Technobabel (29 page)
* * *
"You said
what
to him?" David Hague’s face was even whiter than usual and Osborne wished she had something to capture the look for posterity.
"You should have seen it," she said with a laugh. "He looked like he was going to explode. But I called one thing for certain, David. Napoli is scared, meaning Renraku is scared. They don’t want this investigation to continue, and they’re willing to start making deals to make sure it doesn’t."
"Maybe we should think about that," Hague replied. "If they’re so scared, then maybe we can renegotiate, cut a better deal than what Napoli was offering."
"Why
do that
when we still have a chance at getting it all?" she shot back. "Renraku is standing on a house of cards, David. I can
feel
it. If we knock out the right ones, the whole thing is going to
come
tumbling down around them. We could take them down and be right there to pick up the pieces when it’s all over. That’s worth a little risk."
"Risk?
Are you out of your mind? We don’t even have a
case
. Where is this evidence you keep talking about? What are we going to have to prove to the court that Renraku is a threat to the rest of them? They aren’t going to act based on anything I’ve seen so far. If anything, they’ll probably side with Renraku
against
us so they don’t end up on the losing side."
"Don’t worry," she said in a firm voice. This line of thought had to be nipped in the bud before Hague panicked. "We’ve got a line onto something that will do what we need. I just need to ask the court for a continuance to make sure everything falls into place when we want it to. All you need to do is back me on it."
Hague looked out the window of his office at the blue-green globe of the Earth far below them. He sighed, and Osborne could almost read his thoughts. The Japanese weren’t going to be happy if he was even partially responsible of damaging Fuchi’s reputation in the court, but they would be even less pleased if they found out he’d had an opportunity to hurt Renraku and not taken it.
"I don’t have much choice, do I?"
Osborne smiled. "There’s always a choice. And you just made the right one. Trust me."
* * *
"Justice Osborne, this Court does not appreciate having its valuable time and resources wasted." Jean-Claude Priault’s tone was icy cold and carried a distinct chill through the courtroom. Osborne did not wither under its touch or his hard gaze, but held her head high in a pose of quiet dignity.
"I understand that, Chief Justice," she replied, having chosen her words carefully before the court reconvened. "It is not my desire to waste any of this august court’s vital resources. That is why I must request this continuance of our case. In order to present our evidence in the most efficient and timely manner possible, we require the court’s indulgence. I can personally assure you that a further continuance will prevent the loss of considerable time and effort relating to this case and will be valuable to the court in the long term."
The recess hadn’t allowed Osborne to feel out the other justices on a continuance. She’d barely had enough time to brief Hague and be certain of his support. She knew that the other justices were eager to finish their business on board the Zurich-Orbital so they could return Earthside and resume their own affairs, either because they disliked the zero-g environment or because other matters were pressing for their attention. She was gambling that mere discomfort wouldn’t win out over a desire to see this case through to the end.
It was a serious risk. If the other justices decided that her request was a sign that Fuchi’s case was weak, they might side with Renraku as Hague feared and dismiss the whole thing. They might even call for sanctions against Fuchi for wasting the court’s time. But Osborne had made a career out of being able to accurately read people and situations, and her instincts told her she should press this case now for all it was worth. She’d have continued even if Villiers hadn’t ordered her to do so. She was also counting on a little help from another quarter, even if he didn’t know it.
"Mr. Chief Justice," Francesco Napoli interjected. "I think it is clear Justice Osborne is merely stalling for time with this request for a continuance. On behalf of Renraku Computer Systems, I would respectfully suggest that the
Thanks,
Paco,
Osborne thought.
That
was
just
what
I
needed
. Osborne refrained from pointing out what was surely obvious to the rest of the justices present in the courtroom. She knew Napoli, pit bull that he was, wouldn’t be able to resist twisting the knife a little in open court, especially not after how she’d thrown him out of her quarters earlier. In truth, all Napoli needed to do was keep his mouth shut and let Osborne dig her own grave. Her request had already annoyed the justices, who had been dragged up to the orbital for this special hearing by Fuchi. They probably would have voted against Osborne’s request out of sheer malice and a desire to have the whole thing over and done with.
But Napoli’s little speech alerted them that something else was going on. He was too quick to try to shoot down Fuchi’s case. Not that the members of the
No, Napoli’s mistake was in showing his hand before the moment came to play his cards. His little speech told the Court exactly what his earlier offer to Osborne had revealed her: he and Renraku were worried about the outcome of this case, worried enough that they might make
mistakes, that
this was a real chink in their armor and Fuchi had a shot at doing some damage.
Osborne could almost see the wheels turning as her fellow justices came to the same conclusions she had. She looked across the courtroom at Napoli and saw from the look on his face that he knew it. His face darkened and he seemed about to say something, but probably realized he could only hurt his case further by doing so. He tightened his jaw and kept silent.
"Are there any other comments from the floor?" Chief Justice Priault asked, looking around the room. After a moment of silence, he said, "Then we place this matter to a vote. Shall we permit Fuchi Industrial Electronics a continuance in this matter to allow them to present their evidence in a timely and efficient manner?"
Osborne was a bit surprised at the last bit. Priault’s phasing suggested that he was in favor, a sign of approval out of character for the normally neutral Saeder-Krupp man.
Maybe
Priault’s
boss
has
an
interest
in
this
case
as
well,
she thought.
All of the justices entered their votes into the electronic touch-screens built into the bench, the decision being immediately tabulated and displayed on Priault’s screen. He glanced down at the display and raised his gavel.
"Nine in favor, four opposed. The decision carries. Fuchi is granted a twelve-hour continuance and the members of the court will remain on board the orbital until this matter is resolved. We are adjourned until then." He rapped the gavel sharply against the bench and the members of the court began to disperse, talking quietly among themselves.
Osborne smiled and nodded over toward where Napoli glowered at her.
Swords
are
drawn,
she thought.
Like
samurai
who
fight
at
the
bridge,
only
one
of
us
is
going
to
walk
away
from
this
now
.
SHADOWWATCH:
Your
eye
on
the
shadows
All
the
latest
news
bits
and
bytes
from
the
Shadowland
BBS
>Hey,
chummers,
things
are
happening
with
some
of
the
AAA
megacorps
that
do
not
bode
well
for
us
in
the
shadows
.
Renraku
and
Fuchi
have
been
going
at
each
other
with
a
lot
of
runs
in
the
past
couple
months
and
it
looks
like
things
are
starting
to
come
to
a
head
.
Like
Black-Eyed
Susan
reported,
the
justices
of
the
Court
all
of
them,
took
the
boost
up
to
the
Zurich-Orbital
for
some
closed-door
meeting
.
Now
Fuchi
and
Renraku
seem
to
be
arming
quietly
for
a
war
behind
the
scenes;
moving
assets
and
personnel
around
like
pieces
on
a
chessboard
.
I
have
the
sinking
feeling
a
lot
of
what
is
about
to
go
down
hangs
on
what
decision
the
Corporate
Court
hands
down
and,
either
way,
it
could
come
down
to
a
corp
war
.
If
you
have
any
information,
please
post
it
.
We
need
to
keep
each
other
informed
because
an
out
and
out
corporate
war
could
mean
big
business
in
the
shadows
...
or
a
fight
that
nobody
wins
.
>Captain
Chaos
Saigo swaggered over to where Lanier stood, under guard, as the doctors made their preparations.
"Soon, Lanier
-san,
we will have the information we need from Michael to fully realize Renraku’s potential," he said with an air of certainty.
"Don’t be so sure of that," Lanier replied. "His wetware is scrambled but good. I doubt he even knows what it is you’re looking for."
"So you have said. Fortunately, that is not a concern." Saigo allowed Lanier to wonder about that for a moment as he took in the room and the white-coated men making preparations around the examination chair where Babel sat. "You see, our Dr. Westcott is a sorcerer with some experience in spells allowing him to probe deeply into the minds of others, reconstructing any and all recollections of their experiences as if he were experiencing them himself. He can even retrieve information Michael is not consciously aware of, knowledge blocked from his conscious mind. Far more effective than any interrogation technique could ever hope to be, wouldn’t you say?"
Westcott moved over to the small bank of equipment near the chair where Babel sat and took two cables from the console, plugging one into Babel’s datajack and the other into a similar jack behind his left ear.
"We take the process even further," Saigo said with some pride. "Dr. Westcott has all of the neural cybernetics necessary to record the various sensory impressions he gets from his mind probe at the moment he experiences them. We can also record all of Michael’s impressions as he relives the memories Westcott uncovers. The simsense records of the two of them can be reviewed and compared to give us a complete, first-hand picture of all of Babel’s knowledge of the otaku and their secrets."
"I know something of mind-probing," Lanier said. He had certainly seen the techniques used enough times by magicians to extract information. "The magic is exhausting for both the magician and the subject. Even if your spell-worm is as good as you think
,
he won’t be able to maintain a sustained telepathic probe for very long. I also know mind-probing can be dangerous to the subject if he resists, and sometimes even if he doesn’t. Digging around in the subconscious and breaking through repressed memories can cause permanent brain damage."
