She didn’t hesitate. “Money. Commercial success.”
Picking up the pitcher, he refilled her empty glass. “When you get back to the office tomorrow, try to connect predator with prey.”
She frowned. “You think money’s behind this?”
“Money, or some kind of business advantage. If the Deyzara are involved. Don’t you think it’s worth checking out?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes. Yes, I do. You know, Jack, sometimes I think you’re a little bit of a genius.”
His face creased in mock outrage. Outside, something on the fringe of the deep forest howled plaintively. “What do you mean, ‘little bit’?”
It was two hours before she could find time for Pandusky to even begin to run a search of relevant records. It was mid-afternoon when he finally transferred what he had been able to unearth to her office. Sitting straight in her chair, she deactivated all communications, including the emergency line, as she contemplated the information floating in the air above her desk.
There was no attempt to conceal the data that jumped out at her. Why would there be? By itself, it was the perfect image of innocuousness. There was no need to mask straightforward business dealings. The fact that several firms were involved in exploring a certain section of the great southern Viisiiviisii was to be expected. Companies as well as individuals were busily engaged in seeking out useful, exploitable resources throughout both varzea-covered continents.
However, the search she’d had Pandusky run focused on one small portion of the southern part of the northern continent: the general region where Shadrach Hasselemoga and the rescue team sent to find him had both gone missing. It turned out that only three companies were working in that same general vicinity. Two had their own teams in the area, while the third was an umbrella support group for individual prospectors. Besides their mutual interests, the three companies had one other thing in common.