The Third Lynx

could escape me?'

Briefly I wondered what his reaction would be if I told him I'd merely been trying to make enough noise to attract the attention of a homicidal chipmunk-faced commando. But I was still hoping we might run into Fayr somewhere else along the way. 'I wasn't trying to escape,' I said instead, wiping some of the rainwater off my face. 'I was curious to see how far you'd go with your walkers.'

'And did you learn anything?'

I looked at the rich and powerful Tra'ho'seej still loitering around the area. Their expressions and eyes were back to normal, the brief episode of full Modhri control long since over.

But their attitude had definitely changed for the darker. No longer did they imagine—no longer could they persuade themselves—that they'd all simply stepped out for an evening stroll with friends and acquaintances. They were watching the four of us intently, apparently convinced that potentially dangerous aliens shouldn't be allowed to run free and wild without someone in authority guarding them. 'I still wonder how you get away with these personality blackouts,' I said, looking back at Gargantua. 'You'd think someone would eventually catch on.'

For a moment he gazed at me in silence. 'I saw an old book on Human stage magic once,' he said at last. 'One of the illusions it described involved a large wheeled war device for hurling round shot at an enemy. I don't know the proper term.'

'A cannon?' I suggested.

'Yes, that was it,' the Modhri said. 'In this case, it was to be loaded with a Human, who would then supposedly disappear as it was fired. After the Human entered the barrel, the cannon was swiveled completely around on the stage so that the audience could see that there were no tricks involved.'

'And the trick was …?'

'The trick was that as the cannon finished its rotation, a set of false spokes slid into the openings between the lower spokes of the wheel facing away from the audience,' the Modhri said. 'They were so engineered that they appeared to be the spokes of the front wheel, which had just happened to block the observer's view of the rear of the stage.'

I nodded as I understood. 'And every observer simply thought he was the one in the bad seat,' I said, 'not realizing that everyone else was seeing the same blockage and was thinking the same thing '

'Exactly,' the Modhri said. 'With the audience's sight thus completely blocked, the Human was free to slip invisibly through a hidden door in the base of the cannon and lower himself behind the rear wheel to a concealed trapdoor in the floor without being observed.' Gargantua's doglike snout curled slightly. 'I trust you see the similarities.'

I did, of course. As long as each Tra'ho in the group thought he was the only one having strange memory lapses, he wasn't going to think much about it, especially with the Modhri continually whispering soothing theories and rationalizations in his ears. If all of them ever got together and compared notes, they might begin to wonder.

But that would never happen. The Modhri would make sure of that. 'We have much better magic tricks now,' I said.

'Illusion is still only illusion,' he said. 'But I grow weary of this stalling. Take me to the Lynx.'

'Fine,' I said, gesturing down the street. 'Like I said, we start at the art museum.'

I took a step in that direction. Gargantua didn't budge. 'You think me a fool?' he demanded, some of his earlier anger peeking out again.

'Don't worry, this time we can all go together,' I said. Looking over his shoulder, I caught Penny's eye and beckoned.

She started to move forward, came up short as the Halka guarding her tightened his grip on her arm. 'No,' Gargantua said flatly. 'You and two of my Arms.'

'I need Ms. Auslander,' I insisted. 'Stafford won't show himself unless she's there.'

'The other Human female is similar enough,' Gargantua countered. 'She will go with you.'

I looked at Bayta. Her face was as expressionless as Gargantua's had been a minute ago, but her body language was tied in tension knots. She also didn't look a thing like Penny. 'She's not nearly similar enough,' I said. 'Not to other Humans.'

Two of the Halkas took Bayta's arms and walked her over to us. 'If she does not go, then she will die,' Gargantua said.

Bayta was staring unblinkingly at me. 'In that case, I guess she goes,' I said.

'And no others,' Gargantua said.

'No others,' I conceded, trying to avoid Penny's sudden look of stunned panic. Clearly, she'd expected me to fight harder for her freedom.

And I wanted to. Desperately, But there was nothing I could do against odds like these. I would leave to cooperate and hope the Modhri made a slip somewhere along the line.

'But first,' Gargantua continued, 'you will give me the name.'

Bayta's face went suddenly very still. 'What name?' I asked carefully.

'The name you were searching for in that hotel,' Gargantua said. 'The name the Human Daniel Stafford is traveling under.' His snout curled back to reveal his teeth. 'The name the Human Kunstler gave you before he died.'

I flicked a glance at Bayta, my back muscles twinging in memory. Apparently, Gargantua hadn't reached the scene in time to hear Kunstler's actual last words. But he'd been in time to see the dying man's lips moving. 'He didn't give me any name,' I said.

From behind me came a sudden gasp. I spun around, my stomach tensing, to see one of the Halkas gripping the nerve center on Penny's forearm. Her face was contorted in surprise and pain. 'I can hurt her much worse than that,' Gargantua reminded me.

I took a deep breath. Penny was watching me closely. So was Bayta. 'Daniel Mice,' I said, 'Now stop hurting her.'

A flash of surprise and disbelief flashed across Bayta's face as Gargantua took a sideways step and gazed at my profile. 'Speak the name again,' he ordered.

'Daniel Mice.' I repeated.

For a moment he was silent. Then, to my relief, the Haiku released Penny's arm. 'Yes,' he said at last. 'Those were indeed the lip movements. Daniel Mice,' he repeated, his voice gone thoughtful. 'But Mice is a form of Earth vermin.'

'It also refers to a famous cartoon figure you may have seen in dit rec animations.' I said. 'Apparently Stafford has a sense of humor.'

Out of the corner of my eye I saw several of the Tra'ho'seej pull out their comms. The Modhri would have certainly already done a planetwide search for the name Daniel Stafford. Now, he was about to do the same for Daniel Mice, plus all the variants he could come up with.

One of the oathlings who hadn't hauled out his comm broke away from the rest of the group and came toward us, pulling off his poncho as he did so. [For the female,] he said, handing the poncho to Gargantua. He gave Bayta a courteous little bow, as befit a culture that held females of all species in high regard. Then, with a brief glower in my direction, he returned to his place in the informal picket line.

'Put it on.' Gargantua said, handing the poncho to Bayta. 'It will help disguise you.'

So the Modhri conceded my point that Bayta and Penny didn't look alike. Interesting. 'You might as well,' I confirmed to Bayta. 'That's the kind of sky that could rain on us all night.'

I looked around again as she began to work her way into the garment. Gargantua didn't wait for her to finish, but headed silently back to where the fourth Halka was guarding Penny and Morse. Either the Modhri wanted to keep him back in reserve, or else he'd decided that Gargantua's presence at Penny's side would be more of an incentive for me to behave myself.

Or maybe I'd hurt him badly enough that the Modhri wanted to let him recover a little before throwing him into battle again. I rather hoped that was the case.

I looked around us. Now that the non-Modhran spectators had dispersed, the streets were nearly deserted. Two streets away, I could see a couple of Tra'ho'seej walking arm in arm, young lovers perhaps out for a romantic