“This wasn’t my fault,” KaeCee protested.
Aryl might have sympathized, but she had a sinking feeling the summons wasn’t about the fighting at all.
The M’hiray would have to deal with this Human, too?
“Tell Louli,” Gurdo said with some relish. “AS FOR YOU—” The “you” in question was apparently everyone else. It rattled away, shoving and pushing.
With a discordant wail, the ’bot band either died or gave up. The lack of deafening “music” did more to quench the participants’ enthusiasm than the Carasian. Some headed for the exit doors. Most headed for the counter, or began righting tables and shouting for drinks.
The rest were on the stage, retrieving the tossed items despite outraged protests from the naked performers. Gurdo roared something and headed for them next.
“This won’t take long,” KaeCee said with a pronounced quiver to his voice. “Promise you’ll wait right here for me?”
“I’ll come with you,” Aryl offered.
“No, no.” He looked at the clouded window, not her. “Louli doesn’t like surprises. Stay here.” With a tug on his jacket, a brush of both hands through his dripping hair, he headed for the stairs with the air of someone about to face punishment.
Fine, Aryl thought. She’d go up the Carasian’s stairs and surprise him.
“Hold on—”
She whirled to face the constable. “I said I was sorry. Explain what a ‘fine’ is so I can finish my business with you and leave.”
Maynard tilted his head. He had nice eyes, Aryl noticed absently. Right now they were troubled. “Forget the fine,” he said quietly. “Listen to me, Femmine. KaeCee’s trouble. Not this kind,” with a nod at the smashed tables and groaning patrons. “Another order altogether. Cross him, and you’ll disappear without a trace.”
He couldn’t mean KaeCee. “Him?” Aryl’s lips twitched.
The constable nodded grimly. “Doesn’t look like much, I’ll grant you. But somehow KaeCee dances a step ahead of the law. He’s got connections, too. We can’t touch him. Not yet, anyway. Don’t let him touch you. That’s all I’m saying.”
This Human thought of her as one of his own, unaware she was something far more dangerous. Still, the warning seemed well meant. “I’ll be careful,” Aryl promised.
“You do that. But if you run into more than you can handle, or learn anything about KaeCee I should know, contact me. Here.” He offered her a small brown rectangle, careful to keep it low as if no one else should see.
Aryl took it, then looked a question.
“It’s a burst.”
“A burst?”
“Pop it in any comport or reader on Stonerim III. It will send an alert to the constabulary. Where you are. That you need help or want to talk.”
“Your help,” Aryl countered warily. “To talk to you, no one else.”
Maynard smiled for the first time. He reached to press his thumb against the rectangle. “Just mine.”
Aryl walked away, the rectangle in her closed fist, fist at her side. With every step, she was less sure why she’d accepted it. Humans weren’t M’hiray. They were too many, too different. Dangerous in number. Humans were to be avoided—or used, if safe. Her fist lifted when she passed an ownerless drink oozing yellow smoke at an empty table. She should toss the “burst” into it . . .
Instead, Aryl tucked it in a pocket. She’d discard it later, less obviously.
She wouldn’t need it.
A warm flash of gladness filled her as Aryl stepped once more on Lawren Louli’s thick carpet—in drier shoes. It had nothing to do with what was going on; Enris, her Chosen, reacted to her presence. His smile would have lit the darkest night.
She smiled back. I missed you, too.
Naryn. Haxel. Worin? She sent them each a greeting.
They were pleased to see her—well, Haxel had the look of someone planning a “discussion” for later, presumably about the bar fight which hadn’t been, Aryl told herself firmly, entirely her doing.
KaeCee stood near Louli. He’d looked dismayed by her arrival, but quickly wiped any emotion from his face. Now, he kept glancing from her to Enris and back.
Maybe he wasn’t a total fool.
“All here. Shall we get down to business, then? Sit sit.” Louli had transformed into an effusive host. She beamed from one to the other, finishing with Aryl. “I’ve introduced the respected and renowned KaeCee Britain to the rest of your delegation, Aryl. KaeCee, this is Aryl di Sarc.”
“I’ve had the pleasure,” KaeCee said, with a slight bow. He’d decided to smile. It didn’t reach his eyes. “Glad you could join us, Aryl.”
Dangerous, this one, despite his appearance. She didn’t doubt the constable.
Haxel had a way of going still when she picked up trouble. Aryl made sure to brush her fingers over the First Scout’s wrist as she passed. Watch him.
Enris didn’t need a warning. His relaxed stance covered an inner alert.
One of the M’hiray’s white crates sat in the center of the table, its lid open. Though chairs had been added, no one sat. Worin stood behind his brother. Naryn faced the Humans, Haxel to one side. Aryl stopped on the other, across from KaeCee, beside Enris.
“Shall we continue?” Naryn suggested, gesturing to the crate.
“Go ahead, KaeCee. I’ve taken my look.” Louli crossed her arms. Her fingers ran from elbow to shoulder and back as if restless. Aryl didn’t let the peculiarity distract her. What could Naryn have found?
The Human tugged the crate closer with a casual finger, his expression bored. He tipped it forward and peered inside.
Then looked up, eyes wide. “Where did you get this?” Almost a whisper.
“It’s ours,” Naryn asserted. “As are the rest.”
KaeCee licked his lips, eyes flicking between all the M’hiray. “There’s more?”
“Well, well?” Louli interjected. “That what I think it is? What do you think?”
He reached into the crate with care, pulling out a bag. The bag itself rippled with color. Not only color, but numbers. “Watch.” When he set it gently on the table, the numbers moved across the bag’s surface, coming together in a final, complex pattern. “That’s a Triad seal, Louli. Can’t be forged. Only the First from a site can apply it.”
Do you know what he’s talking about? Enris asked her.
No.
Naryn’s eyes never left the bag. I do. Hush.
“Open it.”
There were beads of sweat on his forehead. “Is the room tight?” When Louli didn’t answer at once, sharper. “Is it?”
“Will be.” She moved one of the hanging carpets, revealing a panel. After pushing a few controls, she let the carpet drop and returned to the circle around the table, staring down at the bag. “We’re tight. No one in or out.”
Worin leaked anxiety. Enris soothed him. Let the Humans believe they’d locked the M’hiray in, Aryl thought, amused.
“I’m going to open this.” KaeCee didn’t pull out a knife or ask for one. He took the bag by two upper corners and pulled those apart very slowly.
It split neatly down the middle. Not a protection, Aryl realized. The covering had served as identification.
What lay exposed caught the flickering light from the flames on the other tables, caught it and reflected it everywhere.
Aryl drew back, disappointed. It appeared to be a device, hardly larger than the force blade hidden in her pocket, shaped to be held in a hand and pointed. The reflections were from crystals stuck all over it. It looked like the ornaments worn by the Humans in the bar below.
She kept her opinion to herself. The Humans were transfixed by the thing, their mouths slightly open, eyes dilated. They found value in it; that was what mattered.
“Is this the right price?” Naryn asked, her voice low and soft.
“Price?” KaeCee tore his eyes from the object and visibly collected himself. “I admit to some interest. What do you want for it?”
&nb
sp; “Wait there, KaeCee!” Louli bristled. “This is my deal. You’re here to authenticate the value, not push me gone.”
“And where could you go to sell Hoveny artifacts, except to me?”
“Hoveny.” The word might have had taste, the way Louli sa vored it. “I knew you weren’t wasting our time, Enris Friend.”
She was too confident. Too calm. Something wasn’t right. Aryl tensed. Naryn!
I know what I’m doing. “What we want is a home for our people.”
“I told them about Lynn,” Louli said quickly. “Seemed to suit.”
“The Towers?” Blue eyebrows rose. “Aiming pretty high.”
“We can arrange our own transport. We would want to move as quickly as possible. Tonight, if possible.”
KaeCee gestured to the artifact. “For this, I could maybe get the five of you rooms in a Sun Layer resort. Best service in Norval. Say for a week. But a Tower?”
“That’s only a sample,” Naryn assured him, her hair rising on her shoulders. “The least of what we have to trade. Everything is Triad sealed and authenticated.”
His eyes followed her hair. “I’m sure we can do business, Femmine.”
Reading Human expressions was not, Aryl would be the first to admit, like reading M’hiray emotion. But there was something ominous in Louli’s small, tight smile.
Then, she knew. “What have you done?” she demanded. “While you wasted our time, what have you done?”
The smile widened. “My dancing boys report to me first, Aryl of the Clan. I know you came up from the deep. Likely the Buried Theater. Your people are down there? Well, so are mine. Those are my artifacts now—or they will be very soon.”
Gijs and his scouts have been following some intruders. Haxel’s matching smile was even colder. “Did you think we wouldn’t be watching?”
“What I think is that sample of Clan blood I took means my people can take out yours with no risk at all. Don’t worry. It’ll be quick. I don’t waste time.”
BEWARE! Naryn drove the warning through the M’hir. GO! Aryl sent into its echo.
Haxel, Enris, and Worin disappeared, leaving them to deal with the Humans.
“Neat trick,” KaeCee commented, his voice almost steady. “What was that? Projected illusion? I’d like to see the specs. I could have a buyer.”
Dangerous indeed. “It’s Clan,” Aryl said warningly. She brought out the force blade and thumbed it on as Gurdo had demonstrated.
Louli had been backing away. Now she leaped forward to snatch the glittering artifact from the table. Aryl swept the force blade down as she would a knife . . .
Only to have Louli’s arms come apart before the line of force touched them. Not only her arms, but her chest and legs and shoulders!
Every piece snapped neatly away from the others, where the differing fabric met. Once apart, they landed on the floor and sprouted fleshy limbs. They scurried in various directions, ran around legs and circled back to dive under the one table. “What is that—them!?” Naryn demanded with a horror Aryl shared.
“Assembler,” the Human informed them. “Did you think she was Human?”
The head had landed on top of the table. Having lost—or absorbed—its face, the thing looked like a large hairless pox but still wore its tall white cap. It pounced on the artifact, stuffed it under its cap, then dropped to the floor and scurried under the table with the rest.
“Get the hat!” KaeCee shouted.
Hat. Not cap. Aryl absorbed the new word as she shut off the force blade and exchanged it for her short knife, being safer under furniture.
She and the Human dove under the table together. KaeCee cried out as what had been a knee sprung up and hit him in the nose, but didn’t back away. Aryl squirmed between the table legs, watched for movement in the dim light. Where were the rest?
And the hat?
“There they go!”
He was right. Aryl rushed forward on her elbows, but couldn’t stop the next bit—something chest-ish—from jumping through the neat hole cut in the floor. As an escape, she had to admire it.
She glimpsed something white. “Get the hat!”
KaeCee grabbed; Aryl reached. They had it!
The hat came off in their hands, the artifact rolling free on the carpet, while the last piece of Lawren Louli plunged through its hole to safety. To put themselves back together below? Aryl let go of the hat and wiggled forward, cautiously peeking down the hole as she picked up the artifact.
It didn’t open to the lower level of Doc’s Dive but to a curved pipe just wide enough to fit the bits. Clever, Aryl had to admit.
Then KaeCee’s hand clamped over her bare wrist. You are for me. You are MINE!
She could hear him?
MINE!
Waves of heat and need and domination. Something fumbled at her mind. Inept, untrained, blind to what it violated. MINE! You will want ME!
Repulsed on every level, Aryl freed herself with a quick twist, shields now firmly in place. She hurried out from under the table and to her feet, putting the artifact back on the table. Not that it mattered.
ARYL!? Enris, there at once. Are you all right? What was that?
The Human. He has some kind of Power. He touched me.
The flood of fury that answered made her hands shake. I’m coming!
No. Stay. Protect the others. Aryl calmed herself and sent reassurance and determination.
Naryn and I will handle this.
KaeCee straightened his jacket as he stood, smiling with triumph.
The Human’s a fool, she finished, and smiled back.
“You are ours, now,” said Aryl di Sarc.
YOU ARE OURS! Naryn’s Power struck the Human’s mind.
He staggered, smile gone. “So that’s your game, is it? Filthy mindcrawlers! If it’s a fight you want, that’s fine with me. I’ll make you beg,” with quite inexplicable confidence. Unless the Human couldn’t imagine abilities great than his own.
He’d learn. Scan him, Aryl suggested coldly. All we need is to know who will buy the artifacts, what to expect. They could leave the body here.
Naryn lifted an eyebrow. Oh, I think our KaeCee has much more to offer than information. “Hold him.”
The last thing she wanted to do was touch him again, but Aryl didn’t hesitate. The Human was pitifully slow. Before he could begin to evade or struggle, she slammed the side of his face against the tabletop, her arm around his sweaty neck and a knee in his spine. It wasn’t helping the M’hiray below. It wasn’t being with Enris. It did, however, feel remarkably satisfying.
“That will do.” Naryn laid her palm along his forehead. Now, Human. Teach me.
He began to scream.
Just as well, Aryl thought coldly, the Assembler had such a private space. She kept her shields at their most impenetrable. Even so, she felt the Power Naryn drew through his mind, like a knife through flesh.
More than an echo, she felt a surge of Power from another source altogether, like a welcome breath of fresh air. Pride. Relief. She had to smile. Enris. Whatever he’d done, it would protect the M’hiray from Louli. Her smile faded. Good.
She couldn’t leave Naryn now.
The screams were replaced by a soft moan with each inward breath. He had no shields—no shields against M’hiray.
Suddenly, the moans stopped. The body in her hands relaxed. Naryn took away her hand.
Let him go.
Aryl released her grip slowly and stood back, tensed to spring at the Human if he offered any threat.
There was none. His face was reddened on one side. Trails of clear fluid glistened on his cheek and chin, but a peaceful smile played over his mouth. His hands straightened his jacket, then tidied his hair. His eyes were shot through with blood, and absolutely calm. He stood at ease, as if waiting. For what?
She stared at Naryn. What have you done?
“It’s called ‘influence,’ ” with unutterable disgust. At herself, or the Human? Both, Aryl decided, gorge risin
g in her throat. “KaeCee’s an expert. That’s what he wanted to do to you. Turn you into—” Naryn shook her head. “—it doesn’t matter. The technique only works on Humans, and only those Humans with their M’hirless version of Power. Telepaths. Weak minds, susceptible to suggestion. The effect is permanent.”
“Why?”
Naryn sat down and took hold of the artifact, tipping it to send reflections over his face. “KaeCee? What should we do with the Hoveny artifacts?”
The Human answered at once, his tone sure and brisk. “It means a deep cut in price, but I’ve buyers in mind on Unaligned worlds. No Commonwealth or Trade Pact connections to worry about. We couldn’t move them on any Innersystem world, or within any space held by the First. I’ll ensure no one can trace the artifacts to you. I regret this will take time to arrange, but I’ve sufficient creds in my hidden accounts to get the Clan into proper accommodations immediately. And to buy clothes, idents. You’ll want to be able to move around Grandie society without undue notice. When the artifacts are sold, I’ll deposit the funds in various separate accounts and will recommend suitable individuals to manage each for maximum growth. The Clan won’t have to worry about wealth.” Finished, he stood, waiting. Peaceful, content.
Better to have slit his throat, Aryl thought, sickened to her core. Naryn . . .
Think I enjoyed being in a Human’s mind? That I wanted to learn this? Her mindvoice was weary. That I wanted to do this, even to him? Aloud, “How many Humans are on this world, Aryl? How many of them could help us? Of those who could, how many would? Council will agree with my actions. We couldn’t afford to waste this opportunity. There might not be another.”
“There are thirty-one Human telepaths in Norval,” KaeCee corrected. “Fourteen of those are under my influence. They could be useful. I’ll introduce you.”
“See what I mean? I can’t imagine a better Human.”
“Naryn!”
Naryn tucked the artifact within her robe. “Haxel’s sure our people are safe for now. KaeCee, we’ll ’port with you to your office in the Sun Layer and you can . . .”
Aryl stopped listening.
Naryn’s quick thinking, her sacrifice—for soiling her mind had been that, too—had probably saved the M’hiray.
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