by Timothy Zahn
"All they would say was that they had nothing to spare right now," the supreme commander said.
"What about the veterans' reserves?" Klnn-vavgi asked. "Have they started calling them up yet?"
"I asked about that," Dkll-kumvit said. "I'm still waiting for an answer." He hesitated. "I have heard, though-strictly unofficially and not to be repeated-that Warrior Command has already launched expeditionary forces onto two more Human-Conqueror worlds. And that they're planning to attack three more worlds within the next few fullarcs."
Thrr-mezaz stared at him. Five more beachheads, before their first three target worlds had even been pacified? "Excuse me, Supreme Commander, but that strikes me as a bit... premature."
"Insanewas the word I used, Commander," Dkll-kumvit said heavily. "I don't know what in the eighteen worlds they're thinking of back there. I can only assume they have some good reason for it."
Thrr-mezaz looked at Klnn-vavgi, their brief discussion just after the last Human-Conqueror attack flashing to mind. The conversation where they'd speculated that Warrior Command had learned something about the Human-Conquerors that had them scared. "Perhaps they've altered their threat assessment," he murmured.
"Perhaps," Dkll-kumvit said. Reaching to the desk, he picked up the hummer and shut it off. "I just hope they aren't getting overconfident," he added into the sudden silence. "This isn't going to be like taking on four planets' worth of Isintorxi, you know."
Thrr-mezaz looked at Klnn-vavgi again. "No," he said. "Somehow I don't think overconfidence is going to be a problem."
The latearc darkness had fallen, masking the village in a sort of watchful gloom. Shifting position on his couch, Thrr-mezaz stared out the window of his office, squeezing his hands against the sides of his head and the dull pain throbbing there. A headache, generated by Dkll-kumvit's hummer. And by Dkll-kumvit's words.
Behind him the door slid open. "Commander?" Klnn-vavgi called.
"Come on in, Second," Thrr-mezaz said, gesturing him over. "I'm just sitting here in the dark."
"Yes, I can see that," Klnn-vavgi said, stepping in and letting the door slide shut behind him. "Any particular reason why?"
"Headache," Thrr-mezaz said. "Or trying to think, or basic fear of the light. Take your pick. Any report from our intrepid search party?"
"Well, the major news is that the Dorcas topground has metallic ore veins in it," Klnn-vavgi said dryly. "Vast numbers of them, judging by the number and volume of the complaints I've been getting. The Elders aren't happy at all with this assignment."
"This is a war," Thrr-mezaz snapped, abruptly sick and tired of the Elders and their attitude. "In case they've forgotten, let me remind them that wars do not involve large shares of personal happiness. I get any more of this whining-about anything-and I'm going to send the whole batch of them back to their shrines. They can sit there and watch the clouds go by for the rest of eternity for all I care. You got that?"
"Yes, Commander," Klnn-vavgi said, his voice stiff and formal. "I'll make sure the Elders understand."
For a few beats the room was silent. Thrr-mezaz squeezed his hands against his headache, the sudden flare of anger burning down again into tiredness. "All right, then," he said more calmly. "Aside from complaints, did they have anything to report?"
"Not yet," Klnn-vavgi said. "But they've covered only about ten percent of the area. This part's going to be slower than the above-ground search."
"I know," Thrr-mezaz said, turning back to the window. What was the Human-Conqueror commander doing up there, he wondered, secure behind his explosive missiles and his Copperhead warriors? Was he staring out into the darkness, too, wondering and worrying about what his enemy was doing? Or was he instead poring over maps and timetables with his warriors, confidently planning their next expedition to the mysterious objective to the north?
In any given arena, at any given time, one side or the other always had the initiative. Or so Thrr-mezaz had been taught. Which side, he wondered, had it here?
"Commander?" Klnn-vavgi asked tentatively.
Thrr-mezaz gave his head one last squeeze and dropped his hands back to the desk. "Enough is enough, Klnn-vavgi," he said, keying on his reader and pulling up one of the overview maps that the orbiting warships had made up. "We've been sitting on our hands here for eleven fullarcs now, letting the Human-Conquerors make all the moves. It's time we took some of the initiative ourselves."
"You going to petition for more heavy air-assault craft?"
"I had in mind something with higher odds of success," Thrr-mezaz said. "What do we know about the approaches to the Human-Conquerors' stronghold?"
"Well, we know there aren't any easy ones," Klnn-vavgi said, coming around to his side of the desk where they could both see the reader. "Are we talking about an attack direction here?"
"Not necessarily," Thrr-mezaz said. "Or rather, not yet. What we need first is to find out more about the place."
"I don't know how we're going to do that," Klnn-vavgi said, flicking his tongue in a negative. "We'd never get a Stingbird in close enough. Not with those Copperhead warriors waiting there like hungry halklings."
"What if we go on foot?"
"That's not much better," Klnn-vavgi said, leaning over the desk and keying the reader for an overlay. "There are only a handful of passable approaches-you can see where they're marked. The Human-Conquerors have sentry points guarding all of them."
"True," Thrr-mezaz said, studying the map. "But those posts have probably been set up to keep anyone from getting through into the stronghold itself. There's no particular reason we have to go in that far."
Klnn-vavgi frowned down at him. "You're not thinking about using the Elders, are you?"
"Why not? They're perfect for this kind of scout work."
"As I recall, that was one reason we let the Human-Conquerors leave with Prr't-zevisti's cutting," Klnn-vavgi reminded him. "You're not going to get a lot of volunteers to try it again."
"I'm in command here, and I don't have to ask for volunteers," Thrr-mezaz reminded him mildly. "Besides, the main problem with Prr't-zevisti was that we let the Human-Conquerors in on the transport end of the operation. This time we'll do it all ourselves."
Klnn-vavgi rubbed thoughtfully at the corner of his mouth. "I don't know, Thrr-mezaz," he said slowly. "That's pretty rough country to tackle on foot. And unless we can talk Dkll-kumvit out of one of his ten-thoustride-range Elders, we're going to have to get the pyramid within five thoustrides of something useful. That's going to put us uncomfortably close to one or the other of those sentry points, and I somehow doubt a nice shiny white pyramid would go unnoticed."
Thrr-mezaz grimaced. Klnn-vavgi was right, of course, on all counts. And given the current political realities, Dkll-kumvit probably wouldn't go out on soft sand like this for him. Particularly not with something involving an Elder. "Then there's no way around it," he said. "We're just going to need a cutting with a longer anchor range. If we can't get it from Dkll-kumvit-"
He broke off, an odd thought suddenly striking him. "Is there any particular reason why we need to lug a whole pyramid up there?" he asked slowly. "We're only talking about one, maybe two cuttings here. Why not just put them in some kind of small predator-proof container and carry it on up?"
Klnn-vavgi's midlight pupils narrowed in astonishment. "You aren't serious," he said. "You mean just throw an Elder'sfsss cutting into a box like it was an order of fresh produce or something? Come on, Thrr-mezaz-you think you have trouble with the Eldersnow, you try even suggesting something like that. They'd be screaming for you to be staked out for the savagefish before you could blink twice."
"All right, forget it," Thrr-mezaz growled. Traditions were fine in their place, but the fastidious and inflexible adherence to them could sometimes be a complete pain in the throat. "Then we're back to finding ourselves a cutting with a longer range. I wonder if Warrior Command would be able to furnish us with one."
Klnn-vavgi snorted. "I don't see why
not," he said sourly. "Look at all they've saved on warriors and equipment for us."
"Right; we'll appeal to their sense of guilt," Thrr-mezaz said. "I'll go ahead and put in a request. All they can say is no."
"And they probably will." Klnn-vavgi frowned at the reader. "Before you do that, maybe we ought to try talking to your brother. He might have some idea why the Human-Conquerors would be poking around out there."
"I doubt it," Thrr-mezaz said. "As far as I know, his study group didn't get any detailed information on Dorcas."
"No, but he knows a lot about the Human-Conquerors themselves," Klnn-vavgi said. "Anyway, it can't hurt to ask him."
"I suppose not," Thrr-mezaz said reluctantly. After that conversation with Dkll-kumvit this postmidarc-and his own little outburst a few hunbeats ago-he wasn't exactly eager to trust a private family conversation to a pathway of possibly hostile Elders. Still, he couldn't avoid it forever. "Communicator?" he called.
There was a short pause, and then an Elder appeared. "Yes, Commander?"
"A pathway to the Overclan Seating. I want to speak with the location server on duty."
The Elder nodded and vanished. Klnn-vavgi stepped back around the desk and was just settling onto his couch again when the Elder returned. " 'I am the location server for the Overclan Seating,' " he said. " 'Speak, Commander Thrr-mezaz.' "
"I need to locate my brother, Searcher Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr," Thrr-mezaz said. "He's currently working with an alien-study group under Overclan Seating supervision."
The Elder nodded and left.
And stayed gone. "Interesting," Klnn-vavgi murmured as the beats rolled slowly by. "You think they've lost track of him?"
"Could be," Thrr-mezaz said. "Thrr-gilag has a tendency to wander off without telling anyone where he's going. Drove my mother crazy when we were growing up."
The Elder returned. " 'I do not have a current location for Searcher Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr,' " he said. " 'I will keep trying and will alert you if contact is established with him.' "
"I see," Thrr-mezaz said. "Thank you. Farewell."
The Elder vanished, returned. "The pathway is released, Commander. Will there be anything else?"
"Yes," Thrr-mezaz told him. "Open a pathway to my father, Thrr't-rokik; Kee'rr. He's at the Thrr family shrine near Cliffside Dales."
"I obey," the Elder said, and vanished.
"You suppose he's being kept incommunicado?" Klnn-vavgi suggested. "Something connected with that mission to the Mrachanis?"
"Could be," Thrr-mezaz agreed. "Let's try a couple more things before we give up."
The Elder reappeared. " 'It's good to hear from you, my son,' " he said. " 'How are you?' "
"I'm fine, Father," Thrr-mezaz said. "I need to talk to Thrr-gilag, and I'm having trouble locating him. Do you have any idea where he might be?"
The Elder vanished, returned. " 'He visited me here at the shrine last fullarc. He then went to see your mother, and after that he was to board a spacecraft for Gree to see Klnn-dawan-a.' "
"He's going to Gree?" Thrr-mezaz frowned. "I'd have thought the Overclan Seating would want him to stay close to Unity City."
" 'Really? He didn't say anything about that. Something having to do with his studies?' "
"More or less," Thrr-mezaz said evasively. Semiofficial details of the Mrachani expedition had been circulating through secure warrior pathways for a good fullarc now, but that didn't mean the news had been released to the general public yet. Chances were good it hadn't, in fact, and that it wasn't going to be. "Do you happen to know which flight he went out on?"
" 'No, but I can find out. Is this a carnival, or what?' "
Thrr-mezaz smiled tightly.Carnival -private family code for a vitally important matter, derived from the seriousness with which he and Thrr-gilag had treated such things when they were children. "It could very well be a carnival, yes," he agreed soberly. "Both for him and for me."
" 'I understand, my son. If you can hold on to the pathway a hunbeat, I'll see what I can find out.' "
"Yes, please do," Thrr-mezaz said.
The Elder vanished. "A carnival?" Klnn-vavgi asked, tilting his head as he looked at Thrr-mezaz. "Interesting terminology you Kee'rr have."
"It's private family slang," Thrr-mezaz told him. "And don't give me a hard time about it-I'll bet you had plenty of goofy slang when you were growing up."
"I beg your pardon, Commander," Klnn-vavgi said, with feigned indignation. "There was nothing goofy about it.Floogy andgritch were perfectly good words-"
The Elder reappeared. " 'Sorry to be so long,' " he said. " 'He's on the warrior supply shipMinistration, which left Oaccanv about three tentharcs ago.' "
"Thank you, my father. I appreciate it."
" 'You know I'm always here to help you, Thrr-mezaz. Take care of yourself, and I'll talk to you soon. Farewell.' "
"Farewell." Thrr-mezaz nodded to the Elder. "Release the pathway, and open another to theMinistration," he ordered.
"I obey."
"I don't think the Overclan Seating's going to be happy about his charging off to Gree," Klnn-vavgi commented.
"Probably not," Thrr-mezaz conceded soberly. "Unless they've already dropped him from the mission."
"That's possible," Klnn-vavgi agreed. "Considering the likely pathway, though, you probably shouldn't ask him about it."
"I wasn't planning to."
The Elder appeared. " 'Hello, Thrr-mezaz. This is a surprise.' "
"And I know how much you've always liked surprises," Thrr-mezaz said dryly, glancing at his armwatch and belatedly doing a quick time conversion. "I'm sorry-you were probably asleep, weren't you?"
" 'Yes, but don't worry about it,' " the answer came back. " 'I can sleep next cyclic. What's up?' "
"Just one quick question," Thrr-mezaz said. "Our Human-Conquerors here have been trying to get into an area north of our encampment. There's nothing obvious out there they might want, and no particular tactical advantage that I can see to the location. I was wondering if you might have some idea what they might be up to."
The Elder nodded and vanished.
Once again the beats rolled by. "You suppose he's fallen back asleep?" Klnn-vavgi asked.
"I don't know," Thrr-mezaz said, frowning out the window. Either Thrr-gilag had indeed fallen asleep, or else he was thinking very hard about the question.
Or else he already knew the answer and was trying equally hard to phrase his answer carefully...
The Elder returned. " 'I can't tell what they might want up there,' " he said. " 'But I'm sure you'll want to keep on top of the situation. You certainly don't want the Humans making a carnival out of this whole thing.' "
Thrr-mezaz felt his midlight pupils narrow. A carnival. "I understand, Thrr-gilag," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "We'll watch ourselves. You, too."
" 'I will,' " the reply came back. " 'Farewell, my brother.' "
"Farewell." Thrr-mezaz nodded to the Elder. "You may release the pathway. That will be all for now."
"I obey," the Elder said, and vanished.
"Well, that was interesting," Klnn-vavgi said, standing up and stepping toward the door. "I'm not sure how informative it was, but it was interesting. If that's all, I think I'll be getting back to my quarters."
"Go ahead," Thrr-mezaz said. "Before you go, though, I want to apologize for blowing up at you a few hunbeats ago. This sitting around here like wounded nornins is starting to get to me."
Klnn-vavgi smiled lopsidedly. "Don't worry about it, Commander. I'll see you next fullarc."
He left, the door sliding closed behind him. With a tired sigh Thrr-mezaz resettled himself on his couch and closed his eyes. A carnival. Not something Thrr-gilag would have just accidentally said. Not a word he would have used lightly.
Which meant that his suspicions had been right. There was something about this war and the Human-Conquerors that Warrior Command wasn't telling anyone.
And Thrr-gilag knew what it was.I can't tell you
what they might want, he'd said. Innocently and deceptively worded, but Thrr-mezaz knew his brother better than that. Thrr-gilag knew what the secret was but had obviously been forbidden to talk about it.
And some part of that secret-whatever it was-was right here on Dorcas.
And it was suddenly more imperative than ever that the Zhirrzh find out what was going on up there in the mountains. Which meant getting a warrior inside, or an Elder in close.
Or maybe, just maybe, they already had an Elder in close....
Thrr-mezaz flicked his tongue restlessly, trying to think it through. In its own way it was a wildly audacious idea, and certainly not one that was going to go down well with anyone else involved. And even he had to admit the odds of success were extremely low.
