Judgment at Proteus

“Clever, Compton,” a Filly voice called. “But surely you realize it’s all futile. You don’t truly think you can hold out against us forever, do you?”

“I don’t have to hold out nearly that long,” I called back. “Just until the next express train coming through here sees us, figures out something’s wrong, and sends an alert to the orbiting transfer station out there. There’s a whole contingent of Human soldiers aboard who’d love the chance for a little exercise.”

“And will they come into a Quadrail station willing to shoot everyone in sight, including their own people and visiting non-Humans?” the Shonkla-raa countered.

“An interesting question,” I agreed. “Shall we find out?”

For a moment the other was silent. I listened to the persistent and increasingly annoying command tone as I peered back and forth through my barrier, trying to figure out where all the walkers had disappeared to. But they’d all gone to ground somewhere out of sight. Only the four Shonkla-raa were still visible, still standing in their generals’ line, out of range of my kwi.

But if I could get out there and close some of that distance before they could get their walkers close to me …

“Your words demonstrate true Shonkla-raa spirit,” the spokesman said. “But I do not believe your strength of will is of the same magnitude.”

“I just firebombed a dozen of my own people,” I reminded him.

“I grant your willingness to wound or kill Humans you do not know,” the Shonkla-raa said. “But what about friends and allies? Are you willing to sacrifice them, as well?”

I snorted under my breath. “I think you may be missing the point of why I’m sitting here in this doorway.”

“I do not refer to those allies aboard the Quadrail,” he said. “I refer to these allies.” He shouted something in a unfamiliar Fili dialect.

“What’s he talking about?” Terese murmured in my ear.

“I don’t know,” I said, frowning as two Humans and a fifth Filly appeared through the door of one of the cafes. They headed across the line of platforms toward us, and I saw now that the Shonkla-raa was pushing the Humans ahead of him with his hands wrapped snugly around the backs of their necks.

“Who are they?” Terese asked.

“Can’t tell yet,” I told her. But both men definitely seemed familiar. They continued forward, the Humans’ faces slowly coming into focus—

I caught my breath. One of the men was UN director Biret Losutu. The other was my former employer Larry Cecil Hardin.

I stared at them, a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Losutu, the one man on Earth who knew enough about this war and had the authority to recruit the army I needed. If the Shonkla-raa murdered him, that would be it for any and all help from my own people.

Larry Hardin, the high-profile industrialist whom I’d blackmailed out of a trillion dollars and who would gladly see me twisting in the wind. If the Shonkla-raa murdered him, it would be a race as to whether the Shonkla-raa or Hardin’s own security force got to me first.

“I don’t think either of those are what I’d call a friend or an ally,” I called out to the Shonkla-raa, forcing my voice to stay calm and detached. “You got anything else?”

“I offer you a trade,” the newcomer called as he brought Losutu and Hardin to a halt, again staying well out of kwi range. “These two Human males for the female Terese German.”

Behind me, Terese gripped my arm tightly. “Sorry,” I called back. “Ms. German and her baby aren’t for sale.”

“Then we will kill the males,” the Shonkla-raa said, his voice darkening. “And then we will kill all the other innocents in the station. And all for nothing, because no help will come from your transfer station. Not ever.”

The knot in my stomach tightened another turn. “You don’t seriously expect me to believe you’ve taken over the whole transfer station.”

“And you think we could not?” He gave a contemptuous whinny. “Perhaps someday. This day we content ourselves with controlling the Spiders, who in turn control the docking hatchways. No help will arrive, for no help can enter the station.”

I grimaced. I’d hoped he wouldn’t realize that. “Except that unlike your Quadrail stations, ours have manual overrides,” I said, trying one final bluff.

“They do not,” the Shonkla-raa said flatly. “I make the offer again: Terese German for these two males.”

“Compton!” Losutu called. “Don’t—” He broke off with a strangled gurgle.

“What are we going to do?” Terese asked tensely.

I chewed at my lip. Unfortunately, the Shonkla-raa was right. We were trapped here, with no hope of help from Earth or the Spiders, facing five Shonkla-raa and probably seventy-five or more functional walkers. No matter what kind of defenses we were able to cobble together, sooner or later they would find a way through or else would overwhelm us with sheer numbers.

There was nothing more I could do in here except stall for time. Out there, though, I might find a weakness I could exploit. “Counteroffer,” I called. “You release the two males, forget about Ms. German, and you can have me.”

Terese’s grip on my arm tightened. “Do you then consider yourself worth as much as the female?” the Shonkla-raa called.

“Osantra Riijkhan seemed to think so,” I said. “He offered to give the whole Terran Confederation a get-out-of-tyranny-free card if I came over to your side.”

“Is that what you offer in exchange for these Humans?”

“I’m offering to leave the train in exchange for them being allowed to join my friends in here,” I said. “Whether I’ll actually work for you is a different negotiation for a different day.”

There was another pause. Then, below the whistling of the command tone I caught the low murmur of hurried conversation in that same Fili dialect. They knew I was up to something, and were probably trying to decide whether the risk of me springing some trap was worth getting me out of the train.

Terese was clearly thinking along the same lines. “You can’t leave us,” she murmured. “If you do, they’ll get us. All of us.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, wishing I had an iota of reason for her not to. If the Shonkla-raa still hoped they could turn me, I might have enough time to find the weakness I was hoping for.

If they’d decided I wasn’t worth any more of their effort, I’d be dead thirty seconds after I stepped out onto the platform.

“We accept your offer,” the Shonkla-raa holding Losutu and Hardin called, switching back to English. “Open your barrier and come out.”

I took a deep breath. This was, I knew, very possibly the last stupid mistake I would ever make. But stupid or not, it was the only chance we had. “You’ll have to drop your command tone for a minute,” I called back. “The Spiders are wedged in the doorway. I can’t move them—they’ll need to be mobile enough to move themselves.”

There was another silence. “Shonkla-raa?” I prompted. “Come on, read the logic. You want me out there, you’ll have to drop the tone.”

“You will leave the Spiders and exit from a different door.”

“The Spiders have been ordered to keep the other doors closed,” I said. “Bayta can’t override them from the compartment here.”

“Then she may leave the compartment.”

“When hell freezes over,” I retorted. “It’s this door, or none at all. Now shut off the damn command tone.”

The Shonkla-raa snarled something I couldn’t hear. “You will have ten seconds,” he said, his voice low and dark.

“I’ll try,” I said. “But they’re pretty well wedged.”

“You will have ten seconds.”

Abruptly, the command tone stopped, leaving a sort of auditory afterimage ringing in my ears. “You heard him,” I said, tapping Sam’s globe. “Or maybe you didn’t. Whatever. Come on, time to untangle yourselves.”

And then, to my surprise, the tingling of the kwi wrapped around my hand stopped.