“Not necessarily ones we would approve.”
“Or innocent ones. Trade connections who had no idea of their original business in the north.”
“They could have phoned.” It was a poor joke. But it was also true.
“Easily. Now they turn up here, after an action in Senjin is in progress. Either they have important news, or they are simply reporting in because they do not want to be found to have ignored our summons, or, the third possibility, they are in trouble. If they do have news of Dojisigi moves at this point, we would be remiss to ignore them. Of Guild available, they know us and they know a few of the dowager’s aishid by sight. We are the logical ones to go out and make contact.”
“I am anxious about this.”
“So are we. Tano and Algini are electing to arrange a meeting near the train.”
It was in principle less risk than all of them had run, going out to Topari’s dinner in the great hall—except that time had elapsed and events down in Senjin had changed things. There were watchers set up outside the train, and on it. Tano and Algini would not be without backup, but it was a worry.
“Tell them—” Be careful? They always were. “Tell them I value them extremely. Err on the side of self-protection. We have yet to see this pair proved.”
“Yes,” Jago said, and quickly rose and left.
That she had come to him without Banichi indicated the excursion might be already beyond planning. He worried.
If he had been slow starting the day, he was awake now. Putting Tano and Algini at risk—he would rather be out there himself; but that was exactly the sort of thing his aishid was there to prevent.
He was the one who had told them to contact this chancy team, before any of this had ever come up. He had done it to query them on Machigi’s intentions, following the meeting at Najida. That was now fairly passe, unless they knew something he truly needed to know.
The simple fact they were up here—by what Jago said, they had to have arrived before the Red Train had come here, since the downward route had been under observation. It was remotely possible they had ridden the exterior of the Red Train on the climb up, but that would have been bitterly, bitterly cold.
It might indicate someone down in the Marid had had advance information that the Red Train was on the move, and that he was aboard—if it was indeed his summons that had drawn them. That the dowager was aboard was information the message to Bregani had revealed, but—if they were privy to that, then they were in receipt of a message they never should have accessed, and that was another problem.
What was going on, what that contact meant, would not be going on outside Cenedi’s knowledge, but to be absolutely certain the dowager knew, he dashed off a note to Ilisidi and handed it to Narani with neither seal nor cylinder.
Aiji-ma. At least one of the Assassins we encountered at Tirnamardi has signaled us from within the town. I believe this is in response to a message I sent them from Najida, intending to discover any recent developments in the Marid. Tano and Algini are going out to meet this contact. Evidently my presence here is known to the sender, whether one or both of these individuals, or someone they have improperly entrusted with their contact code. I am proceeding in the assumption Cenedi is aware and monitoring my team.
Narani left with the message.
Beyond that, it was a matter of waiting.
* * *
• • •
A longer wait than expected, a worrisome long wait, but nothing signaled trouble, either.
Then there was some agitation that traveled through the train, a distant opening and closing of passage doors.
It was not a time, Bren thought, to go out into the corridor and find out.
Then he heard movement in his own section of the corridor, that stopped. He looked toward the door, stood up, hand in his pocket, finger on the trigger, in case.
Jeladi moved from elsewhere toward the door and queried some presence outside. There was an exchange of some kind, a familiar male voice—Nawari, he thought—and the click of the door catch—Jago must have locked it, Bren thought, when she left, and Jeladi unlocked it.
Nawari came in. Ilisidi’s bodyguard.
“Nand’ paidhi,” Nawari said. “Your assistance, if you will.”
“Yes,” he said, and stood up with no idea what was toward. “Is the dowager well?”
“She is well, nandi. It is a difficulty with nand’ Bregani’s party.”
It was only Narani and Jeladi in attendance in the car. Banichi and Jago were likely up in the Guild operations car, in communication with Tano and Algini, who were, he presumed, out making contact with their supposed informant. He ought not, strictly, to leave the secure space without them, but Ilisidi’s bodyguard judged he was needed and he had no hesitation in complying with the request.
“Lock after I leave,” he told Narani, and went out into the corridor with only Nawari.
“Come,” Nawari said. And, as they walked: “Your aishid’s contact identifies an untrustworthy person in Lord Bregani’s bodyguard. Tano and Algini are on their way back, signaling a compromised condition, and Banichi’s attention is for them at the moment. We hope you can finesse this and extract the lord and his family without alarming the target.”
“I am willing to try,” he said, as they negotiated the passage door to the Guild car.
Jago met them in the next corridor.
“You are wearing the vest, nandi.”
“Yes,” he said. “Jago-ji, are Tano and Algini all right?”
“Yes,” Jago said. “Coming back as quickly as they can: I am stationed here. Go, Bren-ji! And be careful!”
Jago, dismissing him into another aishid’s care—the matter was indeed urgent. He kept pace with Nawari, walking as fast as his shorter strides could manage, lungs burning in the thin air.
“Do they need help out there?” Bren asked.
“They say no. They are satisfied. They are coming in.”
They passed through the Guild car and reached the next passage door, Machigi’s, and hurried through that passage. Machigi’s own compartment opened behind them, but nobody asked and they spared no time to answer. Machigi’s aishid would surely not encourage their principal to go out to ask questions.
The next passage door led to Nomari’s car, and Nomari’s guard came out to intercept them, Shejidani Guild, Guild-trained.
“Hold this area,” Nawari ordered them. “Keep your principal inside. Wait for orders.”
No question of Nawari’s authority. No objections. They reached the next passage, the baggage car, sparsely packed with wardrobe crates, the galley supplies, medical supplies, water, and black boxes with the Guild seal on them. Two Guild guards held that chilly area, in heavy coats, and were on their feet instantly to meet them.
“Guard the forward door,” was all Nawari said.
Conference, that would be the story, Bren thought, trying to figure how to extract the whole family.
He wanted to talk with the whole family regarding—what? Briefing them on events down in Senjin? The aishid might take an interest. Consulting them on a point of law? It hardly took the daughter to answer that.
An invitation to tea. Brainless. But socially likely . . .
They reached the passage door into Bregani’s car and burst through. Cenedi was in that corridor with four of Ilisidi’s young men, at the farthest remove from the compartment door on the left. Bren walked more slowly, evening out his breathing, not to give any impression of haste approaching that door.
Everything calm. No indication of haste. Ask Bregani outside, get Bregani to summon his family for a social occasion—and Nawari and Cenedi would—
Explosion compressed the air, and Bren staggered against the wall, in sudden utter darkness. He pushed back for balance and felt a steadying hand on his shoulder. The emergency lights were coming up slow
ly, faint yellow illumination, and a red-lit Please Remain Calm.
There was no immediate sense whether the train was breached at any point. Tano. Algini. That was his heart-stopping thought. A breach near the dowager was his second. Or a problem centered here.
The compartment door pressed against him, opening. Bregani’s bodyguard were behind the push, the last thing they wanted. He heard women’s voices inside, and Bregani’s. Bregani was coming out of his compartment, next worst scenario.
Guild rule: a threat inside the perimeter came before anything.
“Nand’ Bregani!” he said, catching Bregani’s arm. It was sure that atevi could see him better than he could see them. Bregani’s eyes caught the indirect light and shone gold, affecting his ability to see expression. “Nandi! Are you all right?” His own lightless eyes would be as disquieting to them as theirs to him. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Bregani said. Murai and Husai pressed outward, joining him, and Bregani threw an arm around them, exposing his back to his own guard. “What hit? Are we attacked?”
“Come with me,” Bren said. “Murai-daja, Husai-daja, please come! This way! Quickly!”
The bodyguards moved to be first, as they should, but Cenedi and his men moved instantly to prevent that—a fast move and two were against the wall. Bregani threw himself, his wife, and daughter, against the near wall, shielding his family with his body. There were shouts, and a shot went off in the confined space.
It was not even thought. Bren snatched his gun from his pocket, flung himself clear, took aim at struggling dark bodies of Bregani’s guard on the floor in front of him and yelled: “Hold! Hold! Do not get up! Do not get up, nadiin! Lord Bregani, order your guards! Please! This is a mistake! Stop them!”
Bregani was still shielding his family. “Stop!” he shouted out. “Everyone stop!”
There was quiet, except the moaning. The wonder was that struggle did stop, and the two on the floor stayed on the floor, and those standing stayed standing.
Bren stood with the pistol in both hands, aimed generally at any hint of a firearm or a motion that might indicate one. In the tangle on the floor, the injured man tried to get up and the other prevented him.
“Stay down!” That was Cenedi’s voice, and Bren, eyes straining in the dim light, just held his position. “Tell them, nand’ paidhi!”
Bren did not move a muscle, nor stop watching for sudden movements, including the resolving tangle on the floor. “Nand’ Bregani,” he said, “one means no harm whatsoever to you, your family, or your bodyguard. We have suffered some sort of accident or attack, one is unsure which, and those guarding the aiji-dowager cannot—cannot accept drawn weapons from any persons but her defenders on this train. Something has exploded. We do not know whether it was an attack on the train, or whether it was an accident outside, but we do not blame you. The dowager’s guard will be far easier once your bodyguard stands down.”
There was a thump, an attempt by somebody in the baggage car to get through the passage door at their backs, which did not help the situation.
“What is being done with Machigi’s guard?” Bregani asked.
“From here, one cannot be sure, nandi, but I swear to you, no one bearing weapons will be welcomed by the dowager’s bodyguard. Nomari’s guard is under the dowager’s command, as am I. Only your guard and Machigi’s are under other authority, and I ask you again, nandi, as courteously as I can—and so that we can fairly ask the same of Lord Machigi—please order your guard to stand down. There is a man injured, and this is delaying his medical attention. Please. We may have enemies inside the train, and if this is the case, we need to find out as quickly as possible.”
“Stand down,” Bregani said. “All of you. Stand down.”
There was slow compliance—but Bren did not move. The deep shadow indicated it was a man in Bregani’s guard who was on the floor, likewise the man tending him. One of Cenedi’s men relieved the kneeling man of a handgun, and another knelt down and applied pressure to the injured man’s wound. Beyond those movements, everybody stood frozen, Bregani’s two remaining body guards stood with weapons lowered. Weapons in the hands of Cenedi’s men were not.
“Nandiin,” Cenedi said, “we are receiving communication.”
No one moved, then, for several moments while Cenedi asked coded questions and received answers.
“The train was not damaged,” Cenedi said then. “The explosion involved the small transformer from which we were receiving power for lights, equipment, and heat. We are now on battery and emergency generators. There is also a loss of railway signaling and other functions in the area. Nand’ paidhi, your team has reboarded, and is debriefing.”
Thank God, Bren thought, and still held his pistol leveled at Bregani’s three standing bodyguards.
“We do not believe this was an accident,” Cenedi said. “We are in the process of making an end-to-end check of the entire train, outside and in. Lord Bregani, we have medical attention for your man in the Guild station forward. We ask you go with the paidhi-aiji and his bodyguard all the way to rear of the train, where you will be joined by the aiji-dowager and others. Lord Machigi and the Ajuri candidate are being given the same instruction, and are requested to move on toward the Red Car. Nand’ paidhi?”
There was no move on Bregani’s part to comply. Bren put the safety on his pistol, returned it to his pocket, and motioned toward the passage door. “Nandiin. Please. I shall go with you. Your man will be cared for, and the dowager’s surgeon is aboard, if needed. We all need to cooperate with the Guild, for the dowager’s protection and ours.”
Bregani moved slowly, uncertainly, slipped an arm about his daughter, and drew her close. Murai-daja turned, and Bren moved, aware one of Cenedi’s men was moving behind them, not sure who it was until Nawari stalled them all at the door, to radio the baggage car guards and ascertain that car was safe for them to enter.
Nawari opened the passage door then, and led them through into the faintly-lit baggage car and its hulking crates. The Guild on guard there walked them through to the next passage door.
Nomari’s corridor was equally dim and apparently deserted.
So, too, was Machigi’s, to Bregani’s audible relief. The train was generally silent as they went, everyone evacuated ahead of them.
Then a distant sound.
“The engine is firing up,” Nawari said. “We shall soon have power again.”
One had not asked where electrical power was coming from. But the promise was comforting. And the passage into the next car presented both Jago, and Tano.
“Are you all right?” Bren asked.
“My ears,” Tano said, and the dim light showed Tano’s entire left side pale with dust.
“Come,” Nawari said. “Tano. Jago. Come. The dowager is waiting.”
Next was Bren’s own corridor, then Cenedi’s command center, and after that, the dowager’s car, where two of the dowager’s guard met them.
“Nand’ paidhi,” one said. “The dowager wishes to see you, inside, immediately, with your guard. Lord Bregani, please come with us to the Red Car. We are under heavy monitoring, and you and your family are under our protection.”
“I have a man down,” Lord Bregani said. “I want to know what is happening.”
“We are aware, nandi. Please come with us. We are equipped to get answers as soon as we know anything.”
It was not a happy Lord Bregani. Murai was less so, and the daughter, poor girl, was visibly upset.
But there was nothing for it. The door of the dowager’s compartment stood open, a little brighter than the corridor—and Bren entered, with Jago and Tano. One of the dowager’s young men appeared, a shadow against the light, and indicated to the right. A short distance on, in an area with several flashlights in use, the dowager sat in her own circle of light, an area of padded couches and cushions.
“Waste nothing on ceremony,” she said. “Sit, paidhi. You also, nadiin.”
Jago made a sign, and Tano protested. “I am all over dust, aiji-ma.”
And blood. Bren saw that in the ambient lighting.
“Sit,” the dowager said, ending the argument. They sat down, Bren directly facing the dowager, Tano and Jago nearby.
“Aiji-ma.”
“One believes we are to have light very soon. And information. Tano-nadi. Report.”
Jago again signed to him.
“Forgive me, aiji-ma,” Tano said. “My ears are still ringing. We went out to contact Homura, one of the pair we met at Tirnamardi on the occasion of the children’s visit. We had invited a contact at Najida. It came. Here.”
“How?” Ilisidi said.
Jago translated.
“We—my teammate and I—went out to contact him. We were suspicious—that he was here. My teammate and I know him by sight, and the code given was one we arranged. So we went out and met him in the plaza. He reported to us that his partner is in Senjin at the moment. And that Bregani’s wife’s aishid is compromised. One man, named Tenjin. Homura said that there have been Shadow Guild here in Hasjuran, but that he eliminated two last night. He said he will not come aboard. He wishes to maintain his cover and to maintain his relationship with nand’ Bren. He said—more—”
“Go on.”
“Aiji-ma, he said that the Shadow Guild has changed. It will not take the field. It has chosen soft targets, as it did with Homura and his team. They have kidnapped those who can compel others to do simple things for the Shadow Guild; or greater ones. Tenjin’s mother, his wife, and his son have been kidnapped. He is compromised, whether for small things like passing information, or a major one: assassination of key targets. The usual method is either a specific direction at a target—or a signal to act. One believes,” Tano added ruefully, “that we may have been spotted exiting the train and stopping on the plaza, near a workman—and that someone sent Tenjin-nadi a signal to act, for maximum damage. Nand’ Bren was, we think, the target, rather than his own lord.”
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