Syfax scanned the indicated corner for an asset, an ally, a weapon, or an escape route, but the only people nearby were two old men reading books and tugging at their beards. The major grinned. Hell, it’s only a knife. I can grab the knife and snap her wrist before she can scratch my coat. So let’s see what the old bat has to say.
Dragging his feet, Syfax came to the end of the row and sat down by the window. Outside and far below, the little waves played and rolled between the piers, slapping lightly against the pilings with a thousand tiny bits of trash bobbing around them.
Chaou sat beside him. “You seem to have recovered rather quickly from our little encounter earlier. God must like you.”
Syfax pursed his lips and looked at the smaller woman sitting beside her. Chaou had wrapped a black cloak around her shoulders and only her golden cuffs peeked out from beneath it. “I think God just likes kicking me around.”
“You think so?” Chaou nodded. “And who decides what God likes? Priests, I suppose. Or sometimes queens, or generals, hm? They’re all just people, no wiser than anyone else.”
“Seriously? A sermon?” Syfax turned his attention back to the water where the rainbow rings of oil mingled with the white islands of foam. “I haven’t had a criminal preach at me in over a year. You killers are very spiritual folks.”
Chaou shifted in her seat. “I wasn’t trying to preach. And I’ll thank you not to refer to me as a criminal or a murderer. Yes, yes, I’ve broken laws and people have died.” She sighed. “But now is not the time to dwell on logistics or administrative details. I have larger concerns. And you, I imagine, have one very small concern at this moment.”
Syfax felt the knife point gently nudge his ribs. Around him, the empty seats were quickly filling and the general murmur of excited children, tired parents, and impatient businesswomen continued to grow. “So tell me about these larger concerns of yours. You said something before about our foreign policy?”
“Don’t patronize me, major. I know you’re not alone here.” The ambassador gave him a tired look. “I’m sure you’d like nothing better than to draw me out into some dry, academic debate while your associates discover that you are missing and storm the ship to save you for the second time today. But I’ve sent two of my less lovely employees to ensure our privacy. I’m afraid your friends won’t be interrupting us again.”
“Good.” Syfax matched her look and tone of boredom and annoyance. “My kid wouldn’t let it go to his head, but I’m sure the pilot girl would be a real pain in the ass. That much success in one day, nah, I don’t think so.”
“I’m glad we agree.”
Syfax felt the jab in his side disappear, and in that instant he grabbed Chaou’s wrist and yanked her arm free of the black cloak. The major saw the sleeve of the gold coat and a hand the color of dark sand, and snaking across the lined palm he saw two veins of copper that hid almost perfectly in the creases of the ambassador’s skin. “What the hell is that?”
Chaou’s hand snapped down and pressed tightly against the marshal’s fingers. Syfax stiffened as the burst of electric current buzzed through his flesh. His head snapped back and his skull cracked against the window frame just before the world faded into a bright white haze.
Syfax blinked, trying to refocus his eyes. The world was dim and filled with a dull whisper of many people talking and moving. He remembered the ferry.
Chaou!
A hand clamped down on his own, pressing it onto the armrest. “Good evening, major, I’m glad you could rejoin us.”
“How long was I out?”
“About six hours.”
Syfax sat up sharply, squinting at the shadowy figures around him, fighting with his weary eyes to understand what the bright dots and lines were in the distance. Chaou laughed and Syfax heard the soft hiss of something sliding, and suddenly the world was quite bright again. The ambassador had raised the window shade and Syfax stared out at the blue water sparkling beneath the midday sun.
“Did I say six hours? I can be so careless about the time. You have my heartfelt apologies. I’m afraid you’ve only been unconscious for a few moments.” She patted Syfax’s hand. “Not to worry, you didn’t miss very much. After I relieved you of your sidearm, the ferry captain made a brief announcement, and there was some banging around on deck, and then the ship started rumbling and vibrating a bit. But it’s all settled down now that we’re under way.”
Under way? Syfax glared out the window at the little anchor buoys and crab pot markers slowly gliding past them, rocking as the wake of the ferry rolled up beneath them. The harbor was well behind them already and the open water of the Atlanteen rippled darkly out to the horizon. “Where are we going?”
“The ferry is going up the Zemmour Canal to Nahiz.” Chaou smiled briefly. “I haven’t decided yet where you’re going. My associates would have wanted to throw you into the middle of the harbor, but they’re not here. I dislike killing, especially our own people. Obviously, using Hamuy was a poor decision on my part, from an ethical point of view. From a practical point of view, it seemed very reasonable to employ someone with his particular qualifications.” The woman sighed. “I pride myself on being an excellent judge of character and for knowing how to manage people. It’s necessary in diplomacy, naturally. But I must admit there is a certain class of people that I have some difficulty with. And Hamuy is of that class.”
Syfax gently massaged his temples with his right hand, then looked down at his left wrist, still in the ambassador’s grasp. “What the hell did you do to me?”
“Just a mild electric shock, nothing to worry about. Usually people just tense up when it happens, which is quite a convenient and understated way to respond to physical pain, especially in a public forum such as this. But the device is malfunctioning, thanks to your assault on my person this morning. You gave me quite a worry when you jerked about like that, knocking your head on the wall. You very nearly made a scene.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that.” Syfax straightened up and studied the crowded deck, but after a moment he gave up hunting for the ambassador’s confederates. She must have more muscle somewhere. His head throbbed, mostly behind his right eye. “I take it you still want me to work for you.”
“Oh, don’t make it sound so formal and dry. It’s more than a business arrangement or career advancement.” Chaou shook her head. “No, it’s much more than that. It’s an opportunity to serve your country in a more noble capacity, to right wrongs on a national scale, in ways that speak directly to the preservation of our way of life.”
“Why do you people always talk in riddles about the evils in society, and your epic solutions that only you can make happen?” Syfax turned his attention to the window and a seagull bobbing on the waves. “I cornered a bomber a few years ago. Pastoralist. He hated machines because they made people lazy. But he couldn’t just come out and say that. We spent three hours in the hot afternoon sun pointing guns at each other and negotiating for hostages, all while listening to him babble on and on about the nobility of labor, the divine calling to sweat and bleed, the purity of living at the edge of survival. Blah blah blah.”
“What happened to him?”
“I shot him.”
“How terrible for you. For everyone.”
“You’re telling me. I don’t like guns. Never did,” Syfax said. “Shooting people doesn’t sit right with me. There’s something weak about it. And I’m not a fan of other people shooting people either. I’m more of a knife man. Any idiot can pull a trigger. But it takes guts to slice a human being open right in front of you.”
Chaou winced. “Yes, well, to return to my original point, your bomber was trying to stop progress, and he was as effective as any person standing in front of a locomotive. I have no such interest in hindering or harming our people. Quite the opposite. I intend to see Marrakesh elevated to much greater heights of power in every sphere of human endeavor.”
Syfax scanned the shifting wavelets, watching for the next yacht, the next fishing boat, the next opportunity to catch someone’s eye and… and what? He frowned and tried to focus on finding Chaou’s backup in the crowd, but there were too many candidates. People sitting quietly by themselves, people chatting, people glancing nervously around, and at least four people who seemed to be staring directly at him at any given time, though two were sleepy-eyed mothers cradling babies in their arms.
“So why did you join the service, major? Was your father in law enforcement? Or were you the victim of some unfortunate crime and vowed to never let such a thing happen again?” Chaou eased her grip on Syfax’s wrist for a
