his head and rolled to a sitting position.
Alex hauled him to his feet, and aimed him for the fence, where his partner had made it half over. The partner's feet were kicking in the air, and Alex decided that the only thing better than two incredibly drunk guards would be two incredibly drunk guards on the other side of that fence.
So he helped the second guard up onto the boxes and just for the sake of public safety, he held their rifles for them while they climbed. He gave them each a shove, and they fell with a thump on the other side. They grumbled at each other in Awarshi.
Alex leaned over the wall and pointed down the alley and shouted, urgently. "Spushta! She's getting away!"
They ran.
Alex tucked the rifles in behind the boxes, and slipped back to the kitchen to peek in. There were still too many people in the kitchen. Clearly this wasn't the time to sneak Thorny out, but the guards would not be back for a while, and maybe Niko would kick everybody out of the kitchen soon.
In the meantime, Alex had a puzzle to solve: Why had the girl gone back into the building?
Was it instinct? Like a rabbit looking for the nearest place to hide? The girl who swung that sword around was no rabbit, and he was sure her first instinct was not to hide. But rabbit or not, she could probably use some help getting out again.
Besides, Alex had an idea. He had noticed that, unlike the security men, the regular Awarshi soldiers had ill-fitting uniforms -- all baggy and loose, and both the men and women wore the same uniform.
The girl might be able to blend in if she had a uniform.
Alex stopped by the linen closet and grabbed some clothes, then headed upstairs to find the rooms above the kitchen windows.
The doors were all locked along that hallway, but he had the keys that Niko gave him.
The first room was full of barrels and boxes. There was a bed, indicating that it had been a guest room at one time, but the mattress was rolled up, and the bed itself was disassembled and leaning against the wall to make room for more barrels. And the second room was the same.
Well, that explained why the Awarshis were so reluctant to invite the wreck victims into the inn. It wasn't an inn, it was a storage depot.
Alex went on to the third room. This one had the bed intact, but it was stacked high with bales of blankets. There were more stacks on the floor, tall enough for the girl to hide behind.
Alex stepped further into the room, and the door slammed shut behind him. He turned, and found himself facing the tip of that sword.
"Why did you try to poison that officer?" hissed the girl.
Episode 26
Pookiterin In The Corner
If his bad leg had not prevented Rozinshura from leaping across the room and throttling Pookiterin with his bare hands, he would certainly have done so. But a warning pain in the knee slowed him down enough to consider his options.
Pookiterin was vulnerable. If Rozinshura pushed too hard, he'd fight back, but if he just let the situation do the pushing for him....
Rozinshura stepped into the alcove and looked around, at the jacket hanging in the corner, at the upturned chair, and the small glass that lay on its side on the table. He picked up the chair and then sat in it with a heavy sigh, and looked at Pookiterin.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
Pookiterin bristled. "How dare you question me?"
Rozinshura waved a hand and pulled the good bottle of brandy from the large pocket of his overcoat. He showed Pookiterin the label. The colonel calmed and tilted his head in a superior way.
"Thinking twice about your actions now?" said Pookiterin, with just a slight shake to his voice to say he was not as confident as he seemed.
"I always think three or four times at least, Kinchin Colonel," said Rozinshura politely. He pulled a pair of tea cups from the shelves behind him, and poured. "You know, it's in the rules. Seduction and sexual coercion are not to be used with detainees. It's rule four of the interrogation code. Right near the top."
Pookiterin made a derisive sound. Rozinshura slid the cup across the table to him, leaning forward to make his point.
"I know. Nobody cares, as long as you get results. But when you are alone with a detainee and she escapes, taking your weapon with her, people want to know why your pants were down."
"My pants were not down," said Pookiterin.
"I'm speaking metaphorically, of course," said Rozinshura.
He shrugged apologetically. The colonel took the cup and drank. Rozinshura poured a little more.
"But I have to make a report. The witnesses, who knows what they'll say? And the woman--" He paused and tilted his head. "The way she twirled that sword.... You know, I think she is a Cussar. She must be. They will be upset when she gets back to them and tells them of this."
"You think I care about a bunch of mountain goats and refugees?" said Pookiterin derisively.
"Perhaps not. But I know I would not relish it if Commander Zuzo were to come and demand justice for his kinchin tomorrow." In truth, Rozinshura would relish it greatly. Zuzo was fierce and uncompromising and frightening to poseurs like Pookiterin. The province of Cussaria had been lost to a neighboring country in the previous war -- surrendered by men like Pookiterin -- but the Cussars were Awarshi to their souls and kept fighting. Zuzo lead one of the more formidable partisan bands.
"We don't know that she is Cussar," said Pookiterin. "And how likely is it that she belongs to Zuzo?"
"They're right across the river. They come here to resupply."
Pookiterin sat still for a moment and then suddenly he burst out angrily.
"They came here to derail the train!" he declared. "They are part of a plo--"
He caught himself a moment too late. He did know something of a plot. And that plot involved the train.
No one had been to the wreck site except for Rozinshura's people. Whatever Pookiterin knew, it was knowledge he got before the wreck. He might even have known it would happen before it did -- or at least that it was likely to.
But was his mission to foil the plot, or help it along? That was the question.
Episode 27
Which Side Are You On, Kinchin?
Rozinshura thought fast. He couldn't let the moment slip. How to get Pookiterin to say more? The man was a lap dog. He loved to feel important. Pressure him and he might shut up. Stroke his ego, and he'd bay like a hound.
So Rozinshura leaned forward.
"Is that true?" he said, his eyes wide with slavish astonishment. "The Cussars did this?"
Pookiterin preened. "We are quite certain."
"But why would the Cussars do such a thing?"
"They were paid. Their loyalty has been bought by certain factions."
Rozinshura did not believe this for a minute. Oh, a band of Cussars could be paid to do anything, but it was not at all in their favor to attack an Awarshi train. This story had the stink of a scapegoat. The question was whether Pookiterin knew it, or if he were just repeating what he was told.
"So there is a plot," said Rozinshura. He uncapped the brandy again and poured a little more, and offered a little more verbal bait to go with it. "That would explain why Vshtin decided not to come here after all."
Now Pookiterin sat forward. Yes, he was interested. It meant something to him, but he waited for Rozinshura to say more.
"We are told he must keep to his schedule in the capital," said Rozinshura. "So I am sorry, but when you have me shot for insolence it will not be in his presence. You'll have to make do with a mere emissary."
The colonel gave a benevolent wave, as if all insults were forgotten.
"We will all miss his presence, of course, but his work in the capital is too important," said Pookiterin. He paused. "He is keeping to his schedule then?"
"That is what we were told."
Pookiterin took the brandy and drank, and smiled a private little smile that sent chills up Rozinshura's back. A man like him loves important visitors.
He should not be so happy that Vshtin was not coming. What did it mean?
If Vshtin were to change his schedule, that would disrupt the coup attempt. Could it be that Pookiterin knew of the coup and wanted it to go forward? Or did he think that a return to the regular schedule meant the coup had already been foiled?
Or did that smile only mean that Pookiterin wanted Rozinshura to think he knew something?
Rozinshura poured himself another drink and dropped another bit of bait.
"And now the lines are down again," he said. "No more communications."
"The lines are down?" said Pookiterin, and he smiled a huge smile, as though it were the news he had been waiting for.
In a coup, the first thing they would do was cut the telegraph lines.
Rozinshura drank down his brandy, but barely tasted it.
"Captain, all is forgiven," said Pookiterin benevolently. "Let me have my spy back, and we can all go about our business."
He stood, but Rozinshura sat where he was. It was too late to take back the upper hand, but he had to know more.
"Why do you think he is a spy?"
"That's none of your business!"
If it was none of Rozinshura's business, then it was something more than Pookiterin rounding up suspicious characters. There was a description. Orders. Rozinshura decided to shut up. Now that he let the colonel believe the coup was going forward, he couldn't go back and blackmail him for misbehavior with the girl. Pookiterin was full of confidence again.
"Where is he?" said Pookiterin. He pointed to the larder door. "Is he in there?"
Rozinshura put on his best look of confusion and gave the man a wild goose.
"Why