Judgment at Proteus

Modhran coral on them.”

“He did,” Bayta said. “But Agent Morse’s hybrid colony was able to influence the rest of the mind segment into creating the same relationship with the others that he and his colony already had.”

“I didn’t know a Melding colony was strong enough to do that,” I said. “In that case, scratch my concerns about the far-flung Modhran colonies. That solves a lot of problems right there.”

“Yes,” Bayta said. “I’m mostly relieved that we won’t have to worry about the Elders creating more defenders.”

“Amen to that,” I agreed. “Like I told the Elder at Yandro, I like the Spiders and Quadrail just the way they are.”

“And the Elders, too?” Bayta asked, her voice suddenly a little odd. “Do you like them? Even when they try to kill you?”

I threw a sideways look at her. “What are you talking about?” I asked cautiously.

“You don’t need to deny it,” she said. “I was right there, this afternoon, when you offered to tell Osantra Riijkhan about the Shonkla-raa origins. I saw the reaction of the defenders, moving toward you even though I’d ordered them to stand still. And I also saw they were so intent on silencing you that they continued moving even over the first few seconds of the command tone. That implies whatever you were about to say was a secret they very much wanted kept hidden.”

She took a deep breath. “Which can only mean that it was the Chahwyn. They were the ones who created the first Shonkla-raa.”

I grimaced. So there it was. The Elder had promised me death if I told their secret. And now Bayta knew it. There was no way they weren’t going to jump to the wrong conclusion on that one. “You never heard that,” I told her firmly. “Not from me, not from anyone. You weren’t supposed to ever know that.”

She shook her head. “You’ve trained me too well,” she murmured. “I see things now. I hear things. I understand things.”

“And sometimes all that cleverness is a damn curse,” I said harshly. “If the Chahwyn find out you know—”

“They won’t find out,” she said quietly. “Not until it’s too late for them to do anything.”

I felt my pulse suddenly speed up. “What do you mean, too late? Bayta, you’re not—?” Impulsively, I stopped short and grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face me. “Bayta, what are you saying?”

“I’m not going back to them,” she said, her eyes smoldering with a cold fire. “They’ve manipulated us, over and over again. They’ve schemed and lied—they’ve especially lied. And now I find out they created not just one, but both of the threats who’ve killed so many people? The threats we’ve been risking our lives all this time to fight?”

“They were forced to create the Modhri,” I reminded her. “As for the Shonkla-raa, it probably seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bayta said. “I’m tired of it—I’m tired of them. I’m finished, Frank. I want to go someplace where I won’t have to deal with them anymore.”

“Such as?”

“I was thinking about Yandro,” she said. “Most of the Melding is there, or will be soon. They’ll be helping to nurture and teach the Modhran segment-prime. Maybe they can find something I could do to help.”

“Ah,” I said. “I don’t suppose you’d consider coming to Earth instead?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. What would I do on Earth?”

I let go of her shoulders and took her hands. “Be with me,” I said.

She gazed at me, her mouth dropping open a little. “You mean … you still want me with you? Even now that it’s all over?”

“Especially now that it’s all over,” I said. “I don’t have a lot to offer you, Bayta, with the Chahwyn about to cancel my stipend and my handy little first-class Quadrail pass. Maybe I’ll take Hardin up on his offer—he’s obviously got some loose cannons on his payroll, and McMicking can’t smoke out all of them by himself. But whatever I end up doing, I’d like you to be a part of it.”

Her eyes glistened with sudden tears. “Even though I’m not Human?”

“Human and Chahwyn are just labels,” I said. “What’s important is that you’re Bayta. The whole package is the person I’ve been working with.” I braced myself. Two years of fighting and battling and denying even the word, let alone the thought— “The whole package is the one I’ve kind of grown to love.”

It was a long kiss, a deep kiss, a satisfying kiss. And when it ended I felt as if the weight of the universe had finally been lifted from my shoulders.

Because it was finally over. The Shonkla-raa were defeated, the Quadrail wasn’t about to be changed forever for the worse, and the Modhri … the Modhri would find his own way.

From the far end of the tunnel, I heard footsteps approaching. “We’d better go,” I said, taking Bayta’s arm and starting toward the exit again. “Under the circumstances, we probably shouldn’t send Sam and Carl back to the Tube quite as quickly as we’d planned. We don’t want the Chahwyn getting even a hint that we both know their deepest, darkest secret. Not until we’re well beyond their reach.”

“That’s okay—we don’t need the defenders to be physically there,” Bayta assured me. “We can laser up our medical requests, then make any final arrangements in person once we reach the station.” She paused. “And on the way back to Earth…?”

“Yes?” I said cautiously.

“Do you think we could find a dit-rec of Casablanca?” she asked. “I’d really like to hear this story you keep talking about.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Timothy Zahn is the author of more than forty original science fiction novels, including the popular Cobra and Blackcollar series. His recent works include the previous Quadrail novels, Night Train to Rigel, The Third Lynx, Odd Girl Out, and The Domino Pattern, such stand-alone SF novels as Angelmass, Manta’s Gift, The Green and the Gray, and the Dragonback young adult adventures Dragon and Thief, an A.L.A. Best Book for Young Adults, Dragon and Soldier, Dragon and Slave, Dragon and Herdsman, Dragon and Judge, and Dragon and Liberator. He has had many short works published in the major SF magazines, including “Cascade Point,” which won the Hugo Award for best novella. Among his other works are the bestselling Star Wars^® novel Heir to the Empire, the Hand of Thrawn duology, and the recent Choices of One, as well as other Star Wars^® novels, and Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes. He lives in Oregon.Contact him at www.facebook.com/TimothyZahn.