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"Yes. A full ImpSec search and background check, I think. Don t assume she s
dead - if she s alive, we surely want to question her. Do you need a special
order from me?"
"Not necessarily, but I ll bet it would expedite things." A faint enthusiastic
gleam lit Tuomonen s eye.
"You have it, then."
"Thank you, my lord. I thought you d want this." He handed Miles the secured
case. "I pulled the complete dossier on
Radovas before I left the office."
"Does ImpSec keep files on every Komarran citizen, or was he special?"
"No, we don t keep universal files. But we have a search program that can pull
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records of good depth from the information net very quickly. The first part of
this is his public biography, school records, medical records, financial and
travel documents, all the usual. I only had time to glance over it. But
Radovas also does have a small ImpSec file, dating back to his student days
during the
Komarr Revolt. It was closed at the amnesty."
"Is it interesting?"
"I would not draw too many inferences from it alone. Half the population of
Komarr of that age group was part of some student protest or would-be
revolutionary group back then, including my mother-in-law." Tuomonen waited
stiffly to see what response Miles would make to this tidbit.
"Ah, you married a local girl, did you?"
"Five years ago."
"How long have you been posted to Serifosa?"
"About six years."
"Good for you."
Yes! That leaves one more Barrayaran woman for the rest of us
. "You get along well with the locals, I take it."
Tuomonen s stiffness eased. "Mostly. Except for my mother-in-law. But I don t
think that s entirely political." Tuomonen suppressed a small grin. "But our
little daughter has her under complete control, now."
"I see." Miles smiled back at him. With a more thoughtful frown, he turned the
case over, dug his Auditor s seal out of his pocket, and keyed it open. "Has
your Analysis section red-flagged anything in this for me?"
"I
am
Serifosa s Analysis section," Tuomonen admitted ruefully. His glance at Miles
sharpened. "I understand you re former
ImpSec yourself, my lord. I think I d rather let you read it over first,
before I comment."
Miles s brows twitched up. Did Tuomonen not trust his own judgment, had the
arrival of two Imperial Auditors in his sector unnerved him, or was he merely
seizing the opportunity for some mutual brainstorming? "And what sort of
dossier did you pull off the net on one Miles Vorkosigan, and speed-read
before you left the office just now?"
"I did that day before yesterday, actually, my lord, when I was notified you
would be arriving in Serifosa."
"And what was your analysis of it?"
"About two-thirds of your career is locked under a need-to-know seal that
requires clearance from ImpSec HQ in Vorbarr
Sultana to access. But your publicly recorded awards and decorations appear in
a statistically significant pattern following supposedly routine courier
missions assigned to you by the Galactic Affairs office. At approximately five
times the density of the next most decorated courier in ImpSec history."
"And your conclusion, Captain Tuomonen?"
Tuomonen smiled faintly. "You were never a bloody courier, Captain
Vorkosigan."
"Do you know, Tuomonen, I believe I am going to enjoy working with you."
"I hope so, sir." He glanced up as the Professor entered the living room,
flanked by Tien Vorsoisson.
Vorthys finished wiping his mouth with his dinner napkin, stuffed it absently
into his pocket, and greeted Tuomonen with a handshake, then introduced his
nephew-in-law. As they all sat again, Miles said, "Tuomonen has brought us the
identification of our extra body."
"Oh, good," said Vorthys. "Who was the poor fellow?"
Miles watched Tuomonen watch Tien and say, "Strangely enough, Administrator
Vorsoisson, one of your employees. Dr.
Barto Radovas."
Tien s grayness became a shade paler. "Radovas! What the hell was he doing up
there
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?" The shock and horror on Tien s face was genuine, Miles would have sworn,
the surprise in his voice unfeigned.
"I was hoping you might have some ideas, sir," said Tuomonen.
"My God. Well... was he aboard the station, or the ship?"
"We haven t determined that yet."
"I really can t tell you that much about the man. He was in Soudha s
department. Soudha never made any complaints about his work to me. He got all
his merit raises right to schedule." Tien shook his head. "But what the hell
was he doing..."He glanced worriedly at Tuomonen. "He s not actually my
employee, you know. He resigned several weeks ago."
"Five days before his death, according to our calculations," said Tuomonen.
Tien s brows wrinkled. "Well... he couldn t have been aboard that ore ship,
then, could he? How could he have gotten all the way out to the second
asteroid belt and boarded it before he even left Komarr?"
"He might have joined the ore ship en route," said Tuomonen.
"Oh. I suppose that s possible. My God. He s married. Was married. Is his wife
still here in town?"
"Yes," said Tuomonen. "I ll be meeting shortly with the dome civil security
officer who s taking the official notification of death to her."
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