Cobra Bargain Page 25

  "No."

  For a moment the rooftop was silent as Jin considered. If Sibbio was telling the truth, it meant his mystery caller had at least a passing familiarity with

  Azras's underworld and its activities. At the same time, paradoxically, that knowledge must be fairly limited for him to have picked such an obviously small-time group as Sibbio's to handle his dirty work.

  Unless this was as well organized as Azras's criminal underworld got. She made a mental note to check with Daulo on that one.

  Either way, Sibbio was clearly a dead end. "There's a small knife by the chimney over there," she pointed, getting to her feet. "You can roll or otherwise work your way over to it and cut yourself free. Your friends are still at the apartment you broke into; collect them and all of you get out of Azras."

  Sibbio's mouth fell open. "Get out... but this is our home."

  "Too bad," Jin said, letting her voice harden. "Because for the next few days it'll be my home, too... and if I see you again while I'm here, Hebros Sibbio, you'll be taking that premature trip to see God that we discussed earlier.

  Understood?"

  He nodded up at her, a single nervous motion of his head. Jin didn't especially like threatening the boy, but she liked the thought of him talking to Mangus even less. "Good. Let's both hope I never see you again."

  Moving quietly across the roof, she reached the stairwell that she'd brought

  Sibbio up by and opened the door. He would make it to the knife, eventually, unless he lost his balance first and fell off the roof. As far as she was concerned, it didn't much matter what happened.

  Nevertheless, she waited silently at the open door until he was safely away from the roof's edge.

  She was two blocks from their apartment, visions of a soft bed hovering siren-like in front of her eyes, when she spotted the two cars parked at the building.

  Instantly, she shut off the lights and pulled over to the curb, keying in her optical enhancers' telescopic and light-amp capabilities as she did so. Both cars were empty, but-she flipped briefly to infrared-the tires and drive shafts were still warm. And though her angle was bad, it looked very much like the lights in their apartment were on.

  A cold chill ran up her spine. From what she'd seen of both village and city life, midnight visitors weren't exactly commonplace on Qasama. Could they be messengers from Milika, perhaps, bringing news from Daulo's father?

  Or had Mangus hired a back-up set of muscle?

  Jin cursed under her breath and started the car forward again. The direct route through the front door was out, of course-even if it was something as innocuous as a message from home, there was no plausible excuse she could think of as to why she, a woman, would be out alone at night. And if Daulo was in trouble, she had no intention of walking straight into his attackers' arms, anyway.

  But there were always more indirect routes to be had...

  She pulled around the next corner, parking the car a block away in a handy row of similar vehicles. Keeping to the shadows, enhanced senses alert for trouble, she made her way back to the apartment building, arriving at the side opposite to theirs within a couple of minutes. The building didn't offer much in the way of handholds, but she didn't have time for a long climb, anyway. Taking one last look around, she bent her knees and jumped.

  She made it onto the roof without any sound louder than a slight scraping of shoes on roof tiles. Crossing it, she squatted down at the edge and scanned the courtyard below for signs of life. There weren't any that she could see. Not surprisingly; with no access to the courtyard from outside except through the individual apartments, there would be no reason for anyone to watch the place once they'd established she wasn't hiding there. Setting her jaw, she eased over the edge, scrabbled for handholds that weren't there, and dropped to the ground.

  The downside landing wasn't nearly as quiet as the upside one had been, and for what seemed like a long time she crouched motionlessly, auditory enhancers at full power as she waited for some kind of reaction. But the inhabitants of Azras must have had the city dwellers' traditional ability to sleep through noise, and after a minute she rose and loped across the courtyard to the rear of their apartment.

  Through the sliding glass door, she could see the diffuse glow of lights from either the foodprep area or living room. Unfortunately, that was all she could see-the arrangement of the rooms didn't allow a direct view into the front of the apartment. An ear pressed against the glass yielded nothing. Into the valley of death, and all that, she thought grimly; and, pointing her little finger at the door's lock, she fired a burst from her metalwork laser.

  The crack and spitting of flash-vaporized metal seemed to thunder in her ears, but there was no reaction from inside. Sliding the door open a crack, Jin slipped inside, closing it behind her. From the living room ahead came the faint scraping of shoes on rug.

  She held her breath and keyed her auditory enhancers to full power. The sound of breathing came to her... the sound of one person breathing.

  So all the company's left? Apparently... but there was no point in taking chances. Curling her hands to rest her thumbs lightly against the triggers in her third-finger nails, she straightened her little fingers into laser firing position and stepped around the corner.

  Daulo, standing at the window, spun around as if he'd been stung. "Jin!" he gasped, seeming to wilt. "God above, you startled me."

  "Sorry," she apologized, glancing quickly around. Daulo was indeed alone "I thought you might be in trouble," she added, dropping her hands back to her sides.

  "I am," he sighed, walking unsteadily to the couch and sinking into it. "But you're in more. They know who you are."

  "They who?" Jin asked, her heartbeat picking up again. "Mangus?"

  "Worse. The Shahni." He hissed between his teeth. "I just had a visit from one

  Moffren Omnathi and two of his men. They've identified you as the outworlder they're looking for. I managed-maybe-to persuade them that you'd stolen my car and headed north toward Sollas."

  Jin took a moment to digest that. She'd known it would happen eventually. But she hadn't expected it quite so soon. "Did you tell them we'd been working together?"

  "Do I look stupid?" he snorted. "Of course not. I played the total innocent, telling them you were a stranger who'd talked me into bringing you to Azras and then disappeared. Fortunately-I guess-they found that signaller you left, and decided you'd used it to listen for me to go to sleep so you could sneak in and take my car keys."

  Jin bet at her lip. "As good a theory as any, I suppose. I just hope they didn't make it up just to make you think they believed you."

  "Well, they left, didn't they?"

  "Maybe. Did you actually see them go?"

  "I saw the car pull away, yes."

  "One car? Because there were two here when I drove up."

  Daulo muttered something under his breath and started to get to his feet.

  "Should I-?"

  "No, don't look out," Jin stopped him. "If they spotted me coming in, it's too late. If they didn't, you don't want to seem unusually suspicious."

  Daulo exhaled a ragged breath. "I thought they seemed too willing to believe me.

  God above. I hoped they were accepting my words because of my family's position."

  "More likely they just weren't sure enough to arrest you. Or else backed off in hopes that you'd lead them to me." Jin glanced at the curtained window, wondering what devices the Qasamans might have for looking through cloth and glass. But if they were doing so, again it was already too late. "They didn't have any photos of me, did they?" she asked.

  "Not that they showed me," Daulo shook his head. "Though it hardly matters. As my father pointed out, there were plenty of people in Milika who saw you."

  "Well enough to provide the investigators with a good description?"

  He threw her an odd look. "Using hypnotics? Of course."

  Jin gritted her teeth. She should have realized they'd have something like that availa
ble-her father's mission had noted the Qasamans' penchant for mind-enhancement drugs. "Yeah, I forgot about those. Well, maybe the disguise paraphernalia in my pack will be enough."

  "You're not going to stay in Azras, are you?"

  "Not with the alert already out for your car," Jin shook her head. "I'll head out of town, try to find a place off the road to hide the car in. With luck I'll be able to stay with it until the work party is formed on Sunday. Let me take a set of that cheap city clothing we bought-"

  "Hold it a second," Daulo interrupted her, eyes narrowing. "You're not still going to try to get in there, are you?"

  "Why not? Unless you told our friend Moffren Omnathi that was what we were planning. Oh, my God," she interrupted herself as the name suddenly clicked.

  "What?" Daulo asked sharply.

  "Moffren." The name tasted sour on her tongue. "Moff. The man who played guide to our first survey mission, thirty years ago. And very nearly nailed it." She shook her head. "Well, that's the end of the game for you, Daulo. First thing in the morning you find yourself a ride back to Milika and get out of here."

  Daulo frowned at her. "Why? Just because the Shahni sent an old enemy of yours to ask me some questions?"

  "No-because whatever pits there are in the story you told him, he'll find them," she retorted. "And when he does, he'll act. Fast."

  "And you think running back to Milika will keep him from getting to me?"

  Jin braced herself. "Of course not. But maybe it'll slow him down enough to let me get into Mangus."

  For a long moment his eyes were steady on hers. "So that's what it comes down to, isn't it?" Daulo said at last. "Your mission."

  Jin forced her jaw muscles to relax. "Would you have me run somewhere and hide?" she asked.

  "Would you have me do so?" he countered quietly. "Would you have me go back to my father and tell him I gave up a chance to perhaps uncover a threat to our family because I was afraid?"

  "But if they're watching you and you try to go into Mangus-"

  "And if they're watching me and I try to run back to Milika?"

  Again, they locked gazes. "Daulo, look," Jin sighed at last. "I know this isn't something a woman says to a man on Qasama... but I feel responsible for your safety. I talked you and your father into this scheme, after all, and if I can't be right at your side I may not be able to protect you."

  "You didn't promise me any protection."

  "Not to you, no. I did promise it to myself."

  To her surprise, he smiled. "And I made a promise to myself, Jasmine Moreau: to protect you from your cultural ignorance while in Mangus. I can't do that from

  Milika."

  "But-" Jin took a deep breath, sighed in defeat. She simply didn't have time to argue the point any further. The longer she lingered here, the more time Moff would have to weave a net around Azras, and she had to get Daulo's car out of town before that happened. "Will you at least think about it? Please?"

  He rose from the couch and stepped forward. "I will," he said softly, reaching out to take her hand. "You be careful, all right?"

  "I will." She hesitated, looking up at his eyes. Cultural differences, she reminded herself distantly. He might take this wrong, but for once, she didn't care; the need to hold someone tightly was almost overpowering in its intensity.

  Leaning toward him, she put her arms around him.

  He didn't pull away, nor did he attempt to make the hug into anything else.

  Perhaps with potential danger all around them, a simple nonsexual contact from a friend was something he needed right now, too.

  For a minute they held each other tightly. Then, almost unwillingly, Jin pulled back. "You take care of yourself, too, okay?" she said. "And if you decide to stay... don't look for me in the work party."

  He nodded, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "I understand. You'd better go now."

  Three minutes later, the city clothing Daulo had given her knotted into a bundle on her back, she was back at the car. No one lay in wait near the vehicle; no one jumped out of the shadows or shot at her as she climbed in and drove away.

  Either the Shahni's people hadn't gotten the Azras part of their operation fully organized yet, or else Moff was growing careless in his old age. Personally, she wouldn't bet much money on the latter.

  But for the time being she appeared to have gained a little breathing space, and she was determined to use it to the fullest. A few kilometers south of Azras-an adequate gap between trees in the forest-and she would have a place to hide for the next day and a half. A little face-shaper gel from her pack, perhaps a wig and some skin darkening, and she'd be able to walk into Azras Sunday morning without being recognized. And after that...

  But there was no point in trying to think too far ahead. With Qasama's official government actively in the game, she had to be ready to play every move by ear.

  And hope that her Moreau family heritage counted for something besides just a name.

  Chapter 32

  "Like this?" Toral Abram asked, shifting his left foot in front of his right.

  "Right," Justin nodded. "Now just uncurl your legs and drop onto your back onto the floor, pulling your knees to your chest as you do so."

  The young Cobra obeyed, and a second later was spinning around, belly-up, in an awkward-looking fetal position. "And this is a military maneuver?" he asked wryly as he came to a halt.

  "Trust me," Justin assured him. "You try that with your antiarmor laser firing and you'll look very military."

  "If there's anyone left nearby to see you," one of the other Cobras lined up against the walls muttered.

  "That is the basic idea," Justin nodded as a nervous chuckle swept the room.

  "Okay, Toral, off the floor. Dario, your turn."

  One of the other Cobras took Abram's place in the center of the room and got into ready position. "Ceiling flip," Justin ordered; and a second later the

  Dewdrop shook as the Cobra jumped upward, bounced feet-first off the ceiling, and landed a handful of meters away from his starting point.

  "One of these days," a voice at Justin's elbow muttered, "one of you is going to kick a hole in the deck doing that."

  "Hello, Wilosha," Justin nodded to the middle-aged man who'd slipped unnoticed into the room. "Just can't get enough of the show, can you?"

  "Watching the ship's structural integrity beaten into rubble always gives me a thrill," Second Officer Kal Wilosha retorted. "Haven't you practiced these more violent maneuvers enough?"

  "No, but unfortunately we don't have the time to do it right." Justin raised his voice. "Okay, Dario, nice job. Don't forget to keep your hands up when you land so that you'll be able to fire if you need to. Now give the backspin a try."

  "Yes, sir."

  He did marginally better than Abram had. "Again," Justin ordered. "Remember that your nanocomputer will do a lot of the work on these basic maneuvers if you'll let it. Just get things started, relax, and let your body take it from there."

  Dario nodded and set himself for another try. Beside Justin, Wilosha hissed through his teeth. "Problem?" Justin asked him.

  "Just... wondering."

  "What about?" This time Dario did better.

  "Oh... Cobras." Wilosha waved his hand vaguely. "The nanocomputers, if you insist on specifics. Has it ever occurred to you that no one on the Cobra Worlds really knows anymore just exactly how the things are programmed?"

  "I don't let it worry me," Justin told him. "The Academy supervises every step of the nanocomputer manufacture."

  "Oh, right. So they supervise a bank of automated circuitry replicators-what does that prove? Does a list or printout exist anywhere showing exactly what the nanocomputers are or are not capable of?"

  "What are you worried about, that the Dominion of Man may have planted a program bomb?" Justin asked quietly. The conversation, he noted, was beginning to attract his students' attention.

  "No, of course not," Wilosha shook his head. "But there doesn't have to be deliber
ate malice involved to make something dangerous."

  Justin looked at him for a long moment. It would serve the man right to expose him here and now, in front of a roomful of Cobras... but it would be a childish trick, and Justin was long past the age for childish tricks. "Cobras, take a break," he called. "Be back in fifteen minutes."

  The others filed out without comment or question, and a minute later Justin and

  Wilosha were alone. "I hope it wasn't something I said," Wilosha commented, his voice almost light but his expression tight and wary.