Sea of Stars - IC III

[Haval]

"Full of brilliant observations," Etula deadpanned.

'Don't get me started.' Anika replies still grinning. 'For instance, I would say that it would be better for everyone if the Stalker turned out to be human, but I'm not going to rule out the possibility that it isn't. The Ordos don't seem to be involved with the investigation yet but it would explain a lot.'

Etula sighed, and slowly started pacing. "All right, fine. Now I'm frakking intrigued, you interfering bastards. If not politics, what could they want? The targets are seemingly random, the only constant is that they don't hit the palace, where security is much tighter. The only person I've seen that's been even close to as paranoid about security as Uncle is our dear hostess this evening. The guards are one thing, the security systems she's put into this place must have cost a fortune or two. She's always been a bit funny about dying though, she's put it off about as long as she can with rejuvenats, so it's on brand. Bad location for the ancestral estate to sit, right now."

'About our hostess. Have you met her? It's not a name I remember from my childhood. I might as well be honest in admitting that we came here tonight to speak to you as much as for the party.'

Suddenly, she stopped walking. "What if it's access? The palace is out on the end of that huge bridge, at the top of a rock spire. Sure, there's elevators, and smaller bridges, but everything's watched constantly. There's no way to approach without being seen unless you can fly. The Stalker's got wings, we've all been assuming they can fly, but nobody has heard anything as loud as a jump pack, grav generators are too big.. maybe they're for gliding."

Anika takes that on board, 'Seems an easy way to fall to your death if you don't know what you're doing. There used to be a trend for bored highborn children to visit the lower levels of the Hive to amuse themselves. What are the chances that someone's been throwing themselves off the Spire in the same spirit?'