Conquerors' Heritage

"Not necessarily," Thrr-mezaz said. "Or rather, not yet. What we need first is to find out more about the place."

"I don't know how we're going to do that," Kl

"What if we go on foot?"

"That's not much better," Kl

"True," Thrr-mezaz said, studying the map. "But those posts have probably been set up to keep anyone from getting through into the stronghold itself. There's no particular reason we have to go in that far."

Kl

"Why not? They're perfect for this kind of scout work."

"As I recall, that was one reason we let the Human-Conquerors leave with Prr't-zevisti's cutting," Kl

"I'm in command here, and I don't have to ask for volunteers," Thrr-mezaz reminded him mildly. "Besides, the main problem with Prr't-zevisti was that we let the Human-Conquerors in on the transport end of the operation. This time we'll do it all ourselves."

Kl

Thrr-mezaz grimaced. Kl

He broke off, an odd thought suddenly striking him. "Is there any particular reason why we need to lug a whole pyramid up there?" he asked slowly. "We're only talking about one, maybe two cuttings here. Why not just put them in some kind of small predator-proof container and carry it on up?"

Kl

"All right, forget it," Thrr-mezaz growled. Traditions were fine in their place, but the fastidious and inflexible adherence to them could sometimes be a complete pain in the throat. "Then we're back to finding ourselves a cutting with a longer range. I wonder if Warrior Command would be able to furnish us with one."

Kl

"Right; we'll appeal to their sense of guilt," Thrr-mezaz said. "I'll go ahead and put in a request. All they can say is no."

"And they probably will." Kl

"I doubt it," Thrr-mezaz said. "As far as I know, his study group didn't get any detailed information on Dorcas."

"No, but he knows a lot about the Human-Conquerors themselves," Kl

"I suppose not," Thrr-mezaz said reluctantly. After that conversation with Dkll-kumvit this postmidarc—and his own little outburst a few hunbeats ago—he wasn't exactly eager to trust a private family conversation to a pathway of possibly hostile Elders. Still, he couldn't avoid it forever. "Communicator?" he called.

There was a short pause, and then an Elder appeared. "Yes, Commander?"

"A pathway to the Overclan Seating. I want to speak with the location server on duty."

The Elder nodded and vanished. Kl

"I need to locate my brother, Searcher Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr," Thrr-mezaz said. "He's currently working with an alien-study group under Overclan Seating supervision."

The Elder nodded and left.

And stayed gone. "Interesting," Kl

"Could be," Thrr-mezaz said. "Thrr-gilag has a tendency to wander off without telling anyone where he's going. Drove my mother crazy when we were growing up."

The Elder returned. " 'I do not have a current location for Searcher Thrr-gilag; Kee'rr,' " he said. " 'I will keep trying and will alert you if contact is established with him.' "

"I see," Thrr-mezaz said. "Thank you. Farewell."

The Elder vanished, returned. "The pathway is released, Commander. Will there be anything else?"

"Yes," Thrr-mezaz told him. "Open a pathway to my father, Thrr't-rokik; Kee'rr. He's at the Thrr family shrine near Cliffside Dales."

"I obey," the Elder said, and vanished.

"You suppose he's being kept incommunicado?" Kl

"Could be," Thrr-mezaz agreed. "Let's try a couple more things before we give up."

The Elder reappeared. " 'It's good to hear from you, my son,' " he said. " 'How are you?' "

"I'm fine, Father," Thrr-mezaz said. "I need to talk to Thrr-gilag, and I'm having trouble locating him. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

The Elder vanished, returned. " 'He visited me here at the shrine last fullarc. He then went to see your mother, and after that he was to board a spacecraft for Gree to see Kl

"He's going to Gree?" Thrr-mezaz frowned. "I'd have thought the Overclan Seating would want him to stay close to Unity City."

" 'Really? He didn't say anything about that. Something having to do with his studies?' "

"More or less," Thrr-mezaz said evasively. Semiofficial details of the Mrachani expedition had been circulating through secure warrior pathways for a good fullarc now, but that didn't mean the news had been released to the general public yet. Chances were good it hadn't, in fact, and that it wasn't going to be. "Do you happen to know which flight he went out on?"

" 'No, but I can find out. Is this a carnival, or what?' "

Thrr-mezaz smiled tightly. Carnival—private family code for a vitally important matter, derived from the seriousness with which he and Thrr-gilag had treated such things when they were children. "It could very well be a carnival, yes," he agreed soberly. "Both for him and for me."

" 'I understand, my son. If you can hold on to the pathway a hunbeat, I'll see what I can find out.' "

"Yes, please do," Thrr-mezaz said.

The Elder vanished. "A carnival?" Kl

"It's private family slang," Thrr-mezaz told him. "And don't give me a hard time about it—I'll bet you had plenty of goofy slang when you were growing up."

"I beg your pardon, Commander," Kl