The Hand You're Dealt

A shrug. “Just felt funny, that’s all. I picked a guy at random from the online directory.”

“Any surprises in your sooth?”

The boy looked at me. “Sooth’s private, man. I don’t have to tell you that.”

I nodded. “Sorry.”

Two hundred years ago, in 2029, the Palo Alto Nanosystems Laboratory developed a molecular computer. You doubtless read about it in history class: during the Snow War, the U.S. used it to disassemble Bogatб atom by atom.

Sometimes, though, you can put the genie back in the bottle. Remember Hamasaki and DeJong, the two researchers at PANL who were shocked to see their work corrupted that way? They created and released the nano-Gorts — self-replicating microscopic machines that seek out and destroy molecular computers, so that nothing like Bogatб could ever happen again.

We’ve got PANL nano-Gorts here, of course. They’re everywhere in Free Space. But we’ve got another kind of molecular guardian, too — inevitably, they were dubbed helix-Gorts. It’s rumored the SG was responsible for them, but after a huge investigation, no indictments were ever brought. Helix-Gorts circumvent any attempt at artificial gene therapy. We can tell you everything that’s written in your DNA, but we can’t do a damned thing about it. Here, in Mendelia, you play the hand you’re dealt.

My compad bleeped again. I switched it on. “Korsakov here.”

Suze’s face appeared on the screen. “Hi, Toby. I took a sample of Skye’s DNA off to Rundstedt” — a soothsayer who did forensic work for us. “She’s finished the reading.”

“And?” I said.

Suze’s green eyes blinked. “Nothing stood out. Skye wouldn’t have been a compulsive gambler, or an addict, or inclined to steal another person’s spouse — which eliminates several possible motives for his murder. In fact, Rundstedt says Skye would have had a severe aversion to confrontation.” She sighed. “Just doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy who’d end up in a situation where someone would want him dead.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Suze. Any luck with Skye’s clients?”

“I’ve gone through almost all the ones who’d had appointments in the last three days. So far, they all have solid alibis.”

“Keep checking. I’m off to see Skye’s sister-in-law, Rebecca Connolly. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Sometimes I wonder if I’m in the right line of work. I know, I know — what a crazy thing to be thinking. I mean, my parents knew from my infant reading that I’d grow up to have an aptitude for puzzle-solving, plus superior powers of observation. They made sure I had every opportunity to fulfill my potentials, and when I had my sooth read for myself at eighteen, it was obvious that this would be a perfect job for me to pursue. And yet, still, I have my doubts. I just don’t feel like a cop sometimes.

But a soothsaying can’t be wrong: almost every human trait has a genetic basis — gullibility, mean-spiritedness, a goofy sense of humor, the urge to collect things, talents for various sports, every specific sexual predilection (according to my own sooth, my tastes ran to group sex with Asian women — so far, I’d yet to find an opportunity to test that empirically).

Of course, when Mendelia started up, we didn’t yet know what each gene and gene combo did. Even today, the SG is still adding new interpretations to the list. Still, I sometimes wonder how people in other parts of Free Space get along without soothsayers — stumbling through life, looking for the right job; sometimes completely unaware of talents they possess; failing to know what specific things they should do to take care of their health. Oh, sure, you can get a genetic reading anywhere — even down on Earth. But they’re only mandatory here.

And my mandatory readings said I’d make a good cop. But, I have to admit, sometimes I’m not so sure …

Rebecca Connolly was at home when I got there. On Earth, a family with the kind of money the Hissock-Connolly union had would own a mansion. Space is at a premium aboard a habitat, but their living room was big enough that its floor showed a hint of curvature. The art on the walls included originals by both Grant Wood and Bob Eggleton. There was no doubt they were loaded — making it all the harder to believe they’d done in Uncle Skye for his money.

Rebecca Connolly was a gorgeous woman. According to the press reports I’d read, she was forty-four, but she looked twenty years younger. Gene therapy might be impossible here, but anyone who could afford it could have plastic surgery. Her hair was copper-colored, and her eyes an unnatural violet. “Hello, Detective Korsakov,” she said. “My husband told me you were likely to stop by.” She shook her head. “Poor Skye. Such a darling man.”

I tilted my head. She was the first of Skye’s relations to actually say something nice about him as a person — which, after all, could just be a clumsy attempt to deflect suspicion from her. “You knew Skye well?”