The Merchants’ War

some holes in the wing. I was two thousand feet up—they’ve got their hands on modern weapons from somewhere.” He shook his head. Shit. “If anyone’s going in—”

“Too late.”

Rudi looked up. Riordan’s face was white. “Joachim, signal to the duke: defenders at the Hjalmar Palace have guns. No, wait.” Riordan stared at Rudi. “Could you identify them?”

“I’m not sure.” Rudi stood up laboriously. “Wait up.” He walked round the wing—tipped forward so that the central spar lay on the ground—and found the holes he was looking for. “Shit. Looks like something relatively large. They were automatic, sir, machine guns most likely. Didn’t we get rid of the last of the M60s a long time ago?”

Riordan leaned over him to inspect the bullet holes. “Yes.” He turned to the messenger: “Joachim, signal the duke, defenders at the Hjalmar Palace have at least one—”

“Two, sir.”

“Two heavy machine guns. Go now!”

Joachim trotted away at the double, heading for the keep. A couple more guards were approaching, accompanying one of Riordan’s officers. For his part, the eorl was inspecting the damage to the ultralight. “You did well,” he said quietly. “Next time, though, don’t get so close.”

Rudi swallowed. He counted four holes in the port wing, and the wrecked radio. He walked round the aircraft and began to go over the trike’s body. There was a hole in the fiberglass shroud, only inches away from where his left leg had been. “That’s good advice, sir. If I’d known what they had I’d have given them a wider berth.” It was hard to focus on anything other than the damage to his aircraft. “What’s happening?”

“Helmut and his men went in half an hour ago.” Riordan took a deep breath. “When will you be ready to fly again?”

Whoa! Rudi straightened up again and stretched, experimentally. Something in his neck popped. “I need to check my bird thoroughly, and I need to patch the holes, but that’ll take a day to do properly. If it’s an emergency and if there’s no other damage I can fly again within the hour, but—” he glanced at the sky “—there’re only about three more flying hours in the day, sir. And I’ve only got enough fuel here for one more flight, anyway. It’s not hard to get on the other side, but I wasn’t exactly building a large stockpile. To be honest, it would help if we had another pilot and airframe available.” He shrugged.

Riordan leaned close. “If we survive the next week, I think that’ll be high on his grace’s plans for us,” he admitted. “But right now, the problem we face is knowing what’s going on. You didn’t see any sign of the pretender’s army, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t out there. Get your work done, get some food, then stand by to go out again before evening—even if it’s only for an hour, we need to know whether there’s an army marching down our throat here or whether the Hjalmar Palace is the focus of his attack.”

Brill was one of the last people Miriam had expected to meet in California—and she seemed to have brought a bunch of others with her. “You’re unhurt?” Brill asked again, anxiously.

The trio of Clan agents she’d turned up with—two men and a woman, sweating and outlandish in North Face outdoor gear—as if they’d just parachuted in from a camping expedition somewhere in the Rockies, in winter—had taken up positions outside the station. One of them Miriam half-recognized: Isn’t he the MIT postgrad? Perhaps, but it was hard for her to keep track of all the convoluted relationships in the Clan, and right now—covering the approach track with a light machine gun from behind a bullet-riddled steam car—he didn’t exactly look scholarly. Brilliana was at least dressed appropriately for New British customs.

“I’m unhurt, Brill.” Miriam tried to hold her voice steady, tried not to notice Erasmus staring, his head swiveling like a bird, as he took in the scattered bodies and the odd-looking machine pistols Brill and the other woman carried. The Polis inspector and his men had tried to put up a fight, but revolvers and rifles against attackers with automatic weapons appearing out of thin air behind them “—Just got a bit of a headache.” She sat down heavily on the waiting room bench.

“Wonderful! I feared you might attempt to world-walk.” Brill looked concerned. “I must say, I was not expecting you to get this far. You led us a merry chase! But your letter reached me in time, and a very good thing too. His grace has been most concerned for your well-being. We shall have to get you out of here at once—”

Miriam noticed Brill’s sidelong glance at Burgeson. “I owe him,” she warned.

Erasmus chuckled dryly. “Leave me alive and I’ll consider the debt settled in my favor.”

“I think we can do better than that!” Brill drew breath. “I remember you.” She glanced at Miriam. “How much does he know?”

“How much do you think?” Miriam stared back at her. This was a side to Brill that she didn’t know well, and didn’t like: a coldly calculating woman who came from a place where life was very cheap indeed. “They were lying in wait for us because they intercepted your telegram. The least we can do is get him to his destination. Leave him in this, and…” She shrugged.

Brill nodded. “I’ll get him out of here safely. Now, will you come home willingly?” she asked.

The silence stretched out. “What will I find if I do?” Miriam finally replied.

“You need not worry about Baron Henryk anymore.” Brill frowned. “He’s dead; but were he not, the way he dealt with you would certainly earn him the disfavor of the council. He overplayed his hand monstrously with the aid of Dr. ven Hjalmar. The duke is minded to sweep certain, ah, events into the midden should you willingly agree to a plan he has in mind for you.” Her distant expression cracked: “Have you been sick lately? Been unable to world- walk? Is your period late?”

Miriam blinked. “Yes, I—” she raised a hand to her mouth in dawning horror. “Fuck.”

Brill knelt down beside her. “You have borne a child before, did you not?”

“But I haven’t slept with—” Miriam stopped. “That fucking quack. What did he do to me? ”

“Miriam.” She looked down. Brill was holding her hands. “Ven Hjalmar’s dead. Henryk is dead. Creon is dead. But we’ve got living witnesses who will swear blind that you were married to the crown prince at that ceremony, and this was the real reason why Prince Egon rebelled. Ven Hjalmar, with the queen mother’s connivance…it’s unconscionable! But we’re at war, Miriam. We’re at war with half the nobility of the Gruinmarkt, and you’re carrying the heir to the throne. You’re not a pawn on Angbard’s chessboard anymore, Miriam, you’re his queen. Whatever you want, whatever it takes, he’ll give you—”

Miriam shook her head. “There’s only one thing I truly want,” she said tiredly, “and he can’t give it to me.” The claustrophobic sense of losing control that she’d fled from weeks ago was back, crushingly heavy. She lowered one hand to her belly, self-consciously: Why didn’t I think of this earlier? she wondered. All those examinations…Shit. Then another thought struck her, and she chuckled.

“What ails you?” Brilliana asked anxiously.

“Oh, nothing.” Miriam tried to regain control. “It’s just that being figurehead queen mother or whatever scheme Angbard’s penciled in for me isn’t exactly a job with a secure future ahead of it. Even if you get this rebellion under control.”

“My lady?”

“I was planning on bargaining,” Miriam tried to explain. “But I don’t need to, so I guess you want to know this anyway: it’s too late. I ran into an old acquaintance on my way out of the burning palace. His people had been watching it when the shit hit the fan. It’s the U.S. government. They’ve got agents into the Gruinmarkt, and it’s only a matter of time before—”

“Oh, that,” Brill snorted dismissively and stood up. “That’s under control for now; your mother’s running the negotiations.”

Miriam held a hand before her eyes. Make it stop, she thought faintly. Too much!

“In any event, we have worse things to worry about now,” she added. “Sir Huw was sent to do a little job for the duke that I think you suggested—he’ll brief you about what he found on the flight home. The CIA or the DEA and their friends are the least of our worries now.” Brill laid a hand on her shoulder. Quietly, she added: “We need you, Miriam. Helge. Or whoever you want to be. It’s not going to be the same this time round. The old guard have taken a beating: and some of us understand what you’re trying to do, and we’re with you all the way. Come home with me, Miriam, and we’ll take good care of you. We need you to lead us…”

The treason room was a simple innovation that Angbard’s last-but-two predecessor had installed in each of the major Clan holdings: a secret back door against the day when (may it never arrive) Clan Security found itself locked out of the front. Like almost all Clan holdings of any significance, the Hjalmar Palace was doppelgangered—