Conquerors' Legacy

"Yes," Kl

"I'm sure the warriors will be pleased to receive them," he said, throwing her a thoughtful look. "I'm a little surprised you came all this way here yourself for such a trivial errand."

"Comfort for warriors in a war zone is hardly a trivial errand," Kl

"It is when there are other priorities involved," Kl

"Specializing in a field does not necessarily make one an expert in it," Kl

"Of course they are," Kl

"I imagine he's anxious to hear about his brother and what happened at the bond-engagement hearings," Kl

And if he wasn't fooled, others probably weren't, either. And if one of them was suspicious enough to order the Elders to do a thorough examination of the waist pouch hanging at her side...

"It's none of my business, of course," Kl

"Thank you," Kl

Though, on the other side, that might not be such a bad thing. If they thought she'd come here to talk to Thrr-mezaz about her bond-engagement to Thrr-gilag, maybe they'd be less inclined to dig for another motive. Maybe for once the Elder preoccupation with gossip was going to work in their favor.

At first glance the room they walked into reminded Kl

Standing in the middle of the group, gesturing to the display in one of the racks, was Thrr-mezaz.

"Yes, it's been mentioned on several occasions that the rocks in that area are rich in metal ores," he was saying as Kl

"Yes, Commander," one of the Elders said, in a tone that Kl

"You'll do whatever it takes," Thrr-mezaz corrected him quietly. "You have your orders."

"I obey, Commander," the Elder growled. He half turned to the other Elders, gestured impatiently with his tongue. "You heard the commander," he said. "Let's get to it."

The whole group flickered and vanished. "They found something?" Kl

"That appears to be a matter of opinion," Thrr-mezaz said, flicking his tongue in a grimace. "The Elders searching the area north of the village ran into a slender nonmetallic cable about four strides underground. Definitely of Human-Conqueror origin."

"Sounds promising," Kl

"The problem is that it's going to be difficult to trace through the ore-bearing rocks in the region," Thrr-mezaz said. "Several of the Elders are balking at the task, especially since they're half-convinced it's nothing but a control cable for the Elderdeath weapon we destroyed when we first attacked the planet." He shifted his eyes to Kl

"You forget I'm used to temporary field shelters on alien worlds, Thrr-mezaz," Kl

Thrr-mezaz's tongue twitched. "No, indeed. Let's step into my office."

A hunbeat later they were alone, the office door closed to the warriors in the room outside. "I'm glad you made it here safely," Thrr-mezaz said, gesturing her to one of the couches as he sank onto the couch behind the desk. "I don't mind telling you I was pretty worried when I heard about the Human-Conqueror attack on Shamanv."

"I was pretty worried myself," Kl

"Immense good luck," Thrr-mezaz agreed. "The reports indicated those were probably Copperhead warcraft. The most dangerous the Human-Conquerors have to offer."

Kl

"Probably." Thrr-mezaz paused. "You have the package with you?"

"Yes," Kl

"As safe as anywhere in the encampment," Thrr-mezaz said, also looking around. "All the Elders should be either on sentry duty, searching that area north of the village, or acting as communicators out in the command/monitor room. I wish I'd thought to have you pick up a hummer before you left Dharanv, though. Either you or Thrr-gilag."

"It wouldn't have helped to tell Thrr-gilag," Kl

Thrr-mezaz threw her an odd look. "That's right—you probably don't know. He was taken off the Mrachani mission. He's on his way here instead."

"Here?" Kl

"He didn't want to say, even on that secure Elder pathway Prr't-casst-a set up for us," Thrr-mezaz said. "But he's only about a fullarc behind you, so we'll be able to ask him ourselves soon enough."

"I see," Kl

Thrr-mezaz looked around the room again. "First you'd better give me the package."

"Gladly," Kl

"That problem I can guard against, anyway," Thrr-mezaz said, standing up and walking around the corner of the desk. "There's a metal box in one end of that cabinet over there in the corner, probably the Human-Conqueror commander's safe. It can't be sealed anymore—we burned off the lock to see if there was anything inside—but it should at least keep the package safe from accidental discovery."

"Good," Kl

"There are many other reasons to do that," Thrr-mezaz reminded her grimly as he took the case and opened it. "Prr't-zevisti's life, for starters. Is this really it?"

"That's really it," Kl

"We'll find out soon enough," Thrr-mezaz said, crossing the room to the cabinet and swinging open an outer wooden door. "Some fullarc you're going to have to tell me how you two got hold of this." He squatted down, pulled open the warped metal door of the safe itself, and set the case inside—