"Thank you," the Prime said. "Searcher Thrr-gilag, this is the Overclan Prime. Are you alone?"
The Eighteenth nodded and vanished, returning a few beats later. " 'My brother, Commander Thrr-mezaz, and Searcher Klnn-dawan-a are here with me,' " he quoted. " 'Shall I ask them to leave?' "
The Prime flicked his tongue. More witnesses, should this ever make it to the jurist level. But on the other side, Thrr-mezaz and Klnn-dawan-a could hardly be more involved in this than they already were. "No, they may stay," he said. "This concerns them, as well. But make sure no one else is listening."
The delay this time was nearly double the previous interval. " 'We're ready,' " the Eighteenth quoted when he finally returned. " 'Thrr-mezaz has sent all the Elders to inspect the beachhead perimeter.' "
And if any of them had lingered behind... but there was no way to totally eliminate that risk. "First of all, I want to know if you've made any progress on your Human-Conqueror studies."
" 'I'm afraid it's going slowly,' " the reply came half a hunbeat later. " 'The facilities here are limited, and an organism's biochemistry is an immensely complex system.' "
"There's nothing even preliminary you can tell me?"
" 'Nothing relating to my theory of Human aggression. We've established a baseline, though, and compared it to the similar readings from the first Human prisoner, Pheylan Cavanagh. That gives us a start.' "
The typical maddening pace of searcher studies. "Keep at it," the Prime ordered, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. "I want any information you get as soon as you get it. Not a tentharc later; right away. Is that clear?"
" 'Very clear, Overclan Prime.' "
"Good," the Prime said. "Now, what about the other matter? The one that also concerns Searcher Klnn-dawan-a's presence there?"
" 'Again, we've made no progress,' " the cautious answer came. " 'The climate and other factors aren't yet right.' "
The Prime grimaced. Translation: they hadn't yet been able to get Prr't-zevisti's new cutting within range of the Human-Conqueror mountain stronghold. Perhaps hadn't even tried. "You may not be able to wait for the climate to be right," he warned. "Matters are coming to a crisis here. Possibly there, as well."
The Eighteenth nodded and vanished. "What did you mean by that?" the Fourth asked.
"I mean that Speaker Cvv-panav isn't just going to wait around and hope I'll make a mistake," the Prime said grimly. "He has to make another move; and the odds are that move will involve Thrr-gilag."
"Yes, of course," the Fourth murmured. "Thrr-gilag has the evidence offsss tampering that Cvv-panav wants, after all. Shouldn't you warn him?"
"I just did," the Prime said. "Even with a supposedly secure pathway I don't want to risk being any clearer than that."
The Eighteenth returned. " 'We understand, Overclan Prime,' " he quoted. " 'We'll do our best.' "
"Make certain you do," the Prime said. "Keep me informed as to your progress. Farewell, and good luck." He nodded to the Eighteenth. "Deliver that, and unless there's more from their end, you may release the pathway."
"Yes, Overclan Prime." The Eighteenth vanished.
For a merciful wonder, the other two Elders kept quiet. Reaching across his desk to his reader, the Prime keyed for the latest warrior update. The eight beachheads they held in Human-Conqueror territory were still holding firm under enemy pressure, though three of them just barely. The diplomatic group on Mra was settling in for the long term; a Dhaa'rr ship was on its way there with extra supplies for them. The ships for the quick-strike assault on the Human-Conqueror surveillance bases on Phormbi were assembled and on their way to the attack, and Warrior Command was busily trying to gather a force together for the planned thrust into the Human-Conqueror homeworld.
Assuming, of course, that the Mrachanis made good on their promise to sneak those warships past the Human-Conqueror detectors.
The Eighteenth returned. "No further messages from Thrr-gilag," he reported.
"Thank you," the Prime said. "That'll be all."
"I daresay." The Eighteenth paused. "If I may comment, Overclan Prime, you seemed unduly interested in Thrr-gilag's Human-Conqueror biochemical studies. I would have thought such subtleties had already been overtaken by events."
"Only if you trust the Mrachanis," the Prime said sourly. "I'm not sure I do."
"You're worried about the Phormbi attack?" the Fourth asked.
"I'm worried about all of it," the Prime said with a tired sigh. "Everything the Mrachanis say seems perfectly reasonable at first look. Even at second look. But whenever I start really thinking things through..." He flicked his tongue in a negative.
For a few beats the room was silent. "There's no point in worrying excessively about it," the Eighteenth said. "The decisions have been made, and the events are in motion. What will happen will happen."
"And whatever does happen, it is always safe to put your trust in Warrior Command," the Fourth added. "Whether the Mrachanis are being honest or deceitful, the Zhirrzh warriors will be capable of handling it."
"I hope so," the Prime said, turning back to his reader. "I truly hope so."
The Elder vanished, and for perhaps twenty beats the only sound in the room was the spattering of the cold, windswept rain lashing against the office windows in the latearc darkness. "I don't know about you," Thrr-gilag said at last. "But to me that sounded like an order."
"It was," Thrr-mezaz said heavily. "Something's happening back on Oaccanv. Or else is about to happen."
"Maybe someone's discovered our tampering," Klnn-dawan-a said. "Maybe they're on their way here."
And Thrr-gilag knew exactly what that would mean, both to them and to their families. He didn't doubt that his brother knew, too. "We'll just have to beat them to the slash, then," he said. "One way or another, we have got to get Prr't-zevisti's cutting up into the Human stronghold."
"What, in this?" Thrr-mezaz retorted, flicking his tongue toward the downpour outside the window. "Not a chance. The storm extends all the way to the mountains. We try climbing in this, and we'll be raised to Eldership in twenty hunbeats."
"The rain has to stop sometime," Klnn-dawan-a said. "How soon after that could you start climbing?"
"At least a fullarc," Thrr-mezaz told her. "The storm has high winds trailing behind it. Even if it didn't, wet rock is notoriously dangerous to climb."
The room fell silent again. Thrr-gilag stared out the window at the sheets of rain shimmering in the lights of the village, a hundred plans flickering through his mind, each more far-fetched than the previous one. Launching an aerial attack on the Humans? Dangerous, and probably illegal without specific orders from Warrior Command. Firing thefsss container into the mountains via catapult? Unlikely they could put something together that would have even half the range they would need. Lashing the container to an animal and sending it into the mountains? Too ridiculous even to think about. Returning the Human prisoner Sergeant Janovetz to his people with the cutting planted somewhere on him?
The flow of schemes paused in midtaste. Sergeant Janovetz...
He looked back at the others. Thrr-mezaz was still gazing at the floor in contemplation of his own; but Klnn-dawan-a, clearly sensing the change in Thrr-gilag's manner, was looking back at him with guarded hope. "You have an idea?" she asked.
"Yes," he said as Thrr-mezaz also looked up at him. "I don't like it, but I think it's our best chance. Possibly even our only chance. Certainly if we want to get the cutting up there as quickly as possible."
"Sounds terrific," Thrr-mezaz said. "You want to skip the dramatics and spit it out?" He looked over at Klnn-dawan-a. "He was always doing this when we were children," he added in explanation. "I hoped he'd grow out of it."
"He hasn't yet," Klnn-dawan-a said, trying to keep her voice light but not succeeding very well. "Go ahead, Thrr-gilag."
"We do exactly what the Humans did with Sergeant Janovetz," Thrr-gilag said. "We send someone into the Human stronghold on some pretext and send Prr't-zevisti'sfsss
cutting in with him."
"Brilliant," Thrr-mezaz said. "There are just two small problems: how do we keep the Human-Conquerors from shooting down his transport, and how do we get him out again?"
"For the first, I presume we do it the same way the Human commander did," Thrr-gilag said. "We send an unarmed vehicle, and we send it in flying slow and steady. For the second-" He grimaced. "We don't get him out. Like Sergeant Janovetz, the courier would have to stay there as a prisoner."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Thrr-mezaz said. "Unfortunately, I can't afford to lose any of my warriors."
"I know," Thrr-gilag said. "That's why the courier has to be me."
He'd expected a reaction of some kind. The complete lack of one showed that both of the others had already arrived at the same conclusion. "It'll be dangerous, Thrr-gilag," Thrr-mezaz warned. "These are the Human-Conquerors. We don't know what they'll do to you."
"Believe me, my brother, if I thought I was walking straight to my Eldership, I wouldn't be volunteering," Thrr-gilag assured him. "I don't believe they'll hurt me."
"What about your theory?" Thrr-mezaz reminded him. "You'll be facing a whole group of Human-Conquerors up there, not just single individuals."
"Yet a whole group of them let Klnn-dawan-a and your warriors go unharmed at the underground room," he pointed out. "There's clearly more to these Humans than just reflex biochemical reactions."
"You could still wind up a prisoner until the end of the war," Thrr-mezaz persisted. "Or be raised to Eldership if and when Warrior Command gives me the order to attack the stronghold in force."
Thrr-gilag felt his tail twitch. "I know that. It's a risk I'm going to have to take."
Thrr-mezaz hissed with frustration, looking over at Klnn-dawan-a. "Aren't you going to say anything, Klnn-dawan-a?" he demanded.
"What would I say?" Klnn-dawan-a said, her voice soft and filled with distant dread. "You can see he's made up his mind. Besides, you know as well as he does that it's the only way."
"I don't accept that," Thrr-mezaz growled. "Not yet."
"You've got the rest of the latearc to come up with an alternative," Thrr-gilag said. "But if we haven't come up with anything else by premidarc, I think we'll have to go with this plan. In fact, it might be pushing it to wait even that long-we don't know what's happening on Oaccanv that has the Overclan Prime worried enough to call us like this."
"We're waiting until premidarc whether the Prime likes it or not," Thrr-mezaz said firmly. "I'm not going to try sending a transport into enemy territory in the dark. Not even a slow, unarmed one."
"We need the time for preparation, anyway," Thrr-gilag agreed. "Can you have someone get some supplies together for me? Especially some food-I don't know if I'm really ready to try Human cuisine just yet."
"I'll take care of it," Thrr-mezaz promised in a resigned tone. "We'll also need to come up with a good excuse for why you're doing this."
"Perhaps you can be taking information back to the Human-Conquerors about Sergeant Janovetz," Klnn-dawan-a suggested quietly. "Proof that he's alive and well. That might also help in their treatment of you."
"Good idea," Thrr-gilag said. "Thrr-mezaz?"
"I'll take care of that, too," his brother said.
"All right, then." Thrr-gilag got to his feet, trying to keep his tail motion steady. He didn't like this any better than the others did. Far less than they did, actually-he could still feel the residual stiffness in his neck where Pheylan Cavanagh had gripped him during the Human's escape. The Humans were aliens, with the fundamental unpredictability that that implied.
But it had to be done. That was the summation line: it had to be done. "If you'll excuse me, then, I'd better go get some rest. It's going to be a very busy fullarc."
"I'll come with you," Klnn-dawan-a said, standing up and stepping to his side. "At least walk with you to your quarters."
And to say their last farewell before his arrival at the Thrr-family shrine? But that wasn't something Thrr-gilag really wanted to think about. He doubted Klnn-dawan-a wanted to, either. "Certainly," he said. "Sleep well, Thrr-mezaz. I'll see you in the premidarc."
18
"All right, easy now," Aric said, standing well back out of the way as the four bulky Yycroman males hefted the NorCoord 110 mm cannon and swung it up onto their shoulders. The sheer size of the cannon implied a weight somewhere on the far side of two hundred kilograms, and Aric wanted to be ready to run if the Yycromae lost their grip on the thing.
Fortunately, they didn't. Grunting strange alien sounds in unison, they heaved the cannon up and shoulder-pressed it into place beneath the stubby airfoil wing of the freighter towering above them. The other two males waiting there on the makeshift scaffold were ready, and with half a dozen brief showers of sparks the cannon was spot-welded into place.
"Great," Aric said, breathing a little easier as he cautiously approached from the side and peered up at the welds. They wouldn't handle any really serious stress, of course, but they'd be more than adequate to hold the cannon in place for the twenty minutes it would take the adhesive to cure. "Okay, now you need to connect the cables-those ones coming out of the wing-to those input slots there."
One of the Yycromae on the scaffold grunted, and they set to work. "Who's got the mu-plus shield?" Aric asked, looking around.
[Here,] another Yycroma said, stepping forward with the soft metallic material in his hand.
"Toss it up to them," Aric instructed. "You, up there-make sure you get a double layer wrapped around every exposed part of the cables before you seal it."
A movement to Aric's right caught the corner of his eye, and he turned as a Yycroman female stepped up to him, the tooled half cloak of a midlevel government official rippling as she walked. [Aric Cavanagh,] she greeted him, her black eyes studying the operation going on above their heads. [Have you progress to report?]
"I should have some soon," Aric told her. "As soon as the cables and mu-plus magnetic shield are in place, they can run the control module through its paces. The shield should fix the phase-interference problems."
[And then?]
Aric gestured upward. "A little armor-plate conduit over the cables, and this one will be finished. Then we just have to go back and correct the three that were done wrong and make sure the workers add this step to the procedure from now on."
The female was still gazing upward. [Will your assistance be needed further?] she asked.
Aric frowned at her, a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What do you mean?"
[You have been of great service to the Yycromae,] she said. [I ask again: will your assistance be needed further?]
Aric braced himself. An ominous-sounding question, made downright sinister by the cold Yycroman delivery. "Not really," he conceded. "I could certainly be of further help, but I'm not really necessary. Your people should be able to handle everything from here on."
[Thank you,] she said, lowering her gaze at last to him. [Please come with me.]
With the requisite two males marching behind as guards, the female led the way out of the underground hangar, back through the maze of corridors, and up the stairway into the government building where he'd been taken when he'd first arrived on Phormbi three days ago. Two hallways later the female stopped beside a door, this one guarded by four males. [The ci Yyatoor awaits you,] she said. [Farewell, Aric Cavanagh.]
She turned and left, the escort leaving with her. One of the guards swung open the door; swallowing, Aric went inside.
The room was large and ornate, lavishly stocked with both furniture and museum-class art objects. Seated in a carved chair in the center, dressed to the hilt in her ceremonial helmet and tooled cloak, was Klyveress ci Yyatoor. Seated in a pair of human-sized chairs facing her, their heads turned to look in Aric's direction, were two young men. [He is here, as I promised,] Klyveress said, gesturing toward him. [Aric Cavanagh, these human males have come to Phormbi seeking you.]
"Really," Aric said, stepping forwar
d as both men got to their feet. Offhand, he couldn't remember ever seeing either of them before. "What can I do for you?"
"My name's Daschka; Commonwealth Diplomatic Service," one of them identified himself, offering a shimmery ID card for inspection. "This is my associate, Cho Ming. You've led us quite a chase, Mr. Cavanagh."
"I was unaware I'd been leading anyone on any chases," Aric said, glancing casually at the ID and handing it back. Giving the card a long, suspicious examination might be taken as an insult, and he didn't have the expertise to spot a forgery anyway. Besides, Klyveress had undoubtedly already had the two men checked out.
"A figure of speech only," Cho Ming assured him. "Actually, Mr. Cavanagh, we were becoming worried about you."
Aric lifted his eyebrows. "Really. You personally, or the whole Commonwealth diplomatic service?"