Judgment at Proteus

*   *   *

I didn’t say anything to Bayta right away, since she was still talking to Terese and I didn’t want to worry the girl. But it was clear from the tension in Bayta’s face as I came in that she already knew. Apparently, the Spiders hadn’t been as absent during the confrontation as I’d thought.

Bayta didn’t say anything, either. But within five minutes of my arrival she found an excuse to leave Terese in their half of our double compartment and to join me on my side, closing the dividing wall between us.

The wall had barely snicked shut when she was up in front of me, her hands gripping my upper arms, her face tight with worry as she gazed into my eyes. “Are you all right?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m fine,” I said, reaching up and resting my arms reassuringly on her shoulders. “They never laid a hand on me.”

“I meant—” She broke off.

“You mean what am I going to do when we reach Homshil and Osantra Riijkhan wants an answer to his recruitment pitch?” I asked, easing her back and sitting us both down on the curved couch that had folded out from the dividing wall as it closed.

“Yes,” she said, her voice dark. “He may have more people and resources assembled by the time we get there.”

I shrugged. “I’m sure he will. For that matter, he’s probably got more resources already on this train. That’s what that whole nonsensical attack was all about.”

Bayta’s lip twitched. “I was wondering about that,” she said. “He only sent the agents we already knew about.”

“Exactly,” I said, nodding. “Well, all except Scrawny, anyway.”

“Scrawny?”

“The Filly we were all set to charge through on Venidra Carvo if the Modhri hadn’t sent those two Tra’ho’seej to run interference for us,” I explained. “Not that he would have been much good in a fight anyway. But you’re right. The whole point of that exercise was to give us the illusion that Riijkhan was still being proactive without actually showing us any new cards.”

“So he’s still here to watch us?”

“That’s my guess,” I said. “And sneering bravado aside, he might also be a little bit worried. No matter how many minions he’s got on hand, the fact remains that he’s only one Shonkla-raa, and we’ve already demonstrated that we can take on lone Shonkla-raa and win. No, unless we push him too hard I think we can assume he’ll wait until Homshil before trying anything.”

“And then?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe I’ll take him up on his offer.”

Her eyes were steady on me. “You are joking.”

“There is something to be said for getting invited into the middle of your enemy’s planning sessions,” I pointed out. “But don’t worry, I’m not going to change sides.”

“He won’t be happy about that,” she warned.

“He can be as unhappy as he wants,” I said. “By the time the train reaches Homshil Station we’ll be long gone.”

Bayta frowned. “We’ll be—? Oh,” she interrupted herself, her forehead smoothing. “A tender?”

“Exactly,” I said. “One of the messages I sent from Venidra Carvo was to the Homshil stationmaster. About half an hour out from Homshil a tender is supposed to pull alongside and set up a—what did the defender call the thing the last time we did this? That portable airlock thingy of theirs?”

“A side-extendable sealable passageway,” Bayta supplied.

“Right—that,” I said. “The three of us—you, me, and Terese—will slip out the door into the tender. By the time the super-express hits the Homshil atmosphere barrier, we’ll already be past the station and on our way to Yandro.”

A small shiver ran through her. “You still want to go there?” she asked quietly.

“Not really,” I admitted. “But I don’t see any other option. We need to know how far the Modhri’s prepared to go to get out from under the collective Shonkla-raa thumb. If he’s willing to sign on to my plan, great. If he’s not … well, we’ll deal with that if and when it happens.”

“A plan you haven’t yet told me,” Bayta pointed out.

I gazed into her eyes, torn by indecision. How much should I tell her? How much could I afford to tell her? “The basic plan has two prongs,” I said. “The first part is to try to drop the Modhri out of the equation. If we can do that, the Shonkla-raa’s list of allies instantly drops by a factor of about a million.”

“All right,” Bayta said slowly. “But how are you going to do that? Persuade him to send all his walkers into hiding?”

“That’s one possibility,” I said. “I’m hoping to find something with a little more staying power, though.”

“Such as?”

“Still working that out,” I lied. “Anyway, once he’s out of the picture, all we need to do is raise ourselves an army.”

Her face suddenly became very still, and it didn’t take any great insight on my part to guess she was thinking about the Chahwyn’s defender Spiders. A few of them might be of great assistance in this confrontation with the Shonkla-raa.

An army of them would change the face and tone of Quadrail travel forever.

“And since there’s only one species we know the Shonkla-raa can’t control,” I went on before she could say anything, “that means our army will be composed of us lowly Humans.”

Her eyes did a quick double-take, and some of the fresh tension lines faded. But only some of them. “Humans?” she echoed.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Ironic, isn’t it? After being looked down on by pretty much everyone else for the past thirty-odd years, we’re going to be the ones who come charging over the hill to save the day.”

“You really think…?” She trailed off, her usual impassive expression dropping back over her swirling uncertainties.

“It’ll work, Bayta,” I said. I took her hand and squeezed it, savoring the warmth and strength as she squeezed back. “We’ll make it work.”

She took a deep breath. “I hope so,” she said quietly.

“It will,” I said. With an effort, I looked her straight in the eye. “Trust me.”

TWENTY-TWO

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We kept busy with the usual diversions: dit-recs, games, music, and of course the consistently superb food and drink. Unlike many of the first-class passengers, Bayta and I also made regular use of the exercise equipment, visits that served the dual purpose of helping us work off the calories as well as giving Terese a few precious hours of solitude. Bayta was always a little nervous about leaving the girl alone that way, but as long as she made sure there was at least one Spider watching over the girl she was able to keep her concern mostly in check.

Through it all, I kept waiting for Riijkhan to make a return appearance. But having had his say he apparently saw no need to underline his point and went back to spending the bulk of his time in his compartment.

Scrawny likewise spent the rest of the journey making himself scarce. Riijkhan’s other three minions, in contrast, seemed to be everywhere, dogging my steps, throwing furtive glances in my direction, and otherwise doing the stuff you apparently learn in Shonkla-raa minion school.

For a while I tried watching them, hoping I could catch the subtle signs of recognition between them and the unknown agents I was still sure Riijkhan had aboard. But after a couple of weeks I gave up the effort. These three clearly had no clue who the rest of the team members were, and with Riijkhan not giving me the chance to watch his own reactions the hidden agents were likely to stay that way.

Bayta didn’t seem to be having much luck with her chosen project, either. Terese’s barriers were slowly coming down, but while she was willing enough to talk to Bayta their conversations still tended to be rather