“According to Iryela, the codes were sealed and unbroken. Her mother didn’t even know they existed, and Johanyr hasn’t been in L’Excelsis in something like seven years. Besides, he’s nearly blind. I doubt if he could even read them.”
“I can see why she’s worried, then. But there must be a simple explanation.”
“There probably is, but I can’t think of it. Her mother could be pretending, but given how Ryel ran his holdings, and the way the older High Holders treat their wives, I doubt it.”
“I can see that.”
“Let’s enjoy the dancing before I have to leave.”
Her smile was worth that, and we danced…and danced-until just past ninth glass, when I left Seliora with the Dichartyns and hurried out of the Chateau, where I persuaded the duty coach driver-Elreyt, who usually drove evenings-to take me to Third District station.
As soon as the coach stopped on Fuosta, I stepped out and hurried into the station and to the duty desk.
“Any trouble yet?”
“No, sir, but…Sammyl said one of the taudis-kids warned us to watch the woodworks.”
“I’ll be heading there.”
Cemaryt glanced at the formal cloak and black formal wear.
I grinned. “I won’t be as easily seen.”
“Ah…yes, sir.”
I reached the woodworks, where I waited in the shadows close to South Middle for Sammyl and Rarydn. I stood there half a glass before they neared.
They both started when I appeared.
“Sir?”
“I understand we might have trouble here.”
“One of the taudis-kids-she was a girl-told me.” Rarydn glanced at the darkened building to his right, questioningly.
“If they destroy the building and kill patrollers…it hurts the taudis-dwellers and the Civic Patrol,” I pointed out. “Let’s head down toward the alley across from the south side.”
They exchanged glances, but followed me. We stopped short of the corner of the wall that circled the waste yard on the southeast side of the property.
“We’ll wait here,” I said in a low voice. “We’ll have some cover. You watch behind us, Rarydn.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I suspected, before long, less than a quarter of a glass, there were four figures coming up the alley, but they stopped short of the side street in front of us, and remained in the alley. All of them bore packs, which they eased off and set on the stones. I could see three other figures coming forward, past the four and stationing themselves on each side of the alley. The three wore the shiny leathers of taudis-toughs. The other four wore dark light-absorbing garb.
I was getting a very uneasy feeling about the entire situation, especially after I saw one of the men setting up something like a tripod pointing in our general direction, but likely at the woodworks building. Then another tripod went up, and a third, and a fourth. When the first man set a cylindrical tube on a tripod, I knew. But I waited until all four tubes were in place on their tripods…but not a moment more.
Then…I stepped around the corner, my back to the wall, and concentrated, imaging fire into all four cylinders and projecting my shields across the alley at an angle.
Light flared everywhere, and a wave of sound slammed me into the wall.
“Sir! Sir!”
Sammyl was helping me to my feet, but loud as he was speaking his words were barely a whisper.
“I’m all right.” I thought I was. I was shaking…but I could see and walk, if a trace unsteadily. I felt weak, and I couldn’t raise any shields. I just hoped that there was no one else around who might want to take a shot at us. “We might as well see what happened.” I started across the side street, but I stopped short of the sidewalk on the other side.
The explosion, contained by my shields, had left a hole a yard deep and five across, and that was through the alley paving stones. There were bits of what had been men and gear strewn like leaves across the bottom of the hole, as well as scraps of twisted metal.
I swallowed and turned away.
Behind me, I could hear Rarydn retching.
I walked back to the other side of the cross street and leaned against the wall. A short time later, the two patrollers rejoined me.
“What happened?” Rarydn’s voice was unsteady.
“The first four had explosive rockets they were going to fire into the woodworks. Then when you and Sammyl came running, the three taudis-toughs would have shot you.”
Sammyl looked to me. “Wasn’t that something the Army should have handled?”
“Well…” I offered with a grin I didn’t feel, “if we’d waited for them…”
“Frig…” mumbled the older patroller, adding after a moment, “Pardon me, sir, but it doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s not, but how often do we get stuck dealing with what’s not right?”
“How do you want us to write it up?” asked Rarydn.
“Just the way it happened. We got a tip. We came to investigate. We must have startled them. Their rockets exploded all at once and dug a big hole and killed all of them.”
“How come-” Rarydn began.
“We don’t have to guess why it happened that way,” I said. “We’re just Civic Patrollers reporting on what happened.”
“That’s right.” Sammyl looked hard at Rarydn.
After a moment, the younger patroller nodded.
We turned and began to walk back to the station. Erion had just climbed above the roofs of the houses to the east, half-full and red-shaded. It might be the moon of the great hunter, but I had the feeling I was as much being hunted as hunter.
25
As tired and as cold as I was by the time I got home on Vendrei, I could raise shields, although it was painful. I wasn’t sleepy, not after all that had happened. That was probably good, because the moment Seliora saw me step inside the front foyer she asked, “How bad was it?”
“Bad enough. There were four military types with rockets and three taudis-toughs…” I began as I walked into the family parlor and dropped onto the settee in front of the stove. In between bits of explanation, Seliora offered me warm spiced wine. That warmed me and loosened my throat.
When I finished, she said, “The four with the rockets had to be Ferran agents, or something like that, didn’t they?”
“Ferran or Stakanaran, I’d guess, but I’m convinced they obtained the munitions here, and that’s even more troubling.”
“You think that the freeholders or factors like Broussard are involved?”
“They’re involved in something. Whether they’re just causing trouble for the High Holders right now because it’s opportune or because they have something else in mind…I don’t know enough to say.”
“What would they gain?”
“At the very least, they’d put the High Holders on notice that unethical or illegal commercial practices and backdoor discrimination can have a far higher price than the High Holders can afford. At most, they might be pushing for a change in the balance of power on the Council.”
“The Council can’t afford to give in to that kind of pressure.”
