The Third Lynx

the rest of the Modhri will never know what happened here.'

'That happened to him once,' Bayta said quietly. 'He doesn't want it to happen again.'

'So they just run away and wake up in the wilderness?' Stafford snorted. 'Like that's not something strange?'

'He'll probably bring them back here once we're gone,' I said. 'That won't be nearly as hard to explain away.'

'Except for all the bodies and destruction we're leaving behind,' Stafford pointed out.

I shrugged. 'I'm sure he'll be up to the challenge.'

'Why do we have to leave at all?' Penny asked.

'Because if we don't, we'll probably be arrested for mass murder,' I told her. 'You want to try to explain all this?'

'Why not?' she countered. 'We've got all the hard evidence we need, don't we?'

'We certainly have enough,' I said. 'Only we don't want to blow this into a full-court confrontation yet any more than the Modhri does. Don't forget, for all his vulnerabilities he still controls a lot of the power centers in the Twelve Empires. We go head-to-head and things will get very, very messy. For everyone.'

'So that's it?' Stafford demanded. 'We just walk away?'

'We just walk away,' I confirmed. 'And we keep our mouths shut.'

'I don't think I like that,' he said, an edge to his voice.

'Would you rather get a midnight visit from a couple of these?' I asked, nudging Gargantua's body with my foot. 'You two just sit back, pretend this never happened, and let us deal with it.'

'All right,' Stafford said ominously. 'For now.'

I turned as the surviving aircar set down between us and the main tents. I lifted my kwi as the door opened, hoping against hope I would see a striped Belldic face peering out.

'Easy,' Morse said as he climbed stiffly out of the pilot's seat. 'It's just me.'

For a moment I couldn't find my tongue. Neither, apparently, could anyone else. Stafford recovered first. 'Well,' he said, his tone studiously casual. 'So much for him being a Modhri walker.'

'As I believe I told you in the first place,' Morse growled, walking over to us. 'Maybe you'll trust me a little now. Incidentally, Compton, just for the record, that gadget of yours apparently builds up a resistance in the victim if you use it too much.' He lifted his eyebrows. 'Unless you planned for me to wake up while the party was still going on.'

'Hardly,' I managed. 'How did you get out of the cuffs?'

He smiled. 'Come now. I'm ESS. We aren't entirely without our resources, you know.' He looked around. 'So this was it?'

'Still is it, actually,' I said. I looked around, too …and as I did so, I suddenly understood what this place really was.

God in heaven.

'Frank?'

I looked around. Bayta was frowning at me. 'Are you all right?' she asked.

'Of course,' I lied. 'Back to business. By my count, there should still be one complete trinary weapon lying around somewhere. We need to find it and get it out of here, along with any spare Vipers that might have survived.'

'Preferably before someone starts wondering what this strange glitch is on the weather satellite feed,' Morse warned. 'Let's get the loot, and get the hell out of here.'

TWENTY-SIX :

We said our final farewells on the platform as the next Terra-bound train worked its way down the Tube toward us. 'Good luck,' I said to Stafford as we shook hands. 'And watch yourself. If and when the Modhri decides to step up his operations on Earth, you'll be an obvious target for him to go for.'

'I'll be careful,' Stafford said grimly. 'If he tries it, he'll have a serious fight on his hands.'

'And not just from Mr. Stafford,' Morse added. 'I'll be with them the whole way.'

'I appreciate that,' I said. 'Don't forget your promise.'

'To keep all of this secret.' Morse hissed between his teeth. 'I know. Still, galling though it is to let Earth stroll along in blissful ignorance, I can see your point. We'll keep quiet.'

'But if the silent routine changes, you let us know,' Stafford said. 'I still want justice for Uncle Rafael's murder.'

'We all do, and we're working on it,' I promised. I nudged my carrybag with my foot. 'This should definitely help.'

'I still can't believe the Spiders let you into the Tube with that thing in your bag,' Morse commented.

'We have a good working relationship with them,' I said, passing over the fact that with the weapon separated into its components again the Spiders couldn't have spotted it even if they'd wanted to.

'And don't forget your promise,' Stafford added. 'Whenever your friends get done studying the thing, I'd appreciate it if they would let me have the Lynx back.'

'If they'll allow it, I'll deliver it to you personally,' I promised.

'Someday you'll have to tell me the whole story of how you ended up in this war,' Morse said, glancing around the station. 'You and your sniper friend. Be sure to thank him for me, by the way.'

'I'm sure he thanks you, too,' I said. 'Your timing was perfect.'

'Actually, I could probably have shown up two minutes earlier and no one would have objected,' Morse said dryly. 'How did you arrange for him to be up there, anyway?'

'I didn't actually arrange anything,' I said. 'I just told him where we were going and the day and approximate time I expected us to arrive. He worked out the rest of the details himself.'

'Except that you did know he'd be on the easternmost mesa,' Stafford said. 'I assume that's why you wanted us to come in via the southern one.'

'I didn't know that was where he'd be,' I said. 'But that was the most likely place for him to set up shop. He would want the sun at his back if he could manage it.'

With a squeal of brakes, the Quadrail came to a stop on the track in front of us. The conductors took their places outside the doors, and the exodus of passengers began. 'You be careful,' Morse said. He hesitated, then held out his hand to me. 'I'm sorry for—well, you know.'

'I understand,' I assured him, feeling an unpleasant tingle as I shook his hand. 'Good-bye, Mr. Stafford; Ms. Auslander.'

'Good-bye,' Penny said, offering me her hand. 'And thank you. You and Bayta both. I don't know how we'll ever repay you.'

I took her hand and gazed into her eyes, trying to rekindle the attraction I remembered once having felt for her.

But there was nothing. The Modhri-induced feelings were gone, and I found myself wondering that I'd ever taken them seriously at all. 'No problem,' I told her. 'Send me an invitation to the wedding.'

Her eyes flicked sideways toward Stafford. 'We'll do that,' she promised.

The stream of disembarking passengers ended, and the conductors called the all aboard. 'Say good-bye to Bayta for us,' Morse called to me as the three of them climbed aboard. I waited, and after a minute Penny appeared at the window of her compartment. She smiled and waved, I waved back, and she disappeared out of my view, probably to start unpacking. The conductors went back aboard, the doors closed, and the Quadrail was once again on its way.