The Icarus Hunt

"We have him," Nask said, gesturing toward me. "That's a start." He clearedhis throat. "You'll forgive me if I find myself surprised by your unexpectedarrival, Expediter. I was not informed of your presence on Palmary."

"You'll be even more surprised when I tell you the name of the ship I came inon," Nicabar said dryly. "A little independent freighter by the name ofIcarus."

It was as if all three Patth had simultaneously grabbed hold of the samehigh-voltage wire. "What?" Enig said, the sound coming out more as a gasp thana legitimate word. "The Icarus?"

"What, don't you read your own government's hot-sheets?" Nicabar sniffed. "Mypicture ought to be plastered all over the embassy identifying me as one ofthe Icarus's crewers."

"There have been no such pictures," Nask said. "We have only now begun topiecetogether the profile of the Icarus's crew from sifting through the variousreports, and there are no pictures or sketches as yet."

Nicabar grunted. "Sloppy."

"We are doing the best we can with what we have," Nask insisted, his voicestill civil but clearly showing some strain. "It was mere blind luck that one of Enig's defenders spotted McKell heading for that pharmacy and was able to seethrough his disguise."

"Enig's defenders?" Nicabar echoed, looking over at Enig.

"Yes," Nask said. "Enig and Brosh are the pilot and copilot of the freighterConsiderate."

"Civilians?" Nicabar demanded, his eyes blazing. "You brought civilians intothis?"

"I had no choice," Nask snapped back. "I couldn't involve my staff for thesame reason I didn't take McKell to the embassy. Besides, Brosh and Enig are nolonger precisely civilians. Their ship happens to be the only Patthaaunutthvessel currently on the planet, and once we have the Icarus we'll need someonewho can fly it back to Aauth. I've therefore commandeered both of them intoofficial service."

"I see," Nicabar said, glancing at me. "You know where the ship is, then?"

"Not yet," Nask had to admit. "I was just begi

"Not quite," Nicabar said. "The rest of the crew know he's missing and are onthe alert. We have to be careful or we'll risk damaging the artifact."

"That would just be too bad, wouldn't it," I murmured.

Nicabar regarded me as if I were something he'd found on the bottom of hisshoe.

"Who are all of these?" he asked, waving at the assembled Iykams. "Moremerchant-ship conscripts?"

"They're my ship's personal defenders, Expediter," Brosh said, bristlingnoticeably at what he obviously took to be a slight. "They're more than equalto whatever task you require of them."

"I suppose we'll find that out, won't we?" Nicabar said, leaving the desk andmoving through the gathered Iykams, looking at each in turn with the piercingglance of military inspection officers everywhere. "Do I also assume you havecloaks of invisibility for all of them?"

"What?" Brosh asked, clearly startled. "Cloaks of what?"

"That's the only way they're going to get close enough to the Icarus to usethese," Nicabar said, lifting the nearest Iykam's gun hand and tapping thecorona weapon.

"Yes, I see," Nask said with a nod. "A good point. Brosh, do any of thedefenders standing guard outside have plasmics with them?"

"Some of them, yes," Brosh said, glaring from under his hood at Nicabar.

Apparently, he wasn't used to dealing with top-ranking Patth agents. Hecertainly didn't seem to care much for their style. "I'll call them and ask."

"No—no phones," Nicabar said as Brosh reached beneath his robe. "We don't wantanything going through the phone system that could be backtracked later. Youthree"—he jabbed a finger at a clump of Iykams—"go to the others and collectall their plasmics from them."

"Wait a minute," Brosh protested, pointing at me. "You can't just send themaway. What about him?"

"What, it takes more than five of your highly competent defenders to guard asingle manacled prisoner?" Nicabar countered scornfully.

"He has a point, Expediter," Nask put in. "McKell is a highly dangerous human, and has slipped out of several other traps. Enig can go check on the weapons."

"I don't want you three going outside this room any more than you have to,"

Nicabar said in a voice of strained patience. "You shouldn't even be in thispart of town, let alone wandering around loose."

"It's the Grand Feast," Nask pointed out tartly. "All races mix freely togetherfor that. But if you insist." He nodded to the three Iykams Nicabar had markedout. "Carry out your orders."

"And make sure you bring back one for me," Nicabar added as the three headedto the door.

"You're not armed, Expediter?" Nask asked as the Iykams left the room, closingthe door behind them.

"You know I'm not," Nicabar said. "I presume you were watching as Enig and hisdefenders checked me for weapons outside."

"My question was more along the lines of why you didn't have a weapon at all,"

Nask said. "I was under the impression Expediters were routinely armed."

"Most Expediters don't have to live aboard a ship the size of the Icarus withpeople like McKell poking their noses into everything," Nicabar reminded him.

"He'd have fingered me long ago if I'd brought a gun aboard."

"You had us fooled, all right," I growled, trying not to sound too bitter.

"Especially that little speech you made back in the engine room. That was anice touch."

He lifted his eyebrows mockingly. "I don't know why," he said. "I thought Imade it pretty clear that I thought the Patthaaunutth were being unfairly picked onjust because they happened to be more technically i

"I guess not," I murmured, a sudden surge of adrenaline jolting through mysystem. I had been listening to that conversation; had been listening witheverything I had. And that was not in any way what Nicabar had said orimplied.

Which either meant he was playing a completely pointless game with me... orelse there was something else entirely going on here.

And then, even as Nicabar turned contemptuously away from me and back to Nask, I

heard the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard in my life. A soft sound, hardlyaudible, certainly not at all melodic. But a sound nevertheless that threeminutes ago I would have sworn I would never hear again.

The soft sneeze of a Kalixiri ferret.

I would have been surprised if any of the others noticed it. Certainly theygaveno sign that they had. Nicabar was conversing in a low but intense tone withNask, probably discussing plans for the upcoming raid on the Icarus, and allthe Iykams in my field of view were still glowering at me with the same unfriendlyexpressions that their companions had worn in the back room just before I'ddropped a chair on them. Slowly, making it look like I was checking them outin turn, I moved my head just enough to see the lower of the room's air vents.

And there he was, barely visible in the shadows behind the vent's crosshatchedgrating: Pix or Pax, I couldn't tell which, his head turned to the side as ifhe was grooming himself or gnawing at an itch. Just as slowly, I turned back tothe desk again, not wanting my interest in that part of the room to spark anyunwelcome curiosity.

Nicabar was looking sideways at me, still talking to Nask. I dropped oneeyelida millimeter and got an equally microscopic nod in return from him before he seemed to notice his ID still lying on the desk and returned it to his pocket.

Not his ID, rather, but the one I'd taken off the Patth agent on Dorscind'sWorld after my old buddy James Fulbright's attempt to cash in on the reward.

Clearly, my original estimation of Thompson as little more than a glorifiedPatth accountant had been seriously off target.