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"Anything going on?" Roger asked.
"No," the captain said stolidly. "The Krath got some small forces up on the mountain after you left, but the Diasprans beat them off. No injuries on our side. The emplacement team is on the way back, and the security team has retired to the back of the mountain. We're going to fire the shot anytime now, and it would really please me an immense amount to have you back in Mudh Hemh when that happens."
"I've got the picture," Roger laughed. Then he sobered. "Remember to send Despreaux back, as well. With that bum arm, she's not in shape for combat ops yet."
"Nor will she be even after the cast comes off," Pahner observed, looking him straight in the eye. "As I believe you're aware."
"When did you find out?" Roger asked after a long moment of silence. "I ... She told me the other night."
"Oh, I started to suspect back around Sindi," Pahner said. "It was to be anticipated in most of the Marines—that's one of the reasons I've been trying to shift them to leadership positions, rather than shooting. Despreaux's not the only one. About the only squad I have full confidence in any more is the Third; Julian's maniacs are relentless."
"That ... makes things difficult," the prince said quietly. "What about me? Or the Mardukans?"
"I think you're one of those guys who doesn't really peak, Your Highness." Pahner shook his head. "Dobrescu's been pointing out your vitals to me lately. Your heartbeat and respiration hardly changed the whole time you were in the Temple; that's unusual, in case you hadn't been aware of it."
"Oh, I'm getting that feeling," Roger said. "But what are we going to do at the spaceport?"
"If we can get this one licked, I think the rest will be a walkover," Pahner told him. "From Jin's data, the way Mountmarch has compromised his own security should make taking the port itself easy. And taking an arriving ship with modern equipment, which just happens to be stockpiled at the port where we can get at it, shouldn't be too hard. If we can just deal with this little problem. Which, I might add, brings us back to you. Specifically, to your presence at this particular locus of space-time."
"Okay, already," the prince said, pulling himself back onto the civan and kicking it on the snout as it turned to take a piece out of his leg. "I'm sure we'll muddle through somehow. See you after the surrender."
"Yep," Pahner agreed, with a waved salute as casual as Roger's own. He waited until the prince and his Mardukan guards were well down the road before he shook his head.
"Whose, Your Highness?" He murmured then. "Whose?"
* * *
Roger tapped on the door and entered at the grunted reply.
He'd returned to Mudh Hemh accompanied by a bare minimum security detail, but when he reached the town and found only two guards on the entire front wall, he'd realized the extent to which it had been stripped of defenders to reinforce Nopet Nujam. So he left his three Diasprans at the gatehouse to reinforce the Shin guards, and he was accompanied only by two Vashin. Those he left outside as he entered the dwelling the Gastan had turned over to Cord.
The interior was dark, but high for a human. Stone benches along two of the sides were covered in pillows, and the back side of the chamber was occupied by a cooking hearth and a large, low bath.
Cord was dangling his feet in the latter with his back to the door, while Pedi and the two serfs they'd liberated from the Lemmar rubbed his back.
"It looks like you've fallen into a good pond, Old Frog," Roger observed with a chuckle.
"I'm glad you've returned safely," the shaman said, and Roger carefully hid his concern as Cord clambered laboriously to his feet. Officially, his wound was well on its way to healing, but the old warrior wasn't snapping back the way he had after he'd been wounded at Voitan. Indeed, Roger was begi
"And I'm ashamed of my weakness," Cord went on, almost as if he'd read Roger's thoughts. "Anasi should have been at your side."
"I have plenty of bodyguards," Roger remarked. "I have far fewer counselors I trust. Although, come to think of it, I'm ru
"So why are you here?" Cord asked, limping over to one of the benches.
"Despreaux's on her way here from Nopet, which means they must be about to put off the shots. It should be spectacular, even from here. I thought you'd like to watch."
"Oh, that would be fun to watch," Pedi said. "You're taking off the whole face of Karcrag, yes?"
"Pedi should not be exerting herself," Cord said, lying back on the bench. "We will stay here."
"Pedi should not be exerting herself?" Roger repeated. "What in hell does that mean?"
"Nothing," Pedi answered angrily. "Nothing that he has any right to make a decision about."
"You are my benan," Cord said coldly. "It is my responsibility to ensure your welfare as it is yours to ensure my safety."
"Welfare, perhaps" she spat back. "But not safety. I will be fine, thank you!"
"Whoa," Roger said. He glanced at the other two former slaves, who were huddled in the corner, clearly unhappy about the argument. "I don't want to cross this whole planet just to die in a domestic disturbance. Cord, you need to get out in the fresh air ... well, as fresh as it gets around here. We'll head up to the walls, watch the shot, and come back. And while we're walking, both of you can be thinking about what you want to tell me about what's going on."
"It is none of your responsibility, Prince Roger," Cord said.
"As you've pointed out to me before, Old Frog, I'm responsible for the success or failure of everything in this band. And we will have that talk. After we watch the shots."
* * *
"They're getting nervous," Pahner said. The Krath had sent another group up the mountain, using a different path from the one their own people had used. Since the security team had pulled back, it was just as well that the Krath would be too late arriving. They'd also pulled most of their forces out of the tent city, however, and seemed to be preparing for a large-scale assault.
"Yes," the Gastan said silkily. "Isn't it lovely?"
"You have your daughter's approach to handling enemies," Pahner said with a laugh.
"Fortunately, I don't have her approach to handling friends," the Shin king replied in a tone which was so suddenly exasperated that Pahner looked at him in genuine surprise.
"And I thought we were welcome," he said. "Or is there something I'm missing?"
"No, you're welcome, even chased by an army," the Gastan said. "It should be obvious to your Light O'Casey that this war has permitted me to consolidate my power as no Gastan has in three decades. And your support has been invaluable in that. But I could wish that my daughter had made better personal choices."
"Okay, now you've really got me confused," Pahner said as the Krath began filing into the assault trenches. The Gastan looked down at him and made a gesture of confused resignation.
"I wish that I understood your human body language better. Are you jesting? Or do you really not see the signs?"
"Signs of what?" Pahner asked. In the distance, the Krath assembly horns began to sound as the entire host started to move forward. The troops in the assault trenches would seek to pin the defenders in order to clear the way for the mass assault of the walls.
"You really don't see them, do you?" the Gastan said. Pahner gazed back up at the Shin's ruler and shook his head.
"She's pregnant," the Gastan said as the explosives on the hillside detonated and the mountain came apart.