smile back. He was looking at the guy getting out the car's other side, somebody who Kham suddenly realized wasn't lined up with the rest of his runners like he should have been. It was Neko the catboy, and still armed.
'Sticking wit your own, catboy?' Kham asked. Ratstomper growled in accompaniment to the question.
The suit answered before the catboy could open his mouth. 'I suggest that you refrain from admonishing Mr. Noguchi. Your anger is misplaced. He is not my own, Kham. Pardon me if you find it overly familiar of me to address you by name without formal introduction, but you have done so much to aid my enterprise that I feel we should be friends. My name is Enterich, by the way.'
'Mr. Enterich sponsored my trip here,' Neko said. 'Ya been working for him, huh? Shoulda known no breeder would be a real chummer. Just biz, huh? That why ya led 'em ta us.' 'I didn't-'
'Please do not view Mr. Noguchi as a Judas, Kham,' Enterich said smoothly. 'Though it is true that in pursuit of my principal's interests I arranged for his transport to this continent and saw that he was chosen for Glasgian and Urdli's run out to the Salish lands, I did not set him as a trap for you. Mr. Noguchi was placed as part of an insurance policy which, unfortunately, was necessary. Your involvement was, shall we say, unanticipated. Had not a certain impetuous personage sought to hide his deeds completely, you would have gone quietly on with your life without ever knowing that Mr. Noguchi and I had done business. As it was, our interests ran parallel for a time, but that time is over. Now it is time for our ways to part.'
'So now ya take us out of da way.' Enterich raised his eyebrows. 'Why would you think that? You have been more help than hindrance.' 'Too bad.'
Frowning, Enterich said, 'Kham, I don't believe that you like me.'
Bright boy. Kham spat onto the concrete floor. 'Don't like elves dat hide dere faces.'
Enterich's frown vanished, replaced by a faint, patronizing smile. His gold incisors sparkled. 'An elf? Oh no, I'm not an elf.'
'Didn't say ya were. Work fer one dough, doncha? Dat Aussie elf.''
'Urdli? Hardly. If you knew Urdli as I do, you would know that he would never countenance working with me.' All right, so it wasn't the other elf. The catboy had really known what he was talking about when he said that somebody else knew about the rock. 'Den who'dya work for? Miltron?'
'Still guessing? You should be careful about that. Someone might think you've been looking too deeply into the toys you've had on loan. Much as I like you, Kham, it would be unwise to tell you. You might find such knowledge unhealthy. A family man like you has to think about the future.'
As if their situation wasn't unhealthy already. Enterich's rough boys had been willing to kill Kham and his guys merely for endangering their mission. Talk was the biggest danger to secrets-and it was clear that Enterich had plenty of those, and wanted to keep this crystal business as one of them. Dead men don't tell no tales; neither do dead orks. 'Don't look like me and da guys got much of a future.'
'You misunderstand. Your escapade with the truck was annoying, especially since the transport was a valuable asset, but it has also had some benefits. Even now the young elven prince is looking in all the wrong places, searching for you and ignoring my operatives. It is a minor advantage, but one that has already proved useful, and so you have my gratitude. In return, I would like to assure you that if you bow out now, peacefully, I will not hold your earlier interference against you and your friends. As one who abhors unnecessary violence, I will even go so far as to ensure that the hellions will never bother you again.' 'The what?'
'Ah, yes. You would not know.' Smiling, Enterich indicated the metal men with a wave of his hand. 'These gentlemen are hellions. Wondrous artifacts of technology, are they not? Elite volunteers-trained to perfection, heavily modified with state-of-the-art cy-berware, then, of course, trained some more. Freed from most of the constraints of the flesh, they are tireless, swift, and powerful. The ultimate blend of man and machine, near- perfect soldiers. I have great hopes for them, once the bugs are worked out of the system. The mechanical components confer a remarkable resistance to magic, but the necessarily limited organic component is sometimes prone to irrationality. But we have safeguards for that.
'You must excuse me, I tend to wax overly enthusiastic over new baubles. I'm sure my problems with new technologies are of no interest to you.'
Enterich sketched a little bow, as if in apology. Meanwhile, one of his corporate goons had left the group checking out the hijacked truck and had come over to hand Enterich a slim silver chip-holder that she said was from the computer aboard the truck. Enterich gazed thoughtfully at the thing for a moment, then turned back to Kham.
'Ah, you see. You have been even more helpful than I had originally realized. I am sure I will find these files your decker-Chigger, wasn't it?-removed from the Andalusian matrix to be of interest. However, at the moment I have other matters to attend to and wish to conclude our business. Do I have your word that you will drop all interest in what the truck carries?'
Thoughts of what he'd be giving up raced through Kham's brain. There was nothing he could do about it right now. 'If I don't give ya my word?'
'That would be unfortunate. For you. As I was saying, the hellions lost their companion in the Andalusian raid. As they blame you and your runners for the death of their comrade in arms, I fear that they would like to pay you and yours back in kind.'
'We didn't do nuttin' ta get dere chummer geeked.'
'They believe your complicity sufficient, and wish to make a response. Their small minds are filled with loyalty to their friends; misguided loyalty at times, but strong nonetheless. The streak of irrationality, I suppose.'
Kham knew a threat when he heard one. And the fact that the catboy knew where his family was hiding meant that Enterich probably did, too. 'Don't see anyway ta stop ya.'
'A wise conclusion.' Enterich held out one hand. 'I do not wish us to part enemies, Kham.'
Kham merely stared into the suit's face until the man dropped his hand. The Weeze muffled a snort.
'Very well,' Enterich said, taking a credstick from his pocket and holding it out. 'A business arrangement, then?'
Kham ignored that, too.
Uttering a soft sigh, Enterich dropped the credstick. It clinked and clattered on the hard floor.
'There is a small compensation there, along with a number you can contact if Glasgian continues to annoy you or any of your runners. Like you, I do not wish to see him prosper.' Enterich returned to his limo and climbed in. One hand on the door handle, he seemed to have another thought. 'You may believe that I have cheated you in this, but it is not so. The crystal is not precisely what you believe it to be, and though I cannot expect that you will take my word for it, you would be wise to do so. The crystal is not for you, or your kind, and you would do well to forget its existence. That would please me, and you would find that my good will can be helpful.'
How could Kham forget the crystal, especially in trade for nebulous promises of nonexistent corporate good will? No matter. He knew better than to reveal his evaluation of the worth of Enterich's compensation. 'Maybe I will.'
'If you do not, I think that my principal will be less lenient than I have been.' The suit shut the door and the limo started up. A
squad of the uniformed goons boarded the truck, while the rest of them scurried back to their vans. All but one of the vans pulled out with the limo and the truck. The hellions waited, covering the departure of their boss. Then they too took off in the last van, the sound of the vehicle's engine echoing hollowly off the warehouse walls.
24
Once the hellions were gone, the orks were free to recover their weapons. Most of them did so at once, but Ratstomper turned to Neko instead.
'Your suit friend didn't say we couldn't take our frustrations out on you.'
Heedless of his weapon, she charged the catboy. Fortunately for her, he didn't use it. He sidestepped, his hands touching her briefly and sending her crashing into one of the beams. Moaning, Ratstomper collapsed to the
