by Timothy Zahn
Piltariab rumbled deep in his throat sac, his odor shading into something faintly musky. Cavanagh knew that one from long conference-table experience: the aroma of an Avuire thinking. "I would like to, Moo Sab Plex," he said. "But I don't think I should. My group also needs my nose. They will already be waiting for me at the Dungyness River Landing."
Kolchin shrugged. "Well, if you can't, you can't."
"Perhaps in the future it will come to pass," Piltariab said, his five packs bouncing as he shrugged his shoulders. "Though in true honesty, you would do better to rejoin us. You would find more marketable sap along the Dungyness River than in any sixty-four stands of comaran bushes."
"You may be right," Kolchin conceded.
"Yes indeed," Piltariab said, flaring his nostrils. "Avuirlian noses do not deceive, whether they are seeking out ripe sap or confirming that edibles and spices are fresh and tasteworthy." He bounced the packs on his shoulders again for emphasis.
"Of course," Kolchin said. "Perhaps we'll catch up with you in a few days."
"Do so," Piltariab urged, his odor changing again. "Without a good hunter in the group we will have to make more trips to the island to purchase food, and that will create ill temper."
"I imagine so," Kolchin said. "Farewell, Moo Sab Piltariab."
"Farewell, Moo Sab Plex. Farewell, Moo Sab Stymer."
The Avuire turned and headed north through the forest, pulling a large machete from its waist sheath and holding it ready for trouble. "You really wanted him along with us?" Cavanagh asked quietly as they watched him leave.
"No," Kolchin said, taking Cavanagh's arm and leading the way off to their left. "I was mostly curious to see what his response would be to the offer. I'm not sure, but I think someone may have been watching us from one of the other boats."
Cavanagh's stomach tightened painfully. "Bronski's people?"
"Could be," Kolchin said. "I couldn't really see anyone. It was just a feeling I had."
Cavanagh nodded grimly. Petr Bronski. On official government file lists, a lowly assistant liaison with the Commonwealth diplomatic corps. On more private lists a senior officer with NorCoord Military Intelligence. "That's why you got us off the dock."
"Common sense alone would dictate that," Kolchin said. "Here we are."
Here turned out to be a small tree-topped knoll overlooking the strait and the dock area. "Let me have the binoculars," Kolchin said as he dropped into a crouch. "Keep out of sight."
Cavanagh handed over the binocular case and sat down, easing the backpack off his shoulders as Kolchin went the rest of the way up the knoll on elbows and knees. Sliding his hand under the seal flap, he opened it up.
The card from Bokamba was right on top. Pulling out his plate, Cavanagh inserted the card and, steeling himself, began to read.
And as he did so, some of the weight abruptly lifted from his shoulders.
"They're heading away," Kolchin said, crawling back down the knoll. "I was probably just imagining things." He nodded at the plate. "Good news?"
"Wonderful news," Cavanagh said, handing it to him. "Bokamba says the rescue mission has come back. Pheylan, Aric, and Quinn are all alive and well."
"That's great," Kolchin said, sitting down beside Cavanagh and taking the plate. "Congratulations, sir."
"Thank you," Cavanagh said, leaning back against the knoll and staring up through the trees at the sky. It had worked - the terrible gamble had actually worked.
"Says they're all on Edo," Kolchin said, still reading. "Probably facing court-martial."
"They'll never make it stick," Cavanagh said, shaking his head. "You can't court-martial heroes."
"Tell that to Quinn," Kolchin said dryly. "I see we have a name for the aliens now - we're supposed to call them the Zhirrzh." He paused. "No news here about Melinda."
Cavanagh nodded. "I noticed that too."
"Well, she's in the middle of a war zone," Kolchin pointed out, handing the plate back to Cavanagh and starting to poke through the open pack. "Even Bokamba can't just phone up Peacekeeper Command and ask for a private briefing."
"All the more reason to get off Granparra as soon as we can," Cavanagh said, paging the message down. "He's included an equipment price list... looks like we've got enough money for an infuser. Let's see if he has equally good news about... damn."
"What?" Kolchin asked, looking up.
" 'Don't attempt to come onto the island yet,' " Cavanagh read aloud. " 'There are Peacekeepers all over, collecting equipment for the war effort. I've checked their schedule, and they'll be gone in two days.' "
"That means we should stay out here for three," Kolchin said. "There are always last-minute problems that straggle these things out."
Cavanagh hissed between his teeth. Three more days. Three more days of the dangerous annoyances of the Granparra forest. Three more days of trying not to think of Melinda in the far deadlier danger of a Conqueror war zone.
But if it had to be, then it had to be. All this waiting would be for nothing if they made it to the island only to trip over a Peacekeeper squad on the lookout for them. "All right," he sighed, keying the message off and closing the plate. "Three days. But no more."
"Fine," Kolchin said briskly, standing up and brushing bits of leaves off his clothing. "And in the meantime we might as well earn a few more poumaries. You might be interested in buying an actual restaurant meal once we get to the island."
"Good point," Cavanagh agreed, the taste of the previous evening's roast grooma coming back as he struggled to his feet.
"Besides," Kolchin said, the smile fading, "I think we should go a little deeper into the forest."
He threw a glance toward Sereno Strait, hidden by the knoll beside them. "Just in case I wasn't imagining things."
6
The smell was the first thing Klnn-dawan-a noticed as she descended the shuttle ramp toward the soil of the world the Human-Conquerors called Dorcas. Not an offensive smell, really, but not a particularly pleasant one, either. The lingering essence of the Human-Conquerors who'd once lived in this village, perhaps, or simply the exotic mixture of aromas that always came with a new and unfamiliar ecology.
Or perhaps it was simply that the smells were flavored by her own fear and anxiety. Here, in the middle of a war zone, carrying the dreadfully illegal sample she and Thrr-gilag had taken from Prr't-zevisti's fsss organ, there was certainly plenty to be afraid of.
But she was here, and Second Commander Klnn-vavgi was waiting for her at the foot of the shuttle ramp as a good cousin ought to, and this was no time for second thoughts. Keeping her head held high, trying not to let her nervousness show, she continued down.
"Greetings to you, third cousin in the family of Klnn," Klnn-vavgi gave the formal clan salutation as she reached the ground. "I am Second Commander Klnn-vavgi; Dhaa'rr."
"I am Searcher Klnn-dawan-a; Dhaa'rr," Klnn-dawan-a said, giving the appropriate response. "I greet you in turn, third cousin, and ask for your hospitality."
"My hospitality is yours," Klnn-vavgi said, flicking his tongue in a smile. "Welcome, Klnn-dawan-a. It's good to see you again."
"And you, Klnn-vavgi," she said, studying his face as she returned the smile. They had met only rarely over the past few cyclics - their two particular branches of the family had never been especially close. But her memories of him were strong enough that she was able to see that the stresses of warfare had added new strains to his face. "You're looking well," she said aloud. "It's been, what, two cyclics since we last saw each other?"
"More like one and two-thirds," Klnn-vavgi said, flicking his tongue toward the rack of kavra fruit set up beside him. Generally, the rite of the kavra was dispensed with between such close family members; obviously, procedures at warrior bases were more stringent. "It was at Kylre Point, at the bonding ceremony of Klnn-poroo and Rka-felmib."
Klnn-dawan-a looked at him sharply, her tongue pressing hard against the roof of her mouth. But there was none of the sly taunting in his expression that she'd half e
xpected. "I presume you've heard that the Dhaa'rr-clan leaders have annulled my bond-engagement to Thrr-gilag."
"Yes," Klnn-vavgi said, not looking at her as he chose one of the kavra from the rack. "We have a couple of Dhaa'rr Elders here who keep up on the gossip from home."
Klnn-dawan-a picked up her own kavra, her tongue pressed hard against the side of her mouth. Gossip. Her love for Thrr-gilag - his love for her - their hoped-for, longed-for, pleaded-for future together. All of it reduced to nothing more important than gossip.
Klnn-vavgi must have seen something in her expression. "I'm sorry," he said hastily. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."
"It's all right," Klnn-dawan-a said. "I suppose to anyone else that's all it is." She held up the kavra fruit and slashed through it twice with the edges of her tongue, with perhaps more force than was really necessary.
Klnn-vavgi followed with his part of the ceremony, and they dropped their lacerated fruit into the disposal container. "Commander Thrr-mezaz wanted me to bring you to him as soon as you arrived," he said, gesturing the way toward one of the buildings near the landing area. "I understand you've brought some personal messages and items from Dharanv for the Dhaa'rr warriors here."
"Yes," Klnn-dawan-a said. "They're in with the general supplies in the shuttle's cargo area."
"I'm sure the warriors will be pleased to receive them," he said, throwing her a thoughtful look. "I'm a little surprised you came all this way here yourself for such a trivial errand."
"Comfort for warriors in a war zone is hardly a trivial errand," Klnn-dawan-a said mildly.
"It is when there are other priorities involved," Klnn-vavgi said. "In the middle of a war against an alien race, an expert on aliens and alien cultures should have more pressing demands on her time."
"Specializing in a field does not necessarily make one an expert in it," Klnn-dawan-a pointed out. "I'm sure Warrior Command is indeed keeping the true experts busy."
"Of course they are," Klnn-vavgi said. "Still, Commander Thrr-mezaz seemed very insistent that you be allowed to personally come down to the surface. He even had to argue a little with Supreme Ship Commander Dkll-kumvit about it."
"I imagine he's anxious to hear about his brother and what happened at the bond-engagement hearings," Klnn-dawan-a said, fighting to keep her voice steady. Clearly, Klnn-vavgi hadn't been taken in by this personal-messages ploy of hers.
And if he wasn't fooled, others probably weren't, either. And if one of them was suspicious enough to order the Elders to do a thorough examination of the waist pouch hanging at her side...
"It's none of my business, of course," Klnn-vavgi said with a shrug. "But there are some here who think everything that happens on Dorcas is their business. I just wanted to warn you about that. Here we are."
"Thank you," Klnn-dawan-a murmured as they stepped between the two warriors guarding the door and went inside. Yes; the Elders would be trying to put the pieces together, all right. What else did they have to do?
Though, on the other side, that might not be such a bad thing. If they thought she'd come here to talk to Thrr-mezaz about her bond-engagement to Thrr-gilag, maybe they'd be less inclined to dig for another motive. Maybe for once the Elder preoccupation with gossip was going to work in their favor.
At first glance the room they walked into reminded Klnn-dawan-a of a sample testing room for some important and well-funded alien-studies group. A circle of optronic-equipment racks and monitors lined three of the four walls, with a Zhirrzh busy in front of each of them. Other Zhirrzh were moving back and forth between the stations, and a quiet buzz of low conversation filled the room. Hanging over all of it was a cloud of fifteen or twenty Elders, some moving around between the racks, most grouped together around one particular station.
Standing in the middle of the group, gesturing to the display in one of the racks, was Thrr-mezaz.
"Yes, it's been mentioned on several occasions that the rocks in that area are rich in metal ores," he was saying as Klnn-vavgi led her over to the edge of the crowd of Elders. "I'm not interested in hearing it mentioned again. This is the first solid lead we've had, and we're going to follow up on it. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Commander," one of the Elders said, in a tone that Klnn-dawan-a suspected was bordering on insubordination. "We'll do whatever we can."
"You'll do whatever it takes," Thrr-mezaz corrected him quietly. "You have your orders."
"I obey, Commander," the Elder growled. He half turned to the other Elders, gestured impatiently with his tongue. "You heard the commander," he said. "Let's get to it."
The whole group flickered and vanished. "They found something?" Klnn-vavgi asked.
"That appears to be a matter of opinion," Thrr-mezaz said, flicking his tongue in a grimace. "The Elders searching the area north of the village ran into a slender nonmetallic cable about four strides underground. Definitely of Human-Conqueror origin."
"Sounds promising," Klnn-vavgi said. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is that it's going to be difficult to trace through the ore-bearing rocks in the region," Thrr-mezaz said. "Several of the Elders are balking at the task, especially since they're half-convinced it's nothing but a control cable for the Elderdeath weapon we destroyed when we first attacked the planet." He shifted his eyes to Klnn-dawan-a. "Welcome to Dorcas, Klnn-dawan-a. You've come at a busy time - I'm afraid our hospitality isn't going to be quite as generous as I'd like."
"You forget I'm used to temporary field shelters on alien worlds, Thrr-mezaz," Klnn-dawan-a said dryly. "Anyway, I'm not here for a vacation."
Thrr-mezaz's tongue twitched. "No, indeed. Let's step into my office."
A hunbeat later they were alone, the office door closed to the warriors in the room outside. "I'm glad you made it here safely," Thrr-mezaz said, gesturing her to one of the couches as he sank onto the couch behind the desk. "I don't mind telling you I was pretty worried when I heard about the Human-Conqueror attack on Shamanv."
"I was pretty worried myself," Klnn-dawan-a said, feeling her tail twitch at the memory. "I was standing right out in the open when three of those black-and-white Human-Conqueror spacecraft flew past overhead. Good luck must have been with me."
"Immense good luck," Thrr-mezaz agreed. "The reports indicated those were probably Copperhead warcraft. The most dangerous the Human-Conquerors have to offer."
Klnn-dawan-a's tail twitched again. "Just as well I didn't know."
"Probably." Thrr-mezaz paused. "You have the package with you?"
"Yes," Klnn-dawan-a said, looking around the room. "Is it safe to talk here?"
"As safe as anywhere in the encampment," Thrr-mezaz said, also looking around. "All the Elders should be either on sentry duty, searching that area north of the village, or acting as communicators out in the command/monitor room. I wish I'd thought to have you pick up a hummer before you left Dharanv, though. Either you or Thrr-gilag."
"It wouldn't have helped to tell Thrr-gilag," Klnn-dawan-a said. "By now he should be well on his way to the Mrachani homeworld."
Thrr-mezaz threw her an odd look. "That's right - you probably don't know. He was taken off the Mrachani mission. He's on his way here instead."
"Here?" Klnn-dawan-a echoed. "What for?"
"He didn't want to say, even on that secure Elder pathway Prr't-casst-a set up for us," Thrr-mezaz said. "But he's only about a fullarc behind you, so we'll be able to ask him ourselves soon enough."
"I see," Klnn-dawan-a murmured. "What do we do first?"
Thrr-mezaz looked around the room again. "First you'd better give me the package."
"Gladly," Klnn-dawan-a said, opening her waist pouch and digging down toward the bottom. "I've been terrified ever since we got it that some Elder would happen to run into it and be suspicious enough to alert someone."
"That problem I can guard against, anyway," Thrr-mezaz said, standing up and walking around the corner of the desk. "There's a metal box in one end of that cabinet over there in t
he corner, probably the Human-Conqueror commander's safe. It can't be sealed anymore - we burned off the lock to see if there was anything inside - but it should at least keep the package safe from accidental discovery."
"Good," Klnn-dawan-a said, producing the case containing the slender tissue sampler she'd used at the Prr-family shrine. "We'd still better get it where it needs to go as quickly as possible."
"There are many other reasons to do that," Thrr-mezaz reminded her grimly as he took the case and opened it. "Prr't-zevisti's life, for starters. Is this really it?"
"That's really it," Klnn-dawan-a assured him. "I know it looks strange, but it ought to work as well as any normal cutting."
"We'll find out soon enough," Thrr-mezaz said, crossing the room to the cabinet and swinging open an outer wooden door. "Some fullarc you're going to have to tell me how you two got hold of this." He squatted down, pulled open the warped metal door of the safe itself, and set the case inside -
And suddenly an Elder appeared in front of the desk.
A small gasp escaped Klnn-dawan-a's mouth before she could stifle it. Thrr-mezaz didn't even flinch. "Yes?" he demanded, half turning around.
"We've found something, Commander," the Elder said, his voice pulsating with excitement. "A large underground structure, perhaps fifteen strides across at its largest, buried twenty strides below the surface."
"Have you looked inside yet?" Thrr-mezaz asked, swinging the safe door closed and straightening up again.
"We can't get in," the Elder said. "There's an inner lining of metal."
Behind Klnn-dawan-a the door opened, and she turned as Klnn-vavgi hurried into the room. "Commander, we've - ah; you've heard."
"I've heard the first part, anyway," Thrr-mezaz said, crossing over to him. "Have they found the way in?"
"There's an angled tunnel leading down into it," Klnn-vavgi said. "At the end are a camouflaged doorway and entrance chamber built into a hillside. The Elders are still searching for the opening mechanism."
"We'll burn it open if we have to," Thrr-mezaz said. "Get a sectrene of warriors together, Second. We're going in for a look."
