Cobra Bargain

Chapter 29

A drop of sweat ran down between Jin's shoulderblades. Cross the street, she wanted to urge... but she knew full well what Daulo's reaction would be. She might as well suggest they turn and run back to the sajada for sanctuary.

At least none of the youths blocking the walkway appeared to be armed. That was something, anyway.

"But if you have to fight," she murmured suddenly, "stay as far back from them as you can. Understand?"

He glanced at her; but before he could comment one of the youths swaggered a step forward.

"Hello there, baelcra-keeper," he said conversationally as she and Daulo stopped. "Your own sajada burn down last night or something?"

"No," Daulo replied with a touch of ice in his voice. "Though if we're going to mention the sajada, you don't seem to be dressed for a visit there."

"Maybe we went earlier," another youth said with a sly grin. "Maybe you and your woman were too busy pharpesing to go then, huh?"

Another word the Troft translation tapes hadn't covered; but Daulo jerked as if he'd been stung. "And who'd know all about pharpesing better than ghaalas like you?" he snapped.

Insult traded for insult, clearly; but none of the toughs seemed especially disturbed. In fact, to Jin's eye they almost looked pleased by Daulo's reaction.

As if they'd been deliberately trying to get him mad.

Which may have been exactly what they'd planned. At seven-to-one odds, picking a fight would be little more than a game to them. And a game with potentially rich rewards, too, if Daulo's clothing also identified his social and financial positions. It might not even take an overt robbery, in fact-depending on how

Qasaman law was written, it was possible that if they could get Daulo to throw the first punch, they could claim damages from him. It could explain why the youths hadn't moved to encircle them: they might have to be able to claim afterwards that Daulo hadn't been threatened.

And in that case... there might just be something Jin could do to throw salt water on their little scheme.

"...ought to slink back to your little drip-water village now and tend your pharpesing little women, okay?"

Beside her, Jin could feel Daulo trembling. Whatever the incomprehensible slang was they'd been tossing back and forth, he was tottering on the brink of losing control. Gritting her teeth, Jin took a deep breath. This was it-

"All right," she snapped, suddenly stepping forward. "That's just about enough of that. Get out of our way."

The toughs' jaws sagged with astonishment, instant proof that she had indeed just kicked the supports out from under their game plan. Picking a seven-to-one fight with a man was one thing; picking the same fight with a woman was something else entirely. Not even a financial settlement would make up for what a fiasco like that would do to their reputations.

"Shut your mouth, woman," the first youth snarled at her, his cheek twitching with obvious uncertainty. "Unless this fhach-faced friend of yours prefers hiding behind-"

"I said get out of our way!" Jin yelled. Raising her arms, she charged.

The move caught him totally flatfooted, and she'd slammed her shoulder into his ribs before he could even get his hands up to stop her.

It didn't hurt him, of course-she was taking enough of a chance here without exhibiting Cobra strength in the bargain. But the damage to his pride was all she could have hoped for. Snarling something incomprehensible under his breath, he grabbed her arms and thrust her into the grip of two of his companions-

And stepped past her just in time to catch Daulo's fist in his face.

The blow staggered him back. Daulo followed it with a punch to his solar plexus, knocking him to the ground. "Leave him alone!" Jin wailed as the two holding her arms pulled her back out of the way and the other four belatedly moved in to circle Daulo. The hands on her upper arms tightened their grip; crossing her arms across her chest, she reached up with opposite hands to press theirs against her arms.

Pinning them solidly in place.

One down, two out of the fight, she ticked off mentally. Daulo and his opponents were crouched in what seemed to be variants of the same fighting stance, the toughs continuing to circle as if unsure of whether or not they really wanted to take on the man who'd just decked their leader. And then, almost in unison, they moved in.

Daulo knew enough about street fighting not to let all four reach him at the same time. He took a long stride to his left, flailing a wild punch at the youth on that side to force him back.

He seemed as surprised as anyone when the punch actually connected. Even more so when the youth went down and stayed there.

A second tough got within range and snapped a kick in Daulo's direction. Daulo leaped belatedly out of its way; but his move turned out to be unnecessary. The kick missed by at least twenty centimeters, and even as Daulo stepped forward to throw a countering punch, the youth lost his balance totally and toppled to the walkway.

It was enough for the other two. Backing away, they glanced at each other and at their two companions still holding-and being held against-Jin's arms. Then, turning, they took off down the walkway.

Daulo swung around to face Jin and her warders. "Well?" he demanded.

Jin recognized a cue when she heard it. She released her pressure grip on their hands, senses alert in case they tried something last-ditch foolish.

They didn't. Letting go of her, they sidled past Daulo and ran.

Daulo watched them go. Then, turning back to Jin, he looked her up and down.

"You all right?" he asked at last.

She nodded. "You?"

There was a peculiar expression on his face. "Uh-huh. We'd better get out of here, before there are any awkward questions asked."

Jin glanced around. No one was approaching them, but several of the passersby were eyeing them from a healthy distance. "Right."

They'd covered another block before he finally asked the inevitable question.

"What did you do to them?"

She shrugged uncomfortably. This could be extremely ticklish... "Well, for starters, I was hanging onto the ones who were holding my arms, keeping them out of the fight. The others... I gave them each a blast of focused ultrasonic in the head before you hit them."

"Which is why you wanted me to keep back, I suppose. And that knocked them out?"

"No, I didn't want to hit them that hard. I just gave them enough of a jolt to rattle their brains and throw their balance off track."

Walking closely beside him, she could feel his arm begin to tremble. Uh-oh, she thought tensely. Too much for his Qasaman ego to take? "Daulo? You okay?"

"Oh, sure," he said, a noticeable quaver in his voice. "I was just wondering what their friends are going to say when they hear about this. Seven of them, beaten right into the ground by a villager and a woman."

She frowned up at him... and only then realized that the trembling she heard and felt wasn't rage or shame.

It was suppressed laughter.

She fell silent after that... which gave Daulo the rest of the way back to their temporary home to try and figure out just why the whole thing was so funny.

On one level, it shouldn't have been-that much he was acutely aware of. For him to have been defended by a woman was something that should have him red-faced with shame, not shaking with laughter. Even if she was a demon-warrior woman, and even if the alternative had been to get himself beaten to blood-pulp.

No, he told himself firmly. That's not the way to think of it. It's more like a couple of villagers putting one over on a bunch of jerkfaced city ghaalas. Or a villager and a villager-by-adoption, anyway.

The thought startled him. Villager-by-adoption. Was he really starting to think of Jin Moreau in such friendly terms? No-impossible, he assured himself. She was a temporary ally, temporarily under his protection as a point of honor. Nothing more. In a few days her rescuers would come, and she'd go, and he'd never see her again.

And he wondered-though not very hard-why that thought finally stilled the laughter within him.

"Are all the formalities over for the day?" she asked as they reached the apartment. "I'd like to change clothes."

"They're over at least until sundown," Daulo told her, keying the lock and opening the door. "And that service is optional."

"Good," she said, stepping inside. "I think it must be a basic human failing not to be able to come up with formal clothing as comfortable as day-to-daywear-what's that light?"

"Phone message," Daulo explained, frowning. Who might have known to call them here? Walking over to the instrument, he keyed for the message.

The phone beeped, and a thin strip of paper slid out from the message slot.

"What?" Jin asked.

"It's from Mayor Capparis," Daulo told her, reading it quickly. "He says Mangus has called for a work party to be assembled at the city center this Sunday morning."

"How do they pick the workers?"

Daulo skimmed the paper. "Looks like it's on the basis of need. Unemployed and poor first, based on city records-"

"Wait a second," she interrupted him. "Aren't they even going to try and contact any of the workers they've had out there before? Ones they've already trained?"

"Maybe they already have."

"Oh. Right."

"Um. Mayor Capparis recommends we stick to the marketplaces' second-booths when we pick up city-style clothing."

Jin nodded. "Good idea. What about those city records, though? How are we going to fake that?"

Daulo shrugged. "Presumably Mayor Capparis will take care of that."

"Um." Jin stepped toward him. "May I see the message?"

He handed the paper over. She gazed at it for what seemed to be an unnecessarily long time. "You having trouble reading it?" he asked at last.

"No," she said slowly. "I was just wondering... It's addressed to you. By name."

"Of course it is. So?"

"So doesn't it strike you as odd that those toughs just happened to be hanging around directly between the sajada and here?"

He frowned. "I don't see the problem. You're the one who pointed out we were dressed in villagers' clothing. They were just after some fun."

"Maybe." She chewed at her lip, an annoying habit of hers. "But suppose for a moment that there was more to it than that. Suppose that whoever it is who doesn't want villagers snooping around inside Mangus found out we were going to try for one of their work parties."

"That's ridiculous," Daulo snorted. "How would they find out..." He trailed off, eyes dropping to the paper still in her hand. "Mayor Capparis wouldn't tell them," he said flatly.

"I'm not suggesting he did," Jin shook her head. "But this message presumably came from his office. Couldn't someone there have found out about it, either before or after it was sent?"

Daulo gritted his teeth. It wasn't all that farfetched, unfortunately. If one of the mayor's enemies had gotten wind of the scheme, putting them into the hospital would be a safe and simple way for him to thwart it. "It's possible, I suppose," he admitted aloud to Jin, "But if you're suggesting we pick up and run, forget it."

"We don't have to run," she said. "Just move. Find somewhere else, where no one-including Mayor Capparis-knows where to find us."

"We still have to show up at the city center," he pointed out.

"True. But there's nothing much we can do about that."

"Then what's the point of hiding now?" he countered. "All it does is buy us a couple of days."

"A couple of days can mean a lot. Among other things, it gives us more time to prepare."

She was right; and down deep he recognized that. But on the surface, his honor had surged once again to the fore. "No," he shook his head. "I'm not running.

Not without better proof than that."

She took a deep breath, and he braced himself for an argument. "Then the deal's off," she said bluntly.

He blinked with surprise. "What?"

"I said the deal's off. You might as well head back to Milika right now, because

I'm going into Mangus alone."

"That's ridiculous. I'm not letting you do something that-that-" He shut up, realizing with annoyance he was starting to sputter. "Besides, what do we have to worry about? With your powers-"

"My powers are designed to protect me," she cut him off. "Not friends or people around me; just me. And if you're not going to cooperate, I can't take the risk of something happening to you."

"Why?" he snarled. "Because my father would call the Shahni down on your head?"

"Because you're my friend," she said quietly.

For a moment he just glared at her, feeling his arguments melt and drain away.

"All right," he gritted at last. "I'll offer you a compromise. If you can prove we're under direct attack, I'll agree to anything you say."

She hesitated, then nodded. "Fair enough. Well... let's see. I suppose the best way to start would be for you to call up Mayor Capparis's office and leave a message telling him that we're moving to a new place. We won't really be going anywhere," she hastened to add, "but if there's an informant there, he'll get the word out to his fighters. Then we can find a place on the sidelines and watch what happens. If anything."

He clenched his teeth, trying without success to find some grounds on which to object. Then, silently, he stepped to the phone.

Mayor Capparis wasn't in, of course, probably still meeting with one of the heyats at his own sajada. Leaving the message, he hung up and turned back to

Jin. "Okay. Now what?"

"Now we load everything back in the car and drive off as if we're leaving," she told him. "We need to go out and buy some city-style clothes, anyway. First, though, we'll want to find some place near here that would be a plausible hiding place."

"Easy enough," Daulo grunted, stepping over to where he'd laid out his clothing the night before. "We just look for an apartment whose door has no protector."

"Protector?"

"Yes," he said. "The traditional carved medallions every household places near their doors to protect them from the evil eye. Didn't you notice the ones in

Milika?"

He had the minor satisfaction of seeing her blush with chagrin. "No, I'm afraid

I completely missed them," she admitted. "Well... good. That'll make the hunt easier, anyway."

"So what happens once we've found this empty apartment?"

She smiled lopsidedly. "With any luck, sometime tonight it'll be attacked."

And with that she disappeared into the bedroom. No, Daulo told himself firmly, you don't want to know. Swallowing, he returned to his packing.