Polaris by Jack McDevitt

seemed to say. We can trust each other. You always knew when he was in the room. And you knew he was accustomed to getting his way. He was Dr. Ponzio. Nobody would ever have called him Louie.
    Windy explained about the Shenji platform, and Ponzio smiled and tried to look overwhelmed by it all. I didn’t know him that well, but he was a mathematician and a political appointment. That was a double whammy. Political appointments were inevitably people who were getting paid off. And I’d had several bad experiences with mathematicians over the years. Never knew one who could get passionate about anything other than sex and numbers. And not necessarily in that order.
    We shook hands all around. Filled the glasses for everyone. He’d always admired Rainbow’s efforts. If there was anything he could do, please don’t hesitate.
    I always say that when you do the right thing, you get rewarded. Windy did some research and was able to date the outstation a little more precisely than we had, to the end of the Imperium years.
    A couple of days later she called me at home in a state of suppressed excitement. “I think I know who the victim was.”
    I’d slept late, and was just getting out of the shower. Since I wasn’t appropriately dressed, we stayed on audio. “Who?”
    â€œLyra Kimonity.”
    â€œIs she someone I should know?”
    â€œProbably not. She was the first wife of Khalifa Torn.”
    Ah. Torn I knew. Attila. Bogandiehl. Torn. Three of a kind. He had finished off the Imperium, seized power for himself, and ruled four years, murdering millions, before his own guards took him out. He had seen no need for the outstations, which were simply a drain on the treasury, so he shut them down.
    â€œTorn liked to sleep with the wives of his staff and officers. Lyra made a fuss.”
    â€œAh.”
    â€œShe disappeared.”
    â€œWhat makes you think it was her at the outstation?”
    â€œMost historians think he exiled her. His stooges might have misunderstood his intention, because later he changed his mind. Tried to get her back. Or maybe he just forgot his original instructions. Anyhow, the person he’d given her to couldn’t produce her. When he found out the details of what had happened—the archives don’t specify what that was—he executed the people responsible. One of them was” —she paused to look at her notes— “Abgadi Diroush. And there was a second one whom he personally drowned. Berendi Lakato. Lakato was responsible for shutting down the outstations. And Diroush headed up the team that actually did the work. In any case, Lyra was never seen again.”
    â€œWell,” I said, “that’s good news.”
    That startled her. “How do you mean?”
    â€œMakes the artifacts more valuable. Everybody loves a monster. You don’t think he ever visited the station personally, do you?”
    She let me see that she was shocked. “No,” she said, “I don’t think so. He didn’t like to travel. Afraid somebody might seize power while he was gone.”
    â€œThat’s a pity.”
    â€œI sent you a picture of her.”
    I put it on-screen. Lyra had been a red-haired beauty. Big almond eyes. A fetching smile. I wondered how she’d gotten involved with Khalifa. And it occurred to me it’s not always an advantage to look good.
    â€œLook at the wrist,” she said.
    I knew what I was going to find: the jade bracelet. And there it was. I could even make out the sprig of ivy.
    â€œIs it the same as the one you found?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThat confirms it, then.”
    â€œYeah.” Lyra was maybe twenty-two when the picture was taken. “How old would she have been?”
    â€œWe can’t get it exactly, but she was still young. Twenty-seven, maybe.”
    I thought about her, marooned on the station. I wondered whether they’d at least left the lights