Barry Longyear - Enemy Papers

"Do they have enough agents?" Davidge asks Reaper,

"They have one on the missile team, two on the council, and one each on the war minister and the field commander. It’ll be close, especially with the security on that council, but they should make it. They should make it."

As I watch Reaper, I suddenly realize that he is not giving his considered opinion; he is praying. I turn to Davidge. "I want to send this information to the Mavedah. If Green Fire should get through, we must stop the retaliation before it begins."

Davidge thinks a moment, glances at Kita, then faces Janice. "See if you can raise the Mavedah."

While Janice turns to the communication board, inside of me there is a voice saying it is all too one-sided. Yesterday we foil two human plots to disrupt the truce. Yesterday we kill twelve humans. Today we target and kill another thirteen humans. While the one voice cries that this is too lopsided, another voice is cheering. I feel guilty about both voices and listen to neither.

"Got 'em," says Janice. "Taaka Liok, it says it’s fourth warmaster, responsible for the Southern Shorda."

I watch as the legend of Taaka Liok fills the screen facing me. I have followed the orders of this warmaster for so long that I feel like a child before a disapproving parent it has struggled to please. "I am here," says Liok. "Are you the one who wants to speak?"

I lean forward, rest my arms on the table, and at last get my mouth working. "Jetah, I am Yazi Ro of the Navi Di."

The old warmaster raises its eyebrows. "Ah, the truce police. What would you have of me?"

"We have learned that the Green Fire has planned a missile attack for tonight from the hills surrounding the city of Gitoh. They plan to target the hospital, two schools, and the kovah for lineless children. The object of the attack is to provoke retaliation."

"If they succeed in their plans," says the warmaster, "they will get their retaliation."

"We intend to stop them, Jetah. In case we fail, though, I wanted to warn you to allow the Gitoh Sikov time to prepare."

Taaka Liok studies me for a moment. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, Jetah. If we cannot stop Green Fire in time, we would have it that you do not retaliate. We will find out who is guilty, we will execute them, and the truce will hold."

The warmaster leans away from its camera and clasps its hands together. "Why would you do such a thing, Yazi Ro?"

"That is our duty, Jetah."

"Duty?" Taaka Liok leans forward and points. "Who made this your duty?"

Who? I think of the Front, all of the dead, the millions who live each day in fear, my old comrades, the weariness that haunted me between my terrors. Zenak Abi, Davidge, Jeriba Shigan, Falna in its perverse way. I look at Taaka Liok and do not avert my glance. "It is talma. A talma to peace."

A sneer touches its lips. "Long before either of us were born, Yazi Ro, the Jetai Diea on Draco decided that Amadeen is forever rulebound into its war. No talma is possible save the elimination of one side or the other."

"Things continually change, Taaka Liok, including the Jetai Diea’s understanding of talma."

"Where are you from, Yazi Ro?"

"My parent died in Gitoh, my only home, save the kovah for line less children there."

It frowns as it studies my image on its own screen. "At the kovah, were you selected?"

"Yes, Jetah. I am a deserter from the Okori Sikov."

Taaka Liok glances down, then it reaches out a hand to a point beside the screen. "I promise nothing. Let’s see how successful you are against Green Fire’s attack." It pauses for a moment. "I will tell you my decision about retaliation once it is made."

The screen goes blank. All of us continue looking at the dead screen until Kita says, "I don’t think the warmaster bought it."

"Would you?" asks Davidge. "You spend your whole life in hell trying to stay a step ahead of the monster, then all of a sudden Goody-Goody comes along and says, 'Sit this one out, mate. I’ll take care of it." He looks at me and I hold out my hands.

"Will, what if we let Green Fire know we are onto their plans? Perhaps they will wait for another time or simply call it off."

Davidge taps a fingertip on the table. "We let the Front know, too. They might have some clout with Green Fire. Hell, let everybody know."

Kita and Davidge exchange glances, then Kita faces Janice. "Raise Nightwing and his regional net. Tell him about Popcorn’s bomber and see if some well-placed twenty-nines around the council chamber and on the road to Gitoh can’t put the brakes on Green Fire, then raise the Amadeen Front―"

"Priority Red!" calls out Roger. On the screens, we see an explosion followed by the trail of a descending missile followed by another explosion. The sound is garbled for a moment, then a shadow blocks the view. The screen goes blank and the sound goes dead. Sound comes back along with a black screen, and Sally Redfeather’s voice saying, "This is Tommy. Alley Cat is dead. Obsidian is under a missile attack right now." We see a glimpse of Ali Enayat’s face, eyes staring in death at a burning building. The picture jumps down to a view of Sally’s boot crushing Alley Cat’s hand-portable. She moves into a shadow cast by some flames and we see another missile coming down into the town, far enough away so that all we see is the reflection of the explosion off the night air.

"I don’t know who’s sending the mail, but the missiles sound like ZZK’s, which means it’s Tean Sindie. They’re coming in from the east and being launched from over the horizon."

Reaper adjusts his headset, covers the mouthpiece, and says, "Eli, lay in a course for east of Obsidian, and put the coal to it! Start scanning for that missile battery." The ship lurches as it turns and roars toward the Dorado. Taking his hand from the mouthpiece, Reaper’s voice becomes very quiet. "Tommy, did you get hit?"

"Reap, you old bastard. No, I’m not hit, but in about a minute I’m going to be in an excellent position to get burgered. As soon as the shrapnel stops flying, old Raymond Sica is going to pull his face out of the mud and order a payback strike against the Mavedah. As soon as he does, I’m going to twenty-nine him, right?"

"Anybody covering your back, Tommy?"

"Same guy as always."

Reaper covers his mouthpiece and looks at the three of us. "If Sica orders the strike, does she whack him?" Without consultation, all three of us nod. Reaper says into his mouthpiece, "If he orders the payback, give him the twenty-nine."

"Landfall," says Eli over the headset. "We’ll be over Obsidian in a couple of minutes. I have two missile tracks and reverse trajectories in the computer. Everything is armed, aimed, and ticking."

Davidge glances at Kita. She nods. Facing me, he says, "What about it?"

They will be my first Drac executions. Perhaps this will even out things. "Take out the launchers."

Davidge relays the order to Eli, and immediately we feel two missiles launch from the Aeolus. Reaper says into his mouthpiece. "The cavalry is on its way, Tommy."

"Not them?" she protests. "The last time the cavalry came through my neighborhood, my great-grandmother’s great-grandmother wound up in a tarpaper teepee in New Jersey selling polyester blankets from Taiwan. Hey Reap?"

"Still here."

"If it comes to that, let the Drac down easy. Tommy Hawk out."

Davidge leans on the edge of the table and faces Reaper. "When you asked Sally who was watching her back, who did she mean?"

"Same guy as always. That’s her Great Spirit, a giant of a mighty warrior who rides a horse made of stars and carries a lance of fire."