Bonshoon: A Tale of the Final Fall of Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

said we were sorry, Dunnkirk said he was sorry, we were embarrassed as Hell and we all got on with our lives. I think we all wish it had never happened.”
    “Especially now,” Waffa said, “when it seems to be the only incident Dunnkirk was ever involved with on board ship that might have made an enemy of anyone.”
    “Please,” Z-Lin said, “give us a break. You made a couple of dick remarks in an ugly stress situation and you got smacked for it. End of story. Neither of you could hold a grudge that long, and Zeegon was on the bridge with me and Sally and Decay.”
    “And Waffa was in main engineering with me!” Contro added helpfully.
    “We were all with someone,” Sally said.
    “Except for me,” Janya spoke up. “I was alone in my quarters.”
    “I think we can rule out Sally and Janya,” Decay said with a faint smile, “at least until we locate the box they might have stood on.”
    “Watch it,” Sally growled good-naturedly. “All an alibi means is that we might be looking for a murderer and accomplice.”
    “Sally, as the closest thing to a cop on board, I want you to take the lead on this investigation,” Z-Lin said, “and by protocol we also need Chief of Security and Operations in the loop, so Waffa – you’re on this too,” she stood up. One by one, glancing awkwardly at one another, the rest of the crew stood up and prepared to return to their posts – or, since it was the middle of the night shift, more likely to bed.
    Must be nice , Sally thought, exchanging a wry look with Waffa. There would be no sleep for either of them that night. Oh well, at least we’ll have Decay to keep us company . Blaren didn’t sleep.
    “And we’re just going to maintain our course?” Zeegon asked.
    “Maintain course and speed,” Z-Lin confirmed. “Until we have answers for them, it’s in everyone’s best interests to keep Thord and Maladin from finding out. I have absolutely no idea how they might react, and what they might do. It’s entirely likely that Thord is back in the Dreamscape right now and will learn everything from her pups when we return to normal space. At which point, we’re going to want to be able to tell her exactly what happened and who was responsible.”
    “Right,” Waffa said grimly.
    They began to file out, most of them moving with heavy feet and slumped shoulders.
    Clue stopped in the doorway and turned back to Sally and Waffa. “And I want you both to keep reminding each other,” she said. “You’re looking for the person who murdered Dunnkirk. Not for how Cratch murdered him . Is that clear?”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    ZEEGON (THEN)
     
     
    I had that dream again .
    It had been a while since he’d thought about Ital, but the day’s activities had for some reason reminded him of her.
    It wasn’t entirely normal, in these apparently enlightened times, for a person to refer to a prospective partner as being totally out of his or her league, but Zeegon was an old-fashioned sort of boy. And besides, Ital Constable had been totally out of his league. Everybody said so. Heck, back when they’d first instigated the awkward process of becoming an item, nobody had even believed him when he’d broken the news to his friends and colleagues.
    Ital had found that hilarious, and responded by fabricating an official reprimand against him in relation to some security drill or another, the automated components for which his crew had been responsible. There, in front of a crowded workshop full of his friends, co-workers, rivals and superiors, she had chewed him out blisteringly for his incompetence and dangerous lack of attention to detail in the maintenance and upkeep of basic mechanical systems, and concluded by propositioning him, loudly and explicitly, for a sexual act he later had to look up on the computer.
    That was Ital.
    She’d been a high-ranking security officer, directly below Chief Tactical Officer ‘Brutan’ Barducci. She was smart, funny, tough, and lacking