Whats in a name

What’s in a name?
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

I almost swore with frustration when I saw the neutrinometer readings. It was  a 100 points above the danger level and no one in their right minds would go out on the surface at a time like this, even if protected by a space suit.
I went up to the window and pulled the curtain. A nice anachronism, it was something to remind us of home, even if there were adjustable filters attached.
I looked out into the open through the glass, of course in no harm as the thick glass absorbed all the particles of the neutrino storm. It was as empty as ever and I could see miles and miles of smooth empty rock stretching out as far as the eye could see and the clear cloudless sky, but then what could one expect here. But the star of the moment was our very own star, the Sun shining mercilessly down on the planet, three or four times the size back home, glaring so much that one could feel the heat of its anger in spite of being separated from it by thick glass and being in an air-conditioned room.
For this was Mercury, the frontier of human expansion about three decades back, but now gradually being tamed into accepting a settlement now and in the near future a colony and in a century, to be home to billions like Venus and Earth. But now, the focus of the scientists was on the outer planets. The People had forgotten Mercury.
But not us, for the thousands in the settlements, Mercury was a reality.
And like all things real, it was boring. And it was worse on days like this, when one could not take a walk.
I went into the common hall, to eat my breakfast.
“Good morning, Doctor.”
I looked about. It was her again, my nemesis. A tall girl with a sulky face summed her up.
“Morning , Preethi? You call this morning when Suriya is venting his worst anger upon us?”
“Well, what else can I do. I know it seems strange to call it morning when the sun is well past its zenith, but we have to maintain our rhythm, you’re the one who told me that.”
“Yeah, the circadian rhythm. But , it s strange, right. Colombo is only 1000 km from Chennai and they have different times, but we’re millions of kilometers away from London but follow the same time.”
“Very interesting. Doctor, I think you re home-sick.”
“Home-sick? Me? You re the one who prays every morning and faithfully applies Vibudhi on your forehead. And where on earth , I mean mercury, do you get those flowers you put in your hair?”
She blushed. Actually she was quite pretty. Pretty, but dangerous.
She deftly changed the subject.
“Doctor, did you do her?”
I quickly became serious and not just because of her terrible grammar. I glared at her and slightly shook my head.
She understood. This was a public place and some things were better discussed in private. I washed my hands and we went into my office.
Before you get your dirty minds working, I said, “After what happened, you should be careful.”
“ I’m sorry, doctor.”
She looked as if she really meant it.
“It’s for your safety, not mine. Yes, I finished the autopsy.”
“And?”
“As was obvious, she died from an overdose of Hypnotal tablets. Which damn fool prescribed those tablets for her back home ought to be suspended.”
“So, it was suicide.”
“Which is what I thought, until I saw this.” I switched on the computer and showed her a photo, not of the entire body, but just of the back of her hand, on which a small pin-prick was seen.
“Which means that it was injected?”
I nodded and said,  “And makes it murder.”
“Did you report this?”
“Do I look like a fool? You’re right, something big is going on. And anyone who sticks his head out is going to get it chopped off. Tell me what you know and we ll go on from there.”
“All right, come with me.”
She took me into the hall and to her office.
“Okay, I know that you’re a doctor, but you specialized in extra-ecological medicine, right?”
“Yeah, that s why I’m here.”
“So I’m sure you have some knowledge about the frontier planets and what we’re doing here.”
“Well obviously, I work here.”
“Yeah, ‘work’”
I resented this insinuation about my easy life. It was demanding actually. Being there was a torture in itself, even if there weren’t that many patients, in fact it might have been better if there were. It was a boring planet and tough to find other things to do.
“You know, we mine three things here on Mercury, the germanium metal, the Balite ore and the diamonds.”
“But only the Balite and Germanium are mined here.”
“Yeah, and they are quite precious minerals back home. In fact, both have been banned on the commercial market and as Mercury is the only source, its value has rocketed sky high in the black.”
“But, the government has announced the death sentence on those smuggling Balite.”
“Yes, doctor, because as you know, doctor, Balite is one of the most dangerous substances known to humanity. But the minerals continue to trickle into the market.”
“So you re saying that someone in the settlement is smuggling Balite.”
“No, there is too much security and in our sector, there is a precise account kept of the Balite mined. It is more likely that there is a group smuggling Germanium.”
“But, isn’t the quantity of Germanium mined kept in close account too?”
“Yeah, but there have always been losses upto 50% of the stock due to decay and degeneration due to quakes and neutrino storms. But there seems to be more lost in the last year than before.”
She was smart, really smart. Of course, she had to be to come to Mercury as an engineer.
“And you know, doctor, Controller Prabhu has been here for one year exactly.”
“Okay, someone, or some persons, which might even include the controller are smuggling Germanium, but isn’t it radioactive or something, can’t you detect its radiation?”
“That’s the point. It is not on the base. The radioation would have been detected. I believe the Germanium is being kept on the surface among the electron pools.”
“Electron pools?”
“You know, the radioactive hot spots on the surface. No one could notice the Germanium among the background radiation of the pools.”
“That s brilliant.”
“Thank you. But what I can’t figure out is how this person, let us call him Person X, can regularly leave the Germanium outside.”
I thought fast.
“It’s quite simple. Walk out and leave it there.”
“What?”
“Yeah, its quite safe if you wear the protective costume. Many people go for walks, myself included. There have been no casualties so far. In fact , I saw the controller the other day, near the NE quadrant. Of course, he walked away as soon as he saw me, but I thought that that was because he didn t want to associate with a lowly doctor.”
“Then I bet that’s where the Germanium is hidden. Doctor, you’re a genius.”
She looked at me with wide eyed wonder,in a way that made my heart beat a bit louder and faster.
Boy, this was bad. I had to end this fast before it got out of hand.
“Okay, we have to be careful, Preethi. We don t know what we’re up against. Controller  Prabhu is a powerful man with God knows what connections.”
“Yeah, we need proof.”
“And we need to be careful. Today, the controller inspects the mines down below. Maybe I could search his office.”
“Yeah, great idea, let s go.”
There was no way I was going to let her come with me. I put on my super hero look.
“It’s too dangerous and a needless risk exposing us both at the same time. Maybe you could check up on the Germanium.”
“Okay, you male chauvinist pig.”
I smiled.
She went into the ante room leading to the Outside. I came to send her off.
There were a number of space suits on a rack. She slipped into one quickly. I gave her a last piece of advice.
“Head straight for the electron pools. They are about an hour away to the NE. And be careful. If you see anyone run in the opposite direction. We don’t know who the Controller’s partners are.”
I went back to my office. On the way back, I passed a frowning man, with long neck and a condescending air. He looked strict and could have played the typical villain on any HV serial, but was a nice guy underneath.
“Good morning, Controller.”
“Good morning, Doctor Veerappan, not going for a walk?”
“On a day like this? Impossible, Controller.”
“Too bad.”
“It was in a neutrino storm like this that a persom died, when I first came here two years back. Went for a walk, had gone about a 15 minutes and then fell flat. Poor stupid bastard.”
He shook his head in sympathy and moved on.
I went on sadly too. Terrible thing was crime. And what was worse was the way it was an impossible thing to separate from human nature.