by getting rid of Warden Dios without weakening the UMC's hold on the UMCP."

She would have gone on. After all her years of distress and dishonesty under Godsen Frik--and all the pain of helping Warden do himself so much harm--she was more than angry enough to match Cleatus' alarm. She wanted to pour acid by the vatful on his undefended head.

Sixten interrupted her, however. While she gathered her accusations, he called out like a trumpet, "Mr. President, I move we forget this proposal to recharter and enact my Bill instead."

His old voice carried a grim thrill of vindication.

"Seconded!" Sigurd Carsin, Blaine Manse, and Tel Burnish shouted together.

Before Abrim could respond, Cleatus burst to his feet, jutted his beard at the ceiling. "No!" he howled. "Stop!" He might have forgotten that the Council existed. Desperately he tried to raise his voice across hundreds of k to UMCHO. "What're you--? Don't!"

But apparently Holt no longer heeded him. He ripped the PCR from his ear, flung it away, "You fools!" he raged at the Members. "You're going to get us killed!" Don't you know that he won't tolerate this?"

He seemed to be raving.

With a quick nod, President Len sent Forrest Ing and his guards to take the terrified FEA out of the room.

According to one of Koina's techs, the command module and Trumpet were three minutes off Calm Horizons when the Council passed Sixten's Bill by acclamation.

YES! I know that's not the end of the matters with Holt, but it sure is a satisfying moment!

[Cord Hurn]

And there is the answer to the latest Gap quiz question

Yes, timing is EVERYTHING, StevieG! I was waiting to see your question get correctly answered before I finished posting those quotes I had ready for this thread!