by Timothy Zahn
"We have orders," the soldier repeated, his hand getting a grip on his shoulder-slung rifle.
And suddenly, Merrick had had enough. "Let me talk to them," he said, lengthening his stride and stepping past Zoshak.
The soldiers' faces had gone stone-like, and both were starting to swing their rifles up into firing positions, when Merrick lifted his hand and fired his stunner.
The first soldier jerked as the high-voltage current slammed into him, scrambling nerve pathways and collapsing him into an unconscious heap on the floor. The second soldier had just enough time to widen his eyes when Merrick sent him to join his friend. Without even breaking stride Merrick grabbed the doorknob, twisted it and shoved the door open.
Once again there were three men seated at the curved table at the end of the room, with Shahni Haafiz again at the center.
But this time the rest of the cast had changed. Instead of two more Shahni, Haafiz had Moffren Omnathi at his right and Miron Akim at his left.
And standing in front of them, in the place where Merrick himself had been standing only hours earlier, wide eyes turned toward the unexpected intruders—
"Merrick," Jin gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Step aside, Mother," Merrick told her shortly, his eyes steady on Akim. "Miron Akim and I have some business to conduct."
Chapter Nineteen
Jin felt her heart catch in her chest as Merrick strode across the room toward her. No, she pleaded silently. Not now. "Merrick, go back," she said with as much firmness as she could pull together on the spur of the moment. "You don't understand."
"Oh, I understand," Merrick told her, his voice dark and simmering with rage, the natural calmness he'd inherited from his father gone like leaves in a gale. "I understand just fine."
"Stay where you are," Shahni Haafiz snapped, his voice betraying no hint of Jin's own fear. "There are Djinn to both sides of you."
"Really?" Merrick said, still moving forward. Jin saw her son's eyes twitch—"Then I suggest you warn them to be very careful," he continued. "I've locked up on the three of you, and Moffren Omnathi there will tell you that we Cobras are very hard to kill. One of the Djinn opens fire, and all three of you die." He pointed at Haafiz. "You first, of course."
"You didn't come here to kill," Omnathi said quietly. His face, unlike Haafiz's, showed no sign of emotion. "Else we would be dead already."
"True enough," Merrick agreed as he came to a halt beside his mother. Zoshak, Jin noted peripherally, had stopped a few paces back from them, silently watchful but making no attempt to interfere. "Two points. First, I came to let you know that I'm on to what you did to me, and what you tried to do to my mother."
"Merrick—" Jin tried again, laying a warning hand on his arm.
"And second," Merrick said, shaking off her hand, "I came to make a deal."
For a long moment the room was silent. The three Qasamans gazed hard at Merrick, and Jin held her breath. Then, to her relief, Haafiz stirred and made a small hand gesture. "Very well, Cobra Moreau," he said. "Speak."
"It didn't make sense," Merrick said, his eyes shifting back and forth among the three men behind the table. "Why spin me this big prove-yourself-trustworthy line and lock me up to think about it, and then just open the door and let me out a few hours later?"
"Perhaps it was an act of mercy," Omnathi suggested. "A chance to spend some time alone with your mother to hear of her medical condition."
"Yes, and we'll get to that in a minute," Merrick said, the sudden darkness in his tone sending a shiver up Jin's back. "But if that was the case, why not lock me up again afterward instead of sending me to a regular barracks? No, the only way it made sense was if you no longer needed whatever it was you'd originally wanted from me."
He looked at Jin. "And then, lo and behold, I find out that this whole terminal brain tumor thing is nothing but a scam. That you could go in there tomorrow and pull it out if you wanted to." He looked back at the three Qasamans. "And you do want to... because while you're in there, you can pull out something else. The thing you were hoping I would think to offer you while I was rotting away in solitary.
"You want a Cobra nanocomputer."
Once again, the room fell silent. "Very good, Cobra Moreau," Omnathi said at last. "Did I not warn you, Shahni Haafiz, that they were not to be underestimated?"
"Perhaps," Haafiz said calmly. "But their cleverness is irrelevant."
"I don't think so," Merrick said. "You see, I happen to know that you had access to Cobra nanocomputers once before." He looked at his mother, and to her relief Jin saw that his uncharacteristic anger was fading away. "You had the bodies of my mother's team, which is where you got the Djinn glove lasers and trigger mechanisms." He looked at the men again. "So if you have all of those, why do you still need one of ours?"
"Why waste our time asking questions to which you already know the answers?" Haafiz growled. "The nanocomputers you speak of had degraded by the time we were able to study them."
"Yes, they had," Merrick said. "By deliberate design, of course. Which brings me to the deal." He drew himself up. "You operate on my mother, remove the tumor and heal her completely. In return, I'll let you take out my nanocomputer and tell you how to keep it from degrading."
"An interesting offer," Haafiz said, smiling thinly. "Unfortunately, you're too late."
Merrick's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"He means," Jin said gently, "that I've already made them the same offer. Only they'll be getting my nanocomputer, not yours."
Merrick turned startled eyes on her, and in his face she could see his sudden chagrin as he belatedly realized he'd been so preoccupied with his confrontation that it hadn't even occurred to him to wonder what she was doing here in the first place. "No," he said flatly. "They get mine, or they don't get either of them."
"Perhaps we should simply take both," Haafiz said.
"Or you don't get either of them," Merrick repeated, glaring at him. "I can play games, too."
"This isn't a game, Merrick Moreau," Akim spoke up quietly. "This is survival."
"That's your excuse for manipulating us this way?" Merrick bit out. "After we've both risked our lives to help you?"
"We manipulated you because we had no choice but to do so," Omnathi said. There was no pleading in his voice that Jin could detect, nor any regret or even embarrassment at having been caught out in their scheming. "The fact is that the defenses we've so carefully prepared over the years have failed. Without the new possibilities represented by your nanocomputers, we have no chance of victory against the invaders. We'll continue to throw ourselves uselessly against their might until attrition takes the last of us."
Merrick looked at Jin, then shifted his eyes to Akim. "What about your Djinn?" he asked. "They've got the capability to be nearly as good as any Cobra. In fact, in some ways, they're better than we are."
Akim shook his head. "Their training and tactics are based on real-time squad coordination," he said. "But the invaders' ability to lock their antipersonnel missiles on to our radio signals renders that coordination impossible."
Merrick grimaced. "I wondered about that," he said. "I heard stories that they were tracking gunfire noise, but the ranging distances seemed way too big."
"In actual fact, they do track gunfire sounds, but only once they're within two or three meters of a target," Akim said. "The point is that your nanocomputer's programmed movements give you a far better capability of working alone than any Djinn possesses. We need that capability if we're to mount an effective defense of our world."
"Maybe," Merrick said. "But even once you have a working nanocomputer—"
"The other point is that it's not just Qasama that's in danger," Jin put in, silently pleading with her son not to say anything more. "The Trofts have been out in the forest since the invasion began, capturing spine leopards and loading them aboard transports. We think they're planning to take them back to the Cobra Worlds."
M
errick snorted. "What, we don't have enough of them there already?"
"They're not going to be dumping them in the wastelands," Jin said tartly. "They're going to turn them loose inside the cities."
Merrick stared at her. "You're jok—" He broke off, glanced at Akim, then looked back at Jin. "You can't be serious."
"Why not?" Akim said. "If you wish to neutralize the police, create a massive accident that draws them to the scene. If you wish to occupy warriors, give them something more urgent to do battle with."
"We also think they may not have launched their attack yet," Jin said. "They wouldn't want to just dribble the predators into Capitalia or Pindar and give us time to figure out what they were up to. They have to be planning to dump them all in at once so that everyone will be running around in panic while they consolidate their positions."
"Yes," Merrick murmured, his eyes narrow with thought. The last of the anger was gone, Jin saw with relief, and he was finally thinking again. "Which means we still might have a chance to warn them," he said. "Get hold of a ship somehow and get back to Aventine. If we can move fast enough."
"Which is the bargain Jasmine Moreau has just made with us," Omnathi said. "She'll give us her nanocomputer. In return, we'll provide you with transport back to your world."
"Really," Merrick said. "Did Qasama develop spaceflight capability when we weren't looking?"
"Who is to say we have not done exactly that?" Haafiz asked loftily.
"Please, Your Excellency," Omnathi rumbled. "No, Merrick Moreau, we obviously haven't. But there are always ways." He eyed Merrick closely. "Provided, of course, that both parties to an agreement truly intend to honor their commitments."
Merrick looked at Jin. "Mom—"
"We have no choice, Merrick," Jin cut him off firmly. If she couldn't convince him that this was the only way, the questions and doubts would haunt the rest of his life. Just as her own questions and doubts had haunted hers. "I can't do any more here. Even after the tumor is removed it'll take me weeks to recover to the point where I could do any fighting. You, on the other hand, can still fight. If you give them yours, they won't have either of us to help them."
Merrick swallowed. "And if I decide the cost is too high?"
"You're talking about the price of freedom," Jin reminded him. "Both of us proclaimed ourselves willing to pay that price when we put on the uniform."
Merrick closed his eyes. "Have I ever told you how much I hate your sense of logic?"
"Everyone always has," Jin said, wincing as an unwanted memory from thirty-two years ago flashed across her mind's eye: her arguments to her father and Uncle Corwin that, despite years of precedent and custom, she was the best possible person to become a Cobra and go on the Qasama mission. "But only because I'm usually right."
"Mom—"
Jin stopped him with a hand to his cheek. "My husband, daughter, and other son are back there," she said quietly. "They'll have no warning of what's about to happen unless we make this deal. Please let me serve them in this one last way."
For a long minute he just gazed at her, and Jin could see the swirling emotions fighting themselves across his face. "When?" he asked at last.
Jin felt some of the tension fade from her throat. "As soon as possible," she said.
"But not until after you've assisted with the attack on the invader sentry ship," Omnathi put in.
Merrick gave him a look that was half disbelief and half disgust. "What, sacrificing the rest of my mother's life isn't enough for you?" he demanded. "You want me to fight, too?"
"Have you not sworn to protect Qasama from its enemies?" Haafiz countered. "Have you not stated that until the invaders are off this world that you are a Qasaman?"
"At any rate, it'll take time to prepare for your return to your worlds," Omnathi added. "As short a time as possible, of course."
"Of course," Merrick said stiffly. "Fine. Miron Akim, have you chosen your attack plan yet?"
"It'll be ready by nine tomorrow morning," Akim promised. "At that time you'll join Ifrit Khatir and his team for a briefing." His eyes flicked over Jin's shoulder. "As will you, Djinni Zoshak," he said, raising his voice. "I suggest you both return now to your barracks for sleep. One way or another, tomorrow is destined to be a busy day."
"Understood." Merrick looked at Jin. "You want me to walk you back to your quarters?"
"I'll do that," Akim said, standing up. "I have a few other matters to discuss with her."
"I could walk with you," Merrick persisted.
"You have been ordered to your barracks, Qasaman," Haafiz cut in. "You have already spoken of the price of freedom. Do not force me to demonstrate the price of disobedience."
For a bad moment Jin thought Merrick was going to argue the point. But he'd apparently had enough conflict for one night. "As you wish, Shahni Haafiz," he said with all the formality anyone could want. "Until tomorrow, Miron Akim."
"Tomorrow, Cobra Moreau," Akim said with a nod.
Squeezing Jin's hand once, Merrick forced a strained half smile and headed back toward the door. Zoshak, still without saying a word, also turned as he passed, falling into step beside him.
"Jasmine Moreau?"
She turned to see that Akim had circled the table and come up beside her. "We'll use this door," he said, gesturing toward an unobtrusive exit tucked away behind a display board. "It'll bring us more quickly to your room."
Jin didn't speak until they were walking down yet another of the subcity's corridors. Unlike all the others she'd been in, though, this one seemed completely deserted. A special parallel corridor system reserved for the Shahni and other high-ranking officials? "We could have let Merrick come along, you know," she commented as they walked. "I doubt we're going to talk about anything he shouldn't hear."
Akim made an odd sound in the back of his throat. "Actually," he said reluctantly, "we are."
They were halfway back to the barracks when Merrick finally couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Well, come on," he growled at Zoshak. "Say something. Even if it's just to lecture me on how I shouldn't be rude to one of the Shahni."
"What do you want me to say?" Zoshak asked calmly. "You shouldn't be rude to the Shahni."
Merrick grimaced. "Yeah, I know."
"But the ultimate fault lies with Shahni Haafiz and Advisor Omnathi, not with you," Zoshak continued. "They shouldn't have tried to manipulate you that way. Not when you'd already proven your willingness to serve our people."
Merrick grimaced again. Perversely, Zoshak's support only made him feel worse about the whole confrontation. "I suppose you can't really blame them," he said. "They've grown up hating us. A person doesn't toss all that aside just because someone lets the bad guys take a few shots at him."
Zoshak was silent for another few paces. "One thing I don't understand. I thought your equipment enhanced your normal abilities without being a substitute for them. Yet you state that your mother will die without her nanocomputer?"
Merrick sighed, the whole situation once again wrenching at him. "She won't literally die," he said. "But the condition she's going to end up in might as well be death. Our nanocomputers control our servos, not just their extra-strength capabilities but also the normal everyday movements. Without that control, the servos won't function. Every movement she makes will be against little motors that don't want to move and will have to be forced. Throw in the inherent extra weight of our ceramic laminae, and it'll be like she's wearing exercise wraps all over her body. Add in the arthritis and anemia that are already starting to affect her, and you have a prescription for a living hell."
"Is there nothing that can be done to help?" Zoshak asked. "Perhaps implant a new computer?"
"In theory, I suppose that could be done," Merrick said. "But the equipment to do that is forty-five light-years and a long visit to a Qasaman brain surgeon away. The point is that she'll have to go through her surgery and recovery in that state." He shook his head. "I'm just worried about what it'll do to her."
<
br /> "And so you volunteered to take her place," Zoshak said, his voice thoughtful. "Willing to sacrifice yourself for your family."
Merrick shrugged. "Probably sounds a little selfish," he admitted. "After all, without my nanocomputer, I'd be pretty much out of the war. That's a lot safer than going out in the streets and getting shot at."
"I hardly consider such a sacrifice to fall under the heading of selfishness," Zoshak said. "I was merely noting that you're perhaps more like us than you realize."
An hour later, as Merrick finally began to drift off to sleep, he was still wondering whether being like the Qasamans was a good thing or a bad thing.
Jin sighed. "Merrick won't like this," she said. "Neither will Shahni Haafiz."
"Nor will probably anyone else on Qasama," Akim agreed soberly. "But my concern right now is for you, Jasmine Moreau. What do you think?"
Jin looked away from him. What did she think of Akim's plan?
Perhaps more importantly, what could she think with a tumor grinding inexorably away at her brain and mind? Merrick had commented earlier on her sense of logic, but she wasn't at all certain she could even trust her thought processes anymore. Especially not when it concerned something this potentially explosive. "You're the one putting your life on the line here," she pointed out instead. "You're the one who told me thirty years ago that on Qasama treason is punishable by death."
"Oh, they can't afford to execute me," he scoffed, waving a studiously nonchalant hand. "Not in the middle of a war. I'm far too important to them."
"That's an assumption," Jin warned. "And Shahni Haafiz in particular seems to be largely driven by pride."
Akim smiled sadly. "Aren't we all driven partially by pride?" he asked. "Even you, with your desire to warn your people of the Troft attack."
"That's not pride," Jin insisted.
"Isn't it?" Akim countered. "Tell me, how were you treated when you returned home from your last time on Qasama? Were you honored for your service in helping to eliminate a threat to our world? Or were you vilified for that action?"
