Timothy Zahn - Cobra 03 - Cobra Bargain

by Cobra Bargain(lit)

  "Was it?" she countered softly.

  The obvious answer came to his lips... and faded away unsaid. If what she said was the truth, had it really been worth the price? "I don't know," he said at last.

  "Neither do I," she whispered.

  Chapter 22

  They made the trip in just under two hours... and for Jin, the whole thing was in sharp contrast with the ordeal a week earlier.

  There was no way to tell, of course, how much of the difference was due to the abatement of the bololin coattail effect Daulo had described and how much was due to her own recovery. Certainly there was less fighting; only one other predator besides the krisjaw tried its luck with them, compared with the half-dozen single and multiple attacks she'd had to fight off on her last trip through. On the other hand, with her alertness and concentration again at full capability, it could have been simply that she was spotting potential trouble early enough for evasive methods to be effective.

  Ultimately, though, the real reason didn't matter. She'd brought both herself and an untrained civilian safely through some of the most dangerous territory

  Qasama had to offer... and it brought a welcome measure of self-confidence back to her bruised ego.

  "Here we are," she said, gesturing to the battered hulk of the shuttle as they finally cleared the edge of the interweaving-fern patch and stepped out from the trees into view of the crash site.

  Daulo muttered something under his breath, gazing first at the shuttle and then at the long death-scar it had torn into the landscape. "I was never truly sure..." His voice trailed off into silence, and he shook his head. "And you survived this?"

  "I was lucky," she said quietly.

  "God was with you," he corrected. He took a deep breath. "Forgive me for doubting your story. Your companions...?"

  Jin gritted her teeth. "Inside. This way."

  The hatch door was as she'd left it, stuck a couple of centimeters open, and she had to put one foot against the hull to get the necessary leverage to pull it open. At least, she thought grimly, that means none of the larger scavengers have gotten to them. Grateful for small favors, I suppose. Taking one last clean breath, she braced herself and stepped inside.

  The smell wasn't quite as bad as she'd feared it would be. The bodies themselves looked perhaps a bit worse.

  "The door wouldn't have kept out insects," Daulo commented from right behind her. His voice sounded only slightly less strained than she felt, and it was clear he was breathing through his mouth. "Are there any shovels on board?"

  "There's supposed to be at least one. Let's try back here."

  They found it almost at once, in with the emergency shelter equipment. It was sturdy but small, clearly designed for only minor entrenchment work. But Jin had had no intention of digging very deeply anyway, and the extra strength her Cobra servos provided more than made up for the awkwardness of the short handle. Half an hour later, the five graves near the edge of the crash site were ready.

  Daulo was waiting for her near the shuttle, and she found that while she'd been digging he'd improvised a stretcher from some piping and seat cushions and had hacked loose five of the expended crashbags to use as body bags. They might as well be useful for something, she thought bitterly at the thick plastic as she and Daulo worked the bodies into them. They sure didn't do much good while we were all alive.

  And a few minutes later she and Daulo stood side by side in front of the graves.

  "I... don't really know a proper burial service," Jin confessed, partly to

  Daulo, partly to the bodies in their graves before her. "But if its purpose is to remember and mourn... that much I can do."

  She didn't remember afterward just what she said or how long she spoke; only that her cheeks were wet when she was finished. A quiet goodbye to each in turn; and she was picking up the shovel when Daulo touched her arm. "They were your friends, not mine," he said in a quiet voice. "But if you will permit me...?"

  She nodded, and he took a step forward. "In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful..."

  He spoke only a few minutes; and yet, in that short time Jin found herself touched deeply. Though the phrasing of the words showed them to be a standard recitation, there was at the same time something in Daulo's delivery that struck her as being intensely personal. Whatever his feelings toward Jin or the Cobra

  Worlds generally, he clearly felt no animosity toward her dead teammates.

  "...We belong to God, and to Him we return. May your souls find peace."

  The litany came to an end, and for a moment they stood together in silence.

  "Thank you," Jin said softly.

  "The dead are enemies of no one," he replied. "Only God can approve or condemn their actions now." He took a deep breath, threw Jin a hesitant glance. "One of them-you called him Mander?"

  "Mander Sun, yes," she nodded. "One of my fellow... demon warriors."

  "Was he truly your brother, as you named him in the story you told my family?"

  Jin licked her lips. "In all except blood he was truly my brother. Perhaps the only one I will ever have."

  "I understand." Daulo looked back at the graves, then glanced up at the sun.

  "We'd best be leaving soon. I'll be missed eventually, and if a search finds my car it'll probably find your packs, too."

  Jin nodded and again picked up the shovel.

  Filling in the graves took only a few more minutes, and when she was done she took the shovel back to the shuttle. "No point in letting it lie around out here and rust," she commented.

  "No."

  Something in his voice made her turn and look at him. "Something?"

  He was frowning at the blast damage in the shuttle's side. "You're certain it couldn't have been an internal malfunction that made this?"

  "Reasonably certain," she nodded. "Why?"

  "When you expressed your surprise earlier that it hadn't been discovered, I assumed the crash had somehow concealed it. But this-" he waved at the shattered trees "-couldn't possibly be missed by any aircraft looking for it."

  "I agree. It's your world-any ideas why no one's shown up yet?"

  He shook his head slowly. "This area is well off normal air routes, which would explain why it hasn't been found by accident. But I don't understand why our defense forces wouldn't follow up on a successful hit."

  Jin took a deep breath. She'd wondered long and hard about that same question... and had come up with only one reasonable answer. "Unless it wasn't your defense forces that did it in the first place."

  Daulo frowned at her. "Who else could it have been?"

  "I don't know. But there've been some odd things happening here, Daulo. That's why we came, looking for some answers."

  "And to change any of them you didn't like?" he said pointedly.

  She felt her face warming. "I don't know. I hope not."

  He stared at her for several seconds more. "I think," he said at last, "that the rest of this conversation ought to wait until my father can be included."

  Jin's mouth went dry. "Wait a minute, Daulo-"

  "You have a choice of three paths before you now, Jasmine Moreau." Daulo's face had again become an emotionless mask, his voice hard and almost cold. "You can come with me and accept the decision of my family as to what we should do with you. Or you can refuse to confess your true identity and purpose before my father and leave right now, in which case the alarm will be out all over Qasama by nightfall."

  "Assuming you can make it back through the forest alone," Jin pointed out softly.

  "Assuming that, yes." A muscle in Daulo's cheek twitched, but otherwise his face didn't change. "Which is of course your third choice: to allow the forest to kill me. Or even to do that job yourself."

  Jin let her breath out in a hiss of defeat. "If your father elects to turn me over to the authorities, I won't go passively," she told him. "And if I'm forced to fight, many people will be hurt or killed. Given that, do you still want me to come back to your household?" />
  "Yes," he said promptly.

  And at that, Jin realized, the choice was indeed clear. She could take it or leave it. "All right," she sighed. "Let's get going."

  Chapter 23

  "My son knew from the beginning that you were different," Kruin Sammon said, staring unblinkingly at Jin as he fingered an emergency ration stick from her pack, spread open on the low table beside him. "I see he erred only in degree."

  Jin forced herself to meet the elder Sammon's gaze. There was no point now in continuing to pretend she was a good little submissive Qasaman woman. Her only chance was to persuade them that she was an equal, one with whom bargains could be struck.

  Persuading them to make any such bargains, of course, would be something else entirely.

  "I'm sorry it was necessary to lie to you," she told him. "You have to realize that at the time I was helpless and feared for my life."

  "A demon warrior, helpless?" Kruin snorted. "The history of your attacks on

  Qasama don't mention such failings."

  "I've explained our side of all that-"

  "Yes-your side," Kruin cut her off harshly. "You hear from these-these-"

  "Trofts," Daulo supplied quietly from his place beside his father's cushions.

  "Thank you. You hear from these Troft monsters-who also visited us professing peace, I'll point out-you hear from them that we're dangerous, and without even considering the possibility that they may be wrong you prepare to make war on us. And don't claim it was the fault of others-if my son hasn't yet recognized your name, I do."

  "Her name?" Daulo frowned.

  Jin licked her lips. "My father's name is Justin Moreau," she said evenly. "His brother's name is Joshua."

  Daulo's face went a little pale. "The demon warrior and his shadow," he whispered.

  So the ghost stories about her father and uncle hadn't faded with time. Jin fought back a grimace. "You have to understand, Kruin Sammon, that in our judgment the mojos were as much a threat to your people as they were to ours. We were considering your welfare, too, when we made our decision."

  "Your kindness has clearly gone unrewarded," Kruin growled, heavily sarcastic.

  "Perhaps the Shahni will offer you some honor for your actions."

  "The option was full warfare," Jin told him quietly. "And don't scoff-there were those who thought that would be necessary. Many among us were terrified of what a planet of people under mojo control could do to us when they escaped the confines of this one world. Do your histories record that it was your people who threatened to come out someday and destroy us?"

  "And this is your justification for such a devastating preemptive strike?" Kruin demanded. "A threat made in the heat of self-defense?"

  "I'm justifying nothing," Jin said. "I'm trying to show that we didn't act out of hatred or animosity."

  "Perhaps we'd have preferred a more heated emotion to such icy calculation,"

  Kruin retorted. "To send animal predators to fight us instead of doing the job yourselves-"

  "But don't you see?" Jin pleaded. "The whole razorarm approach was the only one that would get the mojos away from you without causing any truly permanent damage to your safety and well-being."

  "Permanent damage?" Daulo cut in. "What do you think the extra mesh above the wall is for-?"

  Kruin stopped him with a gesture. "Explain."

  Jin took a deep breath. "Once the majority of razorarms are accompanied by mojos, most of their attacks on people should stop."

  "Why?" Kruin snorted. "Because the mojos have fond memories of us?"

  "No," Jin shook her head. "Because you can kill the razorarms."

  A frown creased Kruin's forehead. "That makes no sense. We can't possibly destroy enough of them to make a difference."

  "We don't have to," Daulo said, his voice abruptly thoughtful. "If Jasmine

  Moreau is right about the mojos, simply having the capability to kill them will be enough."

  Kruin cocked an eyebrow at his son. "Explain, Daulo Sammon."

  Daulo's eyes were on Jin. "The mojos are intelligent enough to understand the power of our weapons; is that correct?" She nodded, and he turned to face his father. "So then the mojos have a strong interest in making sure there's as little fighting as possible between us and their razorarms."

  "And what of the one in the forest this morning?" Kruin scoffed. "It had a mojo, and yet attacked you."

  Daulo shook his head. "I've been thinking about that, my father. It didn't attack until I first fired on it."

  "Speculation," Kruin shook his head. But the frown remained on his face.

  "Remember your history," Jin urged him. "Your own people told us that the krisjaws, too, were once relatively harmless to the Qasaman people. It was only after the mojos began deserting them for you that they became so dangerous."

  Kruin's gaze drifted to the offworld supplies and equipment spread out on his table. "You said the Shahni were aware of the mojos' effect on us. Why then would they have risked their internal harmony by purging the cities of their mojos?"

  Jin shook her head. "I don't know. Perhaps the mojos simply deserted the cities more quickly once an alternative came along."

  "Or perhaps the cities realized that the main conflict would be not with their own citizens but with those of us in the villages," Daulo muttered.

  "Perhaps." Kruin looked hard at Jin. "But whatever the reasons or motivations, what ultimately matters is that the people of Aventine interfered with our society. And in doing so brought hardship and death upon us."

  Jin looked him straight in the eye, trying to shake off the feeling that she personally was on trial here. "What matters," she corrected quietly, "is that you were slaves. Would you rather we have left you as you were, less than truly human?"

  "It's always possible to claim love as a motive for one's actions," Kruin said, a bitter smile on his face. "Tell me, Jasmine Moreau: if our positions were reversed, would you honestly thank us for doing to you what you have done to us?"

  Jin bit at her lip. It would be so easy to lie... and so pointless. "At the place in your history where you now live... no. I can only hope that future generations will recognize that what we did truly had to be done. And will accept that our motives were honorable even if they can't honestly thank us."

  Kruin sighed and fell silent, his eyes drifting away from her and to his table.

  Jin glanced at Daulo, then turned to look out the window. The afternoon shadows were starting to stretch across Milika, and in a short while it would be time for the evening meal.

  A perfect time to drug or poison her if they decided she was too dangerous to bargain with...

  "What is it you want from us?" Kruin cut abruptly into her thoughts.

  Jin turned her attention back to him, bracing herself. The question was an inevitable one, and she'd put a great deal of thought into considering just how much she should tell them. But each time she'd turned the problem over in her mind she'd come to the same conclusion: complete honesty was the only way.

  Whatever trust they had in her now-and she didn't flatter herself that it was much-would evaporate instantly if they ever caught her in another lie. And without their trust she had no chance at all of completing her mission. Or even of staying alive. "First of all," she said, "I have to tell you that for the past thirty years we've been keeping tabs on you through spy satellites orbiting your world."

  She braced herself for an explosion, but Kruin merely nodded. "That's hardly a secret. Everyone on Qasama has seen them-dim specks moving across the night sky.

  It's said that a favorite topic of conversation when the Shahni meet is how we might go about destroying them."

  "I can't blame them," Jin admitted. "Well, anyway, it seems that someone's finally come up with a way to do it."

  Kruin cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting. I take it you came here to stop that person?"

  Jin shook her had. "Actually, no. Our group came to gather information, and that alone. It's not quite as sim
ple as it sounds, you see: the satellites aren't being physically destroyed, just temporarily disabled... and we're so far unable to figure out how it's being done."

  She described as best she could the gaps that had been made in the satellites' records. "What eventually tipped them off was the discovery that there was a definite pattern in the blank regions. Most of them fell over that roofed complex northeast of Azras."

  "You must mean Mangus?" Daulo said.

  "Is that what it's called?" Jin frowned. The word sounded vaguely familiar...