Conquerors' Legacy

Abruptly, the Elder appeared. "Commander Thrr-mezaz," he said. "You have a message for Prr't-casst-a?"

"Not for Prr't-casst-a, no," Thrr-mezaz said. "But I'd like to use the secure pathway she set up to contact my brother, Searcher Thrr-gilag. Can you do it?"

"I can try," the Elder said, sounding a bit doubtful. "I thought Thrr-gilag had returned to Oaccanv."

"He has," Thrr-mezaz confirmed. "He should be at either the Overclan Seating complex in Unity City, the Thrr-family shrine near Cliffside Dales, or at the Frr-family town of Reeds Village."

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

"You think Thrr-gilag knows something about this CIRCE weapon?" Kl

"He spent nineteen fullarcs on Base World Twelve interrogating the Human-Conqueror prisoner Pheylan Cavanagh," Thrr-mezaz reminded him. "If CIRCE is as dangerous as Lahettilas seems to think, there's a good chance it would have come up in conversation."

"Maybe." Kl

The beats went by, adding up until they'd reached a hunbeat. Then two hunbeats, then three, then four. Thrr-mezaz looked around, feeling his tail gradually speeding up its spi

And then, just as he'd decided that that was probably the case, the Elder reappeared. " 'This is Thrr-gilag,' " he quoted. " 'Hello, my brother. Is anything wrong?' "

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Thrr-mezaz said to the Elder, his tail slowing down slightly. "Where are you, anyway?"

The Elder nodded and vanished. This time he was back in less than half a hunbeat. " 'As it happens, I'm aboard a ship heading your way. I should be there in about five fullarcs.' "

Thrr-mezaz frowned. "I thought Kl

" 'She will be,' " the message came back. " 'She'll be leaving from Shamanv and ought to arrive there a fullarc or two ahead of me. She'll have the package with her.' "

Thrr-mezaz felt his tail twitch. The package: their private code word for the secret and highly illegal cutting Thrr-gilag and Kl

A cutting that was probably Prr't-zevisti's last chance at life. But that wouldn't matter a flick of the tongue if anyone caught them with it. "Any problems on that side?" he asked.

" 'None that I know of. I haven't spoken with Kl

"So why are you coming here, too?" Thrr-mezaz asked. "I thought you were supposed to be going to the Mrachani homeworld."

" 'I was. I've been taken off that mission.' "

Kl

The Elder nodded and vanished. "I'll bet you twenty fullarcs' pay it was politics," Kl

"Maybe not," Thrr-mezaz said, uneasiness speeding up his tail again. "I talked to my father last fullarc, and he was trying desperately to locate Thrr-gilag. Something serious is going on with our family back home, and Thrr-gilag's being dropped from the Mrachani mission may be one of the repercussions."

"Must be something really serious to get Thrr't-rokik desperate," Kl

"He's not," Thrr-mezaz agreed grimly.

"I take it you don't want to talk about the situation?"

Thrr-mezaz flicked his tongue in a negative. "Most of what I could say right now would be just speculation."

The Elder reappeared. " 'It was a joint decision by the Speaker for Dhaa'rr and the Overclan Prime,' " he quoted Thrr-gilag's reply. " 'I'll give you the details when I arrive.' "

"All right," Thrr-mezaz said. "A couple of other questions for you. First: do you know anything about Human-Conqueror explosives?"

" 'Only that they're as effective as lasers for raising Zhirrzh to Eldership,' " the bitter-tasting reply came back a hunbeat later.

"I know that much," Thrr-mezaz said. "Second: do you know anything about a Human-Conqueror weapon called CIRCE?"

The Elder vanished... and once again the beats began to drag by. "It's being awfully quiet out there," Kl

The Elder was back before Thrr-mezaz could answer. " 'I'm sorry, Thrr-mezaz, but this really isn't something I can discuss.' "

Thrr-mezaz threw a look at Kl

" 'You take care, too. I'll see you in a few fullarcs.' "

Thrr-mezaz nodded to the Elder. "Thank you. You may release the pathway."

"I obey, Commander," the Elder said, and once again vanished.

"So we were right," Kl

"Looks that way." Thrr-mezaz looked around the empty storehouse, wondering if any of the other Elders might have eavesdropped on their conversation. "We'd better be getting back."

"I wonder what kind of weapon it is," Kl

"I have no idea," Thrr-mezaz said, squinting against the bright postmidarc sunlight and the dust being kicked up by a brisk northerly wind. "What bothers me more than the what is the why. Specifically, why haven't they already used it against us?"

"Maybe they have," Kl

"I doubt it," Thrr-mezaz said. "Thrr-gilag's study group got the name Copperheads directly from their prisoner. Surely the Mrachanis have had enough contact with the Human-Conquerors not to make that kind of mistake."

"Unless the Human-Conquerors use different words when talking to different races," Kl

Thrr-mezaz flicked his tongue. "Interesting thought."

"Something else to ask Thrr-gilag when he gets here," Kl

Abruptly, an Elder appeared in front of them. "Commander Thrr-mezaz: urgent message from Supreme Ship Commander Dkll-kumvit," he said, his faint voice almost lost in the wind. "He's received news from Warrior Command that Shamanv was attacked two tentharcs ago by a group of Human-Conqueror warcraft."

Thrr-mezaz's tail twitched. Shamanv—that was where Thrr-gilag had said Kl

"Unclear," the Elder said. "The message said only that two Zhirrzh warships were involved in driving the attackers away and that one of them suffered severe internal damage from the Human-Conqueror explosive missiles. It was also reported that one enemy warcraft was destroyed. Supreme Ship Commander Dkll-kumvit thinks it may signal the begi