Timothy Zahn - The Third Lynx

"That's only because you usually absorb your enemies before they're really up to speed as to who and what they're up against," I said. "If you gave us a level playing field, I think you'd find a lot of us able to give you a good run for your money."

He hissed. "Enough of a reason in itself for me not to provide such a level field. Tell me, what did you hope to accomplish here?"

"Oh, come now," I chided. "I can put two and two together as well as the next man." I raised my eyebrows. "Or should I say, I can put three and three together?"

Up until that point I hadn't been a hundred percent sure that the Chahwyn's guess about the Nemuti sculptures had been correct. But the subtle darkening of Gargantua's expression more than filled in the uncertainty. The sculptures were indeed the Shonkla-raa weapons the Chahwyn had described.

"As I said," Gargantua murmured. "A remarkable being. Where is the fifth member of your group?"

I looked around as if I hadn't realized until then that Morse was missing. "Huh," I said, turning back to Gargantua. "He was just here a minute ago. Must have lost him somewhere along the way. Don't worry—I'm sure you'll find him again soon enough."

"You think to prepare an ambush against me?" Gargantua demanded.

"You can pass on the games," Stafford put in. "We know he's one of you."

A hint of a frown crossed Gargantua's face. "An interesting thought," he said. "I must consider adding him to my Eyes when the rest of you have been dealt with."

"What do you mean, dealt with?" Penny asked tightly.

"The Human Compton has left me very few options," Gargantua said. "You cannot simply be added to my Eyes—you would hardly be unaware of my presence within your bodies. Nor can you be allowed to leave here untouched."

"Which I gather leaves just one option," I said. "You propose to turn us into your Arms." I pointed at Gargantua. "Like that one."

Gargantua nodded. "You are correct."

"What's he talking about?" Penny breathed. She was standing very close behind me now, close enough for me to hear her teeth chattering with fright.

"He's talking about a permanent takeover of your body," I told her, looking casually around the silent circle around us. There were probably two hundred walkers present. "Like he has with the rest of these fine citizens."

"Hardly," the Modhri said. "Most here are Eyes, not Arms. And I intend for them to remain so."

"That'll be a good trick," Stafford muttered.

"Not at all," the Modhri assured him. "Fortunately, your appearance is at an hour when they will be able to surmise afterward that they were still asleep."

"Interesting how important self-deception is when you're part of the Modhri's army," I said. "So how many Arms do you have here?"

"Why do you ask?" the Modhri countered.

"Simple curiosity," I said. "Part of what makes us Humans the remarkable beings that we are."

"I have twelve Arms present," Gargantua said, eyeing me closely.

"Which ones?"

Gargantua smiled faintly. "Begin trouble, and you will find out."

"Did Rafael Künstler create trouble?" I asked. "Is that why you beat him to death?"

"He promised to bring the Lynx," the Modhri said, his voice darkening with the memory. "But when I queried him aboard the Quadrail he admitted that he had lied, that he had come to Bellis hoping instead to buy it from me."

"And if you weren't willing to sell, he was hoping to blackmail you into it?" I suggested. "After all, you were in possession of stolen property."

"He did make some such threats," the Modhri said. "I wasn't concerned."

"Certainly not with all those armed soldiers between him and the transfer station," I said as that part finally clicked. "I presume that was why you had them there, anyway. You figured Künstler would arrive with a full security team of his own and wanted to be ready for any surprises."

"I thought he might choose to secure the Lynx in a Quadrail lockbox instead of carrying it aboard with him." Gargantua smiled thinly. "An idea you yourself later took advantage of. If he had done so, I wouldn't have been able to obtain it until he arrived at the transfer station, where his presumed guards would have access to their own weapons. I thought it prudent to be prepared with a superior show of force."

"You still shouldn't have killed him."

Gargantua's eyes flicked pointedly across me and the others. "In retrospect, I agree," he said. "But the error will be fixed soon enough."

"Not necessarily," I said. The Modhri had implied earlier that Morse wasn't one of his walkers. It might be interesting to see just how far he was willing to go with that game. "There's still Mr. Morse to consider."

Gargantua gave me another tight smile. "Do you really think he can elude me?" Abruptly his expression changed, and as it did so a pair of Nemuti detached themselves from the crowd and came toward me. "No—I see now," Gargantua continued. "Remain where you are."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," I assured him, lifting my arms slightly away from my sides to make the search easier.

The Nemuti found the comm, of course, on the second pocket they tried. "A foolish trick, Human," Gargantua said as one of the Nemuti punched the off switch and put it away in his own pocket.

"Just a high-tech version of the same trick you used on Künstler's estate after the robbery attempt," I reminded him.

"Which also didn't work, did it?" the Modhri countered.

"No, I suppose not," I agreed. "But in the end, you got what you wanted." I lifted my left hand and pointed toward the two big tents behind him. "Speaking of which, I don't suppose we could have a look at your prize."

"Why not?" the Modhri said. There was a ripple from one of the big tents' flaps, and another Halka appeared, a white and vaguely rifle-shaped object cradled in his arms. As he stopped just beyond the circle of walkers, I got a close enough look at his face to see that he was the other soldier from Gargantua's original foursome, the one who had killed Penny's friend Pyotr. "I presume you'd also like to see how it operates?" the Modhri offered.

Behind me, Penny caught her breath. "Relax—he doesn't mean on us," I told her. "We're more valuable to him still breathing."

"I won't let them do it," she said, her voice trembling but defiant. "Not to me."

"You won't have a choice," Gargantua said. Behind him, the other Halka lifted the white weapon to his shoulder, aimed at a rock spine fifty meters away, and fired.

It was like nothing else I'd ever seen. The green flash that burst from the weapon's business end was definitely energy—the way it erupted silently and without a whisper of recoil showed that much. But at the same time, there was also a strange sense of flowing liquid to it, like the blazing fluid from a flamethrower, as well as the very unlaserlike way the beam or flow or whatever fanned out from the muzzle.

But if there was a question about its nature, there was no doubt whatsoever about its effect. The green flow sizzled into the spine, shattering it with a crackling thunder crack that sent bits of rock flying across the landscape.

"As you can see," Gargantua said as the echoes of the explosion faded away, "it was well worth the effort to obtain."

With an effort of my own, I got my tongue working again. "Indeed," I said. "So how many of them are there?"

"Just the three," he said. "I have found five more Vipers, but no more samples of the other two." He waved a hand around the area. "Still, if there are Vipers, surely the other components must also be here somewhere. We need only find them."

"Could be," I said. "And once you've dug them all up, what then? You plan to kill all the Spiders and take over the Quadrail?"

Gargantua's eyes flicked over my shoulder to Bayta. "I'm sure there will be no need for anything so violent," he said, his voice going all silky smooth. "Provided the Spiders are prepared to be reasonable."