The Agent Gambit

by Sharon Lee

  Miri had had her share of scrapes-maybe more than her share of scars, what with her father . . .But Val Con, unlike one loobelli of a civilian she had slept with, did not ask where they were from, but just patiently and thoroughly sought each one out to kiss and caress until she had gotten a little intense, herself.

  Now she snuggled even closer to his side, the steady beat of his heart filling her ears. He had even found the scars on her feet, from when she had kicked the grille out of the door and tried to walk away from the rehab center, her light house slippers hanging in bloody rags. She would have made it, too, except Liz had found her and made her swear to finish the therapy.

  No sense, of course, she thought. Went to all that trouble to make sure Klamath didn't get me and almost let Cloud have me for nothing.

  She stirred sharply, completely awake and almost breathless, as if she had suddenly found herself standing at the very edge of a sheer drop. Cloud. She had jammed so much of the stuff into her system by the time Liz had dragged her to rehab, she had barely remembered her own name.

  And what if he asks you where you got them scars? she demanded of herself. You gonna tell him the truth, Robertson? Huh? Rich kid from Liad, hobnobs with the best people? Think he's gonna stand by words he said to some snip from Surebleak who was so addicted to Cloud it's a wonder she ever came away whole? Think it's gonna matter to him how long you been clean?

  "Cha'trez?" His arms tightened, and he craned to see her, green eyes hazy and half asleep. "Is something wrong?"

  She started, then reached up, touched his lips, and brushed her fingertips over the scar, aching at the beauty of him.

  "You're on my hair," she said.

  Miri woke alone, her head pillowed on Val Con's folded vest. She sighed, stretched deliberately, and was wide awake by the time the stretch was done. From the bridge she heard the radio's unceasing blather; she sighed again, rolled to her feet, and hurriedly pulled on her clothes before heading that way, his vest swinging in her hand.

  Val Con stood, deep in thought. The bottle-shaped continent from the planet below had taken on three dimensions, overrunning the bridge: the neck of the bottle started in the companionway, and its bottom ran into the pilot's chair.

  Miri shook her head in wonderment and leaned against the doorjamb to watch.

  Duct tape from the repair box was rumpled into mountain ranges running north and south, gaps precisely cut out to allow river systems their courses. Spare instrument lamps dotted the map, some singly, others clustered. There were several pipe pieces in the map, each with a number written on the floor next to it.

  Marking pens had also been used with art. The rivers had boundaries of blue, while some areas were enclosed by curly green lines and others simply outlined in brown. Three paper spaceships sat next to the three largest lamp-clusters; Val Con held another in his left hand. In his right was a ragged block of metal the Yxtrang had torn from somewhere.

  Miri gazed at the arrangement thoughtfully. "If you bring your transport down 'round the oceanside of the blue lamps, you can take out the red ones before they know what hit 'em, then use their supplies to take the ship. Blue's gonna have to get involved to protect themselves, so you sit tight and let 'em bang their heads against your position for a bit, then mop up and go on a tiger hunt for green . . ."

  He looked up, grinning and bright-eyed. "Are we invading, then, Sergeant?"

  "Sure looks like a situation map to me, Commander."

  Val Con stepped out of his construction, gently placing the fourth paper spaceship near one edge of the continent before moving to her. He kept the chink of metal in his hand.

  "I don't doubt your invasion would work," he said, "but I am not a general, alas, and would hesitate to direct it."

  "Don't blame you. Invasions are messy. Course, garrison duty's boring."

  "And limited by supplies."

  "Like us." She nodded at the map. "What's with the world view?"

  He turned carefully to avoid stepping on a mountain range and pointed. "The lamps are towns, as lit when we pass over them at night. More lamps become a city-like here-and fewer are villages or less. So the blue is a large town or a small city, one with four transmissions from it."

  "The pipes are transmission towers?"

  He nodded. "The green is the largest city, and I suspect it has an airport of some consequence."

  "And that?" She pointed at the metal block in his hand. "Where does that go?"

  He hefted it, walked two graceful steps into the map, and very precisely placed it between the coastal mountains and a single red lamp, not far from where he had placed the paper spaceship. "There."

  "Fine," Miri approved. "What is it?"

  "Us."

  She frowned at the map, letting the picture build in her mind. "The idea is to leave the ship in the mountains, then walk down that pass there-if it is a pass-and hope there's some way we can work things out to meet people before we go to town?"

  He nodded. "It is the best course of action I can envision, given the limited data we have been able to gather." He sighed. "This is not a Scout ship." He seemed genuinely annoyed with the yacht for that shortcoming, and Miri grinned briefly before walking the perimeter and stepping in beside him.

  "When do we land?"

  "When the time is propitious," he murmured, idly adjusting the metal block with his foot.

  "You figure the propitious time will he soon?" she persisted. "Reason I ask is we only got another two days of fish and maybe three of crackers, and then what we got is water."

  "Ah," he said, shifting slightly to take another look at his creation before turning and smiling down into her eyes. "In that case, I would say that the most propitious time is immediately after lunch."

  LIAD:

  Trealla Fantrol

  Korval's man of business was closeted with the First Speaker, but before being whisked away he had managed one minor bit of magic and produced a credit history on Miri Robertson, Terran citizen. Shan slid the disk from the old gentleman's fingers with a smile. "Exactly what I was needing, sir. My thanks," he said, and carried it off.

  Alone in his rooms, he fed the information to the computer and took a sip from his glass.

  Apparently financial institutions did not consider mercenary soldiers good credit risks. There was a string of six "Applied. Credit Denied" before a surprising "Loan granted, Bank of Fendor, one-half cantra to Miri Robertson payable over a period of not more than four Standard Years at interest of 10.5%. Co-signator, Angela Lizardi. Collateral in form of Pension Fund 98-1077-45581 carried by Ilquith Securities. Transaction completed Day 353 Standard 1385."

  Angela Lizardi again-apparently a commander who took active interest in her soldiers. And Miri Robertson pledges her pension for half a cantra cash, he thought. I wonder why.

  The screen supplied no answer, but it did reflect an exemplary payment record, and then the notation "Balance paid in full, Day 4, Standard 1388."

  She earned a bonus and killed the thing, Shan surmised, sipping wine. It was the best she could have done at ten point five. He touched a key and the credit file faded, to be replaced a heartbeat later by an employment history.

  1379: APPRENTICE SOLDIER, LIZARDI'S LUNATICS.

  The Lunatics had taken and fulfilled a series of contracts on a number of worlds: Eskelli, Porum, Contrast, Skittle, Klamath.

  Shan froze. Klamath?

  He had just extended a hand to request more information when the annunciator chimed.

  "Come!"

  The door whispered open behind him as he impatiently tapped keys.

  "Klamath?" Anthora asked, leaning on his shoulder. "What's Klamath?"

  "That is what we're trying to find out. We are, in fact, hoping my memory has finally deteriorated to the point that someone must be assigned to lead me about. Exercise your influence, sister, and see that it's Priscilla?"

  She laughed. "As if I had any! And what use would you be to Priscilla without a memory?"

  "The same u
se I'll be to her with impaired hearing. Do stop bellowing in my ear."

  She stuck her tongue in it.

  "That will do," he said. "Bring a chair over and sit nicely or leave."

  "Yes, Shan-brother."

  He glanced up as she moved away. "Tell me, denubia, did the contract-husband leave with all faculties intact? If yos'Galan owes for mental disability it would be best for me to settle it before the Passage leaves."

  "I was very nice to him, Shannie. Truly I was." She dragged the chair into place and sat primly, hands folded in her lap. "Like this?"

  "Precisely like that. Pretend you've had upbringing. Now if only the damned computer-Aha! Progress!"

  The screen filled with amber letters, scrolling. Shan let it run, then slapped PAUSE and was silent for longer than it should have taken him to read the information there.

  Anthora leaned back from her own perusal, frowning at his face and at his pattern, which had suddenly gone flat with pity.

  "The world shook apart?" she asked tentatively. "It is horrible, Shannie, but why are we looking at it? I thought you were trying to find out about Val Con's lady."

  "I am," he said expressionlessly, allowing the screen to continue a slow scroll. "She was there. Lizardi's Lunatics was one of the mercenary units hired to fight in the local civil war. A handful of people got off-planet before things went so unstable that rescue were hopeless. Countless people died, civilians and soldiers . . ." He touched PAUSE once more. "Survivors, Lizardi's Lunatics: Angela Lizardi, Senior Commander, Roth MacNealy, Brevet Lieutenant; Miri Robertson, Sergeant; Scandal Arbuckle, Private; Lassiter K. Winfield, Private. Five. Gods, a full-staffed unit is nearly three hundred!"

  "She has the luck," Anthora said gravely, and Shan felt the hairs rise on his neck.

  "Does she?"

  But his sister was frowning. "Isn't it odd? I always thought Val Con would chose a lady who was a musician, like he is."

  "We don't know that she's not," Shan pointed out. "Though gods alone know what she might have to sing about."

  Anthora turned wondering silver eyes on him. "She's alive."

  "So she is." He tapped another series, recalling the employment history. "Let's see what else she's done with her life, then, shall we?"

  Lizardi's Lunatics had been deactivated in 1384, and there was a two-year blank in Miri Robertson's record until she showed up again as sergeant with the Gyrfalks, under Senior Commander Suzuki Rialto and Junior Commander Jason Randolph Carmody. There followed another list of contracts accepted and fulfilled, interspersed with notations of the excellence of Sergeant Robertson's performance. In 1388 her rank was increased to sergeant master. In 1391 she resigned. Commanders Rialto and Carmody let the record show their sorrow at that decision and their willingness to take the sergeant back into the Gyrfalks at any time.

  Some months later Miri Robertson was certified as bodyguard to a Sire Baldwin of Naome, and there the record ended, except for a muted chime indicating that auxiliary information was available.

  Shan glanced at Anthora. "Well, sister? Do we press on?"

  "By all means!" she cried, and wriggled a little to show the intensity of her interest.

  Grinning, Shan touched the proper key. The auxiliary file clicked in and his grin faded.

  In 1392, five Standard months after Miri Robertson had become Sire Baldwin's bodyguard, a party of Juntavas attacked the estate, killing many of the household staff. Of those listed missing and presumed escaped: Baldwin himself . . .and Miri Robertson.

  The aux file faded, and Shan leaned back in his chair. "Well, sister? Does she still have the luck?"

  "It seems so," Anthora said softly. "After all, she got from Naome to Lufkit, and then from Lufkit to Lufkit Prime Station and as far as wherever she and Val Con are now, and they're both alive." She tipped her head. "Doesn't that sound like the luck to you, Shannie?"

  "Unfortunately," he said after a small pause. "it does." He sighed and rubbed the tip of his nose. "Does it occur to you that Clutch-turtles might well mistake relationships between humans? By Space, we don't even know that that damned message is from Edger!"

  "Mr. dea'Gauss had a tracer put on the pin-beam," Anthora said. "Verification hasn't been made yet, but he feels there's small doubt that the message is genuine. And I told you, brother-I can see Val Con's lady through him, just like I see Priscilla through you!"

  He turned to stare at her. "So you did." He touched keys, shut down the screen, reclaimed the disks, and slipped them safely away. "Which reminds me that I'm to dine with Priscilla this evening. Talk about a coil! If Val Con had his heart set on the woman, why couldn't he bring her home? And when did he have time to court and lifemate anyone? Unless . . ." He pushed away from the desk, stretching to his full six feet, reducing Anthora to a plump, precocious child.

  "Unless?" she asked.

  He bent to kiss her forehead. "A question for Jeeves on my way out, that's all. Please assure Nova that I'm at her command. We'll be dining at Ongit's before going back to Pelthraza Street. And tell Gordy I'll expect to see him here early tomorrow morning. He's loafed long enough."

  "Oh, no," Anthora said earnestly. "He's been working very hard! Karea seems particularly pleased."

  "I'm delighted for them both." He gave her a gentle shove toward the door. "I'm off to visit Syl Vor and Padi-then a quick word with Jeeves and away! Be a good child, now, and help your sister."

  "All right, Shannie," said the most powerful wizard on Liad, and went docilely down the hall.

  With some difficulty Jeeves was discovered crouched in a corner of the hearthroom, swaddled in cats, head-ball dim in what Val Con had used to call "sleep." Shan cleared his throat.

  "Sir?" The ball glowed to gentle orange life.

  "Please don't get up! I only need to ask you a question-you are available for questions, aren't you, Jeeves? It wouldn't concern me quite so much except that you're the brains to Trealla Fantrol, and if we were to have an intruder while you're napping with the cats I don't know what would happen."

  "The intruders would be repelled, sir. I was not asleep, but merely offering comfort."

  Shan rubbed the tip of his nose. "Comfort? I am to understand that the cats are distressed?"

  "They miss Master Val Con, sir."

  "They do." Shan considered the various and varicolored felines draped around Jeeves's metallic person. "I hesitate to mention this-but Pil Tor and Yodel have never met Master Val Con."

  "Quite right, sir. But Merlin has told them all about him, so they feel his absence as keenly as the rest."

  A grizzled gray tabby curled near the head-ball opened one yellow eye, as if daring a challenge to that explanation.

  Shan swept a bow. "Never would I doubt you, sir."

  The cat closed his eye, and the man swallowed a laugh. "Jeeves, if I might ask you to cast your mind back seven or eight Standards-possibly more: Has my brother ever mentioned the person Miri Robertson in your presence?"

  There was silence. Shan bore it for nearly a minute.

  "Jeeves?"

  "Working, sir. I anticipate completion of the match in approximately-done. Master Val Con has never spoken of or to Miri Robertson in my presence." After a slight and unrobotic hesitation, Jeeves said, "Forgive me."

  "There's nothing to forgive, old friend. I had a notion Val Con had been lifemated for a few years and had simply forgotten to let us know. Exactly the sort of thing that might slip one's mind, after all. It was dimly possible that he'd said something to you, however, the dangers of Scouts and soldiers being what they are."

  "You speak in the context of a will."

  "Exactly in the context of a will."

  The orange ball flickered, and Merlin flicked a reproachful ear. "The will I have on file for Master Val Con has not been altered since Standard 1382. It does not mention Miri Robertson."

  "And that," Shan said, "would seem to be that. Thank you, Jeeves, you've been very helpful. Do continue comforting the cats."

  "The com
fort is two-way, sir."

  Shan sighed. "Are you distressed, Jeeves?"

  "It is merely that I, too, miss Master Val Con."

  "I see. Forgive me if this offends, but Val Con and I built you, which means-"

  "I was Master Val Con's idea."

  Shan blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

  "I was Master Val Con's idea," Jeeves repeated, moving an arm to rub a restive tigerstripe. "You said so yourself, sir, several times during my construction."

  "So I did." And a more cork-brained scheme, he added silently, may I never again be party to! "My thanks for calling that to my attention. Carry on."

  "Thank you, sir. Good evening, sir."

  Shan's footsteps faded down the hallway, and in a moment Jeeves noted the opening and closing of the door to the south patio. One of the younger cats, Yodel, mewed faintly and twitched in her sleep. Jeeves moved a hand to stroke her.

  "There, there," he said. "There, there."

  ORBIT:

  Interdicted World I-2796-893-44

  The sound of the ship around them went from solid hum to pulsing throb as Miri slid into the copilot's seat. Val Con sat in the pilot's chair, hands moving with precision over the switches and keys and toggles as if he were playing the omnichora. All screens were up, showing different and changing views of the world below while the radio mumbled to itself. A number of the lights on the central board glowed red, a fact that Miri decided to ignore.

  "No power left to shunt from the coils," Val Con murmured. "Altitude control jets low on fuel. Rocket thrust? Ah, well, rockets are only a luxury, after all . . ."

  Miri considered the side of his face. "Is this dangerous?"

  "Hmm? Strap in, please, cha'trez. We are approaching a mark." A slim finger touched a readout that was counting large blue numbers down from ten. Miri engaged the webbing as the numbers ran down. There was a sharp push and a heavy vibration as zero flashed. Val Con flipped a quick series of toggles, and the worst of the vibration faded.