The Icarus Hunt

CHAPTER 21

AFTER ALL THE firepower that had been expended inside the club, I'd half expected to find a wall of local police surrounding the place as we slipped out the emergency exit and down the alley onto the crowded k'Barch streets. But to my mild surprise not a single badgeman was visible anywhere among the colorfully dressed celebrants. Either they just hadn't made it to the scene yet because of the crowds or because they were tied up with other more pressing business, or else a little good-natured gunplay wasn't remarkable enough during the Grand Feast to warrant official attention.

Especially without the club's ownership making any complaints; and it was for sure that Ambassador Nask wouldn't have risked losing Patth control of the Icarus by calling the local authorities in.

Which was just as well, considering how much trouble we had making our escape even without governmental interference. Now that it was full night, the crowds filling the streets were at least twice as dense as they'd been when I'd first arrived, and it seemed like every third step one of us managed to get jostled or bumped in a tender spot by some boisterous or flat-out drunk reveler. Even the high-quality painkillers and anesthetic pads Cameron had stocked the Icarus with could only do so much, and by the end of the second block I was about ready to haul out my plasmic and start shooting us a clear path.

Adding to the physical torture of pushing through the morass was the tension of wondering if and when the Patth would be able to regroup for another stab at us.

Even in a multispecies gathering like this Ixil and his ferrets stood out, drawing far more attention than any of us liked. But like the badgemen, the Patth and their Iykami minions failed to materialize. Either we'd already taken out the bulk of their force, or else Nask had decided to concentrate whatever he had left on the various spaceport entrances instead of trying to comb the entire city. I could only hope that the informally thrown-together Bangrot Spaceport wouldn't have made it onto his map.

It turned out that the night-to-dawn club wasn't too far from the pharmacy where the Iykams had jumped me, which was itself not very far from the tram station where I'd first gotten off. But from the unfamiliar terrain we quickly passedinto, it was clear that Ixil was leading us in a different direction entirely.

I understood the tactical reasoning behind the plan: The nearest station wouldnaturally be where the Patth would concentrate any observers they might beable to pull together. But at the same time, I found myself privately grousing athaving to put up with more of this than I absolutely had to.

But we made it through the crowds, and my head didn't fall off along the way, and finally I saw the undulating sign of a tram station ahead of us. "Waithere," Ixil said, steering the three of us into the mouth of another alleyway.

"I'll go check for unwelcome company."

"Right," I said, helping him ease Everett to the ground. "The k'Tra might havemonitor cameras in there, too."

"I'll take care of them," he promised. Two steps later, he was lost to sightamong the teeming multitudes.

"What was all that about monitors?" Everett asked, rubbing his leg at the edgeof the burn pad.

"Monitor cameras can be used by people other than those who set them up," Itold him. "It could be the Patth aren't bothering to look for us out here becausethey've already tapped into the k'Tra citywide monitor system."

"A fact Ixil seemed to pick up on right away," Nicabar said. He was leaningagainst the opposite wall from me, regarding me with a thoughtful expression.

"Has he had any military experience, McKell?"

I shrugged. "We started flying the Stormy Banks together about six years ago,"

I told him. "I can't recall him ever mentioning military service in any of thattime."

"Interesting," Nicabar said. He had closed his eyes, and I saw now that whatI'd taken to be thoughtfulness was merely a deep fatigue. "In some ways he thinkslike a military man."

"Probably my influence," I said. "I had five years in EarthGuard back in mytwenties."

"Yes, Tera told me a little about your career," Nicabar said, opening his eyesbriefly, then closing them again. "Anyway, I hope you realize what a goodpartner you've got there."

I didn't straighten up, or inhale sharply, or do any of the other things thattraditionally accompany a moment of blinding epiphany. But with Nicabar'swords, the last of the stubborn pieces finally fell into place. I knew now who hadmurdered Jones, had tried to murder Ixil, and had been working at cross- purposesto us ever since the Icarus lifted off Meima.

And perhaps even more important, I knew why.

I was still working out all the ramifications when Ixil reappeared in thealleyway. "All clear," he said, offering Everett a hand. "I can see the lightsof an incoming tram headed our direction."

"Good," I said, helping him get Everett to his feet. "You three get going.

I'll meet you back at the ship."

They looked at me as if I'd just sprouted a second head. "What are you talkingabout?" Nicabar demanded.

"I'm talking about finishing the job I came here to do," I said. "I never hada chance to get Shawn's borandis. Speaking of which, Nask has all my cash."

"I'll go get the borandis," Ixil volunteered. "You head back with the others."

I shook my head. "They're walking wounded, Ixil," I reminded him. "You're theonly able-bodied person we've got this side of the ship. They need you to helpthem get back safely."

"But what about you?" Everett objected. "It's not exactly safe for you towander around alone, you know."

"He's right," Nicabar agreed. "Ixil, you help Everett back. I'll go withMcKell."

"Ixil might need your help, too," I said. "Everett could still go into delayedshock and have to be carried. For that matter, Revs, you could go into shock, and there's no way in hell I could lug you back by myself." I craned my neck.

"And if you don't get moving, you're going to miss this tram."

"But—" Nicabar began.

"Save your breath," Ixil advised, settling Everett's arm in place over hisshoulder, Pix and Pax scrabbling around for new positions out of the way.

"It's no use arguing with him when he's made up his mind this way."

"And what if the Iykams find him?" Nicabar growled.

"The Iykams are dead or scattered," I said. "Personally, I'm more worriedabout what'll happen if the Patth stumble onto the ship and none of you are there todefend it. Or do you really think Tera and Chort can hold off a concertedattack by themselves?"

"I suppose he's right," Everett said reluctantly.

"Of course I'm right," I said. "Give me one hour after you get to the ship forme to catch up with you. If I'm not back, Ixil, you'd better try lifting off.

Head for Everett's hiding place, and I'll try to catch up with you. And let mehave some money, will you?"

"Here," Ixil said, pulling out his wallet and handing it to me, his eyessteadyon my face. "There should be enough there."

"Thanks," I said as I took it. There was a lot he wanted to say, I could tell, but didn't dare do so in front of the others. "Now get going."

Ixil nodded. "Be careful."

"Trust me," I promised.

They headed out, varying degrees of unhappiness mirrored in their faces andpostures. I leafed through the wallet—three hundred commarks; more thanenough—making sure to give them a good head start. Then, diving into thecrowd, I followed after them. Partly it was simple caution on my part, a desire to bein backup position in case the Iykams hadn't all been killed or scattered.

Mainly, though, I wanted to make sure all three actually got on that tram andstayed there. What I was about to do next I couldn't afford to let even a hintleak out about.

And so I stood half-concealed behind a group of Skanks and watched as they gotaboard. I hung around until the tram pulled out; then, standing on tiptoe tostudy the flapping display flags, I headed for the nearest pharmacy.

I had anticipated having no trouble picking up borandis in the middle of theGrand Feast, and no trouble was exactly what I got. Ten minutes afterentering, I was out on the street again, two hundred commarks' worth of borandis safelytucked away in my inner pocket. With any luck that would be far more than wewould actually need, but it would look suspicious if I'd only brought enoughto get us to Everett's Beyscrim hideout. I made my way back to the station and hid in the crowd until the next tram arrived.

Not surprisingly, the tram was quite uncrowded; with the revels in full swingthe majority of the traffic was headed into the cities and not vice versa. Thesparse occupancy meant I was more conspicuous than I might otherwise havebeen, but it also meant I got a seat all to myself, plus a few minutes of badlyneeded rest. All in all, I decided it was a fair trade.

The ride was uneventful. I saw no Patth, no Iykams, and no sign that I wasbeingeither watched or followed. And after what seemed like far too short a tripthe doors opened onto the Bangrot Spaceport platform.

It was going to be another long hike back to the Icarus, unless opportunityand diminished crowd density enabled me to take one of the little runaround carsinstead. But whichever, ride or walk, it was going to be postponed a littlewhile longer. Instead of turning right and making for the Icarus, I turnedleft and headed to the StarrComm building.

The receptionist at Uncle Arthur's left me on hold for several minutes, whichwas a bad sign all by itself. It meant they were having to wake him up, andUncle Arthur roused from his beauty sleep was never even remotely at his best.

Add to that the news I was about to give him, and this was likely to be one ofour less pleasant conversations.

My first look at him, when the display finally cleared, was the firstindication that my assessment of the situation had been ominously off target. UncleArthur was not garbed in sleep shirt and hastily thrown-on robe, his hair tousledinto a multidirectional halo. He was instead immaculately groomed, every hair inplace, and dressed in the sort of upscale finery I hadn't seen him wear inyears.

Which meant that instead of hauling him out of bed, I'd instead interrupted ameeting with those higher up in the food chain than he was, out in those murkywaters he'd spent so much of his life swimming in. I tried to decide whetherthat was better or worse than waking him up, but my throbbing head wasn't upto the task.

And then I took my first look at his face, and felt an icy cold begin to seepinto my heart. It was a graveyard face, the look of a man who's been backedinto a corner by his enemies with nowhere else to go and no more tricks left touse.

The look of a chess master down to his king and one pawn, with the painfulknowledge that that pawn is about to be sacrificed.

"Jordan," he said, his voice studiously neutral. "We were just talking aboutyou. What's the situation?"

"Mine's not so hot," I said. "How's yours?"

"Not very good, I'm afraid," he conceded. "Where are you now?"

"In the middle of the Grand Feast celebration on Palmary," I told him. "Andhoping to get the hell out as fast as we can."

"I take it you had some trouble?"

"You might say that," I agreed tartly. "The Patth caught up with me and lettheir Iykami underlings play a brief drum solo on my head. My crew was able to spring me, but two of them took plasmic burns on the way out. I know you don'tlike getting overtly involved with my life, but we need some backup. And weneed it now."

His expression, if anything, went a little more neutral. "Do you have adestination in mind after you leave there?"

"One of the crew has a friend on Beyscrim with an isolated lodge he's notusing," I said, feeling the cold dread settling a little more deeply into me.

He hadn't responded to my call for reinforcements; and now the mention ofBeyscrimshould have had him busily punching his off-screen computer keys for data. Buthe wasn't. "It's supposed to be a five-day flight from here, which I figureshould put it within reach of at least some of your people."

"Yes, it would," he agreed heavily. "Jordan... I'm afraid there won't be anybackup."

I stared at him. "May I ask why not?"

"To be blunt, because Earth has caved," he said, his voice suddenly bitter.

"Not fifteen minutes ago Geneva issued a formal notice that no public, governmental, or private organizations or persons with citizenship ties to Earth orEarth-allied worlds are to offer information, personnel, materiel, or anyother assistance to the outlaw starship flying under the name Icarus."

His lip twitched. "You were also specifically mentioned in the order, Jordan.

Along with Ixil and two or three others of your crew for whom they havenames."

"This is nonsense," I said, my voice sounding unreal through the noise of mysuddenly pounding heart. Uncle Arthur had been my absolute last chance. "Theycan't do that. The stakes here—"

"The stakes are precisely what they're thinking about," he said with agrimace.

"I didn't tell you the other part. Approximately ten minutes before Genevaissued their order the Patth issued one of their own. The entire Kalixiri populace has been declared anathema."

I stared at him, Nask's parting-shot curse against Ixil and his people echoingthrough my mind. "That was fast," I said. "It wasn't even an hour ago that thePatth ambassador made that threat."

"Yes," Uncle Arthur said. "Whatever you did to irritate them, it would seemthe Patth have suddenly decided to stop playing games."

I exhaled loudly. "I liked it better when they were skulking around nottellinganyone who or what they really wanted. Has Geneva forgotten that ArnoCameron's involved here?"

He shrugged. "I presume not. If Cameron himself were there I'm sure he'd bepulling strings and cashing out favors all over the city. But as far as I knowhe's still missing, and those kinds of strings don't pull themselves." Hiseyesnarrowed slightly. "Unless you know where he is."

"If I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you," I countered sourly. "At least notin the hearing of whoever the high-nosed flacks are back there who are listeningin."

He glanced down at his clothing. "I suppose this outfit is something of a giveaway; isn't it?" he conceded. "Yes, Geneva was thoughtful enough to send apair of representatives to deliver to me a personal copy of their edict.

However, they are not, in fact, listening in on us."

"I suppose I should be thankful for small favors," I grumbled. "So much forour private little arrangement."

"So much for it, indeed," he agreed. "I'm somewhat surprised the authoritieshadn't forgotten about me after all this time."

"A pity they hadn't," I said, probing carefully at the lump on the back of myhead. It felt about the size of a prize-winning grapefruit. "All right, soyou've been ordered not to deal with me, along with everyone else in theSpiralwith ten toes and red blood. What exactly does that mean?"

He sighed. "I'm afraid it means exactly what it says. I can't have anythingwhatsoever to do with you."

I snorted. "Oh, come on. Since when have you worried about what anyone saysyoucan or can't do? Especially anyone in Geneva?"

He shook his head. "You still don't understand, Jordan. This isn't somestrategic or political decision on the part of reasoned statesmen. This is thepanic reaction of people who are terrified of what the Patth might do to us ifany human in the Spiral—any human—is seen to be assisting you."

"That's ridiculous," I insisted. "The Patth are bluffing—they have to be.

Human-owned and -associated shipping must make up four to six percent of Patthcargoes. They can't afford to lose all that with the stroke of a pen."

"They did it with the Kalixiri," he reminded me. "And yes, I know the Kalixiritotal is minuscule compared to ours. But no one in Geneva is ready to callthat bluff." He hesitated. "And to be quite honest, I'm not convinced it is abluff.

Not when you consider that the Patth economic future could hinge on what theIcarus contains."

For perhaps half a minute neither of us spoke. Uncle Arthur broke the silencefirst. "What about Ryland or Antoniewicz?" he asked. "I doubt Geneva has beenable to deliver to them a personal copy of the edict."

"They didn't have to," I said, frowning as a sudden thought struck me. "ThePatth ambassador told me Brother John had already disavowed any connectionbetween us."

"Too bad," he murmured. "No matter what you think of Antoniewicz, his groupmight have had the resources to help you out."

"Oddly enough, Tera made a similar suggestion," I said, thinking furiously asyet another layer of the Jones murder peeled away, onion-like, in my mind.

"Though unlike you, she didn't care for the idea of turning the Icarus over tocriminals."

"I can't say I care for it myself," Uncle Arthur admitted. "But if it comes toa choice of Antoniewicz or the Patth having the Icarus..." He shook his head.

I took a deep breath. This was it. All the pieces were finally in place, andit was time to make my pitch. "What if you could have it all?" I asked. "TheIcarus, and everything else? Everything you've always wanted. How far wouldyougo to get it?"

For a long moment he didn't speak, his pale blue eyes gazing at me in that waythat always made me feel like he was trying to drill his way down through thevarious layers of my psyche to my soul. "You're serious," he said at last. Itwasn't a question.

"Deadly serious," I agreed. "I can do it. Bear in mind, too, that if we don'tdo something, we will lose the Icarus. Either to the Patth or—"

"All right, you've sold me," he cut me off. "What do you need?" And for thenext ten minutes, in great detail, I told him.

THERE WERE, PREDICTABLY, none of the little runabout cars available as I leftthe StarrComm building, which meant another long walk. Mindful of the hour'sgrace time I'd given Ixil before he was to try his hand at piloting theIcarus, I hurried as quickly as my throbbing head and the need to remain reasonablyinconspicuous would permit.

None of the others was visible outside the ship as I finally dragged myselfinto view of it. But then, I wasn't really expecting to see anyone, not with Ixiland Nicabar in charge of arranging guard duty. It wasn't until I was nearly to thefoot of the ladder that I spotted Pix crouched in the shadow of one of theship's landing skids, staying clear of the press of spacers wandering aroundeven at this hour. I whistled, and he bounded away from his spot and scamperedover to me. I managed to catch him before he could try his tree-climbing actwith my shin and scritched him briefly behind his ears. "Ixil?" I calledquietly.

"Here," a voice answered from above and to my left. I looked up, just as Ixilappeared from behind the festively glowing lights that had been set up as permyorders in the gaps of our camouflaging cowling. "Any trouble?"

"None," I said, watching as he eased his way through one of the larger gapsand dropped to the ground. "You?"

He shook his head. "It's been very quiet," he said, waving somewhere behindme.

I turned to look, saw Chort detach himself from a parked fueler and headtoward us. "You like the job Chort and Tera did with the lights?"

"Very nice," I agreed, looking up at the lights again. "Nice little sniper'sposition you found up there, too."

"Chort's idea, actually," Ixil said as he took Pix back from me and set him onhis shoulder. "He was up there on guard when Nicabar and Everett and I gotback.

Since Kalixiri are slightly more conspicuous than Crooea, I took it over andset him up in the more visible spot over at that fueler."

"Sounds reasonable," I said. "How's Shawn doing?"

"Bad, but not critical. At least this time he didn't get loose. Tera made surehe was securely strapped down before she set up her own guard position justinside the hatchway." He peered up. "She should still be there, in fact—

neither Everett nor Nicabar was in any shape to take over from her. Be sure toannounce yourself before you step inside the wraparound; I get the feeling she's stilla little nervous."

"I know exactly how she feels," I said dryly as Chort came up beside us. "Youall right, Chort?"

"Quite well, Captain McKell, thank you," he whistled, peering closely at me.

"I understand you have not had such fair fortune, however."

"I've been worse," I assured him. "Looks like Ixil will be on engine-room dutyfor lift; I'd like you to stay back there with him in case he needsassistance.

We did get fueled, didn't we?"

"Loaded and topped off and paid for," Ixil assured me. "Easily enough to getwhere we're going."

"Good," I said, putting one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder and takingone last look around. There were no Patth or Iykams anywhere to be seen. Nor, forthat matter, were there any police or customs officials visible, either. Butthen, now that the last onion layer had been peeled away, that didn'tespeciallysurprise me. "Let's do it."