Judgment at Proteus q-5

by Timothy Zahn

  Bayta took a deep breath. “You’re right,” she said, some of the frustration fading from her voice as the calm, cool part of her took over again. “And we will find her.”

  “That’s the spirit,” I said approvingly as I laid out the bowls and utensils and the packages the restaurant had packed. “But right now, it’s time to eat. Can’t rescue a maiden in distress on an empty stomach, you know. Especially one who isn’t very keen on being rescued.”

  “She appreciates us more than she lets on,” Bayta said quietly. “I think Dr. Aronobal is right. She’s been alone for a long time.”

  Several snide comments flashed across my mind, most of them revolving around how a lot of that might well be Terese’s own personality. But I left them unsaid. Bayta wasn’t in the mood.

  Besides, she could be right. She’d spent more time with Terese than I had, after all. “Well, she’s not going to be alone much longer,” I said instead. “Motherhood has a way of doing that. Eat up, and then I for one am turning in. It’s been a long, rich day.”

  “Especially for you.” Bayta started spooning rice squares into one of the bowls. “What about Blue One?”

  “What about him?”

  “I was wondering about tomorrow morning,” she said. “If we’re all going to be in court—you, me, Logra Emikai, and Minnario—there’ll be no one available to watch him.”

  “True,” I said. “Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about that. We’ll just have to double-dose him in the morning and hope for the best.”

  “What if the Shonkla-raa search all of our quarters while we’re out?” she persisted. “There isn’t anywhere in any of these rooms where you could hide an unconscious body for very long.”

  “Sure there is,” I said, watching her closely out of the corner of my eye as I spooned some of the rice squares into my bowl. “We’ll just stuff him back in the file cabinet. No reason why the Shonkla-raa would suspect that it was full of Filly instead of files.”

  Only I knew that they’d already been in Yleli’s apartment, when they’d sent that fake evacuation drill message. I knew they’d seen the file drawers we’d left behind and wouldn’t be fooled for a minute by a supposedly full file cabinet in Minnario’s room. If Bayta had been infected by the Modhri and knew about the Shonkla-raa’s computer scam, and if I was very lucky, she might show some reaction to my nonsensical argument.

  But she didn’t, at least not in any way that I could detect. “I suppose that’ll work,” she said, a bit doubtfully as she picked up her fork. “Can Minnario lift him all by himself?”

  “Shouldn’t be a problem,” I said. “It’s only his legs that don’t work. His upper body’s strong enough. And he can always use a couple of his chair’s thrusters if he needs help.”

  “I suppose.” Bayta hesitated. “Do you think Blue One knows where Terese is?”

  I shrugged. “He says he doesn’t, but I’m not ready to believe him. Tomorrow, right after the hearing, we’ll see about finding out for sure.”

  Bayta shivered. “That sounds … not very pleasant.”

  “It won’t be,” I agreed grimly. “You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to.”

  “Yes, I do,” she said. Her expression was still disturbed, but her voice was firm enough. “I’ll be there.”

  We ate our dinner mostly in silence. Afterward, as promised, I got ready for bed. Bayta stayed up a while longer, working on the computer, but after an hour or so she gave up and went to bed herself, maneuvering carefully so as not to disturb Ty. Doug, as usual, had taken up his self-appointed guard post at the door.

  I waited for two hours after Bayta settled in under the blankets, dozing a little but mostly staying awake, watching and listening. Finally, when her breathing had settled down into the slow rhythm of deep sleep, I got up, dressed, and crossed to the door.

  I had wondered how I was going to get Doug out of my way without waking him, but it turned out to be a moot point. Once again, my quiet activity had aroused him, and he was standing to the side of the door, clearly wondering where we were going on this newest exciting outing. Crossing my fingers against the possibility that there would be a Shonkla-raa waiting for me, I opened the door and slipped out.

  The corridor was deserted. I headed quickly toward the traffic corridor and the glideway, the low nighttime lighting giving the station an eerie, graveyard feeling. The perfect time, as generations of thieves, muggers, and murderers had discovered, for creating chaos and death.

  But for once, the Shonkla-raa had missed a bet. Either that, or they’d also had enough for one day. No one was loitering in the hallways or lurking around corners. In fact, the only figures I saw were a handful of Jumpsuits roaming the corridors on patrol.

  Ten uneventful minutes later, I arrived at my destination.

  Minnario’s eyes were half-closed with sleep as he opened the door at my buzz. They came all the way open in obvious surprise as he saw who it was. [Mr. Compton!] he gasped. [What are you—? Never mind. First things first—come in.]

  “Thank you,” I said, giving a quick glance in both directions before walking inside. “Sorry to bother you at this time of night, but something’s come up that can’t wait until morning.”

  [Not a problem,] he said as he closed and locked the door behind me. [What can I do for you? It’s still an hour yet until I’m supposed to give Blue One his injection.]

  “Actually, I’ll go ahead and do that, as long as I’m here anyway,” I said. “But before that, I need to move him.”

  [To hide him in case of a search later this morning by his friends,] Minnario said, nodding. [Yes, I’ve been wondering that as well. I presume you intend to take him back to Tech Yleli’s apartment?]

  “That was my original plan, yes,” I said. “But as of a couple of hours ago, that’s no longer an option.”

  I gave him a quick summary of my fun and games earlier on the glideway, and how Blue One’s buddies had cleared the arena so that they wouldn’t be disturbed. “The point is that we know they have access to Yleli’s apartment,” I concluded. “Not only do we not want his friends to find him, but the patrollers may also be in and out of the place for the next couple of days, and we don’t want them falling over him, either.”

  [Agreed,] Minnario said slowly, his face puckered with thought. [But you can’t put him in your quarters, either. Logra Emikai’s?]

  I shook my head. “Even if he gave me permission, I wouldn’t trust Blue One there. No, I had something hopefully a little less obvious and a lot closer in mind. Ms. German’s quarters.”

  Minnario’s eyes widened. [The Human girl? But—oh. Yes, of course. She’s been spirited away, hasn’t she?]

  “And according to Guard Captain Lyarrom, the patrollers have already searched her room,” I said. “It’s not perfect, but it’s as close to guaranteed privacy as we’re likely to get.”

  [Agreed,] Minnario said, turning his chair around and heading toward the couch. [I presume we’ll want him back in the file cabinet, in case his friends decide to drop by?]

  I hadn’t actually been planning to go quite that far. But now that I thought about it, he had a good point. If the Shonkla-raa had followed the same reasoning I had, they might conclude that a place the Jumpsuits had already searched would be a perfect spot to stash Terese. Having them walk in on Blue One dozing on the couch would be just slightly counterproductive. “Good idea,” I said. “In that same vein, we should also change the labels on the drawers so that it won’t be obvious that the cabinet came from Yleli’s apartment.”

  It took a few minutes for me to attach four of Minnario’s thrusters to the file cabinet and get Blue One inside. By the time I was finished Minnario had written out and attached new labels to all the drawer faces. I gave Blue One his next sedative shot, a double one this time that would hopefully last through not only the rest of the night but also through the morning’s hearing. Closing up the cabinet, I made sure the hallway was still deserted and nudged my burden outside.
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  Terese’s quarters were only two doors down, which was the reason Bayta and I had been assigned that particular room in the first place. Blue One’s contraband passkey card got us inside, and I maneuvered the cabinet into the closet, where it would be inconspicuous, though not so inconspicuous that it would look like someone was trying to be inconspicuous. I positioned it so that we would be able to haul him out with relative ease once we were back from the hearing, then removed the borrowed thrusters. Again checking the hallway, I stepped out, closed the door behind me, and returned to Minnario’s quarters.

  The Nemut was waiting, and had the door open again practically before I hit the buzzer. [Everything all right?] he asked as I came inside.

  “As all right as I can make it,” I said, handing him the passkey and the thrusters. “Here’s the key in case you want to check on him before the hearing tomorrow. If you don’t have time, or the hallway seems too crowded, don’t bother. He should have enough juice in him to last until early afternoon.”

  [When we will again interrogate him as to Ms. German’s whereabouts?] Minnario asked, a dark anticipation in his voice.

  “Exactly,” I said. “Anyway, I’m off, and this time I promise I won’t be back. Sleep well.”

  [You, too,] he said as he opened the door again. [Don’t be late.]

  Once again, the Shonkla-raa and whatever local skulkers Proteus Station had aboard had all apparently cashed it in for the night. Fifteen minutes later, I was safely back inside our room.

  Bayta was still asleep. I got undressed again and sank gratefully back onto my couch cushions. I still didn’t know if Bayta had gone rogue, under either Modhran or Chahwyn influence, but I’d now done everything I could to prevent either faction from getting to Blue One before I was finished with him.

  Of course, if I was the one carrying a Modhran colony under my brain, all my effort would count for less than nothing. But then, if the Modhri had gotten to me, we were all dead anyway.

  There was a quiet, questioning snuffle at my ear. “Yes, we’re done for the night,” I assured Doug softly, reaching over and scratching his belly. “You can go back to sleep now.”

  He snuffled again and left, and I heard him padding his way back to the door.

  I was asleep before he actually got there.

  THIRTEEN

  Emikai was right on time the next morning, this time with an escort of six Jumpsuits instead of just two. Bayta and I were ready, and the whole crowd of us trooped off together.

  Along the way I tried to engage Emikai in conversation, but he was strangely taciturn this morning. About all I could get out of him was that the patrollers still hadn’t located Terese, Dr. Aronobal was still missing, and there’d been no further progress on last night’s phony evacuation drill, Tech Yleli’s murder, or the various assaults on me.

  Our escort was even quieter, responding to my greetings or conversational openers with no more than three or four syllables each. Bayta wasn’t much better, and we weren’t very far along our way before I gave up the effort entirely. You’d have thought they were the ones functioning on four hours of sleep, not me.

  My strategy of leaving a half hour earlier than the last time was only partially successful. Again, Chinzro Hchchu was already seated at the prosecutor’s table when we arrived, as was Minnario at our table. Three of the four guardlaws were also there, with Usantra Wandek the only one missing. Eyeing his empty seat as I crossed the stone floor toward Minnario, I wondered briefly if he, too, had been up late. Maybe consulting with his Shonkla-raa buddies about Blue One’s disappearance.

  As had happened the last time I’d been in this room, both Doug and Ty stayed at my side instead of dividing themselves up between me and Bayta.

  [Good morning,] Minnario greeted me as I sat down. [I trust you had no further adventures on your way home last night?]

  “It was actually rather boring,” I assured him. “Anything new on our guest?”

  [Unfortunately, yes,] he said, lowering his voice as he glanced casually around. [The passkey wouldn’t open the door this morning. I’m guessing that it’s designed to only be good for a single day, or even just a few hours.]

  “Damn,” I muttered. Stupid, stupid, stupid, and I should have seen it coming. “Fine. We’ll just have to get hold of someone else’s passkey.”

  [How?]

  “Working on it,” I assured him. “I also have a statement I want to make to the court as soon as possible. Will the Slisst Protocols have a problem with that?”

  [No, I don’t think so,] Minnario said, peering oddly at me. [What sort of statement?]

  “If we’re lucky, one that should get this whole thing closed down,” I told him. “If not in a flat-out acquittal, at least in complete and utter confusion.”

  [That sounds like quite a statement,] Minnario said, his odd expression going a little odder. [Perhaps you should share it with me before we present it to the court.]

  Across the room, the door opened and Wandek entered the room. “Too late,” I murmured. “Trust me, though. You’re going to love it.”

  The opening ceremonies were pretty much the same as last time around. After they were finished, Hchchu informed the guardlaws that it was indeed Dr. Aronobal who had informed him of my dual identity as Frank Compton and Frank Abram Donaldson. Unfortunately, since Aronobal had now disappeared, he continued, it would be impossible for the guardlaws to ask her any questions as to how or where she’d obtained that information.

  And then it was my turn.

  “I have a point of order to raise,” I said, rising to my feet. “I confess my relative ignorance of the Slisst Protocols on this matter, and I beg the guardlaws’ indulgence and clarification.”

  {Continue,} Wandek said, his voice wary.

  “Thank you,” I said. “My question is in regard to this court’s right to jurisdiction in this matter.”

  That one got them. Two of the guardlaws shifted in their seats, while the third sent a sharp look over at Hchchu. Wandek, in contrast, kept his eyes unblinkingly on mine. {This is an old argument, Mr. Compton,} he said, {and one which numerous courts have ruled on over the last three centuries. All those rulings have been against you.}

  “But you haven’t even heard my question,” I protested politely.

  {I don’t need to,} he said. {You seek to claim that since the six victims of your crime were santras, with the genetic variations that often accompany that title, they cannot be considered true Filiaelians.}

  {Even at the time of the Slisst Protocols it was accepted that Filiaelian was a wide-spanning title,} one of the other guardlaws put in. {If a person has Filiaelian blood and Filiaelian appearance, he is indeed a Filiaelian.}

  “So it’s the appearance that matters?” I asked.

  {Not at all,} Wandek said, shooting a brief glare at the other guardlaw. Hardly surprising, really—allowing me to get away with framing the argument in terms of appearance was a quick road to a possible legal minefield.

  Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t actually the direction I was headed. And though he didn’t know it, he and the whole Slisst Protocols were already in the middle of that minefield. “So what is it that makes a person a Filiaelian?” I asked.

  {His heart,} Wandek said. {Not the physical heart, of course—that can be altered in any way desired. I speak of the way he views life.}

  {A Filiaelian’s identity is in his heart, his mind, and his soul,} the other guardlaw added. {No matter what genetics were worked on you, Mr. Compton, you would never and could never be a Filiaelian.}

  “I see,” I said slowly, as if trying to work it through. “So it’s basically a person’s mind that makes him truly Filiaelian?”

  {Yes,} Wandek said.

  “Good,” I said. “Then if the court will indulge me, I’d like to tell you about a strange being who is even now attempting to conquer the galaxy.

  “A creature who calls himself Modhri.”

  * * *

  I laid it out for them. All of it:
the Modhri’s history, his nature, his essence, and the fact that all six of the Fillies on New Tigris had been Modhran walkers.

  I left out the details of the war itself, of course, including how long Bayta and I had been involved with it. I also didn’t talk about the true nature of the Spiders, and I absolutely didn’t even hint at the existence and importance of the Chahwyn. The details of our various cases, as well as why the Modhri had been interested in New Tigris in the first place, I also kept to myself.

  Still, even without all of that, the recital was clearly riveting. The guardlaws listened in silence, the darkening and paling of their blazes betraying their swirl of emotions. Most of my attention was on the guardlaws, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Hchchu sitting just as unmoving at the prosecutor’s table. Beside me, Minnario listened with fascination, and even Doug and Ty seemed entranced by the firm, resonant sound of my voice.

  Finally, I ran out of things to tell them. “The bottom line is this,” I said. “Since the beings I fought on New Tigris were, at the time of the combat, Modhran walkers and not Filiaelians, I claim that no regular court of the Assembly has jurisdiction over the case. I therefore request that I be released without prejudice until such time as a proper court can be established to deal with what is surely an extraordinary and unprecedented situation. Thank you.” Nodding to each of the guardlaws in turn, I sat back down.

  Beside me, Minnario stirred. [A most interesting argument,] he murmured.

  “Thank you,” I said, inclining my head to him.

  [I didn’t say it was good,] he warned. [Merely interesting.]

  Wandek looked down the table at his fellow guardlaws, and for a couple of minutes they all murmured back and forth. Then Wandek straightened up and looked back at me. {No,} he said flatly.

  Even Minnario seemed taken aback. [I beg your pardon?] he said.

  {The six murdered Filiaelians came from Kuzyatru Station,} Wandek said. {That’s already been established. Even if this Modhri truly exists—and without actual proof, we cannot grant that as fact—even if it exists, it has no presence here. We therefore have no choice but to conclude that the murdered Filiaelians were not so infected.}