Read Online The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds - Free Book Online Page A

Dreyfus, thin of face, his body hidden under the voluminous folds of a purple robe or gown. His right shoulder and arm were clothed in quilted black leather, his visible hand gloved and ringed. His cropped greying hair, the aquiline curve of his nose, the solemnity of his expression, his general stance, brought to mind a statue of a powerful Roman senator. Only a slight translucence made the figure appear less than totally solid.
    After the silence had stretched almost to snapping point, Anthony Theobald said, ‘If you didn’t want to ask me questions, perhaps you shouldn’t have brought me back to life, Prefect.’
    â€˜I’ve got a lot of questions,’ Dreyfus said easily. ‘I just wanted to give you the chance to have your say first.’
    â€˜I suppose you’d be the man your colleague mentioned during my last invocation.’
    Thalia had already activated the beta-level to test its readiness for interviewing. Of the twelve beta-levels saved from Ruskin-Sartorious, only three had been deemed sufficiently functional to offer useful testimony, despite the best efforts of Thalia and Sparver to mend the remaining nine.
    â€˜I’m Dreyfus,’ he said pleasantly. ‘Welcome to Panoply, Citizen.’
    â€˜Perhaps it’s me, but “welcome doesn’t have quite the necessary degree of solemnity.’
    â€˜I was just being polite,’ Dreyfus replied. ‘My personal belief is that beta-levels have no claim on consciousness. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just an item of forensic evidence. The fact that I can talk to you - the fact that you might claim to feel alive - is entirely irrelevant.’
    â€˜How reassuring to meet someone with such an enlightened viewpoint. What’s your opinion on women? Do you consider them capable of full sentience, or do you have lingering reservations about them as well?’
    â€˜I don’t have a problem with women. I do have a problem with software entities that pretend to be alive and then expect to be accorded the rights and privileges of the living.’
    â€˜If I’m not alive, how can I “expect anything?’
    â€˜I’m not saying you can’t be persuasive. But the instant I sense evasion or concealment I’ll send you back to the deepfreeze. Once you’re there, I can’t vouch for your safety. Things go astray. Files get deleted by mistake.’
    â€˜A policeman of the old school,’ Anthony Theobald said, nodding approvingly. ’Skip the appetiser and straight on to the main course of threats and bullying. Actually, I welcome it. It’s a refreshingly direct approach.’
    â€˜Just so we understand each other.’
    â€˜Now are you ready to tell me what happened?’
    Dreyfus scratched at the bulge of neck fat lapping against the back of his collar. ‘My background files say that you were the head of the family in the Bubble. According to the last census, you were lording it over more than nine hundred subjects.’
    â€˜Free family members and citizens. Again: what happened?’
    â€˜How much did my deputy tell you?’
    â€˜Nothing useful.’
    â€˜Good for her. I’ll begin by telling you that Ruskin-Sartorious no longer exists. Your habitat was gutted by the drive exhaust from a lighthugger space vehicle, the Accompaniment of Shadows . It appears to have been a deliberate act. Do you remember this event?’
    Anthony Theobald lost some of his composure, the set of his jaw slackening. ’I have no recollection of it.’
    â€˜What’s the last thing you do remember? Does the name of the ship ring any bells?’
    â€˜It rings more than bells, Prefect. We were in negotiations with the Accompaniment of Shadows . The ship was parked near Ruskin-Sartorious.’
    â€˜Why wasn’t she using the Swarm, like all the other ships?’
    â€˜I gather there was a problem with their long-distance shuttle. It was simpler