Judgment at Proteus (24 page)

“The one that disappeared a couple of years back,” I finished for him. “Vanished from the tracks into thin air with everyone aboard and was never heard from again. You want to know what really happened to it?”

His eyes were locked on me. “Tell me.”

“One of the mind segments of your friend the Modhri had decided I had information he didn’t want me to have,” I said. “He’d also brought some coral aboard the train, which he used to infect the rest of the passengers. He figured a trainful of walkers ought to be more than enough to take me down.”

I paused. “And?” Blue One asked.

“It wasn’t,” I said. “I killed him.”

He smiled again. But this time it was forced and uncertain. “
All
of him,” he said.

“Every last bit of him,” I confirmed. It hadn’t been nearly that easy, of course, any more than it had been easy to take down
Asantra
Muzzfor. And I’d had a lot of help in both situations.

But Blue One didn’t know that. And he wasn’t going to. “There’s a reason the Spiders hired me, Shonkla-raa,” I continued. “I’m good at what I do. And if I don’t get some answers about Terese German, I’ll probably have to kill a lot more people. Starting with you.”

For a dozen heartbeats he remained silent. Across the room in the dining area, Minnario had stopped chomping, and even Doug at my feet seemed to be listening in anticipation. “I’m not afraid of you,” Blue One said at last. “But I also have no desire to see blood flow in the corridors of
Kuzyatru
Station.”

“A wise decision,” I said, “especially since you’re probably trying as hard to operate under the radar as I am. Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” Blue One said. “Moving her wasn’t part of the plan. I can only assume it was done in response to this.” He twitched his shackled arms. “If you’d care to release me, I could go ask them.”

“Maybe later,” I said. “Fine—let’s assume you really don’t know where she is. Where
might
she be?”

He snorted. “What, aboard
Kuzyatru
Station?”

“I’m not talking about the whole station,” I said. “I’m talking about the limited number of ratholes you and your limited number of fellow Shonkla-raa have set aside for yourselves.”

He smiled again. “You delude yourself, Compton. There are far more of us than you can possibly imagine.”

“And they’ll be jackbooting their way down the corridors to Director
Usantra
Nstroo’s office any time now,” I said. “Heard it before. I want a list of those bolt-holes.”

He shook his head. “A waste of time. She’s a medical patient in poor condition, which means they’ll have taken her to another medical facility.”

“That makes sense,” I said, watching him closely. “Except that she wouldn’t be in poor condition if you hadn’t been dosing her with sickness juice. Did I mention we’d found your gimmicked hypos?”

His face changed, just enough to show I’d hit a nerve with that one. “Did you think we weren’t expecting you to?”

“Actually, yes, I do think that,” I said. “Seems like a lot of wasted effort, though. Why not just have Dr. Aronobal spike Ms. German’s normal meds? Aronobal
is
on your team, isn’t she?”

He hesitated, then shrugged. “I suppose there’s no point in denying it. Yes, she was our agent looking for likely prospects on Earth. She heard about Ms. German’s condition and arranged for her transport here.”

“And the rest of the Humans, the ones in Building Twelve?” I asked. “Did Aronobal bring them in, too?”

Again, his expression shifted subtly. “You’re well informed, Compton,” he said. “I was told you hadn’t been closer to Building Twelve than the spot where I left Tech Yleli’s body.”

A cold feeling settled around my heart. I’d tentatively tagged Blue One as Yleli’s killer, but I’d never had any actual proof of that. Now I had a confession. “You’re right, I didn’t,” I said, managing to keep my voice as casual as his. “Just observation plus simple logic. Once I knew
Usantra
Wandek was lying about the buildings being malleable, it followed that no one would put up a whole dome’s worth of Human buildings unless he also had a whole dome’s worth of Human patients to put there. I gather from the décor that most of them were taken from the EuroUnion?”

“Many were, yes,” Blue One agreed calmly. “A few were from other places on your worlds.”

My coldness at Blue One’s confession of murder dissolved into the warmth of anger. I’d already deduced that the Shonkla-raa had been taking Humans like Terese out of the Terran Confederation. But to have it so casually confirmed, as if Earth was nothing more than their own private butterfly preserve, was just plain galling. “Why?” I demanded.

“Do you really want me to tell you here?” he countered. His eyes flicked over my shoulder to Minnario. “When we win this field of battle, everyone who knows will have to die.”

I grimaced. That threat probably wasn’t a bluff, either. My neck was already in the Shonkla-raa’s noose; there was no point in putting Minnario’s in there with it. “Minnario, turn off your transcriber for a minute,” I said. “Our Filly friend here and I have something we need to discuss in private.”

[Are you sure that’s wise?] Minnario asked, a bit uncertainly.

“No, but I’m sure it’s necessary,” I said. “I’ll let you know when you can turn it back on.”

I heard the faint click of a switch. [It’s off,] he said.

Blue One eyed him another moment, then shifted his gaze back to me. “How much do you know about the original Shonkla-raa?”

“Enough,” I said. “They ruled the galaxy for a thousand years before being defeated and slaughtered by their slaves. There’s a moral in there somewhere.”

“Fables and morals are for inferiors,” the other said contemptuously. “Did it ever occur to you to wonder why Earth wasn’t included in their empire?”

I frowned. Actually, somehow, it hadn’t. It was a damn good question, too. “I’m sure you have an answer,” I said.

“That’s just it: we don’t know,” he said, his blaze darkening. “There are many theories: diseases that frightened the Shonkla-raa away, oppressive climatic or cultural factors, your uselessness as slaves, or simply that there was nothing in your system they couldn’t get more efficiently elsewhere. But it’s something we need to find out before we set out on our road to conquest.” He smiled suddenly. “I’m sorry: on our
final
road to conquest.”

“No need to apologize,” I assured him. “We’ve had plenty of would-be conquerors of our own who talked about how long their reigns would last. It’s a typical delusion with megalomaniacs.”

“You think we will fail?” he asked, his voice rich with arrogance and challenge.

“Pretty sure,” I said. “Bunny trails over; back to Terese German. Do I get that list of bolt-holes, or do I have to show off my expertise in the fine art of stimulating Filly nerve junctions?”

He sighed. “No need,” he said. “But it will do you no—”

And with a soft snap of plastic he yanked his formerly secured arms from behind his back and shoved off the couch, his hands reaching for my throat.

They’d made it halfway to their target when I snapped my right foot up and slammed my heel hard into his chest.

With a strangled
whoof
the air went out of him, the impact of the blow killing his momentum and sending him tumbling to the floor, his eyes wide with pain and fury. I kicked him again, just to be sure, then stood up and stepped over to the computer desk and the neat stack of quick-locks I’d left there.

[What is it?] Minnario gasped, and I felt the movement of air as he hurriedly brought his chair up behind me. [What happened?]

“Our clever friend gnawed through his ropes,” I said, selecting three of the quick-locks and returning warily to Blue One’s side. The caution was unnecessary—his whole upper torso must have felt wrapped in cotton right now, his arms pretty well useless. And of course his legs were still securely tied together. He wasn’t going to be starting any more fights for a while, and he certainly wasn’t going to be winning any. “More precisely, he used his nails to dig through parts of his quick-lock,” I continued. “I felt the notches when I checked it after I came in.”

[And you didn’t immediately fix it?] Minnario said, his tone somewhere between incredulous and livid. [You risked both our lives?]

“It wasn’t that much of a risk,” I assured him as I got Blue One’s wrists behind his back again and tightened a fresh quick-lock around them. “With his legs still useless he would have had to take me down in that first attack, and I was pretty sure he couldn’t.”

[But for what end?] Minnario persisted. [What did it gain you?]

“Information,” I said. Pushing the backs of Blue One’s hands together, I looped another quick-lock around his palms, and then another around his upper fingers, immobilizing all his nails where they couldn’t reach any of the restraints. “People get careless when they think they’re in control. They also talk too much.” I raised my eyebrows. “Like, for instance, confessing to Tech Yleli’s murder.”

“It will never be believed,” Blue One spat. “The word of two aliens in collusion, against that of a
santra
of the Filiaelian Assembly? No court would accept that without physical evidence.”

“That’s okay—physical evidence is the next thing on our scavenger-hunt list,” I said. “See, Minnario? We know now that he’s a
santra
, too. Okay, he’s ready to be put back to bed. Can you give me a hand?”

Minnario moved his chair close to Blue One’s other side, and between us we got the Filly back up onto the couch. “All nice and comfy again?” I asked as I looked down at him.

“I will kill you, Compton,” he said quietly, gazing up at me with a coldness that even the Modhran walkers I’d faced over the years hadn’t matched. “When the time comes I will personally end your life.”

“Interestingly enough, the Modhran mind segment on Quadrail 219117 said the same thing,” I told him. “Minnario, where’d you put the hypo and sleep juice?”

[Here,] Minnario said, pulling the hypo gingerly from his chair pouch and handing it to me. [It’s already loaded.]

“Thanks,” I said. I confirmed it was the amount Emikai had specified and slipped the needle into Blue One’s arm. “Anything else you’d like to say?” I invited.

“I’ll also kill your friend Bayta,” he said. “You will be there to watch it happen.”

“Got it,” I said, and pressed my thumb on the plunger. “Pleasant dreams.”

Once again, the stuff worked its magic with gratifying speed. Within a minute, Blue One’s breathing had slowed back down again. “Okay,” I said, handing the hypo back to Minnario. “It looks like he’s got a slightly better metabolism than the average Filly, so you’d better not count on him getting a full six hours per dose.”

[I understand,] he said. [I’ll give him another dose in five hours.]

“Thanks,” I said. “Unless you want me to come back and do it.”

[I can manage.] He smiled self-consciously. [For all of a lawyer’s high-sounding talk of searching out the truth while protecting those in need, I have to say that I’ve never before felt so much like I was actually doing that. It’s frightening, but curiously refreshing.]

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” I said, deciding not to ruin his evening by mentioning how quickly that glow of satisfaction faded once you’d actually been in the field for a while. “Call me right away if he looks to be waking up. Or if anything else odd happens.”

[Such as someone attempting to break down my door?] he inquired with a bland smile.

I grimaced. “Something like that.”

The smile faded. [A foolish jest,] he apologized. [My apologies.]

“That’s all right,” I said. “If it helps any, at the end of the day they’re probably not going to bother with you.”

[I know,] he said soberly. [You and Bayta are their real targets. That’s why I apologized.]

“Don’t count us out yet,” I said. “We’ve been in tight scrapes before. By the way, you mind telling me what you and Emikai discussed after we left earlier?”

Minnario shrugged. [Not very much, as it turned out,] he said. [
Logra
Emikai wished to know what I knew about you and Bayta.] He gave me a half smile tinged with embarrassment. [Which was also what I wished to know from him. As it happened, neither of us knew much more than the other.]

“I’ve always said we have no secrets from our friends,” I said dryly. Which wasn’t even close to being true, of course. “Anyway, get some rest. And be sure to double-lock the door behind me.”

TWELVE

The corridors were quiet as Doug and I headed back toward the medical dome. Not just quiet, in fact, but completely deserted. I wondered about that until a check of my watch reminded me that it was the Proteus dinner hour, which probably explained why no one was out and about. It also explained why my stomach was growling.

Which was fine with me. The quiet was conducive to thought, and between Yleli’s murder, Terese’s disappearance, and Blue One’s defiant stubbornness I had a lot to think about.

I had reached the traffic corridor and was working my way leftward across the glideway’s variable-speed fluid toward the fast track when Doug, who had decided to walk in front of me for once, suddenly turned his head and looked behind us.

An unpleasant tingle ran up my back. The last time Doug had reacted like that, it had been because a pair of Fillies were doing their best to sneak up on me. It seemed reasonable to assume that the same watchdog behavior might portend the same type of attack.

I’d been expecting some kind of Shonkla-raa reaction to Blue One’s disappearance. This could be it.

Mirrored walls would have been handy, but Proteus’s interior decorator had unfortunately missed out on that one. I continued toward the fast track as if nothing was happening, keeping my eyes forward, feeling my back muscles tightening in anticipation of a hand, a fist, or a knife. Blue One had said that I was worth more alive than dead, but I hadn’t believed him then and I certainly wasn’t going to count on it now.

We were one step away from the fast edge when I made my move. Before Doug could shift over onto the fast track I stepped onto it myself, ran three quick steps forward to pass him, and finally stopped and allowed him to move over behind me.