The Third Lynx

'Right, but remember he was delayed six hours waiting for me to get back to Terra Station,' I reminded her. 'That would have given them plenty of time to negotiate and finalize any transactions.' I grimaced. 'And possibly to consign Smith's body to deep space.'

'What do you suppose went wrong?' Bayta asked.

'That one's easy,' I said. 'Smith apparently double-crossed them and didn't bring the Lynx.'

'Are you sure?'

'I'm positive,' I said. 'It would have been a three-minute job to search a Quadrail compartment for something that size. If Smith had had it with him, they would have found it. and there would have been no need to beat him to death.'

'Unless they wanted to cover their trail.'

'A quick snap of the neck would have done that,' I said. 'No, they don't have the Lynx. But I'd say they really, really want it.'

'Enough to lure us into a trap?' she asked, lifting my reader for emphasis.

'Possibly,' I said. 'But if so, that message isn't it. It was sent long before we stumbled into the middle of this Lynx thing.'

'But not before the Magaraa museum robbery,' she pointed out. 'It could be a trick by the Modhri to make sure we were out of the way when they went after the Hawk and Mr. Smith's Lynx.'

'No,' I said. 'Note the P.S. just below Fayr's name.'

Bayta looked back at the reader. ' 'Bring with you that strange but interesting gift of Human humor.' '

'That's a reference to something he said to me just before our first raid on the Modhri homeland,' I said. 'You weren't there at the time.'

'He finds Human humor strange?'

'I think half the galaxy finds Human humor strange,' I said dryly. 'The other half doesn't believe it at all. The point is that it's nothing a random stranger would have known to include. Even the Modhri shouldn't know about it.'

'Unless Fayr is now himself a walker.'

In which case, Fayr would be unaware that his idea to invite me to Ghonsilya was not, in fact, his idea. 'That's a possibility,' I admitted. 'But I think Fayr's sharp enough to suspect if that had happened to him. If he did, I also think he'd try his damnedest not to allow the Modhri to finish its entrenching.'

'Suicide?'

I felt my throat tighten. Fayr did typically drag a small arsenal around with him. 'Regardless, the Spiders should at least be able to settle the question of whether or not he's actually in the Ghonsilya system,' I said instead. 'See if the stationmaster can start a trace. Speaking of which, was there anything on Daniel Mice?'

'There was nothing on my data chip, so I assume not,' she said. 'They might still be searching.'

'Or maybe Mice also has a walletful of fake IDs to choose from,' I said. 'Actually, now that I think about it, Fayr's almost certainly traveling under an alias, too. Means we're probably not going to be able to track either of them.'

'We can still try,' Bayta said. 'Remember that Korak Fayr was traveling under false names before we met him. The Spiders might be able to link him with one of those.'

'It's worth a try, I suppose,' I said. 'Go ahead and get them on it.'

Her eyes glazed over a moment, then came back to focus. 'The stationmaster will put the request aboard the next cylinder.'

Which was, unfortunately, still almost twelve hours away. But there was nothing we could do about that except cultivate our patience. 'Thanks,' I said. 'You hungry?'

Bayta glanced at the shop. 'Not just yet. What's our plan, then? To try to find this third Lynx?'

'How?' I countered. 'We don't even know Smith's real name, let alone whether he was the one with the Lynx, or what he might have done with it if he did have it.'

'And the Bellidos are gone,' Bayta murmured.

'Long gone,' I confirmed. 'Our best option now is probably to head to Ghonsilya and hook up with Fayr. Maybe he's got some leads he'd like to share with his fellow playmates.'

'I suppose you're right,' Bayta said with a sigh. 'I just hate …you know.'

'Letting the Modhri get the better of you?'

'It's not like that,' she insisted. 'This isn't personal.'

'I know,' I said, pretending to believe her. 'It isn't for me, either.'

For a few seconds she sat quietly, her eyes staring down the Tube. Then, stirring, she handed me back my reader. 'You might want to destroy Fayr's message,' she said. 'Just in case.'

'Actually, I had something a little more devious in mind,' I told her, keying for an edit.

'What do you mean?'

'You'll see.' I finished my edit and held the reader out for her perusal.

' 'Meet me at the Supreme Falls viewing area on Laarmiten'?' she read, sounding a little taken aback.

'As long as the Gang of Fifteen are heading there anyway,' I said. 'The Modhri's reaction might be interesting if he finagles a peek at this.'

'An expert will be able to tell the message has been modified,' Bayta warned.

'Not with this reader he won't,' I said. 'This is that special high-tech job I got from Larry Hardin, back when I was working for him. Chock-full of interesting goodies. Did you also notice the new P.S.?'

She frowned. ' 'Remember that victory belongs to the daring.' '

'There's no point in letting a private joke go public, either,' I said. I pulled out the chip and put it in my side pocket, then returned the reader to its usual place inside my jacket. 'So. Are we planning to just sit here until the train arrives?'

'Unless you want to take a shuttle across to the transfer station,' she suggested. 'There might be more to do there.'

I looked at the shop. 'I think I'd rather keep an eye on our walkers.'

'I agree,' she said, shutting off her reader and putting it away.

And then, to my mild surprise, she slid across the dozen centimeters that separated us and snuggled up against my side. 'I'm going to take a nap,' she said, her voice a little muffled as she rested her head on my shoulder. 'Wake me when it's my turn to keep watch.'

She exhaled a deep sigh; and with that, she was asleep.

Bayta's approach to the universe had a natural reserve to it, which acted as a psychological barrier to keep people at arm's length. Part of that was undoubtedly her wariness about the Modhri and his little bag of telepathic tricks, the rest of it her own natural personality. But she and I had been through a lot together, and over the months she'd gradually accepted me into her inner circle.

Apparently. I'd made it deeper into that circle than I'd realized.

It felt a little awkward, and more than a little embarrassing. My own personality was every bit as closed as hers was, though that probably wasn't so much natural tendency as it was having had all my alleged friends turn their backs on me during the Yandro controversy. I'd gotten used to my own company since then, and wasn't entirely sure I wanted to start with the whole friendship thing again.

I gazed down at the top of her head, tracing locks of her dark hair with my eyes. Still, Bayta was my partner in our little corner of this war, and it was part of my job to humor her.

Shifting position, I put my arm around her shoulders and turned my head just enough to keep the shop/restaurant in view. Now that they'd succeeded in getting us off the train and away from the Gang of Fifteen, I wasn't expecting the three walkers to give us any more trouble.

But I'd been wrong before.

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