the side of the bed. She had been searching the jags until two hundred with no results; none of Goldsmiths acquaintances had seen sliver of the man. My apologies, Inspector Choy. Reeve himself seemed exhausted, face dark olive on the incoming vid, eyes hooded. Good morning, sir. You were involved with the Khamsang Phung Selector kidnapping early this year, were you not? Yes, sir. I have a message in my desk memory that you wanted to be called if we tracked any suspects involved in that case. She stood and shook out her hands, fully awake now. Yes, sir. We have a Selector jiltz in a comb. One of the Phung suspects could be there. Do you want to be involved? I can put you on a backup team at the site. No hesitation. Definitely, sir. Id like to be there. Reeve gave her the location. Mary dressed quickly, grateful her transform chemistry could let her coast for many hours without sleep.
Twenty three minutes after leaving her apartment, she stood on the north facing balcony of Canoga Tower, dark slim fingers lightly touching the polished brass railing, overlooking LA from a height of four hundred meters. On instructions from the local CEC, the Comb Environs Commander, she had ascended two thirds of the tower. A tigbtpacked curtain of air whispered a few inches from her face as she leaned forward, keeping out the cool early morning breezes. To her right dawn smeared gray and watery across the foggy horizon. Mary had accepted Reeves invitation simply to keep her hand in on Selector investigations. She had remOved herself from the Phung case seven months ago; workload deadends and discouragement had forced that decision. She did not like these operations; jiltzing Selectors was like dipping into a dark nightmare shared by all society. But if there was a nexus that summed up all problems involving crime, society and public defense, it was the question of Selectors. She could not be an honest pd and refuse the opportunity. Waiting for further instructions from the CEC she concentrated on the view, glazing all other thoughts. She had assumed her standby just ten minutes before; she did not even know yet where the jiltz would be. That would be revealed moments before, giving her just enough time to rendezvous with her team section. Los Angeles was a glory at night. Mary had read once that only a young civilization wasted its light by throwing it into empty space. Earths young cities still did just that, all but the combs dark irregular towers against the general skyglow. Canted mirrors reflected night, their edges lumed by warning beacons and the dim glowing red lines of Meissner junctures. In the jag neighborhoods between the combs, streets blazed forth in orange and blue and homes sprinkled white and blue like earthbound stars. Older smaller commercial towers contributed checkerboards of afterhours activity between the combs. Suborbital jet liners crossed overhead to LAX oceanport with dull booming noises like sea creatures from an inverted deep. Bands of first, second and third neorbit satellites excelled a Milky Way never clear in LAs haze. Nothing in a city like LA ever stopped; whole communities always awake active doing thinking. She could dytcb to that rhythm; she loved the city. LA was her mother and father now, huge and enveloping, all nurturing all employing, healthy and unhealthy, challenging and demanding. Threatening. Mary had been on two previous Selector jiltzes. The first had been a farce; no victims or suspects only a brokendown hellcrown stripped for parts in a deserted decaying shade California bungalow. On the second they bad found Pbung himself locked away in ajag seven three industrial space strapped naked to a filthy cot clamped in a small import (Hispaniolan) hellcrown, his sentence servedtwo minutes in hell beyond anything conceived by the most perverse theologian. Selectors were tro shink careful, very bright nearly all high naturals though twisted this one way: believing themselves to be the purifiers of a
Twenty three minutes after leaving her apartment, she stood on the north facing balcony of Canoga Tower, dark slim fingers lightly touching the polished brass railing, overlooking LA from a height of four hundred meters. On instructions from the local CEC, the Comb Environs Commander, she had ascended two thirds of the tower. A tigbtpacked curtain of air whispered a few inches from her face as she leaned forward, keeping out the cool early morning breezes. To her right dawn smeared gray and watery across the foggy horizon. Mary had accepted Reeves invitation simply to keep her hand in on Selector investigations. She had remOved herself from the Phung case seven months ago; workload deadends and discouragement had forced that decision. She did not like these operations; jiltzing Selectors was like dipping into a dark nightmare shared by all society. But if there was a nexus that summed up all problems involving crime, society and public defense, it was the question of Selectors. She could not be an honest pd and refuse the opportunity. Waiting for further instructions from the CEC she concentrated on the view, glazing all other thoughts. She had assumed her standby just ten minutes before; she did not even know yet where the jiltz would be. That would be revealed moments before, giving her just enough time to rendezvous with her team section. Los Angeles was a glory at night. Mary had read once that only a young civilization wasted its light by throwing it into empty space. Earths young cities still did just that, all but the combs dark irregular towers against the general skyglow. Canted mirrors reflected night, their edges lumed by warning beacons and the dim glowing red lines of Meissner junctures. In the jag neighborhoods between the combs, streets blazed forth in orange and blue and homes sprinkled white and blue like earthbound stars. Older smaller commercial towers contributed checkerboards of afterhours activity between the combs. Suborbital jet liners crossed overhead to LAX oceanport with dull booming noises like sea creatures from an inverted deep. Bands of first, second and third neorbit satellites excelled a Milky Way never clear in LAs haze. Nothing in a city like LA ever stopped; whole communities always awake active doing thinking. She could dytcb to that rhythm; she loved the city. LA was her mother and father now, huge and enveloping, all nurturing all employing, healthy and unhealthy, challenging and demanding. Threatening. Mary had been on two previous Selector jiltzes. The first had been a farce; no victims or suspects only a brokendown hellcrown stripped for parts in a deserted decaying shade California bungalow. On the second they bad found Pbung himself locked away in ajag seven three industrial space strapped naked to a filthy cot clamped in a small import (Hispaniolan) hellcrown, his sentence servedtwo minutes in hell beyond anything conceived by the most perverse theologian. Selectors were tro shink careful, very bright nearly all high naturals though twisted this one way: believing themselves to be the purifiers of a
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