Cobra Gamble (37 page)

Jody winced. And they probably had to do it in the next eight minutes, before they reached the caves.

"For instance," Smitty continued, holding up a finger. "Popescu's not a spelunker, which is a person who likes exploring caves. But I am. That says Harli's counting on my knowledge of the caves, and my skill at moving around in them."

"Right," Jody said, her brain starting to work again "He talked about a chimney, too. That's some kind of cave formation, isn't it?"

"A rock formation in general, yes," Smitty confirmed. "I know of at least three in the caves that can be climbed, the best one right off the rear of the main chamber."

"But there are no missiles there, correct?" Rashida asked, still sounding bemused.

"No missiles, and no fifty Cobras," Smitty confirmed. "I'm guessing both of those were Harli's attempt to dangle enough bait in front of the Drims so that at least one of the ships ignores Stronghold and the other towns and comes after us instead."

Jody winced. "Wonderful," she murmured.

"Hey, that's our job, Jody," Smitty reminded her soberly. "Well, maybe not
your
job, or Rashida's—"

"It's our job now," Rashida said firmly. "What about the rest of the message?"

"Right," Jody seconded, ashamed of her momentary twinge of self-pity. They had a job to do. Besides, her parents and brothers were undoubtedly in far worse danger on Qasama than she was here. "Harli talked about booby-traps. Was anything set up?"

"Not yet," Smitty said, and Jody thought she could hear a new note of respect in his voice. Probably for Rashida—she was certainly behaving more like a Cobra than Jody was. "That work was supposed to start tonight, after Stronghold was evacuated and the prisoners had been settled in their new home and we had a little breathing space."

"He also talked about the weapons in the downed ship," Rashida said. "But he can't actually use those, can he?"

"Not unless he's got a miracle up his sleeve," Smitty said. "That must be the same window-dressing as the missilles in the chimney—he's giving the invaders another target to go after."

"So if they're smart, they'll assign one ship to each of us," Rashida concluded. "And with the implied threat of immediate attack, we may hope they'll come after us quickly, without careful tactical thought."

"Exactly," Smitty said, nodding. "Your best chance when you're outnumbered this badly is to get the other side moving faster than they can think."

"Hopefully, that means he already has a plan for Stronghold," Jody said.

"Or else he's making it up as he goes," Smitty said. "Of course, he's also got twenty Cobras to work with. We've just got you two and me."

"And
these," Rashida reminded him, lifting her arm to show the sleeve of her Djinni combat suit.

"For whatever that's worth," Jody said.

"Oh, it's worth a lot," Smitty said. "More than that—" He tapped the edge of his control board. "We've got this."

Jody frowned. "The sensors?"

"The ship," Smitty said. "You're forgetting Popescu's threat to pop Harli's wings off."

Jody felt her back stiffen.
"And
Harli saying he'd like to see Popescu do it."

"Exactly," Smitty said as he got to his feet. "I'll be right back. Jody, you'll have to keep an eye on the sensors."

"Where are you going?" Rashida asked.

"We've got everything we need to make one hell of a booby-trap," Smitty told her as he headed for the door. "Namely, a bunch of high-explosive missiles tucked under our wings."

He threw her a tight smile. "We just have to figure out a way to set them off."

* * *

 [The images, what has become of them?] Inxeba demanded, gesturing angrily at the dark displays where the views from Azras had been up until thirty seconds ago. [Their return, I demand it.]

[The images, they cannot be returned,] one of the Drim officers reported, peering at his couch's board. [The images, they have been shut off at the source.]

Inxeba swore viciously. [Captain Vuma, I would speak with him.]

[Captain Vuma, he is not responding,] the officer told him. [Captain Vuma, I fear he has been taken prisoner.]

[Captain Vuma, you believe he has been taken prisoner?] Ukuthi asked. [Captain Vuma, you do not believe he has been killed?]

[Officer Cebed, he has misspoken,] Inxeba bit out, sending a glare at the Troft who'd just spoken. [Captain Vuma, he has most likely been killed.]

[The enemy war pattern, perhaps you know more of it than I do?] Ukuthi suggested politely. [News from Caelian, the courier ship brought it?]

Deliberately, Inxeba turned to look at him. [News from Caelian, what would you know of it?] he demanded in a low voice.

[News from Caelian, I know nothing of it,] Ukuthi assured him. [Captain Vuma, I merely observe Officer Cebed assumed his capture. The enemy war pattern, I therefore conclude it to favor capture over death.]

[Captain Vuma's fate, it will ultimately reveal the enemy war pattern,] Inxeba said stiffly.

[The choice of capture, it reveals an enemy's confidence,] Ukuthi continued, as if talking to himself. [Such restraint, it has a strong appeal to the ethos of other Trof'te demesnes.]

[Your silence, I will have it,] Inxeba snarled off. He spun half around on his couch and glared again at Cebed. [The two Purma warships, what is their status?]

[The two Purma warships, they are ready to lift,] Cebed reported, sounding like he wished he was somewhere else.

[The delay, what then is its purpose?] Inxeba demanded. [The ships, send them at once.]

[The order, I obey it.] Hurriedly, Cebed keyed his board. [The ships, they are sent. Their arrival at Azras, eleven minutes there will be until it.]

[The time, perhaps it can be put to use,] Ukuthi suggested. [The situation at Caelian, I would like to learn of it.]

[The situation at Caelian, it is not your concern,] Inxeba said tartly. [The control of Caelian, the Drim'hco'plai were assigned it.]

[The truth, you speak it,] Ukuthi acknowledged. [Yet the enemy's war patterns, they would be useful to know.]

[The war patterns, those of the two human demesnes are different,] Inxeba said. [Your supremacy, only on Qasama have the Tua'lanek'zia granted it to the Balin'ekha'spmi.]

[The Tua'lanek'zia, perhaps they would believe it otherwise,] Ukuthi suggested.

[The Tua'lanek'zia, do you wish to ask it of them?] Inxeba countered.

For a dozen seconds the two Trofts stared at each other, their radiator membranes half extended. It was clearly some kind of confrontation, but like nothing Merrick had ever seen before.

It was also clear that there were high stakes being played for. He kept himself as motionless and unobtrusive as possible, wondering if Ukuthi was going to get caught up in the moment and forget his larger plan.

To Merrick's relief, he didn't. [The Tua'lanek'zia, I do not wish to ask it of them,] Ukuthi said, lowering his head in an abbreviated bow as his membranes folded themselves back onto his upper arms.

[The subject, it is then closed.] Inxeba shut his beak with an audible click, then turned back to the displays.

The minutes crept past. Merrick spent the time looking back and forth across the various city views, trying to guess what the Qasamans might be up to. But aside from the blank screens and the still suspicious-looking street work in Purma everything looked normal.

There were still two minutes to go until the Purma warships' arrival at Azras when the eight blank displays suddenly came to life again. [The enemy, their ignorance is now revealed,] Inxeba said with malicious satisfaction. [The drone sensors, that they can be activated by other Drim'hco'plai warships was unknown to them.]

Merrick studied the displays. They seemed to be in the same positions they'd been in when the cameras were cut off, hovering about fifty meters above the Azras cityscape. In contrast with the earlier shots, though, six of the eight monitors now showed streets that were largely deserted, with only a few people still visible. Only on the two that gave a view of the main gate—or rather, where the main gate had once been—was there any human activity.

And surrounding that activity was utter devastation.

Merrick felt his stomach churn. He'd gotten a glimpse of the destruction earlier, but the probes' cameras hadn't really been focused on that area before. Now, they were showing the Trofts' handiwork in all its terrible glory. A long section of the wall had been leveled, along with an entire row of the buildings just behind it. Dozens of people lay unmoving among the rubble, most of them men but a few of them women. All were battered and bloody, and all still had the bare arms and shoulders that had been mandated by the occupying forces in their effort to thwart attacks by combat-suited Djinn.

[The pavement, to the right look at it!] one of the officers said abruptly, jabbing a finger at the edge of the monitor.

Merrick felt his stomach tighten. Barely visible amid the broken stone and twisted metal was a crack in the street, perhaps half a meter wide.

But it wasn't like the other cracks he could see, the ones presumably created by the falling buildings. This one was straight and smooth, cutting across the pavement at perfect right angles. And the men he could see working feverishly at its edges weren't digging out bodies, but seemed to be trying to remove a pair of long girders, probably pieces of the wall, that had wedged themselves into the opening.

Somehow, the attack by the warship had popped open one of the entrances to the Azras subcity. Not only opened it, but jammed it open.

With a pair of Troft warships only a minute away.

An unpleasant tingle ran through Merrick's skin. It was still possible that the ships hadn't noticed the security breach. If Merrick acted right now, if he killed Inxeba and the officers in this room before they could sound the alert, the Qasamans might have a chance to get the gap sealed in time.

Once again, Merrick felt his hands curl into laser firing positions. Once again, hesitation at the thought of betraying his pledge to Ukuthi slowed his resolve.

And then it was too late. [An opening, in the pavement there is one!] the officer continued excitedly. [The subcity, it lies open before us!]

[The opening, we see it,] someone on the warship acknowledged. [The soldiers, I am preparing them. A landing site, I have located one.]

One of the display images scrolled sideways as the drone shifted position, its sensors zeroing in on a spot of pavement twenty meters back from the subcity entrance that had somehow managed to stay clear of rubble. The camera zoomed in on the site, touching momentarily on yet another group of bedraggled, bloodstained bodies lying amid the chunks of concrete as it panned across the area.

And Merrick felt his blood suddenly turn to ice. For a fraction of a second the camera had touched the casualties' faces...

Anya must have sensed Merrick's reaction. "What is it?" she murmured, leaning closer to him. "Merrick?"

Merrick took a deep breath, the air freezing in his lungs, his mind swirling with horror and helplessness, with unbearable pain and murderous rage. "One of the bodies," he murmured back, his voice shaking. "In the group there by all the rubble.

"It was my mother."

* * *

The dark spot was clearly visible in the cliffs rising in front of them when Smitty returned. "We there yet?" he asked as he crossed to the sensor station.

"I think so," Jody said, stepping away from his chair with a twinge of relief. Keeping tabs on his station and her own had been harder than she'd expected. More than ever she was glad he'd talked her and Rashida into letting him join their little piloting group. "As far as I can tell, it's the only cave around."

"Yep, that's it," Smitty confirmed as he resumed his seat. "The Octagon Cave complex. Thirty kilometers of the most beautiful caverns on Caelian."

"Never mind how they look," Jody said as she sat down and strapped in, giving the power displays a quick check. "My question is whether this thing will actually fit inside. That opening looks pretty small."

"Don't worry, it's big enough," Smitty assured her. "If not, I'm sure we can make it big enough."

"Oh,
that's
encouraging," Jody said. "I don't suppose you've actually measured it?"

"Not officially," Smitty conceded. "But I've walked in there a hundred times." He waved at his board. "Besides, I'm pretty sure the sensor readings are on my side."

"I guess we'll find out," Jody said. "Rashida, if you turn out having to shave off something, shave off the topside. The bottom—"

Without warning the whole ship jerked hard, twisting and shuddering violently. Jody grabbed at her straps with one hand and the edge of her board with the other, clamping her mouth tightly to keep from accidentally biting down on her tongue. For a second the ship straightened out, only to start rocking again.

And suddenly, it lurched forward and to the right and then came to a halt at a forty-five-degree angle.

For a moment all three of them just sat there. Then, Jody exhaled a breath she'd somewhere along the line decided to hold. "I was about to say, the bottom is where most of the grav lifts are," she said into the sudden silence. "But never mind—I don't think we're flying this thing any farther today anyway."

"It would seem not," Rashida agreed. For once, even her usually calm demeanor sounded a little shaken. "I don't believe the opening was quite as large as you thought, Smitty."

"Well, it is now," Smitty said calmly. "Good flying, Rashida. You two sit tight while I get what's left of our cameras online and see what we've got to work with."

"Do we have any idea what's happening with the incoming ships?" Jody asked as she unstrapped and eased herself gingerly out of her canted chair and onto the canted deck. Everything seemed more or less steady, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the whole ship was teetering on a precipice, that it might suddenly break loose from wherever it was pinned and topple into some dark chasm looming beneath them. "I didn't want to mess with your settings while you were on your scavenger hunt."