Cryoburn-ARC by Lois M. Bujold

all run by different people with different ideas, so their vote-bags offset each other. Then some of them grew big enough to start gobbling up the others. Not because it was good for Kibou, or for their cryo-patrons, or for anyone but their top men in the grip of their greed, but just because they could . Nowadays it's down to half a dozen big corps that control most everything, plus a few scattered holdouts too small to matter."
    "Jin called you Suze the Secretary," said Miles slowly. "What are you secretary of ?"
    Her lined face, briefly animated by her anger, grew more closed. "This place, once. It was a closely-held family corp, and I was executive secretary to our chief. Then we were bought out—swallowed up and stripped. Not because the buyer wanted us, but because they wanted to eliminate us."
    "Who bought it out? WhiteChrys, by chance?"
    Suze shook her head. "No, Shinkawa Perpetual. WhiteChrys got them later, though." A twisted smile suggested she thought this justice was cosmic, if a little too late.
    "But how did you end up living in this shell?"
    "A lot of us lost our jobs then, you know. No golden tram rides to retirement for mere employees. We had to go somewhere." She hesitated. "Other folks drifted in later."
    "Executive secretary, huh? I guess you would know where all the bodies were buried."
    She cast him a sharp look—what, frightened? This tough, haggish creature? But before Miles could pursue this line further, Jin banged back in, bearing a laden tray. It held—besides the promised rolls, redolent of cinnamon, a carton of milk, and two mismatched cups—an entire insulated carafe of coffee. Miles, proud of his restraint, did not fall on it rabidly, but waited for his hostess to serve him.
    She dismayed him with delay by shuffling to her tall cupboard and returning with an unlabeled square glass bottle. She poured a . . . shot, Miles fancied, into her own cup, and, after a pause, raised her brows at Miles. "Want any freshener?"
    "Er, no thanks. Just coffee." It sluiced down his throat, tonic enough all on its own. Jin sat back on the other swivel chair, contentedly munching rolls and swiveling with a steady squeak-squeak-squeak that made Suze wince and take a long swallow of her doctored drink.
    Her scowl returned, contemplating Miles. He wasn't sure what he'd said to wind her up, just when he'd thought he was winning her favor. Clearly, she wasn't merely someone lucky enough to have salvaged a working comconsole, but a leader of sorts in this odd secret community.
    "Jin can take you to Ayako's Cafe," she said suddenly. "You can call your friends to come get you from there."
    Jin sat up and protested, "But I haven't shown him how Gyre flies, yet!"
    "He can't stay here, Jin."
    Jin wilted.
    It was plain Suze liked Miles even less as a kidnapped conference delegate than as a mere lost tourist with a weakness for recreational hallucinogens. He decided to try another lure. "I came to that conference to learn about Kibou-daini's cryo-law and science, but actually ended up being hand-fed some very slick pitches for various cryocorps franchises. After four days of it, a lot of the delegates were ready to sign contracts on the spot. In a way, the extremists' attack was a fortunate misfortune. I was sent here by my employer to make a complete report on your cryonics system, but it seems I was missing some rather large pieces."
    "Then you'd best be on your way to hunt for them, hadn't you?"
    And what kind of piece are you? To be sure, Puzzle . "Actually, now the conference is over, my time is my own. But I could use another day of rest from yesterday's ordeal, if Jin is willing. Although I do need to report in to one fellow. Jin, if I gave you directions, do you think you could hand-carry a letter across town for me, and give it to a man?"
    Jin perked up. "Sure! Uh . . . maybe. What part of town?"
    "East side."
    "Um . . . yah, I could do that."
    Miles decided to ignore the faint tinge of doubt in his voice. "Where