Conquerors' Legacy

11

"Yes, I know," Thrr-gilag said. "The one they call CIRCE."

It seemed to him that Lahettilas's expression twitched at the weapon's name. "Yes," the Mrachani said eagerly. "Yes, indeed. We have been trying to warn your warriors about it, but no one would listen."

"There was no need," Thrr-gilag said. "We know all about CIRCE."

The Mrachani's eyes narrowed. "Really. Then why would your warriors not discuss it with us?"

"The reasons are unimportant," Thrr-gilag said, trying to put some official loftiness into his voice, the sort that discouraged further questions. This conversation was supposedly a private one, with only Warrior Command's designated Elders listening in, but that didn't mean some of the base's other Elders weren't privately eavesdropping. And while the Overclan Prime had given Thrr-gilag permission to talk to the Mrachanis about CIRCE, he'd also made it clear that the details of the weapon were still to be kept secret. "What is important right now is to discuss what the Mrachanis suggest we do about the threat."

The Mrachani blinked. "We must form an alliance, of course," he said, as if that were obvious. "Only together can we hope to defeat the Conquerors Without Reason."

"I see," Thrr-gilag said. "What would the Mrachanis bring to such an alliance?"

The second Mrachani, who up to now had been silent, took a step away from the wall where he'd been inconspicuously standing. "We can provide information," he said. "You fight valiantly against the Conquerors Without Reason; but you seem as yet unaware of an equally great danger lurking in the darkness. The Conquerors Without Reason have allies. Vicious, dangerous aliens called the Yycromae."

Thrr-gilag frowned. The Yycromae had been listed on the maps of Human space that Warrior Command had created. They held four main star systems, if he remembered correctly, grouped together at one edge of Human space. But the impression he'd gotten from the captured recorder's information— "I thought they were merely another conquered race," he said.

"That is what they wish you to believe," the second Mrachani said bitterly. "I urge you not to make the fatal mistake of believing that lie."

The acrid taste of dread flowed over Thrr-gilag's tongue. A new threat, as dangerous as the Humans? "Yet they have only four worlds," he reminded Lahettilas, struggling to keep his growing fear from poisoning his reasoning. "How dangerous can they be?"

"How dangerous would four worlds of the Zhirrzh be?" Lahettilas retorted. "You refuse to believe us at the risk of your people, Searcher Thrr-gilag."

"I'm not refusing to believe you," Thrr-gilag protested, feeling himself floundering a little. "I simply need some proof that—"

"Proof?" Lahettilas cut him off, his voice oozing with scorn. "What proof would you choose, Searcher Thrr-gilag? An attack by Yycroman warships at the flanks of your forces? The sudden destruction of all the warships orbiting over Dorcas? Or would you prefer a devastating attack on the Zhirrzh homeworld?"

"No, of course not," Thrr-gilag said, his tongue flicking nervously. "Could the Yycromae really do that?"

"Not yet," the second Mrachani said darkly. "They have been taken off guard by the strength of the Zhirrzh, as have the Conquerors Without Reason. But that will change." He jabbed a finger toward Thrr-gilag. "If you allow them time."

"Yes," Thrr-gilag said, taking an involuntary step backward. The Mrachani's bearing was suddenly very intimidating. Or perhaps it was the underlying menace in his words. "I will pass your words on to our leaders."

"Do so quickly." Lahettilas cocked his head to the side, studying Thrr-gilag's face. "If, that is, you intend to do so at all," he added, the edge of scorn back in his voice.

"Of course," Thrr-gilag said, fighting back the taste of irritation as it edged through his dark fears. He'd said he would speak to the Overclan Prime—how dare this alien doubt his word? "I'll be back again soon."

"We will await your return," Lahettilas said softly. "If you value the lives of your people, do not make the delay long."

Thrr-mezaz was waiting outside when Thrr-gilag emerged from the Mrachanis' house. "How did it go?" he asked as they headed off across the landing field toward the beachhead command center.

"Not particularly pleasantly," Thrr-gilag said. The sunshine flooding down through the cloudless Dorcas sky seemed somehow darker now than it had been when he'd gone inside. "Rather frightening, if you want the truth."

"Are they still insisting we take them to Oaccanv to meet with Warrior Command?"

"They weren't insisting on that with me," Thrr-gilag said, wondering how much of the conversation he should share with his brother. The Overclan Prime had given him permission to tell Thrr-mezaz about CIRCE, but only if absolutely necessary. "Mostly they were warning me that the Humans have taken on allies."

Thrr-mezaz flicked his tongue. "The Yycromae?"

"Yes," Thrr-gilag said, frowning at him. "How did you hear about that?"

"The word came down from Warrior Command this premidarc," Thrr-mezaz told him. "Apparently the Mrachanis on Mra have been warning Nzz-oonaz about them, too."

"Really," Thrr-gilag said. "Interesting."

"How so?"

"I don't know," Thrr-gilag said slowly. "It just feels odd, somehow. If these Yycromae are so warlike and dangerous, why haven't we seen them in combat yet? For that matter, why didn't that captured Human recorder identify them as Human allies?"

"Maybe a deliberate lie on the Human-Conquerors' part," Thrr-mezaz suggested.

"Or else it's the Mrachanis who are lying," Thrr-gilag countered. "I still don't trust them."

"Frankly, I don't either," Thrr-mezaz said. "But Warrior Command seems to feel differently."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they've apparently decided on an attack against the Yycromae," Thrr-mezaz said. "Supreme Ship Commander Dkll-kumvit has been ordered to head immediately to a rendezvous point in Mrachani space." His tongue flicked. "Taking our encirclement warships with him."

Thrr-gilag felt his tail twitch. "All of them?"

"All except the Requisite," Thrr-mezaz said, flicking his tongue again. "Which hardly counts as a ship, considering it no longer has a functioning drive. Unless the Human-Conquerors are considerate enough to fly into combat range, it's effectively useless."

Thrr-gilag glanced up at the sky. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Join the group," Thrr-mezaz said sourly. "If they're going to abandon Dorcas, I wish they'd do a clean job of it. Leaving us down here to get raised to Eldership at the Human-Conquerors' leisure is nothing but a waste of good warriors." Thrr-gilag flicked his tongue in a grimace. "Except that they can't afford to abandon Dorcas. Not with—"

He stopped. "Something having to do with that underground room?" Thrr-mezaz asked.

Thrr-gilag sighed. "I think so, yes," he said. "I think there may be something in there the Humans want. Something we can't afford to let them have."

"Interesting," Thrr-mezaz said thoughtfully. "How big would this something be?"

"No idea. Why?"

"Because they had full access to the room for nearly four tentharcs before pulling back to their mountain stronghold," Thrr-mezaz said. "As far as we could tell, they didn't take anything at all out of it."

Thrr-gilag frowned at him. "Are you sure?"

"I've had the Elders monitoring the entrance since the beat we located the place," Thrr-mezaz said. "Two separate Human-Conqueror warrior teams went inside during those four tentharcs. Neither group brought anything out."

"Interesting indeed," Thrr-gilag agreed. From everything he'd heard about the underground chamber and the Human warriors' attempts to get to it, he would have bet his own fsss that one of the CIRCE components was hidden there. But if so, why hadn't they taken it back to their stronghold? Too big to move? "And now they've just abandoned the area?"

"They've pulled back," Thrr-mezaz corrected. "That doesn't mean they wouldn't come down on us again if I tried sending in more Zhirrzh warriors. As long as any of those Copperhead aircraft are flying, I'm not trying it."

"They're that dangerous?"

"More than you'd believe," Thrr-mezaz said grimly. "They destroyed a complete ground defense laser and raised eight of my warriors to Eldership. Still, it could have been worse. They let the search team leave unharmed, Klnn-dawan-a among them."

Thrr-gilag stopped short, staring at his brother. "You sent Klnn-dawan-a into a combat zone?" he demanded. "What in the eighteen worlds—?"

"She's an expert in alien cultures," Thrr-mezaz snapped back, "and she insisted on going. And I've already had my fill of criticism about it, thank you, from every Dhaa'rr who has access to my Elders. From Speaker Cvv-panav on down."

Thrr-gilag grimaced. "I'm sorry. You're right, of course—Klnn-dawan-a would insist on going to take a look at such a place."

"Just as she insisted on taking the tissue samples you wanted while you talked to the Mrachanis," Thrr-mezaz said. "Come on, let's see if she's finished."

The Human prisoner was lying stretched out on the examination table in the medical room, his arms and legs securely fastened down, his face set in expressionless lines as he gazed straight up at the ceiling. Beside him, Klnn-dawan-a was just withdrawing a sampling needle from the skin of his lower torso. Standing on either side of his head, two armed warriors stood ready for trouble, both looking just slightly queasy as they watched Klnn-dawan-a work. At floor level, out of the Human's line of sight, three Elders were also keeping watch. "Finished?" Thrr-gilag asked.

"Almost," Klnn-dawan-a said, returning the sampler to its case. "I just need a couple more."

"How's he behaving?" Thrr-mezaz asked.

"Remarkably well," Klnn-dawan-a told him. "I can tell the sampling procedure is uncomfortable, but he hasn't struggled or even shouted at me."

"Just as Pheylan Cavanagh was," Thrr-gilag murmured. "Aggressive in groups, submissive as individuals."

"Let's not talk as if that were already an established fact," Klnn-dawan-a cautioned him. "That's what we're here to find out."

"Besides, most intelligent species get pretty submissive when they've got two laser rifles pointed at them," Thrr-mezaz added, clicking on the darklight relay and slipping a translator link into his ear slits. "You need the speaker set up?"

"No, thanks," Thrr-gilag said, stepping to the prisoner's other side. "I'm Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr," he said, switching to the Human language. "This is Klnn-dawan-a; Dhaa'rr. We've come here to study you."

"I got that impression," the Human said. His tone was very similar to the one Pheylan Cavanagh had often used while a prisoner, a tone Thrr-gilag had always associated with quiet mockery. "I'm Sergeant Janovetz of the Peacekeepers. How much more studying are you going to do?"

"She's almost finished," Thrr-gilag assured him. "Why did you come here to the Zhirrzh encampment?"

"We saw the other spacecraft come down," the Human told him, his face twitching as Klnn-dawan-a slid a sampling needle into his upper leg. "We thought there might be injured Humans aboard who needed our help."

"You're a healer, then?" Thrr-gilag asked.

"I can do some healing," Sergeant Janovetz said. "Our commander reasoned that if the injuries were more severe than I could handle, we could then offer the assistance of one of our more expert healers."

"Ask him about the attack on the Mrachanis," Thrr-mezaz muttered.

"I'm told your fellow Humans launched an attack on this encampment six fullarcs ago," Thrr-gilag said in the Human language. "There were explosions with the purpose of killing the Mrachanis who had arrived."

Sergeant Janovetz shrugged his shoulders. "I can only tell you what I've already told your commander. It wasn't a Human attack."

"Then explain it."

"I can't," the Human said. "Maybe if you'd let me see the site, I could tell you more."

Thrr-gilag looked at his brother. "Any reason you haven't let him look at the attack site?"

"Lots of them," Thrr-mezaz growled. "The first of which is I don't trust him. He may claim to have healer skills, but he's almost certainly a warrior. We've already taken one Elderdeath weapon off him—who knows what other tricks he might have under his tongue?"

"Letting him out might be a good way to find out," Klnn-dawan-a suggested. "What can he do, really?"

"He could try to kill the Mrachanis," Thrr-mezaz said. "You may have faith in that fancy obedience suit you brought with you; I don't. Or he could raise more of my warriors to Eldership or study our defenses in preparation for a Human-Conqueror attack. Who knows?"

"We don't have any proof that he ever intended to kill the Mrachanis," Thrr-gilag reminded him. "Besides, with Nzz-oonaz on Mra, these two aliens can hardly be that important anymore."

"And as to whatever other damage he might do," Klnn-dawan-a added quietly, "I hardly think the Human-Conquerors would need any help from him. We both saw those Copperhead warriors in action, Thrr-mezaz."

Thrr-gilag looked across the table at her, his tail speeding up as the fresh realization of what might have happened to her came flooding over his tongue. Out in the center of a Human attack...

"Have there been any more explosives attacks?" Sergeant Janovetz asked.

Thrr-gilag glanced at Thrr-mezaz, caught his brother's negative flick of the tongue. "No," he told the prisoner.

"Are the Mrachanis still here?"

"Yes."

"Well, then," the prisoner concluded reasonably, "if we had launched that first attack, don't you think we'd have kept at it until we'd succeeded?"

Thrr-gilag looked at Thrr-mezaz. "Well?"

"He's got a point," Thrr-mezaz conceded. "I've been wondering the same thing myself."

"Then let's let him look at the site," Thrr-gilag urged.

"You just want to see if he'll turn violent," Thrr-mezaz said with a grimace. "But I suppose we ought to try it. It could be a trick, though. You two"—he flicked his tongue at two of the watching Elders—"go back to the command/monitor room and have Second Commander Klnn-vavgi put all perimeter warrior teams on alert. Wait there until all warriors and Elders have reported in, then report back to me here."

"I obey," one of the two Elders said for both of them, and they vanished.

"All right," Thrr-mezaz said, his tone suddenly changing as he glanced around the room. "We've only got a couple of hunbeats before they get back. Let's get to it." He gestured to the two warriors. "Thrr-gilag, Klnn-dawan-a: this is Warrior First Vstii-suuv and Warrior Third Qlaa-nuur; both Aree'rr. Warriors, Thrr-gilag and Klnn-dawan-a have brought us a second cutting from Prr't-zevisti's fsss."

"Thrr-mezaz!" Thrr-gilag hissed, flicking his tongue warningly toward the third Elder, still hovering beneath the table.

"It's all right," the Elder said. "I already know—I'm the Dorcas end of the secure pathway Prr't-casst-a set up between you and Commander Thrr-mezaz."

"We're the only ones on Dorcas in on it, though," Thrr-mezaz warned. "So keep it strictly quiet. Vstii-suuv, have you been able to identify any other routes into Human-Conqueror territory?"

"We've located two other possibilities," Vstii-suuv said. "Neither is an especially appealing climb, but both should get us within the five-thoustride range we need."

"Assuming we can catch the Human-Conquerors sleeping," Qlaa-nuur added. "If not, we're going to have the same problem we ran into last time."

"Last time?" Thrr-gilag asked.

"We got caught halfway up a cliff face," Thrr-mezaz said. "We were able to get down; and then they just let us go."

"Like they did at the underground room?" Klnn-dawan-a asked.

"Very much like that," Thrr-mezaz said. "But we can talk about that later. Vstii-suuv, when do you think we'll be able to try one of these new routes?"

"The sooner the better," the warrior said. "The longer we wait, the higher the chances some Elder will stumble across the cutting and end things for good."

"It would certainly end it for Prr't-zevisti," Thrr-gilag said grimly. "The Dhaa'rr leaders were supposed to run the final rites and ceremony of fire on his fsss organ four fullarcs ago."

"They've changed their minds," the Elder spoke up. "I spoke with Prr't-casst-a last fullarc, and she said that the final rites have been postponed indefinitely."

"Well, that's some good news, anyway," Thrr-gilag said, a small bit of pressure easing from his shoulders. "Thrr-mezaz, who'll be going on this climb?"

"Just the two warriors here and me," Thrr-mezaz told him. "Vstii-suuv, how soon can we leave?"

"I'm not sure," Vstii-suuv said. "The weather patterns for the next two fullarcs are predicted to be very unstable."

And climbing in unfamiliar territory in heavy wind and rain was a good way to wind up in premature Eldership. "We'll aim to leave in two fullarcs, then," Thrr-mezaz decided.

"Maybe the Human-Conquerors will have settled down by then, too," Qlaa-nuur added. "They've been unusually active since the battle."

"Yes," Thrr-mezaz agreed. "In the meantime, Thrr-gilag, I want you and Klnn-dawan-a to go full haste on these studies of yours. If there's some biochemical trick to this species, I want to know it before we try walking into their territory again."

Thrr-gilag looked down at Sergeant Janovetz, tail twitching for a beat before he remembered that the Human didn't understand their language. "We'll do our best," he promised his brother.

The other two Elders returned. "All perimeter warriors are ready, Commander," one reported. "As are all ground defenses."

"Go alert the warriors outside that we're bringing the prisoner out," Thrr-mezaz ordered them, gesturing to the two warriors to unstrap the prisoner from the table. "All right, my brother. Tell your test subject to put on his new obedience suit, and we'll all go for a little stroll."

" 'We weren't given details of the debate between Warrior Command and the Overclan Prime, Speaker,' " the Elder repeated Searcher Gll-borgiv's words. " 'But the indications are that it was short.' "

Speaker Cvv-panav shifted position on his couch. "And what indications are those?" he asked.

The Elder nodded and vanished. "You didn't really expect them to have a long discussion, did you?" the other Zhirrzh in the room asked from his lazy sprawl on the Speaker's visitor's couch.

"Not if the Mrachanis are right about CIRCE already being assembled," Cvv-panav said grimly. "That would scare Warrior Command's collective tongue limp."

"I don't doubt it," the other said. "Personally, I think the Mrachanis are lying."

"Really," the Speaker said, eyeing him thoughtfully. In the five cyclics since he'd taken the young warrior into his private service, Mnov-korthe had been one of his best covert operatives, carrying out a variety of quiet jobs that had advanced the Speaker's power and the prestige of the entire Dhaa'rr clan. His execution of those jobs had generally been flawless, his instincts and hunches equally so. "What makes you say that?"

The Elder returned before Mnov-korthe could answer. " 'The fact that they apparently made the decision to accept the Mrach offer during our walk from the conference room back to the Closed Mouth,' " he said. " 'We held a complete discussion aboard ship for the benefit of any listeners, but it was clear from the start that Supreme Warrior Commander Prm-jevev had already made up his mind.' "

"What's going to happen now at your end?" Cvv-panav asked.

The Elder nodded and vanished. "You were saying?" the Speaker prompted, looking back at Mnov-korthe.

"I've been reading about the attack by the Human-Conqueror ground warriors on Dorcas two fullarcs ago," the warrior said, gesturing to his reader. "Their commander risked both of his Copperhead warcraft in order to chase the Zhirrzh warriors away from an underground chamber."

"Meaning?" Cvv-panav prompted.

Mnov-korthe shrugged. "Meaning there's something in there the Human-Conquerors didn't want Commander Thrr-mezaz's warriors to have."

Cvv-panav slid his tongue tip gently across the inside of his mouth. "Such as, for example, a CIRCE component?"

Mnov-korthe shrugged again. "Could be."

The Elder returned. " 'For now, we're effectively trapped here on Mra. The Overclan Prime is going to send a shipment of supplies to one of the Mrach mining worlds, where it'll be repacked into a Mrach spacecraft for transport here. Valloittaja doesn't want to have Zhirrzh ships coming to any of the main Mrach worlds.' "

Cvv-panav smiled tightly. The Zhirrzh mission itself was hardly trapped; this supply-shipment technique could just as easily be run in reverse to send them all back home to Oaccanv. But of course neither side was likely to suggest that as a course of action. For Warrior Command, abandoning the Closed Mouth on Mra would be completely unacceptable; for the Mrachanis, letting potential hostages depart before any alliance was officially established would probably be equally so. "A wise move on Valloittaja's part," he said to the Elder. "What are you learning about the Mrachanis themselves?"

" 'Not as much as I'd hoped to. There's information here for us to read, but of course the number of actual Mrachanis we can speak to is very limited. I hope that after all this is over, we'll be able to examine the culture more closely.' "

"Just be sure to keep your mind on the task at hand," Cvv-panav said, fighting to keep his voice civil. He'd been warned that Gll-borgiv was young and inexperienced, with the stereotypical searcher's infuriating tendency to lose track of what was truly important. "You're there to learn about CIRCE and the Human-Conquerors and to keep me informed. That's all. Understand?"

The Elder nodded and vanished. "He's a fool," Mnov-korthe suggested, looking up from his reader again. "Didn't the clan have anyone more competent who could have been put in this group?"

"There were several," the Speaker said, flicking his tongue contemptuously. "Unfortunately, there was no one more mindlessly loyal to the Dhaa'rr clan. Certainly no one who would have been willing to ignore the Overclan Prime's orders and deliver these private briefings to me."

Across the room the door slid open, and Mnov-korthe's brother, Mnov-dornt, stepped into the room. "We've got confirmation, Speaker Cvv-panav. There was definitely—"

"Just a beat," Cvv-panav cut him off. The Elder would be back any beat now....

The Elder reappeared. " 'I understand, Speaker Cvv-panav,' " the answer came, the tone appropriately humble. " 'I won't let you or the Dhaa'rr clan down.' "

"See that you don't," Cvv-panav said. "Farewell." He nodded to the Elder. "Deliver that, then close the pathway."

"I obey, Speaker Cvv-panav," the Elder said.

He disappeared again. "What's been confirmed?" Cvv-panav asked, looking over at Mnov-dornt.

"Your hunch," Mnov-dornt told him. "Prr't-zevisti's fsss organ has indeed been tampered with."

"Well, well," Cvv-panav said. "How interesting. So a second cutting has been taken?"

"In a manner of speaking," Mnov-dornt said, pulling some documents from his waist pouch as he crossed the room. "Someone apparently used a sampling needle to withdraw some of the semiliquid tissue from the interior of the fsss. The healers estimate the equivalent of a five-thoustride cutting was taken."

"Ingenious," the Speaker murmured, taking the papers and glancing over them. "Will it work?"

"No one knows," Mnov-dornt said. "Apparently, no one's ever tried this before."

"I'm not surprised," Cvv-panav growled. "Elders hate having experiments done on their fsss organs. So Searcher Thrr-gilag has obtained the extra cutting his brother, Commander Thrr-mezaz, wanted. And obtained it with the help of a Dhaa'rr traitor."

"There's no hard evidence that Thrr-gilag and Klnn-dawan-a were the ones who took the sample," Mnov-dornt cautioned. "In fact, the protectors who were with them at the shrine say—"

"I don't need any hard evidence," Cvv-panav snapped, thrusting the documents back into his hand. "And I don't care what those simple-minded Prr protectors say. The Kee'rr and his accomplice were the ones, all right. And I'm going to make sure they pay dearly for it."

"Not without proof you aren't," Mnov-korthe spoke up from his couch. "Sorry, Speaker, but you're going to need more than just a mutilated fsss organ and a possibly coincidental visit to the Prr-family shrine by the accused."

"I don't need any amateur legal advice, thank you," Cvv-panav said icily. "Where's Prr't-zevisti's fsss now?"

"The Prr-family leaders are holding it," Mnov-dornt said. "I told them to make it look as if it was Prr't-casst-a's petition that was holding up the final rites."

"Have them continue holding on to it," Cvv-panav said. "No, on second thought, have it delivered to me. I think I'll take it back to Oaccanv and drop it on the Overclan Prime's desk. His reaction should be interesting."

Still, he had to concede that Mnov-korthe was right. The indicators were tantalizing, but he would need evidence in order to hammer Thrr-gilag the way he wanted to.

Fortunately, there was a simple way to get that evidence. "In the meantime," he told them, "you two are going to take a trip to Dorcas."

The brothers exchanged glances. "Do you think that's wise, Speaker?" Mnov-korthe asked. "Our faces may be a little too recognizable right now."

"By whom?" Cvv-panav retorted. "The Prime is hardly going to be giving regular latearc showings of that film he took of you delivering Thrr-pifix-a's stolen fsss organ to her."

"The Overclan warriors who recorded the film would recognize us," Mnov-korthe pointed out.

"None of whom will be on Dorcas," Cvv-panav reminded him. "Or on the Dhaa'rr ship that takes you there; or at the Dhaa'rr landing field you'll be leaving Dharanv from."

"What if Thrr-pifix-a described us to her son?" Mnov-korthe persisted.

"Not a chance," Cvv-panav said, flicking his tongue in a contemptuous negative. "An old female who saw you once? Not a chance. You could walk up to Thrr-gilag and tell him you know his mother, and he still wouldn't catch on as to who you are."

The brothers exchanged another glance. "I'm sure it'll be fine," Mnov-dornt said. "Shall we take one of your flash-ships?"

"I'd prefer you be a little more inconspicuous if possible," the Speaker said, calling up spaceflight data on his reader. "There's a supply ship called the Willing Servant heading out for Dorcas in three tentharcs from the Icetongue landing field. Can you get there in time?"

"No problem," Mnov-korthe assured him, turning off his reader and getting up from the couch. "Our transport's right outside. What exactly do you want us to do on Dorcas?"

"I want you to find that illegal fsss cutting," the Speaker told him. "And with it, evidence that will implicate Thrr-gilag and his brother."

"Commander Thrr-mezaz?" Mnov-korthe said. "That might be a bit difficult."

"I'll make sure it won't be," Cvv-panav promised grimly. "I'll have a very special document for you before you leave."

"And if the evidence you want doesn't exist?"

Cvv-panav flicked his tongue. "In that case," he said softly, "you will, of course, create it."

The Human-Conqueror prisoner stood in front of the hole in the storehouse, his curled-up hands resting against the sides of his lower torso as he spoke. "No question," the translation of his words came in Thrr-mezaz's ear slits. "The blast came from the inside."

"How can he be sure?" Thrr-mezaz asked.

Thrr-gilag translated the question. The alien replied, waving his hands at the edges of the hole, then pointing a finger first at the ground at their feet and then through the hole at the ground outside. "The edges of the hole have an outward twist to them," the translation came. "That means the force came from this side of the wood. There's also the pattern of debris. Not enough wood fragments on the inside; too many on the outside."

"Interesting," Second Commander Klnn-vavgi commented from beside Thrr-mezaz. "We'd wondered about that ourselves."

"Yes," Thrr-mezaz conceded, frowning hard at the Human-Conqueror. "Though of course we have only his word that that's what it means."

"What reason would he have to lie?" Klnn-dawan-a asked.

"For one thing, cousin, they're our enemies," Klnn-vavgi reminded her. "Enemies often lie just for practice. He could also simply be wrong."

"Let's assume he's not," Thrr-mezaz said, flicking his tongue thoughtfully. "So the explosions came from the inside. That means the Mrachanis had to have set them off themselves."

"How?" Klnn-vavgi asked. "And why?"

"Those are the questions, all right," Thrr-mezaz nodded. "Though come to think of it, I seem to remember one of the Elders telling me they'd hung some decorative cloths on the walls around the room."

"You think they could have concealed the explosives?" Klnn-dawan-a asked.

"It's an obvious possibility," Thrr-mezaz said. "Thrr-gilag, ask him if he can tell us anything else about the explosions. The strength of the blasts; the type of explosive used, maybe, if he knows about different types."

There was a brief exchange of words, the Human-Conqueror pointing across the storehouse toward another of the blast holes. "Not from this one," the translation came. "May I look over there?"

"Go ahead," Thrr-mezaz said, gesturing permission to the prisoner's escort. "Warriors, watch him."

Thrr-gilag translated, and the alien set off across the storehouse, Thrr-gilag, Klnn-dawan-a, and the warriors forming a moving semicircle around him. "There's one other possibility, Commander," Klnn-vavgi said as he and Thrr-mezaz followed more slowly. "We know now that the Human-Conquerors can detect spacecraft in the tunnel-line, which means they knew we were coming. Could these explosives have been left behind as ensnarement traps for us?"

"Why only in this one storehouse?" Thrr-mezaz asked.

"Maybe they weren't only here," Klnn-vavgi suggested. "Maybe the whole village is set up to explode around us."

"If so, why haven't they used them?"

"Because they know that raising the whole beachhead to Eldership won't gain them anything," Klnn-vavgi said. "As long as the encirclement forces are overhead, they'll still be trapped here."

And those encirclement forces were about to be withdrawn. Thrr-mezaz glanced upward, an eerie feeling flowing over his tongue. To be sitting here in the middle of a Human-Conqueror ensnarement trap... "No," he said slowly. "If they'd deliberately set up a trap in the storehouse, they surely would have done a better job of it. As it was, all they did was blow off the doors and make a couple of holes in the walls."

"And raised two warriors to Eldership," Klnn-vavgi reminded him darkly.

"Because they happened to be standing in front of the doors," Thrr-mezaz countered. "Almost collateral damage from the Human-Conquerors' point of view—certainly so if the Mrachanis were their intended target. No, Second, a deliberate ensnarement trap ought to have brought the whole storehouse down."

"Maybe," Klnn-vavgi said, a lingering edge of doubt evident in his tone. "But that just brings it back to the Mrachanis. Why would they want to blow holes in their own living area?"

The Human-Conqueror prisoner was at the other blast hole now, looking closely at the blackened edge. "There's one possibility," Thrr-mezaz said. "Ever since they got here, the Mrachanis have been either pleading or demanding to be taken to Oaccanv. What better way to make us hurry the decision than to create a sudden and immediate threat to their lives?"

"Interesting suggestion," Klnn-vavgi said, flicking his tongue thoughtfully. "It would certainly bend the image the Mrachanis have been presenting of themselves as poor, helpless victims of the Human-Conquerors."

"If it's true," Thrr-mezaz said. "Question is, how would we go about testing it?"

"I don't know," Klnn-vavgi said. "Unless..."

"Unless what?"

Klnn-vavgi flicked his tongue toward the prisoner, who was rubbing his fingers gingerly across the edge of the blast hole. "Unless Srgent-janovetz has similar explosives aboard his aircraft," he said. "We could test this splinter theory by putting one explosive on each side of a wooden wall and seeing which way the splinters went."

"Might be worth trying," Thrr-mezaz murmured. "Of course, you know what the chances are that he'd admit to having explosives aboard."

"Zero?"

"About that," Thrr-mezaz agreed.

The Human-Conqueror was speaking again as they arrived at the knot of Zhirrzh surrounding him. "It's been too long," Thrr-gilag translated. "Rain and wind have erased the odors he could have used to identify the explosive." He looked at Thrr-mezaz. "Now what?"

"We return him to detention, I suppose," Thrr-mezaz said. "Go ahead and take him back," he added to the warriors.

Thrr-gilag translated the instructions to the prisoner, who nodded and headed off obediently with his escort. Klnn-dawan-a started to follow, stopped at a gesture from Thrr-gilag, and together with Thrr-mezaz and Klnn-vavgi they watched as the warriors and prisoner left the storehouse. "What do you think?" Thrr-gilag asked when the four of them were alone.

"You and Klnn-dawan-a are the alien specialists," Thrr-mezaz countered. "You tell me."

"I think he's telling the truth," Klnn-dawan-a said. "I still don't see what he would gain by lying to us."

"He may be trying to create distrust toward the Mrachanis," Klnn-vavgi suggested. "Maybe that was the whole purpose of the attack."

"If so, it was dangerously subtle," Thrr-gilag pointed out. "We came close to missing it entirely."

"Besides, that just circles us back to the question of how the Human-Conquerors carried out the attack," Klnn-vavgi added. "It all becomes a lot simpler if the Mrachanis staged it themselves."

"Maybe," Thrr-mezaz said, stepping forward and gazing at the splintered edge of the hole. Could the Mrachanis really have faked this attack to try to force the Zhirrzh to take them to Oaccanv?

And if so, what had their motive been? To establish communications and an alliance with the Overclan Prime, as they claimed?

Or to guide Human-Conqueror warships directly to the Zhirrzh homeworld?