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of a weapon near Das. He reckoned that she must have been
shot where she sat, as there was an absence of blood anywhere around
her. Similarly, there was no evidence of a weapon near the tycoon’s
body. They couldn’t have killed each other.
    He
looked beyond their bodies, then, and saw the carnage. He counted the
static of six further mind-shields, made out chunks of meat wrapped
in blue material. They had been lasered, messily, and their sectioned
remains were spread over the wide, sunken area of the empty fountain.
He guessed that the security personnel had been running when the
lasers struck, their momentum careening limbs, heads and torsos in
every direction. He looked among the remains for Singh’s
turbaned head. It wasn’t there.
    So
had Singh killed Chandrasakar, Das, and the security personnel who
had been loyal to the tycoon?
    Was
he now somewhere in the city...?
    Vaughan
stared down at the carnage and considered what it represented: a
messy Rorschach blot denoting the psychology of greed and the lust
for power which rendered humankind so treacherous. No wonder the
Taoth and the other aliens had fled before humanity’s terrible
expansion.
    He
was brought to his senses by the amplified voice of a drone. “We
know you are there, Vaughan. Drop your laser and you might live.â€

THIRTY
    THE JOY OF REUNION
    He
accessed the call and stared at the screen.
    His
surge of delight at seeing Sukara was instantly quenched when he
looked closely at her face. She was tearful, and his first thought
was Li.
    â€œSu...?â€

CODA
    DR RAO
    Vaughan
woke to dazzling sunlight.
    He
was disoriented for a second, his head still full of dreams. He was
deep underground, in a weirdly lighted cavern, and spider drones were
chasing him... He sat up quickly, then smiled when he saw Sukara
sleeping beside him.
    The
events of the dream had happened more than a month back, though it
seemed paradoxically both an age ago and incredibly immediate. He
slipped quietly out of bed and showered; he was dressing when his
handset chimed.
    Lin
Kapinsky looked up at him. “Hey, Jeff. I’ve just had the
report back from security, about the bastards who kidnapped Su and
Pham.â€