Steven Brust - Orca

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?”

She tried to scowl at me. I stared back at her. I was Vlad again, a Jhereg assassin, if only for a moment, and she was an Orca—rich and fat, at least metaphorically. I’d become an assassin in the first place just for the pleasure of killing people like her. So I glared and waited, and eventually she cracked. It wasn’t obvious, but I could see her resistance break down, and she knew I could see.

I said, “Well? Who killed him?”

She shook her head.

I said, “Don’t be stupid. You know who I represent.

Whoever you’re scared of, you should be more scared of me. Now, which one of them was it?”

I threw in the “which one of them was it” phrase because it makes it sound like you know what you’re talking about even when you don’t, and this time it paid off. She said, “Reega.”

“Good,” I said. “Congratulations, you’ve just saved your life. How deep into her are you?”

“Heh,” she said. “I’m not into her, she’s into me.”

“Same thing, isn’t it? If she goes down, you follow her.”

She nodded.

“Very well, Side-Captain. You know that we’re all a little shy these days about throwing money at someone to keep an operation from going under—especially that bloodline. But it is possible something can be worked out.”

“Something has been worked out,” she snapped. “And if you people would just leave us alone—”

“You mean the land swindle? I know about that. What makes you think it’s going to work?”

“What do you mean?”

“It isn’t like it’s a secret, Side-Captain.”

“Who knows?”

“Everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“Except maybe the victims.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? As long as the v—as long as the tenants don’t find out, it doesn’t matter who else does.”

“Sure. But how long will it be until they realize what’s going on? And then what?”

“We’ll be gone by then.”

“Do you really think you can move that quickly?”

“We can be done this week.”

I pretended to consider. “It might work,” I said.

“It will work. The Empire won’t prosecute, and I don’t even know what law they’d prosecute under if they wanted to. Right now we’ve got twelve thousand tenants who will go into debt for life to buy land at three times its value. If that isn’t worth a little short-term Jhereg investment—”

“The Jhereg,” I said, “doesn’t have much to invest. You know why as well as I do.”

She shrugged. “But I also know that you can come up with the funds, if you want to.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “We can.”

“Boss! Trouble!”

“Just a moment,” I said. “What is it, Loiosh?”

“Someone’s just teleported in. Male, Jhereg colors, two bodyguards.”

“Oh, nuts.”

I stood up. “You must excuse me; there’s a problem back home. I’ll talk to my bosses.”

Hub came into the room and whispered in Vonnith’s ear. She nodded to him, then looked at me. “No need,” she said. “I think your boss is here already.”

I started heading toward where the back door had to be. “Boss, two more just appeared in back.”

I looked at her, and realized she was in psychic communication—no doubt with whoever the Jhereg was. She focused on me and said, “Who are you?”

“Now don’t you feel stupid,” I told her.

The back was out and the front was out. “Anyone watching the side windows, Loiosh?”

“Two.”

Damn.

“Who are you?”

“Did you tell him that there was one of his people here?” I asked. “And did you mention it was an Easterner?”

“Who are you?” she said, as I saw the affirmative in her eyes. She had no idea why he’d reacted as he had, but now I was trapped. If I teleported, they’d just trace it, and I’d have to remove the black Phoenix Stone. I looked around. Here was as good as anywhere, I decided. So the question was, stand, or attempt to break out? I drew my blade.

“Are they Jhereg at the side window?”

“No.Orca.”

So that was the best path. I came to this conclusion about ten seconds too late, however, as three of them walked into the room. The one in the middle I knew from your description had to be Stony.

“Vlad Taltos,” he said. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“You, too, dead man.”

He smiled.

His two “associates” spread out on either side of me. Vonnith said, “Not here!”

I said, “This is pretty sloppy work, you know, dead man.”

“I know,” said Stony. “Inelegant. But it’s the best we can do, under the circumstances.” He was armed as well, with a short, heavy sword, but he didn’t look like someone who’d be all diat good with it, whereas the two who were flanking me seemed to know their business.

“Boss?”

“I’m going to be busy in here in a minute, Loiosh. If anyone else shows up to join the party, let me know, and if any escape routes show up, let me know that, too.”

“Sure, boss,” he said in the tone that indicated he had his own plan and to the Falls with mine, so I wasn’t startled when there was the sound of breaking glass, although everyone else was.

I took two steps that lasted about ten years each, and I was very much aware that my back was to a pair of blades, but Stony was taking twenty years to stop looking at Loiosh, so he wasn’t ready for me and I took him, neat and clean, right through the heart. Then I turned around, drew a knife, and threw it at the one Loiosh wasn’t busy with. To my amazement it actually hit him point-first, sticking in a spot on the left side of his lower chest, where it would certainly give him something to think about, and gave me time to step away from Stony, who was still on his feet and therefore dangerous. I prepared another knife very carefully.

“Up!”

Loiosh flew straight up to the ceiling and I threw, and, wouldn’t you know it, the one I’d had time to aim hit him sort of edge-on in the stomach and did no damage to speak of, but that was all right, because Loiosh had scratched his face up pretty good and had bit him as well, so he probably had enough to keep him occupied.

I turned back to Stony, who picked that moment to fall over.

“Good work, Loiosh.”

“Let’s go, boss.”

Side-Captain Vonnith stared at us with her mouth hanging open. I said, “Sorry about your window,” and we headed for the front door, walking right in front of Hub, who looked like he wanted to say something polite but just couldn’t manage. Lady Teldra would have.

“Why don’t we teleport?”

“Because if Stony had any sense, he let someone know what was going down, and they’ll be looking for me with everything they’ve got, just in case. If I take off the Phoenix Stone, I’ll last just long enough to wish I hadn’t.”

“Oh.”

“Are you all right, Loiosh?”

“Pretty much, boss. I cut myself on the glass a bit, but it isn’t too bad.”

“Then why do you sound that way?”

“Well, okay, so I’m bleeding a bit.”

“Come here.”

I looked him over, and found a nasty gash just where his left wing joined his body, and another on the left side of his neck. Both of them were bleeding. He licked himself a bit and said, “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

He folded himself up and I tucked him under my cloak, trusting him to hold on, and I stepped out of the doorway, blade first.

There were two Jhereg in front of me, and a pair of Von-nith’s personal guardsmen next to them, and they all looked ready to scuffle. They stood, almost motionless, waiting for me to move. Back in the old days I’d have had a handful of nasty little things to throw at them to keep them busy, but these days I only had a few throwing knives, and I’d already lost half of them. It didn’t look good, especially with Loiosh clinging helplessly to the inside of my cloak; I was morally certain that if this came to a true melee, one of them would end up skewering my familiar by accident, and I would hate that.