Miles-san gave Mina a big There, see? sort of smile, which faltered at her blank stare. Vorlynkin and Johannes were gazing at him in horrified fascination.

Miles drew himself up. "I'm going to go talk to this Dr. Leiber. In person. Not at his work, I think," he added, his voice slowing in thought.

Roic's mouth set in a grim line. "You will have a proper security perimeter."

"Certainly. We'll even take Johannes, so you won't have to be the perimeter all by yourself."

"It's a start."

Miles-san studied Mina, who was still shifting fretfully. "The connection between Dr. Leiber and your mother exists nowhere in the records I've seen so far-only in your witness, Miss Mina. If anything comes of it, it will be entirely due to the valuable intelligence you supplied."

She cheered a little at this, or at least her lip stopped quivering. "Really?"

"Really. And valuable ImpSec informants get paid, you know. So do couriers, I am reminded," he added with a glance at Jin.

"But I didn't finish the job," said Jin.

"Capture by the enemy rates hazard pay, actually."

"How much?" asked Mina, brightening a lot more.

"Ah, I like the way you think, kid. There's actually an official pay schedule. In Barrayaran marks, of course. It has codes for various services. I'll have Roic check it, and do the conversions to Kibou-daini money."

"You propose to pay them adult rates?" asked Vorlynkin. Jin thought he sounded more startled than disapproving, and hoped he wouldn't try to talk Miles-san out of this wonderful idea.

"Damn straight." Miles-san added, "My case budget allows for a lot of discretion, you know."

"Then I wish you'd buy some," snapped Vorlynkin. He shut his mouth abruptly, as if startled at what had fallen out of it.

Miles-san merely grinned at him. His stiff consul-face back in place, Vorlynkin shepherded Jin and Mina back up to the kitchen to feed them again. Jin glanced back over his shoulder at the four men turning intently back to their comconsoles, as that heavy door swung shut. He hoped the consulate had good spy stuff.

Chapter Thirteen

Dr. Seiichiro Leiber proved to live in a rented row-house in a residential district on the west side of Northbridge, not far from his work. Miles had Johannes, driving the lift van, circle the block to give him a feel for the neighborhood. On this pleasant weekend morning, not a few folks were out tending their tiny plots of greenery; a gang of children raced noisily across the lawns, got yelled at by a gardener, and vanished, giggling, around the corner. Jin and Mina might well have grown up in a place much like this.

Miles's more focused researches last night had mainly turned up Leiber's school records, with police records drawing a bland and virtuous blank. He wasn't listed on any of Lisa Sato's rosters of supporters or contributors, nor did his name appear among the arrestees at the rally riot, most of whom had been released without being charged. Charges had been made but later dropped against the two dead and the three, including Sato, who'd been suspiciously frozen. All tidy and quiet now.

This Dr. Leiber had acquired his Ph.D. at the unprecocious age of twenty-eight, and gone directly into employment with NewEgypt for the four years subsequently. His thesis, which Miles had read-well, skimmed-had focused on improvements in cryonics fluids, which, given that a consortium of cryocorps had funded his scholarship, seemed perfectly reasonable. Several of the larger cryocorps maintained research departments that, in addition to overseeing quality control, worked on proprietary advances in their procedures designed to lure customers from their competition. Nothing odd about that, either.

Miles had Johannes pull up at the corner. "I think our biggest problem here is going to be nosy neighbors, not electronic surveillance. You aren't going to be able to sit or stand around without people coming out to see what you're up to. So I'll run an open comlink to you, Johannes"-Miles set his to record while he was at it-"and you find a place to pull in and buy coffee or something. Drop Roic around back on the way." Miles eyed his bodyguard, dressed fairly neutrally but not quite locally. "I wish we could disguise you as a lamp post or something."

"I'll manage," said Roic.

Miles nodded, waved Raven to follow him, and descended to the sidewalk.

The door buzzer was answered by a dark-haired, blinking fellow with a tea mug in his hand, wearing a T-shirt and trousers, barefoot. Despite the weekend jaw shadow and lack of a lab coat, he was immediately recognizable as Miles's quarry.

Miles smiled. "Dr. Leiber?" Not giving the man time to answer, he continued, "My name is Miles Vorkosigan, and this is my associate, Dr. Raven Durona of the Durona Group."

A flash of recognition crossed Leiber's face at the latter name, followed by puzzlement. "Durona?" said Leiber. "From the Escobar clinic?"

"Oh, you've heard of us?" Raven smiled sunnily.

"I read the journals."

Miles forged on, "We were both in town for the inter-Nexus cryo-conference last week, and hoped to see you. May we come in?" Leaving implied that the associate was bio-research. Miles would save the insinuation of interstellar cops for after they'd made it through the front door, and only if needed.

At this reasonable-sounding explanation, Leiber gulped down his last swallow of tea and gave way. Miles hustled gratefully inside. He let his host guide them into his little living room, and took a seat promptly, the harder to be dislodged. The others naturally followed suit. "Did you attend the conference? I don't recall seeing you." In fact, Miles had checked-Leiber hadn't been there.

"No, but I was sorry to have missed it. Were you fellows caught up in that mess I saw on the news with the N.H.L.L.?"

"I wasn't, but Raven here was-" Miles gave Raven a go-ahead, and Raven supplied a few ice-breaking anecdotes about his brief adventures as a hostage, with the Barrayaran connections downplayed. Raven then went into a technical riff about the conference, drawing Leiber into questions in turn, equally divided between biochemistry and scurrilous gossip. He also touched on Leiber's thesis, which Raven had actually read all the way through last night without his eyes glazing over. By this time Leiber seemed fully at ease.

Miles decided on a direct approach. "I'm actually here this morning on behalf of the next-of-kin of Lisa Sato. I believe you had some dealings with her eighteen months ago, just before her arrest?"

Shock and dismay bloomed unconcealed on Leiber's face. Well, he was the scientist type, not a con artist, nor, probably, a very good liar. Fine by me.

"How do you know-what makes you think that?" Leiber fumbled, confirming Miles's judgment.

"Eyewitness testimony."

"But no one saw-there wasn't-but Suwabi died."

"There was one other."

Leiber gulped and seemed to pull himself together. "I'm sorry. It was an awkward time. A frightening time."

Miles prepared to utter something soothing, but his witness leaped to his feet. "I'm sorry, you've rattled me a bit. Some tea. I'll fix some more tea. Would you like some tea?"

Miles would rather not have given him time to invent lies, which they would then have to spend more time pulling apart, but he was already headed to his tiny kitchen. Miles waved an assent that Leiber didn't even look back to see.

Raven raised an eyebrow at Miles. "Congratulations."

"Indeed, a hit, a palpable hit."

Dishes rattled, water ran. A faint squeak and quiet tick of a door opening and closing…?

"Whoops." Miles grabbed his cane and lurched to his feet.

The kitchen was empty, silent but for the simmering electric kettle. Only one door led out. Onto the patio, its alley gate swinging.