“Uh-oh.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked sympathetic. He was very good at that, she realized gratefully. “What now?”
“Those two skimmers that went down in the south? The bioprospector nobody seems to like and the rescue team that was sent after him? Bergovoy, the chief mechanic out at the port, says their maintenance records were tampered with. More than a hint of funny business there.”
Her husband’s expression turned solemn. “That’s not good.”
“There’s more.” She gestured with a utensil. “Two of the last techs to work on both craft are Deyzara.”
He let out a soft whistle. “Bergovoy implicated them?”
“Only by inference.” She took a long swallow of cold fruit juice. She could never pronounce the Sakuntala name for the fruit from which it came, but the juice was delectable. “I can envision why somebody might want this bioprospector out of the way and, to a certain extent, anyone who might try to rescue him. What I can’t imagine is why this might involve the Deyzara.”
Slumping in his chair, one foot fiddling idly with her right leg under the table, he contemplated the ceiling. “Maybe it’s not so different from trying to ascribe cause and effect to predator and prey in the lab. A xerexl wants a puorot dead so it can have it for lunch. Okay. Why would the Deyzara want a bioprospector dead? Furthermore, why would they not want him found and brought back alive?” He lowered his gaze. “To the xerexl, food is the most important thing. What’s the most important thing to the Deyzara?”