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On-Grid

Offices of

chastaMeir and urbinGrant


“Gods, how Pel would have delighted in untying this knot.”

Peesha urbinGrant, Pel’s partner, ran down the screen one more time, then raised her head to meet Bentamin’s eyes.

“I am not Pel,” she said softly.

“And yet Pel is lost to us.”

“Which, forgive me, Warden, has no bearing on the truth that I am not Pel,” Peesha said with a sigh. “Pel was . . . brilliant, fierce, and subtle. I—read and produce documents, and advise clients of their rights and options, according to law.”

This was, Bentamin knew, why Pel and Peesha had been partners: Pel to take on those cases that required a mind suited to investigation and innovation, and which might require months to bring right; Peesha to do the painstaking detail work that kept the firm financially stable.

“I understand that your skill set is very different,” Bentamin said, gentle in the face of Peesha’s dismay. “I ought to have said—had Pel no assistant? A ’prentice, perhaps? Someone who might be able to make a beginning?”

“Well . . . Osha sometimes assisted Pel.” Peesha looked back to the screen. “She could certainly open a case file and get these cites in order. I will need to know your purpose for opening the case, Warden.”

Bentamin frowned, hesitating, and Peesha raised a hand.

“Do you wish to argue that norbears as a group have seen material harm by being held as nonsentient? Do you wish to argue that native norbears deserve full coverage under the laws of Colemeno? Has a norbear stolen something of value, and—”

“Hold.” Bentamin raised both of his hands.

Peesha inclined her head. Bentamin took a deep breath, and lowered his hand.

“What I wish to do is to definitively establish if norbears are sentient.”

Peesha frowned.

“But that is not a matter for the law, Warden. That is a matter for science.”

“Forgive me. At the moment, it appears that the law is divided on this issue. Thus this delightful knot.”

“Yes, exactly; the law is divided. And the reason for that is that the law has been given no support by experts in the field of norbear intelligence. The law must therefore reason with itself whenever a question concerning norbears arises, on a case-by-case basis. We may consult past decisions, but as we see here”—she waved at the screen—“too often the matter to be determined is unrelated to past cases.”

Bentamin closed his eyes.

“A definitive study establishing norbear sentience would aid the law immeasurably,” Peesha murmured, apparently back at the screen. “And might also aid norbears.”

Bentamin opened his eyes in time to intercept her glance over the top of the screen.

“Perhaps if you told me your ultimate purpose,” she said, which was reminder enough that Peesha was a Truthseer, “I could be more useful to you. Of course whatever you tell me will be confidential to the case.”

You cannot, he told himself sternly, do this yourself. If it was Pel, you would not hesitate.

“In confidence, then,” he said, meeting Peesha’s eyes once more. “There has been a murder committed, and an eyewitness has been found.”

Peesha’s eyes widened and her lips parted, but she waited for him to say it.

“The witness is a norbear.”


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Framed