Timothy Zahn - Judgment at Proteus

“But don’t worry,” he continued as he walked toward us, four more Fillies filing out of the tent behind him. “We want you and your companions alive.”

His eyes glittered with malice and anticipation. “For the present.”

“A well-conceived plan,” Riijkhan said approvingly as he came to a halt a couple of meters behind Morse. The four other Shonkla-raa took up positions behind him as another silent stream of men and women poured from the tent. They and the original dozen whom Morse had invited me to shoot gathered themselves into two groups, one on either side of the Fillies. “Well-conceived, and subtly executed,” Riijkhan continued. “You first spin this tale of a great prize waiting at Proteus Station, thinking we will perhaps be too hasty to dig deeper into the words. Then you send out your team of pilots, a few at a time, in hopes of reaching the true location while we hurriedly gather our forces at Ilat Dumar Covrey.”

He gestured toward Morse. “Did you truly think we wouldn’t notice the presence of Agent Morse as he left Terra Station?”

“It was a calculated risk,” I said evenly, nodding at the newly minted Modhran walkers behind him. “I see I should have taken the lesson of your last attack more seriously.”

“Ah, and therein lies the true genius of your plan,” Riijkhan said. “A subtle and layered plan, indeed. Because you did anticipate that Morse might be noticed. You also anticipated that we would still have Modhran coral we could use against you.”

One of the team leaders beside Morse lifted his hand. “The skin coating was brilliant,” Riijkhan continued, as the other showed me a callused but otherwise unmarked palm. “A thin layer of carefully tailored poison that would be driven into the wound made by a coral scratch, thus killing any polyps so introduced. Not only would such a sheath protect your pilots from all such attacks, but the attacks themselves would betray ourselves or our agents to them.”

I felt my throat tighten. Naturally, once Morse and the others had been taken, the Shonkla-raa would have easily been able to dig out all the various layers of my plan.

Only how in hell had Riijkhan managed to take them in the first place? Hardin’s medical techs, and the Modhri himself, had assured me that the skin coating would work. “Yes, you’ve been very clever,” I said. “But I can’t help noticing that aside from Morse none of them are carrying any weapons. Worried about another slave revolt like the one that killed off your forebears?”

Riijkhan’s blaze darkened a couple of shades. Apparently, he didn’t like hearing about unpleasant subjects. I might be able to use that. “Focus on the future, Compton,” he said stiffly. “Not the past.”

I took a deep breath. I still had a hole card, I reminded myself firmly. Maybe two of them.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the glint of sunlight off Carl’s metal globe. Maybe even three of them.

But before I could play them, I needed Riijkhan to come a little closer.

“How about I just concentrate on the present?” I suggested. “Such as my former teammates here. Are you grooming them to be a future army? Or are you picking up where Usantra Wandek left off?”

Riijkhan snorted. “Slander not the dead, but Usantra Wandek’s plan was wasted effort,” he said. “Why spend time creating future slaves when a touch of Modhran coral can create the same slaves today?”

“I don’t mean Wandek’s supposed plan,” I corrected. “I mean his real plan.”

Riijkhan took a step closer to me. “You know nothing about Usantra Wandek’s plans.”

“On the contrary,” I said, noting his reaction with interest. Were Wandek and, by extension, Proteus Station just two more unpleasant subjects that he didn’t want to hear about? Or was this something he didn’t want me talking about for some other reason entirely? “You see, I made the effort to find out why he picked Terese German,” I went on. “Once I did that, everything else just fell together.” I gestured to one of the Shonkla-raa behind Riijkhan. “Did you know Wandek was planning to betray you?”

The Filly stirred, and I saw his blaze darken. “You will not speak—”

He broke off at Riijkhan’s upstretched hand. “Explain,” Riijkhan ordered.

“Terese German is actually Terese von Archenholz,” I said. “She’s the daughter—well, the unhappy, estranged daughter, anyway; they don’t see much of each other these days—of Martin von Archenholz, founder and head of Hands Across the Stars. That’s an organization in Zurich that brings in non-Human medical experts to treat diseases we don’t yet have a handle on, particularly children’s diseases. Wandek’s idea was to clear up Terese’s genetic ailments in hopes of leveraging that success to a presumably grateful Daddy and get him to push for a permanent Filiaelian medical presence on Earth. Once he had that, Wandek would have a free hand to cure lots of children and turn them into future telepaths.” I cocked my head. “And into Junior Shonkla-raa.”

Riijkhan’s eyes flicked to Bayta, then back to me. “Impossible.”

“Not at all,” I assured him. “Your throats were originally designed that way so you could sing better. Humans already have all the necessary vocal apparatus—no obvious modifications would be needed. And a Human Shonkla-raa is something none of you would ever anticipate. With Wandek pulling our telepathic strings, we’d be the perfect weapons to throw down your leaders so he could set himself up in their place.”

Riijkhan took another step forward. “You lie,” he said. “ Usantra Wandek would never commit treason.”

“But the interesting part,” I said, ignoring his protest, “is how you were also very keen on letting Earth off the hook in the coming conquest. Does that mean you were already secretly working with him?”

Riijkhan drew himself up. “I cannot rebel against the Shonkla-raa leader,” he intoned. “I am the Shonkla-raa leader.”

“Really,” I said. I’d actually suspected that for some time now. “Ascended to the throne on Usantra Wandek’s death, did you? I guess our activities on Proteus weren’t a total loss, at least for you.” I gestured to the Humans standing behind him. “Especially since it left Wandek’s Human telepathy techniques free for you to take full advantage of.”

Riijkhan gazed hard at me, and I could sense his uncertainty. Maybe he’d only recently been declared leader and still wasn’t comfortable with the title. Maybe he’d declared it unilaterally.

Or maybe he suspected I was goading him for a reason. “ Usantra Wandek’s experiments are not at play here,” he said. “It was Dr. Aronobal’s idea. She had noted—”

“The late Dr. Aronobal, you mean?” I interrupted. “I’m assuming she died with the rest of your Proteus contingent when Logra Emikai took the place down. I hope my old friend Isantra Kordiss gave a good showing of himself before he died.”

Riijkhan’s blaze darkened. “You speak too much, Compton,” he warned quietly. This time, he took two steps forward, coming to a halt beside Morse.

“I’m sorry you have such trouble with the truth,” I said.

“The truth is that Emikai was lucky,” Riijkhan growled. “The other truth is that you and your schemes are pathetically weak.”

“Actually, the truth is—well, we’ll get back to that,” I said. “You were talking about Dr. Aronobal and her clever ideas.”

Again, Riijkhan seemed to measure me. “She noted your interest in the super-express train’s air filtration system,” he said. “She realized that while a Spider air system would eventually filter out all particulate matter, for a time that matter would remain suspended in the air.”