Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold Page B

that little black dot? It was caused by a bead of acid in a polarized lipid membrane. When my scanner beam crossed it, it depolarized and dissolved, and burned out -- whatever had been there. Tracer for sure, probably an audio recorder as well. Very neat, tucked right in the standard map circuitry, which incidentally masked the bug's electronic noise with its own. He's an agent, all right.”
    “Were you able to trace the link back to its home base?”
    The captain shook his head. “No, unfortunately. To find it was to destroy it. But we blinded them. They don't know where he is now.”
    “And who is 'they'? Terrence Cee?”
    “We can hope.”
    The leader, the one Ethan's kidnapper had named Colonel Millisor, grunted again, and approached Ethan to stare into his eyes. “What's your name?”
    “Ethan,” said Ethan sunnily. “What's yours?”
    Millisor ignored this open invitation to sociability. “Your full name. And your rank.”
    This struck an old chord, and Ethan barked smartly, “Master Sergeant Ethan CJB-8 Urquhart, Blue Regiment Medical Corps, U-221-767, sir!” He blinked at his interrogator, who had drawn back in startlement.. “Retired,” he added after a moment.
    “Aren't you a doctor?”
    “Oh, yes,” said Ethan proudly. “Where does it hurt?”
    “I hate fest-penta,” growled Millisor to his colleague.
    The captain smiled coldly. “Yes, but at least you can be sure they're not holding anything back.”
    Millisor sighed, lips compressed, and turned to Ethan again. “Are you here to meet Terrence Cee?”
    Ethan stared back, confused. See Terrence? The only Terrence he knew was one of the Rep Center techs. “They didn't send him,” he explained.
    “Who didn't send him?” Millisor asked sharply, all attention.
    “The Council.”
    “Hell,” the captain worried. “Could he have found himself some new backing, so soon after Jackson's Whole? He can't have had time, or the resources! I took care of every --”
    Millisor held up a hand for silence, probed Ethan again. “Tell me everything you know about Terrence Cee.”
    Dutifully, Ethan began to do so. After a few moments Millisor, his face reflecting increasing frustration, cut him off with a sharp chop of his hand.
    “Stop.”
    “Must have been some other fellow,” opined the cold captain. His leader shot him a look of exasperation. “Try another subject. Ask him about the cultures,” the captain suggested placatingly.
    Millisor nodded. “The human ovarian cultures shipped to Athos from Bharaputra Biologicals. What did you do with them?”
    Ethan began to describe, in detail, all the tests he'd put the material through that memorable afternoon. To his growing dismay, his captors didn't look at all pleased. Horrified, then mystified, then angry, but not happy. And he so wanted to make them happy....
    “More garbage,” the cold captain interrupted. “What is all this nonsense?”
    “Can he be resisting the drug?” asked Millisor. “Increase the dose.”
    “Dangerous, if you still mean to put him back on the street with a gap in his memory. We're running short of time for that scenario to pass.”
    “That scenario may have to be changed. If that shipment has arrived on Athos and been distributed already, we may have no choice but to call in a military strike. And deliver it in less than seven months, or instead of a limited commando raid to torch their Reproduction Centers, we'll be forced to sterilize the whole damned planet to be sure of getting it all.”
    “Small loss,” shrugged the cold captain.
    “Big expense. And increasingly hard to keep covert.”
    “No survivors, no witnesses.”
    “There are always survivors at a massacre. Among the victors, if nowhere else.” The granite chips sparked, and the captain looked uncomfortable. “Dose him.”
    A prickle in Ethan's arm. Methodical and relentless, they asked him detailed questions about the shipment, his assignment, his superiors, his organization, his background. Ethan