Alan Dean Foster The Mocking Program (v5.0) (pdf)

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he stepped over an effervescent column of army ants that were cross-
ing the trail.
Maybe we can t wait a year but we do have a couple of days to
spare. A small smile creased his face. After that, Pangborn is going
THE MOCKING PROGRAM 175
to get antsy for some feedback. Not to mention that we ll just about
be out of vacation time.
They emerged from the forest into the open courtyard of the
Ciudad compound. Across the way, a cluster of young primates was
being marched back to class by a matronly and very dignified chim-
panzee.
So the plan is that we leave her alone to stew over the proposal,
and don t apply any more pressure?
Exactamention, Cardenas agreed.
She might not tell her daughter anything about this, about our
visit. The girl might have an opinion of her own.
Probably would. The Inspector started across the courtyard.
But the girl is not of age, not even in the CAF. The last thing we
want to do is give the mother another reason to dislike us. Better to
leave her alone and let her sort things out for herself.
Think she ll come to the right decision?
Cardenas paused to watch a troop of mixed macaques and smaller
tamarins performing acrobatics on an enormously elaborate gymnas-
tic sculpture that had been constructed adjacent to the jungle. When
combined with their innate athleticism, the precision of their rou-
tines was dizzying to contemplate.
I hope so. For her daughter s sake if not for her own. Resuming
his stride, he angled toward the Administration building. If they
have facilities here for sanctioned researchers, they can probably put
us up for a couple of days.
The managers of the Ciudad Simiano could for a fee, of course.
The visitors quarters were a pleasant surprise: neat and clean, they
were equipped with lightweight tropical linen, mosquito nets, and in-
sect repellers. There was even a vit player but no comm units and
no box access. If they wanted to talk to the outside world, they had
to use a monitored unit in the Administration building. A way of en-
suring guests privacy? Cardenas wondered or of screening all con-
tact between the Ciudad and human civilization? A way of protecting
176 Alan Dean Foster
visitors or of isolating residents? No matter. Neither he nor his part-
ner had any secrets to reveal.
The food served to guests was another surprise. Anticipating a
wholly vegetarian diet, both men were delighted to see everything
from fish to venison on the menu, though there was no domesticated
meat. The inhabitants of the Ciudad did not raise other animals for
food, though they were perfectly content to kill and consume those
they could catch in the wild. Chimpanzees in particular were tradi-
tionally fond of animal protein. Over the course of the federales brief
stay, Hyaki developed a taste for tropical locusts fried in sesame oil.
Besides the inherent crunchiness, the battered bugs contained twice
as much protein as beef. Demurring on the unusual dish, Cardenas
found himself reveling in the local fruits, many of which he had never
encountered before.
On the second day, a bored Hyaki stumbled across a tennis court
set in the rainforest. There he made the acquaintance of a young
orangutan named Pahek. Although physically smaller, the orang s
reach exceeded the sergeant s own, and they engaged in several ener-
getic matches.
Envying his partner s ability to unwind, an increasingly pes-
simistic Cardenas extended their stay into a third day, still without
any word from Surtsey Mockerkin. It was beginning to look like the
only testimony they were going to be able to obtain from her con-
cerning the death of Wayne Brummel and his likely extirpaters would
have to be inferred. They could not force her to testify, either via
recording or by returning to Namerica. For that matter, they still had
no incontrovertible proof that could tie her felonious husband di-
rectly to the vapeing. As for any disreputable exploitation of her
daughter by the girl s father, no one had suggested that a prosecutable
crime had been committed. Where a court of law was concerned,
without testimony given or recorded in the presence of counsel, any
information provided by Katla s mother would remain nothing more
than hearsay.
THE MOCKING PROGRAM 177
All in all, it had not been a very successful trip. They had ob-
tained information regarding The Mock s intention to develop a
means for engaging in something called quantum theft, which might
prove to be anything from a genuine threat to nothing more than a
harebrained hypothesis. Surtsey Mockerkin had confirmed that her
husband was searching for her, and that he had reason to be furious,
perhaps lethally furious, with the man she had run off with. And that
was all. There was no hard evidence of murder for hire, crunch theft,
or child abuse. It was suggestive that others were willing to kill to
learn what Katla Mockerkin presumably knew, but it did not impli-
cate anyone directly in the murder of Wayne Brummel.
Which was, after all, the case he and his partner were supposed to
be pursuing.
The good food and congenial, if isolated, surroundings, did little
to lift the Inspector out of the funk of frustration into which he had
fallen. If they could secure hard testimony from Surtsey Mockerkin
to the effect that her husband had ordered Brummel s killing, or even
that he was in all likelihood the one who had ordered it, then they
could at least pick up The Mock on suspicion, and subject him to
questioning. But if she refused to do even that much, they could do
nothing but catch the next shuttle home. And as afraid as she was of
her husband, Cardenas was not sanguine about convincing her even
to admit that she knew where he was living.
They could not afford to linger a fourth day. Not without results.
All they could do was pay Surtsey Mockerkin one last visit, repeat
both their plea for assistance and the offer of asylum, and hope that
time and contemplation had worked on her mind sufficiently to per-
suade her to change her position. Neither man was hopeful.
Having resigned himself to disappointment, Cardenas had al-
ready booked them out on the following day s shuttle from San Jos�
to Nogales via Mexico City. Still, he reflected as he led Hyaki up the
steps of the guest house, there had been times in the past when logic
and reason had failed him but sheer stubbornness had paid off.
178 Alan Dean Foster
Despite the outward simplicity of the structure, their prior visit
had confirmed that it employed its share of concealed servotronics,
including one that must have notified her of their arrival. Surtsey
Mockerkin met them in the main hallway. Her manner was guarded
but confident.
Come in. I m in the middle of putting up some things in the
kitchen.
They followed her to a part of the house they had not previously
seen. The kitchen occupied the opposite side of the building from the
sitting area where they had conversed three days earlier. Outfitted to
handle the needs of two or three people, it held dehumidifier-equipped,
insect-proof cabinets; a small oven and stove; sink, chiller, sonic scrub-
ber, and a floor-to-ceiling pantry. As the two federales looked on, their
hostess removed dishes and tumblers from the scrubber and stacked
them in an open cabinet.
I understand that you gentlemen are getting ready to leave.
So we are, Cardenas admitted. How did you find out?
She set a pair of brightly colored self-chilling plastic tumblers on
a half-full shelf. I have been here long enough to make some friends,
you know. Eyes that had seen too much met his. If you ve come to
say good-bye, it was nice meeting you. If you ve come to make a last
stab at talking me into leaving, forget it.
Trying to defuse the tension between them, he ventured conver-
sationally, It s a shame we won t get to meet your daughter. As you [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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