by Timothy Zahn
Mnov-korthe smiled thinly. "The war will end soon enough," he said with quiet assurance. "With a victory for the Zhirrzh."
Thrr-gilag felt his midlight pupils narrow. What did he mean by that - ?
"Second Commander!" a thin Elder voice broke into his thoughts. "The Human-Conquerors are launching an attack!"
"Where are they?" Klnn-vavgi demanded.
"Still in flight, coming from the east," a second Elder reported. "Coming in force. One of their spacecraft appears to be attempting to leave the planet - "
"Second Commander, the other Human-Conqueror prisoner has escaped!" a third Elder shouted. "Those explosions - they tore an opening in his holding room. He has disabled both warriors guarding him and has taken one of their laser rifles."
"Things seem to be falling apart around you, Second Commander," Mnov-korthe suggested, his voice smooth with menace. "You'd better get outside and deal with them. Just leave me those two warriors and some Elders I can give orders to."
"You can't do that, Klnn-vavgi," Klnn-dawan-a said urgently. "He'll kill the Human-Conquerors if you leave. You can't let that happen."
"I'm in command on Dorcas, Second Commander," Mnov-korthe reminded him. "You will obey my orders."
Klnn-vavgi grimaced... and then, even as Thrr-gilag watched, he seemed to straighten up to a decision. "Communicator, go to the warriors at the base of the Human-Conqueror aircraft," he ordered. "Tell them that Commander Thrr-mezaz is to be released immediately and returned to command."
"I absolutely forbid that," Mnov-korthe snapped before the Elder could reply. "I'm in command here - I have a document so stating from the Overclan Seating."
Prr't-zevisti reappeared. "A message from the Overclan Prime, Second Commander: 'I concur with your decision to reinstate Commander Thrr-mezaz - ' "
"You will keep silence, traitor to the Dhaa'rr," Mnov-korthe said, his voice a vicious snarl that sent a twitch along Thrr-gilag's tail. "I reject your claim that you're in contact with the Overclan Prime. It's utterly impossible. You are speaking criminal lies."
"But I can prove it," Prr't-zevisti insisted. "Ask any question you wish - "
"And even if you were, the significance and importance of this particular Overclan Prime will very shortly fade into the mists of history," Mnov-korthe added, his eyes flicking back and forth now between Klnn-vavgi and the two warriors. "When the Speaker for Dhaa'rr has exposed his treason, those who have stood by him will fall along with him."
Thrr-gilag exchanged startled glances with Klnn-dawan-a. "What treason?" he demanded. "There's been no treason here."
"Keep silence, Kee'rr." Mnov-korthe flicked his tongue at the two warriors still flanking the doorway. "You two are Dhaa'rr, sworn to obey Warrior Command and the Overclan Seating. Will you stand with me, with my proved authority from the Seating? Or will you stand with criminal liars and traitors to the Zhirrzh?"
The warriors glanced at each other. "We stand by our oath," one of them said cautiously. "But - "
"Wisely spoken," Mnov-korthe said. "And there will thus be no need afterward for your families to be destroyed. Elder?"
"Yes?"
"Inform my brother Mnov-dornt that he is to assume command of the battle preparations," Mnov-korthe ordered. "Tell him I'll be joining him soon. Warriors, you will escort Second Commander Klnn-vavgi to the Human-Conqueror aircraft to join with Commander Thrr-mezaz."
"You can't do that," Thrr-gilag said, taking a step forward.
"But before you do," Mnov-korthe amended, "you will carry out one other task." His tongue flicked out toward Thrr-gilag. "This Kee'rr is a traitor to the Zhirrzh and, through his contacts with the Human-Conquerors, is a clear danger to this warrior force. I therefore order him raised to Eldership.
"Now."
"They won't listen to me," Prr't-zevisti said, his voice trembling with fear and frustration. "That Dhaa'rr - Mnov-korthe - refuses to believe I'm delivering messages from you. He's denouncing me as a criminal liar; and he's saying that you're a traitor."
The Prime flicked his tongue savagely. He would have expected an agent of Speaker Cvv-panav to be ruthless, but not to be so audacious as to cry treason. What in the eighteen worlds did Cvv-panav have poised that he could even think of taking such a stupendous risk? "Go to Commander Thrr-mezaz," he bit out. "Tell him that I order him to resume command."
"I can't reach him," Prr't-zevisti said. "He's inside the Human's metal aircraft."
"What about the warriors guarding him?"
"Both are Dhaa'rr," Prr't-zevisti said, his voice sounding distracted. Listening to what was happening on Dorcas. "Mnov-korthe is ordering his brother Mnov-dornt to be put in command. Ordering Second Commander Klnn-vavgi to be put in detention with Commander Thrr-mezaz - "
He jerked suddenly. "He's ordering the warriors to raise Thrr-gilag to Eldership!"
"Get back there," the Prime snapped. "Order them not to obey."
Prr't-zevisti was already gone. "Overclan Prime," Thrr't-rokik breathed. "My son - will he - ?"
The Prime looked at him. For perhaps the first time really looked at him. At that pale Elder face, echoing a lifetime of simple honest labor. A face that had no doubt been filled with shame for his wife when the fsss theft he'd helped to organize had branded her a criminal. A face now filled with anxiety for the danger his son was in.
Back when all of this had started, the previous Primes had insisted that it was sometimes necessary for individuals to be sacrificed for the greater political good. Distantly, the Prime wondered if any of them had ever had to face the individuals they had so sacrificed.
"ETA, twelve minutes," Takara reported. "We'll be in range of those outer laser installations in ten."
"Understood," Holloway said. "Stand by."
"Yes, sir."
He gazed out the canopy at the scattering of lights ahead marking the Zhirrzh encampment, a small voice in the back of his mind reminding him that Melinda Cavanagh was not going to approve of this at all. Considering her feelings toward the Zhirrzh in general and Prr't-zevisti in particular, in fact, she might well decide to hate him for what he was about to do.
But, ultimately, that didn't matter. It was her life that was at stake here, and her brother's life, and the lives of a lot of good Peacekeepers. And if the loss of her respect was the price he had to pay to protect those lives, then so be it.
"Activate," he ordered.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, the two Zhirrzh warriors turned their weapons away from Pheylan. Melinda sighed with relief -
And gasped as the muzzles turned to line up instead on Thrr-gilag. "Wait!" she shouted. "No. Stop!"
"It is too late, Melinda Cavanagh," Thrr-gilag said. He drew himself up, his corkscrewing tail slowing down as he apparently accepted the inevitable.
"Wait," Melinda pleaded, twisting her head around to look at him more fully. "Tell him we'll make a deal. If Pheylan lets him go - "
And then, to her horror, Thrr-gilag suddenly gasped, a violent convulsion running through his body. Twisting at the waist, he bent over to one side and toppled to the floor.
"No!" Melinda gasped. She wrenched her head back around toward the other Zhirrzh -
To an incredible sight. Klnn-dawan-a was on her knees, only Klnn-vavgi's slack grip on her arm keeping her from collapsing completely. Klnn-vavgi himself was gripping the edge of the table with his other hand, swaying back and forth as if suddenly gone drunk. The two warriors were similarly staggering, leaning on their laser rifles for balance.
And then Prr't-zevisti screamed, a bizarre, unearthly sound... and abruptly Melinda understood.
"Pheylan, get their weapons," she called. "Quickly."
Mnov-korthe was twisting dizzily in his grip; shoving him aside, Pheylan hobbled across to the warriors. Wrenching one of the weapons away, he touched something on the barrel, and suddenly Melinda was free of the grip pinioning her arms and legs. She scrambled to her feet as Pheylan relieved the second warrior of his weapon. "What the hell's going on?"
he demanded.
"Holloway put a white-noise radio transmitter in the vital-signs monitor," she said, taking one of the rifles from him. "He didn't bother to tell me that he'd set up a remote trigger for it."
"I guess that pretty well proves this Elderdeath-weapon theory," Pheylan said, the beads of sweat on his face evidence of what his trek across the room had cost him. "What now?"
"We shut the thing off, that's what," Melinda said, studying the laser rifle in her hands. She'd seen Holloway's techs demonstrating how it worked....
"No, Melinda Cavanagh. You must not."
Melinda looked up, a shiver running through her. It had been Prr't-zevisti's voice, but so distorted by pain as to be almost unrecognizable. "Prr't-zevisti, I have to shut it down."
"No," Prr't-zevisti said, his transparent face as agonized as his voice. "You must... let it continue. It is the... only way for... you to stop... the attack."
"But I can't let you suffer like this," she protested.
"You have to," Pheylan said, taking the rifle from her hand. "He's right - you've got to get out there and stop Holloway before he wrecks everything. The radio's all that's keeping the Zhirrzh off balance - you won't get ten meters without it."
Melinda bit hard at her lip. But it was hurting them all so horribly - But it's not killing them, she told herself sternly. Neither the Elders nor the warriors. You're a surgeon; start thinking surgical priorities. "All right," she said. "How do I do it?"
"First get out of that obedience suit," Pheylan told her, reaching over to unfasten the suit's neck. "They'll have another trigger for it out there somewhere. Then get over to that aircar parked at the south end of the landing field, the one you said Janovetz came here in. There should be a laser comm built in. You know how to use one?"
"I think so," Melinda said, pulling off the last leg of the suit and shivering as the evening air hit sweaty skin. "What then?"
"Then you say whatever you have to to get Holloway to pull back," Pheylan said grimly.
She looked at Thrr-gilag, clutching dizzily at the floor. "Thrr-gilag...?"
"I will explain to Klnn-vavgi," the other panted. "And the Overclan Prime will also understand. Go. Quickly."
"All right." Melinda opened the door; paused. The radio over there, still blaring its Elderdeath pain... "Give me two minutes," she told her brother. "Then destroy that radio. If I can't stop Holloway, I won't have the Zhirrzh being sitting ducks for him."
Pheylan's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Two minutes. Good luck."
They were perhaps halfway down the hallway leading to the back door they'd entered the fortress by when Kolchin abruptly stopped. "Someone's coming," he whispered, taking a step back and pushing open the door he'd just passed. He glanced in and nodded, and three seconds later they were inside. Kolchin closed the door to a crack, peering out through the narrow gap, and a moment later Cavanagh heard the rhythmic thudding of heavy feet approaching down the corridor. The footsteps passed, faded away - "Valloittaja?" Bronski asked quietly.
"No," Kolchin said, easing the door open and looking out after them. "A different Mrach and two Bhurtala."
Bronski nodded. "Let's hope they're not the guard change."
"Clear," Kolchin said, opening the door the rest of the way and slipping outside.
They reached the tunnel leading to the exit door without seeing or hearing anyone else. There Bronski stopped, peering cautiously down the tunnel. "Well, come on," Cavanagh urged. "What are we waiting for?"
"I don't know," Bronski muttered. "Something feels wrong about all this. It's a little too easy."
"They're planning to kill us," Cavanagh pointed out tartly. "What could they have planned that's worse?"
"Point," Bronski conceded. "All right, let's give it a try." He stepped into the tunnel -
"Lord Stewart Cavanagh."
Cavanagh spun around toward the voice. Thrr't-rokik had finally returned. "Thrr't-rokik!" he said in relief. "We thought something had happened to you - "
"What's happening on Dorcas?" Bronski interrupted.
"There is still trouble," the Elder said, his words tumbling over each other. "But there is new trouble here. The Mrachanis have wrapped a second metal sheet directly around the Closed Mouth. The Elders are now sealed inside, and I cannot talk to Speaker Nzz-oonaz. They are also putting many objects on the ceiling of the hangar."
"What do the objects look like?" Bronski asked. "Long, narrow tubes?" He demonstrated with his hands.
"Yes," Thrr't-rokik said. "Many of them in a single bundle. And many bundles."
Bronski swore. "Fracture explosives," he said. "Damn it all - Valloittaja's trying to collapse the cliffs above the hangar."
Cavanagh felt his chest tighten. "With the Zhirrzh ship still inside?"
"Yeah, it's called burying your mistakes," Bronski said, starting down the exit tunnel and gesturing the others to follow. "I knew this would be coming - I just didn't figure on the Zhirrzh being able to get another ship here this fast."
"But - oh, God," Cavanagh murmured as it finally clicked. Of course: the Overclan Prime would have immediately dispatched another ship to investigate. It had closed to within six light-years of Mra now, and its distinctive tachyon wake-trail had appeared on the Mrachanis' detectors.
And Valloittaja, whose best efforts had probably not even been able to scratch the Closed Mouth's hull, had decided to settle for a stalemate. "So they're going to drop a million-ton mountain on top of the ship and kill everyone aboard," he said. "And undoubtedly try to blame us."
"Which means," Kolchin said quietly, "those two Bhurtala we saw were probably heading to our room."
"To get us ready for our grand finale," Bronski agreed. "Human bodies to show to the Zhirrzh when they arrive."
They had reached the end of the tunnel now and the door they'd entered the fortress through. "What will you do?" Thrr't-rokik asked.
"Try to stay a jump ahead of them," Bronski told him, easing the door open. The cool night wind whistled in through the crack, accompanied by a sliver of pale moonlight. "I'll be damned. Our rented aircar's still out there. Maybe Valloittaja's missed a bet after all." He pushed the door open -
"Hold it," Cavanagh said suddenly, gripping his arm. "They're trying to stage this as a human attack, right? Well, to do that, don't they have to produce human bodies from an aircar wreck?"
"Sure do," Bronski agreed. "My guess is that's why we haven't heard any noise over our escape. They were probably expecting us to demolish that group who just went to get us and make a run for it. Probably why Valloittaja sent one of his stooges instead of coming along himself for last-minute gloating - he didn't want to put his own skin at risk. All we did by taking out our guards was move up the timetable a bit and save them the trouble of herding us out here."
"You mean they want us to get in that aircar and fly away?" Cavanagh asked.
"That's my guess."
"That's terrific," Cavanagh gritted. "So what exactly is this bet you think he's missed?"
"You'll see." Bronski started to push the door open, then paused. "Thrr't-rokik... look, there's a fair chance this isn't going to work. If it doesn't, the three of us are going to die here. In case that happens - "
He took a deep breath, throwing a sour look at Cavanagh. "In case that happens, there's something the Overclan Prime needs to know. The weapon CIRCE that he's so afraid of doesn't exist. Never has existed. Do you understand?"
"I am not sure," Thrr't-rokik said, his expression odd. "The Zhirrzh have read about it. Pheylan Cavanagh spoke of it."
"He was lied to," Bronski said. "All of us were, for a long time. But what I'm telling you now is the truth. The Zhirrzh have nothing to fear from CIRCE, or from the Commonwealth. Make sure the Overclan Prime knows that."
"I obey," Thrr't-rokik said. "I thank you, and I will return your trust to you."
He vanished. "What did he mean by that?" Cavanagh asked.
"No idea," Bronski said. "But we haven't got time to wait and
find out. Come on.'
He led the way out into the night. All three of Mra's moons were in the sky overhead, bathing the ground in a pale yellowish light. "What now?" Cavanagh whispered as Bronski moved carefully forward. "We make a run for it?"
"I'm worried about those sentry holes," the brigadier said, nodding toward the flanking rock walls where the Bhurtala had been hidden earlier. "We're only assuming this is what Valloittaja has in mind."
And then Thrr't-rokik was back. "There are three Mrach aircraft waiting around the curve of rock," he said, his tongue flicking to point to the left. "Two more there" - the tongue flicked right - "and five behind the rock above."
"Check over there," Cavanagh told him, pointing to the sentry holes. "Inside holes in the rock. See if anyone's hiding there."
The ghost flicked away; flicked back. "No one is there."
"I could get used to having these guys around," Bronski said dryly. "Go."
They made it to the aircar without incident. Bronski slipped into the pilot's seat and gave the control board a quick but careful scan. He keyed the main power control, and the board lit up with muted light. "Cross your fingers, gentlemen," he said. "Here goes."
"How are you going to evade those Mrachani aircars?" Cavanagh asked.
Bronski threw him a tight smile. "As a matter of fact," he said, "I'm not even going to try."
The roar of approaching aircars was audible as Melinda flattened herself against the side of the Peacekeeper aircar, her breath coming in quick, hot gasps. There were Zhirrzh all across the field, dimly visible in the sunset's fading afterglow. Some were still on their feet, swaying with the disorienting loss of balance the radio was causing; most had already conceded defeat and were lying on the ground twitching. Helpless and harmless.
But that would change. In approximately thirty seconds.
"Cavanagh?"
Melinda jumped. "Who - "
"Janovetz, Doctor," the other identified himself, rolling out from beneath the aircar. He, too, had gotten rid of his obedience suit. "Figured you'd come here if you got free. Where's Commander Cavanagh?"