Judgment at Proteus

by Timothy Zahn

  “And the rest of the Humans, the ones in Building Twelve?” I asked. “Did Aronobal bring them in, too?”

  Again, his expression shifted subtly. “You’re well informed, Compton,” he said. “I was told you hadn’t been closer to Building Twelve than the spot where I left Tech Yleli’s body.”

  A cold feeling settled around my heart. I’d tentatively tagged Blue One as Yleli’s killer, but I’d never had any actual proof of that. Now I had a confession. “You’re right, I didn’t,” I said, managing to keep my voice as casual as his. “Just observation plus simple logic. Once I knew Usantra Wandek was lying about the buildings being malleable, it followed that no one would put up a whole dome’s worth of Human buildings unless he also had a whole dome’s worth of Human patients to put there. I gather from the décor that most of them were taken from the EuroUnion?”

  “Many were, yes,” Blue One agreed calmly. “A few were from other places on your worlds.”

  My coldness at Blue One’s confession of murder dissolved into the warmth of anger. I’d already deduced that the Shonkla-raa had been taking Humans like Terese out of the Terran Confederation. But to have it so casually confirmed, as if Earth was nothing more than their own private butterfly preserve, was just plain galling. “Why?” I demanded.

  “Do you really want me to tell you here?” he countered. His eyes flicked over my shoulder to Minnario. “When we win this field of battle, everyone who knows will have to die.”

  I grimaced. That threat probably wasn’t a bluff, either. My neck was already in the Shonkla-raa’s noose; there was no point in putting Minnario’s in there with it. “Minnario, turn off your transcriber for a minute,” I said. “Our Filly friend here and I have something we need to discuss in private.”

  [Are you sure that’s wise?] Minnario asked, a bit uncertainly.

  “No, but I’m sure it’s necessary,” I said. “I’ll let you know when you can turn it back on.”

  I heard the faint click of a switch. [It’s off,] he said.

  Blue One eyed him another moment, then shifted his gaze back to me. “How much do you know about the original Shonkla-raa?”

  “Enough,” I said. “They ruled the galaxy for a thousand years before being defeated and slaughtered by their slaves. There’s a moral in there somewhere.”

  “Fables and morals are for inferiors,” the other said contemptuously. “Did it ever occur to you to wonder why Earth wasn’t included in their empire?”

  I frowned. Actually, somehow, it hadn’t. It was a damn good question, too. “I’m sure you have an answer,” I said.

  “That’s just it: we don’t know,” he said, his blaze darkening. “There are many theories: diseases that frightened the Shonkla-raa away, oppressive climatic or cultural factors, your uselessness as slaves, or simply that there was nothing in your system they couldn’t get more efficiently elsewhere. But it’s something we need to find out before we set out on our road to conquest.” He smiled suddenly. “I’m sorry: on our final road to conquest.”

  “No need to apologize,” I assured him. “We’ve had plenty of would-be conquerors of our own who talked about how long their reigns would last. It’s a typical delusion with megalomaniacs.”

  “You think we will fail?” he asked, his voice rich with arrogance and challenge.

  “Pretty sure,” I said. “Bunny trails over; back to Terese German. Do I get that list of bolt-holes, or do I have to show off my expertise in the fine art of stimulating Filly nerve junctions?”

  He sighed. “No need,” he said. “But it will do you no—”

  And with a soft snap of plastic he yanked his formerly secured arms from behind his back and shoved off the couch, his hands reaching for my throat.

  They’d made it halfway to their target when I snapped my right foot up and slammed my heel hard into his chest.

  With a strangled whoof the air went out of him, the impact of the blow killing his momentum and sending him tumbling to the floor, his eyes wide with pain and fury. I kicked him again, just to be sure, then stood up and stepped over to the computer desk and the neat stack of quick-locks I’d left there.

  [What is it?] Minnario gasped, and I felt the movement of air as he hurriedly brought his chair up behind me. [What happened?]

  “Our clever friend gnawed through his ropes,” I said, selecting three of the quick-locks and returning warily to Blue One’s side. The caution was unnecessary—his whole upper torso must have felt wrapped in cotton right now, his arms pretty well useless. And of course his legs were still securely tied together. He wasn’t going to be starting any more fights for a while, and he certainly wasn’t going to be winning any. “More precisely, he used his nails to dig through parts of his quick-lock,” I continued. “I felt the notches when I checked it after I came in.”

  [And you didn’t immediately fix it?] Minnario said, his tone somewhere between incredulous and livid. [You risked both our lives?]

  “It wasn’t that much of a risk,” I assured him as I got Blue One’s wrists behind his back again and tightened a fresh quick-lock around them. “With his legs still useless he would have had to take me down in that first attack, and I was pretty sure he couldn’t.”

  [But for what end?] Minnario persisted. [What did it gain you?]

  “Information,” I said. Pushing the backs of Blue One’s hands together, I looped another quick-lock around his palms, and then another around his upper fingers, immobilizing all his nails where they couldn’t reach any of the restraints. “People get careless when they think they’re in control. They also talk too much.” I raised my eyebrows. “Like, for instance, confessing to Tech Yleli’s murder.”

  “It will never be believed,” Blue One spat. “The word of two aliens in collusion, against that of a santra of the Filiaelian Assembly? No court would accept that without physical evidence.”

  “That’s okay—physical evidence is the next thing on our scavenger-hunt list,” I said. “See, Minnario? We know now that he’s a santra, too. Okay, he’s ready to be put back to bed. Can you give me a hand?”

  Minnario moved his chair close to Blue One’s other side, and between us we got the Filly back up onto the couch. “All nice and comfy again?” I asked as I looked down at him.

  “I will kill you, Compton,” he said quietly, gazing up at me with a coldness that even the Modhran walkers I’d faced over the years hadn’t matched. “When the time comes I will personally end your life.”

  “Interestingly enough, the Modhran mind segment on Quadrail 219117 said the same thing,” I told him. “Minnario, where’d you put the hypo and sleep juice?”

  [Here,] Minnario said, pulling the hypo gingerly from his chair pouch and handing it to me. [It’s already loaded.]

  “Thanks,” I said. I confirmed it was the amount Emikai had specified and slipped the needle into Blue One’s arm. “Anything else you’d like to say?” I invited.

  “I’ll also kill your friend Bayta,” he said. “You will be there to watch it happen.”

  “Got it,” I said, and pressed my thumb on the plunger. “Pleasant dreams.”

  Once again, the stuff worked its magic with gratifying speed. Within a minute, Blue One’s breathing had slowed back down again. “Okay,” I said, handing the hypo back to Minnario. “It looks like he’s got a slightly better metabolism than the average Filly, so you’d better not count on him getting a full six hours per dose.”

  [I understand,] he said. [I’ll give him another dose in five hours.]

  “Thanks,” I said. “Unless you want me to come back and do it.”

  [I can manage.] He smiled self-consciously. [For all of a lawyer’s high-sounding talk of searching out the truth while protecting those in need, I have to say that I’ve never before felt so much like I was actually doing that. It’s frightening, but curiously refreshing.]

  “I’m glad you’re having fun,” I said, deciding not to ruin his evening by mentioning how quickly that glow of satisfaction faded once you’d act
ually been in the field for a while. “Call me right away if he looks to be waking up. Or if anything else odd happens.”

  [Such as someone attempting to break down my door?] he inquired with a bland smile.

  I grimaced. “Something like that.”

  The smile faded. [A foolish jest,] he apologized. [My apologies.]

  “That’s all right,” I said. “If it helps any, at the end of the day they’re probably not going to bother with you.”

  [I know,] he said soberly. [You and Bayta are their real targets. That’s why I apologized.]

  “Don’t count us out yet,” I said. “We’ve been in tight scrapes before. By the way, you mind telling me what you and Emikai discussed after we left earlier?”

  Minnario shrugged. [Not very much, as it turned out,] he said. [Logra Emikai wished to know what I knew about you and Bayta.] He gave me a half smile tinged with embarrassment. [Which was also what I wished to know from him. As it happened, neither of us knew much more than the other.]

  “I’ve always said we have no secrets from our friends,” I said dryly. Which wasn’t even close to being true, of course. “Anyway, get some rest. And be sure to double-lock the door behind me.”

  TWELVE

  The corridors were quiet as Doug and I headed back toward the medical dome. Not just quiet, in fact, but completely deserted. I wondered about that until a check of my watch reminded me that it was the Proteus dinner hour, which probably explained why no one was out and about. It also explained why my stomach was growling.

  Which was fine with me. The quiet was conducive to thought, and between Yleli’s murder, Terese’s disappearance, and Blue One’s defiant stubbornness I had a lot to think about.

  I had reached the traffic corridor and was working my way leftward across the glideway’s variable-speed fluid toward the fast track when Doug, who had decided to walk in front of me for once, suddenly turned his head and looked behind us.

  An unpleasant tingle ran up my back. The last time Doug had reacted like that, it had been because a pair of Fillies were doing their best to sneak up on me. It seemed reasonable to assume that the same watchdog behavior might portend the same type of attack.

  I’d been expecting some kind of Shonkla-raa reaction to Blue One’s disappearance. This could be it.

  Mirrored walls would have been handy, but Proteus’s interior decorator had unfortunately missed out on that one. I continued toward the fast track as if nothing was happening, keeping my eyes forward, feeling my back muscles tightening in anticipation of a hand, a fist, or a knife. Blue One had said that I was worth more alive than dead, but I hadn’t believed him then and I certainly wasn’t going to count on it now.

  We were one step away from the fast edge when I made my move. Before Doug could shift over onto the fast track I stepped onto it myself, ran three quick steps forward to pass him, and finally stopped and allowed him to move over behind me.

  And with my watchdog now between me and whatever was back there, I finally turned around.

  He was striding silently toward me along the fast track, his oversized throat bulging through the neck of his tunic, his hands stiffened into Shonkla-raa knives, an unholy glitter of anticipation in his eye. A flicker of something crossed his face as I turned to face him—surprise or disappointment, I couldn’t tell which—but he didn’t even break stride.

  “Hello, there,” I called pleasantly to him. “I’m new in town. Can you recommend a good restaurant?”

  He didn’t answer, but merely continued walking toward me. I watched his face, and as he approached Doug I saw his dilemma suddenly dawn on him.

  He couldn’t simply step around Doug to come at me, because moving to his right would put him in a slower section of the glideway, requiring him to break into a jog just to stay even or an actual run if he wanted to catch up with me. I had no doubt he could do either, but having to run to catch up to an opponent who was standing still put an attacker at a definite disadvantage. He could look as eager as he wanted to about the upcoming fight, but he had to be thinking at least a little about the fact that Blue One had also been sent to take me down and hadn’t been heard from since.

  Which really left him only two options. He could pick up Doug and physically move him out of his way, which would leave him even more vulnerable during the brief period when his hands were occupied, or he could do what Blue One had done outside Yleli’s apartment and simply jump over the animal.

  It took him maybe half a second to run through the analysis and come to a decision, and as he stepped up to Doug’s tail he bent his knees and leaped.

  Unfortunately for him, I’d already done the analysis myself and had planned my response. Even as he arced over Doug’s back, I threw myself to the side onto the mid-speed section of the glideway.

  I hit the fluid with a thud and a brief skid as the glideway damped out the extra inertia I’d brought with me from the fast track. My shoulder had barely slowed to that speed when the faster track at my feet grabbed my legs and spun me ninety degrees around, leaving me lined up along the section that my shoulder had landed on, feet forward with my head to the rear. Rolling onto my back, I shoved awkwardly against the different-speed tracks on either side of me and pushed myself back to vertical.

  In an ideal world, my maneuver would have taken the Shonkla-raa completely by surprise, and he would still be standing on the fast track where his leap had put him, gazing stupidly back at me as he and Doug faded off into the sunset. But it wasn’t an ideal world, and the Shonkla-raa was anything but stupid. By the time I was back on my feet he had already picked his way across the glideway to the slower track just to my right and was waiting there patiently for me to catch up to him again.

  And suddenly I was in a dilemma of my own. Staying where I was would bring me within range of those hands in probably twenty seconds or less. I could try going to my right, passing his track and getting onto an even slower section of the glideway. But he could easily match that maneuver, which meant all I would accomplish would be to delay the inevitable.

  Which left me just one other choice. Stepping to my left, I headed back toward the fast track, moving as quickly as I could without losing my balance. If I could get to the higher speed faster than he could, I might be able to bypass him while he was still out of striking distance.

  But again he’d already duplicated my analysis and conclusion. Even as I made my move he was matching it, step for step, making sure he stayed just to my slow side where the glideway would bring me straight to him. I tried reversing direction, hoping to buy myself a little time. But again, he was right on top of it, easily matching my every move.

  Behind him, I caught sight of Doug working his four-footed way across the glideway onto the slower tracks, for once sensing trouble before it actually happened. If I didn’t do something fast I would probably end up fighting both him and the Shonkla-raa at the same time.

  I waited until I was almost within the Shonkla-raa’s reach. Then, shoving off the glideway, I again threw myself onto my side to my right, trying to get as far into the glideway’s slow section as I could. The Filly was right on top of it, making an easy leap the same distance and landing directly in front of the spot where my shoulder landed.

  Only I had thrown myself onto my side, whereas he’d chosen to remain vertical, which meant that his feet were suddenly going a slower speed than the rest of his body. He staggered violently as Newton’s Laws kicked in, and he was forced to throw one foot behind him to keep himself from falling flat onto his back. He won the battle with momentum and straightened up again—

  Just as my legs, again caught by the glideway’s speed gradient, swung around in a ninety-degree arc and kicked his feet completely out from under him.

  He went down with a bellow, slamming onto the glideway and scrambling for purchase even as the same forces that had spun my legs into him now also turned him around. I didn’t wait to see how he handled his predicament, but began rolling sideways as quickly as I could toward the
slow edge. If I could get to the unmoving part of the corridor, cross it, and make it onto the glideway going the other direction, I might be able to put enough distance between us to escape.

  I reached the edge of the glideway and rolled onto solid ground. Giving myself one final half-roll onto my stomach, I started to push myself back to my feet.

  Only to slam flat onto the deck again as Doug leaped onto my back, growling straight into my ear.

  I don’t know much more of a reprimand for my uncivil behavior the watchdog had planned to deliver once he had me down. But whatever it was, it was instantly preempted as his growl turned into a startled yip and he toppled sideways off me, a trio of bright red balls tied together by red cords suddenly appearing across his side, belly, and back.

  I leaped to my feet, catching sight of a second Filly as he shot past on the fast edge of the glideway, and ducked as a second spinning flash of red shot just over my head. It was some kind of bola weapon, I saw now, with the added bonus of an adhesive to make sure that once the target was down he stayed that way. The newcomer was already heading away toward the slow edge of the glideway, gazing balefully back at me as he readied a third bola. Farther ahead down the corridor, I could see that my first opponent was back on his feet and also moving toward the slow edge.

  So now it was two against one. And with Doug tangled up in his bola, he wasn’t going to be available for me to use as a shield or throwing weapon unless I picked him up and carried him with me.

  And then I caught sight of a figure approaching on the other glideway. He was too far away for me to tell whether he had a Shonkla-raa throat, but from his stiff posture and air of alertness I suspected he wasn’t just some random citizen returning from dinner.

  Suddenly, it wasn’t two against one, but three.

  And now I was well and truly trapped. If I did nothing, the third Filly would shoot past me, step onto the unmoving part of the corridor, and I would be bracketed. If I ran, no matter which glideway I chose, there would be an opponent on my tail within seconds.