The Third Lynx

I looked up. It was Gargantua, standing in the aisle beside me, glaring intimidatingly down his bulldog snout at me. There was no sign of his sensor cane, so apparently his eyes had recovered, too. 'There you are,' I said conversationally. 'How's it going?'

'You have the item?' he asked, ignoring the attempt at small talk.

'You have our friends?' I countered.

His eyes flicked to my jacket, then to the empty area beneath my chair. 'Where is it?'

'Nice and safe and easy to get to,' I assured him. 'When we see our friends.'

He studied my face a moment. 'They await in a car out front.'

'Good,' I said. 'Bring them here.'

'You have my word they're unharmed.'

'Glad to hear it,' I said. 'Bring them here anyway. The trade's going to happen in this room.'

Gargantua's gaze lifted almost furtively to the crowd around us …and with a sudden and unexpected flicker of empathy I had a glimpse of just how vulnerable the Modhri truly was. His main body was composed of lumps of coral, helpless against a determined attack, while his only allies were co-opted beings who had no loyalty to either him or his cause, but who had to be literally forced to do his bidding.

The Modhri had been designed by the Shonkla-raa as a secret weapon, someone who would operate in the shadows. Now, with the truth of his existence out in the light, he was fighting not only for conquest, but for survival.

Ruthlessly, I crushed back the flicker of sympathy. Sympathy of any sort was a weakness the Modhri could turn to his advantage, exerting limited influence through telepathically planted thought viruses that traveled the lowered mental resistance lines that existed between friends and trusted associates.

Fortunately, unlike the irresistible control he had over his walkers, thought viruses could be successfully fought, provided you didn't let them get a foothold. 'We're still waiting,' I reminded him.

'They have arrived.'

I turned around in my seat. Flanked by two more Tra'hok oathlings in rider chairs, Penny and Morse were standing in the back of the room. They were steady on their feet, looking around the room, and seemed to be all right.

Morse's scanning eyes found me. I raised my eyebrows in wordless question, got a subtle thumbs-up in wordless response.

'The Lynx.' Gargantua said.

'Certainly.' Turning back around, I nodded to the stage. 'It's right there.'

He looked that direction, the wrinkles in his snout deepening. 'Where?'

'Right there,' I said again, pointing. 'Peeking out from behind that green and blue landscape painting. See it?'

He turned startled eyes on me. 'You entered it in the auction?'

'You got it,' I said. 'Lot one hundred thirty-five, I believe. Afraid you're going to have to make an evening of it—late donation, you know. Anyway, the point is that all you need to do is wait for it to come up, buy it, and it's yours.'

He looked back at the stage. 'We agreed to a straight trade.'

'I changed my mind,' I said. 'Mr. Stafford spent a lot of money coming here, and I thought he should at least get some of it back. Besides, it was your fault the museum was damaged. It's only right that you help pay to put it back together.'

'I see,' he said, sounding calmer. 'Only half the monies collected go to the museum. How will the Human Stafford receive his share?'

'That's the best part,' I said. 'We'll have a couple of hours to get safely hidden away before you take possession, just in case you have something nasty up your sleeves—'

'I have given you my word.'

'And as I said before, I've seen how well you keep it,' I reminded him. 'Meanwhile, the museum will hold our share until we're ready to come get it.'

He cocked his head to the side. 'Our share?'

'I'm charging a small commission for services rendered,' I said. 'Not that that's any of your concern. Do we have a deal?'

Gargantua looked at the Lynx again. 'Take the other Humans and go,' he said.

'Good,' I said, standing up and motioning for Bayta to do the same. 'See you around.'

His eyes glittered. 'Absolutely,' he promised.

'What's going on?' Penny asked as Bayta and I reached her and Morse.

'We're getting out of here,' I said, watching the two oathlings out of the corners of my eye as I took her arm. Neither was paying any attention to us. But then, I doubted either had the faintest idea that he was on guard duty. 'Your luggage still back at the transport depot?'

Morse nodded. 'The Halkas wouldn't let us go get it.'

'Good enough,' I said. 'It can stay there until we're ready to leave the planet. Come on—your friend Daniels waiting.'

'Her fiance Daniel,' Morse corrected pointedly as the four of us headed for the nearest exit.

I grimaced as I glanced sideways at Penny's profile. Out of sight, out of mind, and over the past day I'd almost been able to bury my feelings for her. Now, with her right here beside me. they were flooding back with a vengeance.

Even knowing how it was hurting Bayta, they were still flooding back with a vengeance. It was like high school all over again. 'Whatever,' I said to Morse. 'Regardless, we need to make tracks.'

'Where are we going?' he asked.

'You'll see.'

There was a line of autocabs pulled up beside the curb. We piled in and I gave the vehicle the address of the Artists' Paradise. 'What about the Lynx?' Morse asked as we set off through the evening darkness.

'We're leaving it here,' I told him.

'The hell we are,' Morse bit out. 'That's evidence in a grand theft case. Possibly also a homicide.' 'Sorry, but I made a deal,' I said.

'With whom?' Morse countered. 'The gang, or Stafford?'

'Pick one,' I said. I'd also nearly forgotten how annoying Morse could be.

The autocab let us out at the Paradise's main entrance, and I led us inside. Halfway down the tunnel, I found that the five Tra'ho'seej juvenile delinquents had taken up their old posts. They seemed considerably more subdued than they'd been the previous night. 'Evening,' I greeted them. 'I trust we're not going to have any trouble from you?'

[No,] the leader said, his ears twitching nervously. [But he's gone.]

'What?' I asked, letting my voice drop half an octave.

[He's gone,] the Tra'ho repeated, holding out a data chip. [He said to give you this.]

Wordlessly, I pulled out my reader and plugged in the chip.

The message was very brief. Compton: I can't wait this out. I thought I could, but I can't. You can have my share of the auction money—I just want out. See you when I see you.

It was signed Daniel S.

'Terrific,' I growled, handing the reader to Morse and Penny. 'Just terrific.'

'He can't do this,' Morse growled. 'He's still under suspicion for grand theft.'

'Maybe he doesn't realize that,' I said.

'Or maybe he does,' Morse shot back. 'Maybe that's why he ran.'

'He didn't even mention me,' Penny murmured.

I looked at her, my heart aching in sympathy with the quiet pain in her voice. I wanted to tell her the truth, but of course I couldn't. 'He didn't know you were here,' I lied instead. 'I never told him.'

'Time stamp's only three hours ago,' Morse pointed out, handing back the reader. 'If he's headed for the spaceport, we might still be able to catch him.'

'Worth a try,' I said. 'Let's see if our autocab's still there.'