by Timothy Zahn
“I’ve got all the time in the world,” Jody said. “Is there somewhere quiet we can go?”
“Sure,” Kemp said, glancing down at her tunic and slacks, the outfit she’d been wearing when she made her hasty departure from Aventine. “I’d start with a clothing shop, though—you’re already starting to turn green.”
Jody peered down at her sleeves. Sure enough, they were already showing signs of green as the microscopic spores began to gather on the carbon-based cloth. “Oops,” she said, brushing reflexively and uselessly at the material. “I’d forgotten how fast these things collect.”
“Right,” Kemp said dryly. “You were gone, what, a whole two weeks?”
“Closer to three,” Jody said. Unfortunately, the only cloth that could fend off the airborne vegetation was the stiff silicon-based stuff that Kemp and everyone else on Caelian wore.
Unless one of the Qasaman combat suits Siraj Akim and the other Djinn had left were still lying around unused. Those also had the purely accidental ability to keep off the spores, and they were a lot more comfortable that the silliweave stuff. “Are Geoff and Freylan still here?” she asked.
“Here on Caelian, yes,” Kemp said. “Here in Stronghold, no. They’re out in Aerie running some tests.”
“Ah,” Jody said with a quiet sigh. So much for the combat suits. Geoff Boulton and Freylan Sonderby, her two erstwhile partners, were nothing if not thorough. If they were out running tests, they undoubtedly had both suits with them. “Okay, then, but someplace cheap. I didn’t bring a lot of money with me.”
“So you left in a rush,” Kemp said thoughtfully, eyeing her again. “Interesting. Are you hungry?”
Right on cue, Jody’s stomach growled. Her body was still on Capitalia schedule, and for her it was way past dinner time. “I could eat,” she conceded.
“Great,” Kemp said, stepping forward and taking her arm. “In that case, let’s see about getting you a cheap outfit and a late lunch.”
“You know a place that does both?” Jody asked dryly.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” he assured her. “The most exclusive place in town.”
#
The most exclusive place in town turned out to be the top floor of the Government Building and Governor Uy’s residence.
“It’s so good to see you again, Jody,” Elssa Uy said cheerfully as she hurried around the kitchen putting together a meal. “How long are you here for?”
“I’m not really sure,” Jody said, hunching her shoulders beneath the silliweave tunic Elssa had insisted on loaning her. “I’m sort of…” She looked at Kemp.
“Marooned,” he supplied, looking distinctly uncomfortable as he fidgeted in the chair beside her at the informal breakfast bar. His intent, he’d protested at least twice, was merely to drop off Jody and then wait downstairs until she’d eaten and was ready to talk. Instead, Elssa had insisted that he sit down and join them, pointing out that it was as easy to prepare a meal for two as it was for one and that she and Jody would enjoy the company. “The Hoibie ship she was on has already taken off.”
“Really,” Elssa said, pausing long enough to throw Jody a curious look. “Is there some trouble at home?”
Jody hesitated. She’d been willing to share her concerns about the Dominion’s hunt for Qasama with Kemp, privately and off any official record. But relating those same concerns to the governor’s wife would take things to an entirely different level.
She was still working on her decision when Kemp made it for her. “That’s exactly what I asked her,” he said. “She wanted a quieter place to talk about it. I figured this was as quiet a place as any.” He raised his eyebrows at Jody. “My guess is that it has to do with the Dominion.”
“Does it, Jody?” Elssa prompted.
“Sort of,” Jody hedged. “But I’m not sure this is the right time and place to talk about it.”
“Absolutely not,” Elssa agreed calmly. “We need to wait until Rom gets here.”
Jody threw Kemp a startled look. “I didn’t mean—”
“Too late,” Kemp said wryly. “Once the Queen of Caelian has made up her mind, there’s no changing it.”
“Kemp, I’ve told you a hundred times not to call me the Queen of Caelian,” Elssa said, mock-severely. “It’s either Ms. Power Behind the Throne or just plain Swimbo.”
“Sorry,” Kemp apologized. “I always forget.”
Jody frowned. “Swimbo?”
“It’s an acronym,” Kemp explained. “Short for She Who Must Be Obeyed.”
“Ah,” Jody said. “Sounds like my mother.”
“Which is probably why we all get along so well together,” a new voice came from the doorway.
And as Jody turned, Governor Uy stepped into the room.
Actually stepped into the room, on his own, with no assist and no cane. “Governor,” she greeted him, standing up and giving him a quick once-over. No limping, no pressure cast visible through his clothing, not even any obvious favoring of the side where he’d caught that Troft laser blast. Like Kemp, the man had made a remarkable recovery. “I’m impressed. The last time I saw you, you were barely even able to stand.”
“Caelian toughness and stamina,” Uy said, waving a nonchalant hand as he continued on into the room. He was moving carefully, Jody saw now, but he was still moving. “And, of course, a little help from our new friends.” He half turned and gestured to someone out of view behind him. “Please—come. I don’t believe you and Jody Moreau Broom have yet been introduced.”
“Indeed we haven’t,” an unfamiliar voice said. An old man walked into view, his walk nearly as careful as Uy’s, a thoughtful smile on his face. “She looks very much like her mother did at that age,” he went on, his speech slow and deliberate, his words as carefully chosen as his steps.
Jody frowned, studying his face. She would have sworn she’d met all of her mother’s old friends and acquaintances over the years. But she couldn’t remember ever seeing this man before. “Yes, people have mentioned that,” she said. “Were you a friend of hers?”
The old man’s smile went a bit brittle. “Not then, no,” he admitted. “I would hope that’s now changed.”
“Jody Moreau Broom,” Uy said quietly, “may I present His Excellency Moffren Omnathi of the Qasaman Shahni. Your Excellency, may I present Jody Moreau Broom.”
Jody felt her whole body go rigid. That was Moffren Omnathi? The man who’d once been one of the Cobra Worlds’ most ingenious opponents before turning his talents against the invading Trofts?
And he was here?
“I’m honored to meet you, sir,” she managed, trying furiously to remember the Qasaman sign of respect her mother had once shown her. Her fingertips went…here? “I’m told you’re one of the chief reasons my family is still alive,” she added, making her best try at the sign.
Omnathi’s smiled eased, the brittleness replaced with what seemed to be affectionate amusement. Apparently, Jody hadn’t quite gotten it right. “You honor me, Jody Moreau,” he said, inclining his head. “I point out in turn that your family is one of the chief reasons Qasama is free today.”
“And Caelian,” Uy murmured.
“And Caelian,” Omnathi agreed. “Did I hear correctly that you’re in some sort of trouble?”
“Yes, and we were just about to browbeat her into telling us all about it,” Kemp spoke up. If he was overawed by the presence of a senior Qasaman statesman, Jody reflected, he was certainly hiding it well.
But then, she’d seen plenty of instances where Kemp had treated his own governor with the same outwardly casual respect. “No browbeating needed,” she said. “In fact, I’m glad you’re here, Your Excellency, because it concerns Qasama as well.”
“Really,” Uy said. “In that case, and with your permission, Your Excellency, I’d like to invite Harli in for the conversation. You may wish want to call Ifrit Akim, as well.”
“Siraj Akim is here?” Jody asked, surprised. From what her parents had said, she’
d assumed they’d left Siraj and all the rest of the elite Djinn warriors back on Qasama.
“Yes, he and a few others accompanied me,” Omnathi said. “I agree, Governor Uy. I’ll call him at once.”
“And we should also should have Rashida Vil,” Kemp suggested.
Omnathi seemed a bit taken aback, and Jody saw Uy wince a bit. Small wonder, given the rigid and subordinate position women held in Qasaman culture. “Your reasoning?” Omnathi asked, his voice giving nothing away.
“She’s the only Qasaman who was here when the Dominion ship came for their brief visit five days ago,” Kemp said. “Her insights might be useful.”
Omnathi’s lips puckered, just noticeably. But cultural biases or not, the man clearly knew logic when he saw it. “A valid point,” he agreed. “Yes, have Cobra Uy bring her, as well.”
“Well, if we’re going to have a crowd, we’re going to need more room,” Uy said, gesturing them toward the archway leading into the dining room. “And possibly more food. Elssa?”
“I’ll make it stretch,” Elssa assured him. “And Jody, don’t you dare start on your story until I get in there. Or else speak up loudly. I want to hear everything.”
#
There really wasn’t much to tell. But with the questions that came after Jody had finished, many of which she wasn’t able to answer, the whole thing took nearly an hour.
And at the end, it still didn’t make any sense.
The governor’s son Harli was the first to voice that thought. “I don’t get it,” he said into the latest moment of silence. “You have no military bases, at least nothing the Dominion could use. You have no maintenance or drydock facilities, no one trained in such things even if you had them, your population has been hammered, and your basic infrastructure has been shot to hell. What in the Worlds can they possibly want with you?”
“A fair question,” Omnathi agreed. “Rashida Vil, what was your opinion of the Dominion personnel you met?”
“Wait a minute,” Jody said, frowning across the table at the young woman. Like Siraj Akim, Rashida was wearing a combat suit, though hers had the scars and discoloration it had picked up during the final battle she and Jody had ended up being involved in. Apparently, Geoff and Freylan hadn’t taken both suits to Aerie with them after all. “You met them? I mean, actually met them?”
“It’s all right,” Harli assured her. “She was part of a group, and we had her put a silliweave outfit over her combat suit. They never knew who she was. Besides, Smitty was with her, and you know perfectly well that no one ever looks at Smitty twice if they can avoid it. He made sure she stayed anonymous and that they didn’t ask her any questions.” He nodded toward his father. “We thought she should get a chance to see them up close and personal.”
“What do you mean by questions?” Jody asked. “You mean as in hearings?”
“Nothing so formal,” Uy said. “They mostly wanted an overview of what had happened here. I gathered they already had sources back on Aventine they would be questioning about the details.”
Jody nodded. Her parents and brother for the first big battle; Nissa Gendreves for everything after that. “I see. My apologies for the interruption, Your Excellency.”
“No apology needed,” Omnathi assured her. “It was a useful question.” He gestured at Rashida. “Rashida Vil?”
Rashida’s lips puckered slightly. Clearly, she was uncomfortable at having been brought into a meeting with such high-level people, especially when that group included a Qasaman Shahni.
But it was equally clear that she was determined not to let her nervousness get in her way. “They were polite enough,” she said. “Though at the beginning they seemed more polite to Governor Uy and the city leaders than to the average citizens.” She looked at Harli. “And they seemed quite contemptuous toward the Cobras.”
“Really?” Uy said, frowning. “I didn’t notice that.”
“It changed over the hours they were here,” Rashida said. “They seemed to become more respectful after their tour of the ship wreckage.”
“And saw what we’d done to the invaders,” Harli said, nodding.
“I believe so, yes,” Rashida said. “But while they now respected your accomplishment, it still felt that they didn’t respect you personally.” Her lips puckered again. “I don’t know if that makes sense.”
“I think it does,” Uy said. “I can respect the work Nissa Gendreves did on the barrier cloth Geoff and Freylan came up with, but I don’t think much of her as a person.”
“It seems strange, though, that anyone could disrespect Cobras,” Siraj murmured. “We’ve seen you fight. Haven’t they?”
“Not really,” Uy said. “Not for about a hundred years, anyway.”
“It’s worse than that, actually,” Jody pointed out. “They got to Aventine first, before they came here, and on Aventine the Cobras were ordered to basically sit on their hands after the invasion.”
“They didn’t fight at all?” Harli demanded, staring at Jody in disbelief.
“That’s what Uncle Corwin said,” she told him. “Well, no, that’s not quite right. The ones in Capitalia and the other major cities didn’t. But a lot of the Cobras in the expansion regions ignored the order and made a first-class nuisance of themselves.”
“Good for them,” Elssa murmured.
“But I don’t know if the Dominion people got out there before they sent out whoever it was who came to look you over,” Jody continued.
“Which means they already had a low opinion of us,” Harli said.
“I believe that was part of it,” Rashida said. “Yet even when they were being polite, and even when they’d seen the destruction you’d caused, there was a sense of arrogance and pride that never quite went away.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Jody saw Uy stir and pull out his comm. “Was it mostly the officers who had that attitude?” she asked Rashida.
“The officers were certainly that way,” she agreed. “But all the troops had some of that same sense about them.” She hesitated. “In some ways, it reminded me of the way city dwellers on Qasama treat those from the villages.”
“Not all that surprising, I guess,” Harli said. His eyes, Jody noted, were on his father. “As far as the Dominion of Man is concerned, we have to be the most out-of-touch backwoods group of worlds they’ve ever seen.”
“Interesting,” Omnathi said thoughtfully. “I would have assumed that with your more open attitudes—” he inclined his head toward Jody “—they would be more accepting of your differences.”
“I didn’t see any such acceptance,” Rashida said. “But I’m not a trained or experienced observer.”
“True,” Omnathi said. “In some ways, it’s a shame we arrived too late to see them ourselves.”
“That’s one of the things about life, Your Excellency,” Uy said, his voice suddenly grim as he put away his comm. “Sometimes missed opportunities sneak back up behind you.” He gestured toward the sky. “They’re back.”
“The Dominion?” Harli demanded. “But that’s—” He broke off, his eyes shifting to Jody. “Oh, hell.”
“We have to hide her,” Siraj said, standing up. “Where would be a safe place for her to go?”
“Let’s not be too hasty, Ifrit Akim,” Omnathi said calmly as he gestured the Djinni back to his seat. “It might be instructive to see their reaction to her presence.”
“Before they take her away?” Siraj countered, still standing.
“No one’s taking anyone off my world,” Uy said, sounding equally thoughtful. “But His Excellency has a point.”
“Indeed,” Omnathi said. “Especially if her presence before them is combined with mine.”
“What?” Harli demanded, standing up beside Siraj. “Not a chance. I mean, not a chance, Your Excellency.”
“Your concern is appreciated, Cobra Uy,” Omnathi said dryly. “But I have nothing to fear from them. I have no idea where my world is located, and never entered the control a
reas of the Tlos’khin’fahi ship that graciously brought us here. I have nothing to fear, for I have nothing to offer them.”
“Except possibly yourself as a hostage,” Harli said ominously.
“A hostage?” Elssa said, staring at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“You didn’t see as much of them as I did, Mom,” Harli said. “The way they talked to the people out there… Look, I may be overreacting. But I’ve read the Dominion’s history, and after their last visit I wouldn’t put anything past them. Better safe than sorry.”
“I have to agree, Your Excellency,” Siraj said. “Your safety is our first priority.”
“Incorrect, Ifrit Akim,” Omnathi said mildly. “Our first priority is to gather knowledge of this possible new threat. That will be my task.” He gestured to Rashida. “Your task will be to protect Rashida Vil. She, who has actually guided a ship between these two worlds, is far more of a danger to our people than I am. You will therefore find a place to conceal her where she’ll be safe from discovery.”
“Understood,” Harli said. “Kemp?”
“I have just the place,” Kemp said, nodding. “Come on, Rashida. We’ll grab Smitty and a couple of others along the way and have you buttoned up before they land.”
“And take this,” Jody said, suddenly remembering her recorder. “Keep it safe.”
“I will,” Rashida promised, tucking the recorder into a pocket of her combat suit.
“Where are you taking her?” Elssa asked. “No, wait—don’t answer that. We shouldn’t know, should we?”
“No, because you can’t tell what you don’t know,” Uy confirmed. “We’ll set up in the main conference room downstairs, Harli, make sure any staff down there is cleared out of the way. I’m guessing our visitors may arrive in some force, and I don’t want anyone overreacting. And you, Kemp, get back as soon as you have Rashida hidden.”
“I will,” Kemp promised as he, Rashida, and Harli headed for the door.
“And don’t let them say anything interesting until we get back,” Harli added.
#
The rest of the group followed directly after them, heading downstairs to the conference room. Jody elected to stay behind for a few more minutes, both to help Elssa clear away the remains of their impromptu meal, and also for the better view the third-floor windows afforded of the landing area a couple of kilometers to the south.
