Cryoburn - Lois McMaster Bujold [94]
Around the building's back, an open-faced shed sheltered a float bike lock-down. Roic recognized Leiber's bike nestled among half a dozen others.
"Right the first time!' said Johannes, in a tone of admiration.
"I've had some practice, trailing m'lord around," said Roic modestly, leaving out the dumb luck part. Well, smart luck, perhaps. Roic would have been surprised not to have turned up something within his first three tries. They sat in the van for a few minutes while Roic tried to think it through the way m'lord would. No, scratch that idea. He'd likely do better trying to think it through like Leiber. Or better still, like Roic.
Would the enemy send cops or goons to collect their quarry? If it was a cryocorp, they could likely get all the cops they wanted-charges of employee theft would do the job-they had only to wait at the pinch-point inside the shuttleport and pick the man off as he scurried through. But that would leave a trail, names, security vid recordings, a whole lot of witnesses not under anyone's direct control. A private goon squad pick-up before Leiber hit the port, that would be the quieter way to go about it. And if Roic could figure out where to look for the fellow, presumably all those smart men in the fancy trousers could, too. Roic wasn't the part of his team born with the silver tongue in his mouth-could he persuade Leiber to come to the safety of the consulate, when m'lord had not? Guess I'll have to try. He glanced up. "What's that?"
A pulsing blue light was reflecting off the concrete wall, coming from the front of the building.
"Blue's the color they use around here for emergency vehicles," said Johannes uneasily.
"Pull around front."
They arrived to see a pair of emergency medtechs dressed in blue scrubs yank a float pallet from the back of an unmarked van and hurry inside the sliding glass doors to the lobby. Both big fellows-one was tall, and the other looked as though he'd had some of those traditional wrestlers in his family tree. On both sides. Didn't emergency services usually try to pair a woman in such a team? Well, not always, belike. With round the clock scheduling, as Roic knew from grappling with the guardsmen's roster for Vorkosigan House and m'lord's other two official residences, you took whatever combinations you could get.
"Wait here." Roic slid out of their own van and went to take a peek in the back of the other. The rear doors had no windows, but had been left unlocked. Careless of the techs, if it was carrying drugs and expensive equipment. Roic quietly opened a door, looked inside, and raised his wristcom to his lips. "Interesting, Johannes. The cupboard is bare. This isn't an ambulance, just a van."
"Uh-oh."
"Think I'll just take a stroll inside and intercept those fellows coming out. You watch my back from there." Roic still wasn't sure what was happening, here, although he was formulating some rapid guesses.
An anxious young lady desk clerk was peering up the central hallway when Roic entered the lobby.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"One of our guests reported in very sick, apparently. He should have called the front desk-we would have assisted him . . ."
"Was he from off-world? D'you think he might have brought in something bad?" asked Roic. "Contagious?"
"No, no. Some sort of sudden seizure, I gather. He was lucky he could use his wristcom." The clerk gathered her nerve. "I should go and lock up after them, make sure the gentleman's property is secure." She glanced back at Roic. "Were you checking in, sir? There's only me on duty right now . . ."
"Take your time. First things first."