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Chapter 30
The two blackcollars arrived three minutes after Hawking's tingler alerted the group inside—Bernhard was wary and grim as death itself as he slipped through the safe house door, Kanai behind him looking only marginally more comfortable. Standing off to one side beside A
Once, Caine remembered with a trace of bitterness, he'd hoped to find allies among these same Denver blackcollars. Seldom had he ever had a dream shattered quite so thoroughly.
Bernhard broke the brittle silence first. "I hear through the grapevine that you've been busy tonight," he said, his voice deceptively casual.
"A bit," Lathe replied, matching his tone. "The grapevine provide any details?"
"It says your entire team was captured trying to break into Athena." Bernhard's eyes flicked across to Caine, lingered on Silcox before returning to Lathe. "I see the operation didn't take."
"No, it didn't. Any hints as to how we got out?"
"Not really, except that you took a lot of guards and part of the perimeter fence with you when you left."
"There were some explosions elsewhere in Athena that provided a diversion for us," Lathe told him.
"Nothing but timed limpet mines designed to spread out the opposition... but Qui
You want to take a guess as to who the likely suspects will be?"
Bernhard's expression didn't change, but suddenly the room seemed colder. "Qui
"Maybe." Lathe shrugged. "But to be perfectly blunt, I don't think you can afford to take that chance.
Not after agreeing to help Qui
Bernhard glanced again at Silcox. "So you know about that. Well, I warned you, Lathe—don't say I didn't. I warned you at least twice to get out of Denver while you could."
"And I told you we weren't ready to go. But that's old business. More important at the moment is how you're going to convince Qui
"Well, then, I suppose we'll just have to take you out as promised," Bernhard gritted. "That ought to convince him, don't you think?"
"Very likely," Lathe agreed. "But how are you going to do it? You don't know how to find us, you don't know where or when we're going to strike, you don't even know why we're here. So how are you going to capture us?"
Bernhard's eyes flicked to Caine and Silcox. "At the moment it's two against one," he said pointedly.
"Whatever guard shield you've got outside would be too late to help."
Beside him, Kanai stirred. "I won't fight him, Bernhard," he said softly. "I told you that last night."
"Offhand, I'd guess a lot of your other blackcollars will feel the same way," Lathe told Bernhard.
"How many can you rely on, do you suppose? Two? Three?"
"Enough," the other said shortly. "Blackcollars who take as many stupid chances as you do shouldn't be too hard to take out."
Lathe shook his head. "You've completely missed the point of what we've been doing. The whole campaign was designed to force Qui
"Not if I don't want him to," Bernhard ground out.
"Only if you're willing to leave Denver entirely." Lathe shook his head. "And I'm guessing you'd just as soon stay in your comfy little sinecure."
"All the more reason to take you out," Bernhard said, but Caine could see the confidence begi
For a long moment Lathe gazed at him. "You can do what I asked when we first met. Help us carry out our mission."
Bernhard snorted. "Oh, that would be a grand idea, wouldn't it? Exactly the thing to get Qui
"You give us the help we need," Lathe continued, as if the other hadn't spoken, "and we'll provide you with some bodies to show Qui
"What?" Silcox whispered at Caine's side. "He didn't mention any of that part to me."
He hadn't mentioned it to Caine, either. "Just stay cool," he whispered back. "He knows what he's doing."
If Bernhard found the suggestion outrageous, it wasn't immediately evident. "That's a damned big risk for us to take," Bernhard said, shaking his head. "Safer to just take you on."
Lathe shrugged. "That's your choice. But I'll tell you straight out: if you don't help us, you'll soon wish you had. We can take this city apart—you know it and I know it. And every raid we pull will nudge Qui
"Suppose I offer to help you?" Kanai spoke up suddenly. "There's no need to take all of us down just because Bernhard won't cooperate, is there?"
Bernhard threw his companion a glance, but even as he started to speak Lathe shook his head.
"Sorry, Kanai. We may be able to use your help later, but first of all we need something only Bernhard can provide. Well, Bernhard?"
The other glowered at him. "I don't take well to blackmail, Lathe. Or to threats."
"I don't like them much myself," Lathe came back. "But our options at this point are limited, and I haven't got time for anything with more finesse."
"Damn you—"
"I suggest you think it over—you'll probably have at least a couple of days before Qui
Bernhard's eyes narrowed. "Leave Sartan out of this—it's none of his business."
"Why not? I'd think he'd have a vested interest in protecting his roughneck squad. Well, no matter. If you don't tell him, there are other ways to get a message there."
"Oh, really?" Bernhard's lip twitched in an almost-smile. "Well, you go right ahead, then, and give him a call."
Lathe cocked an eyebrow thoughtfully. "You really don't care if I feed him my version of all this, do you? Interesting." He shrugged. "Well, anyway, between Qui
Bernhard pursed his lips. "Lathe—"
"No, don't try it," the comsquare said. "I have a man through the doorway over there with a sniper's slingshot trained on you, and I don't think you'd like fighting me on your back."
A disbelieving look flashed across Bernhard's face, followed by a rueful smile. "I begin to see why Qui
Turning on his heel, he strode out the door. Kanai sent a last, unreadable look at Caine and Silcox, then followed.
Lathe inhaled audibly, let the breath out in a whoosh as he turned to Caine. "And that is that," he said. "For now, anyway. Well, A
She nodded. "He's the one," she said with a sigh. "Strange; they always referred to blackcollars so positively. Maybe he's changed since they vanished."
" 'The one'?" Caine asked, frowning. "The one what?"
"The blackcollar she occasionally saw with her Torch friends," Lathe told him. "More to the immediate point, the one who was there the day before they set her up in the Shandygaff and all disappeared."