Elsewhere

LEFEBVRE put his feet on his desk and pulled up the file on his comp. The messages Kearn had received from his mysterious Kraal friend had disappeared from every record; in the process, they’d tunneled their way through nearby data like Kita worms in wood.

Still, like worms, the messages had left holes. There wasn’t a detectable pattern, yet, but it was just the type of thing Timri enjoyed working on by the hour. When she came back from visiting Paul, he’d set her on it.

Lefebvre was disappointed not to see Esen or Paul again. His search of the ’Lass hadn’t turned them up on the corridor to the lift, on the lift itself, or in the air lock to the Russell’s shuttle. That was perhaps to be expected, but that was as much searching as he’d been prepared to do.

This file, on the other hand, contained a great deal that was interesting and extensive. Lefebvre gave a sigh of pure delight.

Here, he told himself smugly, was a monster worth chasing.