then get back on a local as we approached Sibbrava. But that would mean two train changes, and two extra opportunities for walkers to notice and perhaps wonder about a whole bunch of lockbox transfers.
For the moment Rebekah's coral was safely hidden out of the public eye. We needed to keep it that way.
Two hours after Homshil we reached the Jurian regional capital of Kerfsis, and an hour-long stop to transfer passengers and cargo. Once again the three of us spent the entire time in our double compartment with the windows opaqued. Kerfsis held some interesting memories for Bayta and me, and I wondered if she was sifting through them the same way I was.
At one point I considered asking her about it. But Rebekah would just want to know what we were talking about, and I really didn't want to discuss it with her, and so I kept quiet. The stopover ended, and we headed out again, through the atmosphere barrier and back to our usual hundred-kilometers-per-hour, one-light-year-per- minute cruising speed.
By now, the trip had settled into a routine: eat, talk, watch a dit rec drama on one of the two computers in our double compartment, sleep, eat again, talk some more. From Kerfsis it was about a three-day journey to the Jurian capital system of Jurskala, though with the extra stops our train would be making it would probably be more like three and a half days. Somewhere in that time, I fully expected the Modhri to make his move.
We were six hours out from Jurskala when he did.
I was just thinking it was time I strolled back to the dining car to pick up a snack when Bayta suddenly sat bolt upright on her bed. 'Frank, there's a report of a fire!' she said sharply.
For a second I just stared at her. Fires and other natural disasters simply didn't happen on Quadrails. And then my brain caught up with me, and I realized who had to be behind it. 'Where?' I demanded, rolling off my bed onto my feet.
'Last third-class car,' Bayta said. 'The Spiders are clearing everyone out now.'
The last passenger car, in other words, before the three baggage cars. 'Nice,' I growled, grabbing my jacket.
'What do you mean?' Rebekah asked anxiously. She was sitting at the computer, her fingers poised tautly over the keyboard, her eyes wide and nervous.
'The Modhri's bought into the idea that your coral is in one of the baggage cars,' I told her. 'He also knows—or at least suspects—that one of your Melding buddies needs to be nearby to make him behave. He wants to split up the team. Ergo, the fire.'
'What are you going to do?' Bayta asked as I keyed open the door.
'I'll figure that out when I get there.' I dug into my pocket. 'Here,' I added, tossing her the
I didn't notice any particular excitement or anxiety as I passed through the first- and second-class sections of the Quadrail. Clearly, the Spiders were playing it cool, keeping the trouble as localized and isolated as possible.
Of course, that localization wasn't going to last any longer than it took for the uprooted passengers to start spilling out of their car. Where the Spiders intended to stash them while they dealt with the problem I didn't know, but it wasn't likely to be pretty. Third-class Quadrail cars weren't noted for having a lot of spare room, and second- class wasn't much better. I tried to picture the reaction of my fellow first-class passengers to a flood of refugees from third, but my imagination wasn't up to it.
Fortunately, the Spiders had already come up with a better plan. As I left the last second-class car and headed into the second/third-class dining car I found myself having to push through a mob of milling Humans and aliens. Clearly, the Spiders had directed the evacuees to the dining car, where they would at least have a little elbow room to spare.
Beyond the dining car, the hurried passage of the evacuees had left an atmosphere of frowns and low conversation and craned necks. Every eye seemed to turn to me as I strode past, the lone non-Spider going the opposite direction from everyone else.
A few people seemed to consider asking me what was going on as I passed. Fortunately, my brisk stride and carefully honed question-discouraging scowl kept them silent.
The last passenger car was empty except for a handful of Spiders and an acrid smell of smoke. The focus of the Spiders' attention seemed to be a row of three seats in the middle of the car, and as I moved closer I saw the two Spiders nearest the area were spraying a pressurized stream of thick white mist over the center seat. 'What was it?' I asked the room in general as I headed back.
The nearest Spider stepped into the aisle in front of me, blocking my way. He was a stationmaster, slightly bigger than the conductor Spiders gathered in the car, and with an identifying pattern of white dots across part of the surface of his globe. 'You must return to the dining car,' he said in a flat voice. 'It is not safe here.'
'No I don't, and yes it is,' I said, taking another step forward.
The Spider didn't budge. 'You must return to the dining car,' he repeated. 'It is not safe here.'
I stopped and gazed hard at the silvery globe as it hung in the middle of the network of spindly legs. 'Do you know who I am?' I asked.
There was a moment of silence. 'Frank Compton,' he said in the same flat voice.
'Then you know I have authority to go wherever in the Quadrail system I choose,' I said. 'Please step aside.'
For a moment he seemed to think about that, no doubt telepathically consulting with the rest of the Spiders on the train. My mandate from the Chahwyn wasn't nearly as broad as I'd made it sound, and I wondered if he was going to try to split hairs.
Apparently not. His moment of contemplation over, he tapped his way silently into the row of seats beside him, clearing the aisle for me. Nodding to him, I stepped past and made my way to the point of interest. The Spiders with the extinguishers had finished their work, and I peered through the rapidly dissipating white mist.
One look was all I needed. 'Offhand, I'd say your sensor mesh needs a little work,' I commented.
'Explain,' the stationmaster said from behind me.
Pulling out my multitool, I flipped it to needle-nose pliers mode and carefully extracted a thin, pointy-ended plastic tube that had been embedded in the inboard side of the center of the three seats. 'It's called a whiffer,' I said. 'It contains two vials of liquids which, when mixed, create a gas that can smell like pretty much anything you want.'
'It is not a weapon?' the stationmaster asked.
'Not really, which is probably why your sensor screen didn't flag it,' I said. 'But even harmless aromas can make good diversions.' I held up the whiffer for emphasis. 'As you can see.'
'A diversion for what?'
'That's the question, isn't it?' I agreed, sniffing at the air. The smoky smell was all but gone. Whatever was in the Spiders' fire-fighting mist, it was handy stuff. 'You can go ahead and let everyone back in,' I told him, stepping away from the seat and heading toward the rear of the car. 'You'll want to make a note of who belongs in this set of seats, though.'
'Where are you going?' the stationmaster asked.
'There,' I said helpfully, pointing toward the door leading into the first of the baggage cars. 'You just concentrate on getting the passengers resettled.'
I had the distinct impression that all of the Spiders were watching me as I made my way to the rear. But none of them interfered as I reached the back of the car and opened the door. I crossed the vestibule and punched the door release, and as the door slid open I stepped into the baggage car.
I'd spent more than my fair share of time in Quadrail baggage cars, and this one was typical of the breed. It was dimly lit, with stacks of safety-webbed crates arranged in seemingly haphazard islands throughout the car, the piles creating a twisting maze of narrow corridors meandering around and between them. Each stack consisted of cargo bound for a particular stop, the island configuration allowing the drudges to quickly extract the proper cargo through the roof at each station along the line. Our crate was supposed to be at the front of the car, in one of the 'special handling' stacks, where we would have easy access to it and could keep up the illusion that it had some actual significance. Flashlight in hand, I went looking for it.
Only to discover that it wasn't there.
I walked twice across the full width of the car, double-checking each crate as I went. After that I moved on to
