Lois McMaster Bujold 11 Memory

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originality, and, how shall I put it, elegance
. This is, by comparison, slapdash. Effective, mind you, but slapdash.
On a molecular level."
Illyan s lips twisted, but he said nothing.
"The self-destruct sequencing," Weddell went on, "could have been a
safety-check, simply left over from the original design.
Or... it could have been deliberately intended to destroy the evidence."
"Can you tell which?"
"There were some slight modifications in it, compared to the original medical
prokaryote... it was deliberately left in the design, anyway. I can give you
facts, my lord; I cannot give you the intentions of unknown persons."
That s my job, right
. "So... when was it administered to Illyan? And how?"
"
Administered is an assumptive term, though under the circumstances probably
allowable. The first gross symptoms of breakdown were when, again?"
"Four weeks ago," said Haroche. "At the all-departments briefing."
"About a week before that, actually," said Miles. "According to my informant."
Haroche gave him a sharp look. "Really."
Illyan stirred, as if about to add something, but then kept his peace.
"Hm. The prokaryote does not reproduce very rapidly. Much depends on how large
a dose was initially introduced."
"Yes, and how was it done?" Miles put in. "For that matter, how is this stuff
stored and transported? What s its shelf life?
Does it require any special conditions?"
"It s stored dry, in an encapsulated form, at room temperature, though it
would not be harmed by mild freezing. Shelf life -
heavens. Years. Though it s obviously less than a decade old. It is activated
by wetting, presumably upon administration, which requires moist contact.
Through mucous membranes - it could have been inhaled as a dust - injected as
a solution, or introduced as a contaminant into a scratch. Broken skin and
moisture would do it. It wouldn t have to be a large scratch."
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"Swallowed?"
"Most of the prokaryotes would be destroyed by stomach acids. It could be
done, but would require a larger initial dose, to be certain enough entered
the bloodstream to be carried to the chip."
"So... when? What s the maximum possible time-window for exposure? Can t you
use its reproductive rate to calculate when it was administered?"
"Only crudely. That s one of the several variables, I m afraid, my lord.
Administration must have been between ten weeks and one week before the
appearance of the first symptoms."
Miles turned to Illyan. "Can you remember anything like that?"
Illyan shook his head helplessly.
Haroche said, "Is there any way... could it... is it possible the exposure
might have been accidental?"
Weddell screwed up his mouth. "Possible? Who can say? Likely? That s the
question." And he looked as if he was glad he didn t have to answer it.
"Have there been" - Miles turned to Haroche - "any reports of anyone else on
Barrayar who possesses related chip technologies undergoing a mysterious
breakdown?" For that matter, did anyone else on Barrayar possess a related
chip?
"Not that I know of," said Haroche.
"I would like ImpSec to double-check that, please."
"Yes, my lord." Haroche made a note.
"The jump-pilots neural implants use an altogether different system," put in
Avakli. "Thank God." He blinked, presumably at an inner vision of the chaos
that would result from some sort of pilot-plague.
"This prokaryote is not communicable by ordinary means," Weddell assured them,
rather offhandedly, Miles thought.
"We must assume a worst-case scenario, I think," said Miles.
"Indeed," sighed Haroche.
"It looks like sabotage to me," Miles went on. "Pinpoint deliberate,
knowledgeable, and subtle."
And cruel, lord, something cruel
. "We now know what, and how. And some of when. But who, and why?" Ah, the
motivations of men again.
I have touched the elephant, and it is very like a...
what were the six answers? -
rope, tree, wall, snake, spear, fan....
"We have the method. The motive remains obscure. You have too many enemies,
Simon, and none of them are personal. I don t think. You weren t...
sleeping with anyone s wife or daughter or anything like that, that we don t
know about, were you?"
Illyan s mouth twisted in bleak amusement. "Alas, no, Miles."
"So... it had to be someone who was mad at ImpSec generally. Political
motivations? Damn, that still leaves too wide a field.
Though they did have money to burn, and, um, patience - how long would you
estimate it took to develop that microbeastie, Dr.
Weddell?"
"Laboratory time, oh, a couple of months. Unless they paid for a rush job. A
month at least."
"Plus travel time... this plot has to have started at least six months ago,
I d think."
Haroche cleared his throat. "It appears probable that it came from off
Barrayar. I d like to know what laboratory it came from, and when. With your
permission, my Lord Auditor, I ll immediately alert Galactic Affairs to put
their agents onto the Jacksonian end of this tangle. With an eye to other
possible sources for bio-work on this order - Escobar, for example. Jackson s
Whole does not possess a complete monopoly on shady deals, after all."
"Yes, please, General Haroche," said Miles. It was exactly the sort of tedious
legwork ImpSec could do much better than
Miles. A real Imperial Auditor normally possessed a staff of his own to whom
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to delegate such jobs. He d have to check the reports personally, to be sure.
Ah, he was going be stuck down in the bowels of ImpSec HQ after all. He must
be fated.
"And," added Haroche, "I ll review of all of Chief Illyan s movements for the
last, say, sixteen weeks to five weeks ago."
"I was mostly here at HQ," said Illyan. "Two trips out of the city... I
think... I know I never left Barrayar in that time."
"There was Gregor s State dinner," Miles pointed out. "And a few other events
you personally supervised."
"Yes." Haroche made another note. "We ll need a list of every galactic visitor
Chief Illyan could have physically encountered at those functions. The list
will be large, but finite."
"Is there anything else you can do to narrow the time-window?" Miles asked
Avakli and Weddell.
Weddell spread his hands; Avakli shook his head and said, "Not with our
current data, my lord."
"Is there anything else at all you can add?" asked General Haroche.
Head shakes all around. "Not without moving into realms of speculation," said
Avakli.
"It s such an odd attack," said Miles. "Targeting Illyan s function, yet not
his life."
"I m not sure you can rule out murderous intent, my lord," put in Dr. Ruibal.
"If the chip had not been removed, he might well have died eventually of
exhaustion. Or met some accident during his periods of confusion."
Haroche sucked in his breath.
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