Malcolm said, “There have even been organized-crime murders committed that way, particularly yakuza killings. They select a victim, get them to take out a huge insurance policy naming a gang member as beneficiary, treat them to an Edo Castletown tour out of Shangri-la on a false ID, then some other gang member takes them to Terminal 56 on their own ID, so they shadow themselves in front of witnesses. Instant profit.”
Margo shivered. “Okay. I think I get it.”
”Now that you’ve been here, you’ll have the same problem. The longer you stay, the greater the chance of overlap. The more gates you step through, the more complicated the whole mess becomes. That’s why the log is essential.”
Margo rested her elbows on the table. “Okay, point taken. We have to be careful. But I still say you can get run over by a bus, not paying attention. What’s the other thing for?”
Kit sat back in his chair. Was she being flippant to hide fear? Or was she just that silly? Or that stubborn? He wondered how often she’d gotten what she wanted just by smiling that enchanting smile or by coming back with a wisecrack that set people to chuckling. Just what sort of life had Margo known before hunting him up? Given her prickly defenses and that over-sharp tongue; Kit wasn’t too sure he wanted an answer.
”It’s an ATLS. Absolute Time Locator System. That `gizmo’ you mentioned reading about. It works on a combination of geo-magnetic sensors and star-charting systems. The ATLS places you more or less exactly in time and geographic location, relative to absolute Greenwich time.”