"I think so too," Chihin said, and started getting up, so he did. He thought, We could be killed. We could all be arrested. What kind of fools are we, acting like this?
But Chihin looked at him and he straightway lost his good sense again, until she made a face and swore and shoved him out the door, where the air was colder and clearer and the ship-sounds in the corridor reminded anybody with a brain at all that there were urgent operations going on.
They went to the bridge but only Tiar was there. Tiar twitched an ear back to take in their presence, Chihin flung herself into station and punched buttons — he settled into his chair more carefully, and didn't.
"What's up?" Chihin asked.
"Captain's downside, talking to the mahendo'sat."
"What, talking to the mahendo'sat? What have we got to say to the mahendo'sat? Blow their—"
"That's what they're doing," Tiar said. "Fala's got ops lowerdeck, Tarras is with the captain, and, well, we know where you two were."
"Don't give me that! What in a mahen hell's going on?"
"Main ops channel," Tiar said.
"Well, well, now we got make deal." Haisi stood, arms folded, on the dockside, at the bottom of the Legacy's ramp, and blew smoke into the frosty air. "You give oji, we give you clear undock, go home, safe, no trouble… small difficulty with kif, same we fix."
"Fix like you fixed things at Kshshti." "Not us, hani, you got bad information. You got real close experience with kif. You forget?" "No. But it doesn't matter to the bottom line." "What matter?" Another puff of smoke, green and blue against the neon of some shop along the Rows. "What make matter? You in one damn bad mess, hani. You look bad, Pyanfar Chanur look bad. You got find way out, because if that kif out there attack this station, who bring same here? If you start shoot, who got trouble? You got."
"You say. Looks to me like we're both here." "Wrong." With hand on large expanse of dark-furred chest. "We here with invitation stsho government. We got word maybe kif problem, stsho from Llyene ask us come in here, toss out kif guard on account of no good deal No'shto-shti-stlen make with marry Atli-lyen-tlas. Atli-lyen-tlas got too many 'so-ciations with kif. Llyene government have got embarrass' by No'shto-shti-stlen, official come here, examine record, got prepare replace gtst, maybe severe reprimand. Meanwhile here come kif. Damn right here come kif. Want old job back. Want commit little piracy, a? You been number one suckered, hani."
She laid her ears back. "If you're so friendly with the stsho, how come you had to come ask me about the oji. How come that? A?"
"You know stsho. Three sex. Gtst do politic, gtste and gtsto very private, do sex, no public.
No'shto-shti-stlen and Atli-lyen-tlas both gtst. So somebody got to step down from politic. Stsho at Llyene don't like Atli-lyen-tlas, long time want gtst come back stsho space, long time No'shto-shti-stlen protect same, now want marry gtst. So what sex No'shto-shti-stlen be? Gtst propose same in the oji.
Maybe if No'shto-shti-stlen stay gtst, stsho at Llyene not upset enough come here make new government. But stupid hani won't answer question, so they come. They say you give them the oji, all fine."
"So where are they?"
"They watch. I promise same. Not worry."
"Where's No'shto-shti-stlen?"
"With stsho. We not touch. I tell you, you give oji, everybody go away happy. 'Cept maybe kif. You no worry. We fix kif."
"Vikktakkht's a friend of my aunt."
A laugh. A long draw at the smoke-stick and a slow exhale. "Vikktakkht kif. Nobody friend. Don't got word, 'friend.' Just 'advantage.' Just stab in you back when you no more scare him. Why he not come in station, a? He wait. Let stupid hani fight the mane. Tell you what. You give oji, stsho at Llyene happy, we happy, no problem."
"I don't give anything, mahe. I'm not a charity. I got it, I keep it. Maybe I take it to my aunt."
"Make big mess. Meanwhile you got go out there tell kif sorry you make mistake. You look real bad, hani. You look like dessert. Maybe like hos-tage, a? Kif go make deal Pyanfar, hey, you want? You pay. You got experience that game."
Trying to shake her nerve, he was. She wrinkled her nose, not a friendly gesture. Or a patient one.
"Maybe I get along with them just fine."
"Then you two time fool. You got chance win big here. Pyanfar got lot commitment No'shto-shti-stlen.
You make new deal, be friend new gov'ment, all fine, easy new gov'ment be friend Pyanfar. You big important. Lot good deal for you."
She stared at him, thought about the directions power would run in the Compact, asked herself what was in it for Paehisna-ma-to, and came up with: "double-cross." Not quite a coup for Paehisna-ma-to, but no prosecution for the explosion at Kshshti, they'd blame that one on the kif; no absolute gain of power but no stop to the Momentum of Paehisna-ma-to either. Net gain, no loss, No'shto-shti-stlen out of the way, net gain there, too, putting Meetpoint in the hands of someone more attuned to other voices.
Gods, she did hate politics. And hated worse being suckered.
But if Haisi tossed off a kifish strike force of twenty hunter ships as a "we fix," Haisi had a lot of fire-power out there hidden in the system—
"So?" Haisi asked her. "You want be logical? No good, the oji, got no value 'cept to stsho. Chanur don't want lose face. We don't want lose face. 'Specially Vikktakkht don't want lose face: what you got do is make him look good, make him go 'way,"
So maybe there wasn't such a large mahen force. And Haisi was one good negotiator.
"You want me to tell him to go away, huh? You worried?"
A quick frown. Haisi snatched the smoke-stick from his mouth to jab it in her direction. "You want peace? You not want? That are whole question. You not just stupid hani captain, you Chanur. You got youself in politic, all right, you play smart. You only damn one can get that kif go 'way now. You only one can save Vikktakkht sfik so he don't get throat cut by own follower. Kif damn fragile, all time damn fragile. You got save him, or we got fight. I rather not fight. I rather not have this kif sit point gun at Meetpoint. Lot nervous people here."
Maybe Haisi was saying the same about himself— he was in a bind, a serious one. He wanted a way out.
So she'd done him damage. She had that.
"I have to give him something," she said. "I have to bring him in on the negotiations. 1 have to be there.
This has to save face for everybody. You understand me?"
Haisi looked relieved. "Number one fine. You got million credit deal. You walk away clear. What more want?"
"No, no, no, it doesn't work that way. We've got to talk to the stsho. We've got to have a slice of this, so does Vikktakkht."
"What you want? You dumb hani captain, no make gov'ment."
“I’m Chanur, mahe. You've been using that, that's the game you've been playing, and I demand to have something out of this that's going to satisfy that kif out there, that's going to satisfy our honor, and not have any trouble with our papers, our cargoes, or the Personage's affairs. I have an obligation to her friends. I have a contractual obligation to No'shto-shti-stlen. That's gtst property. I can't just hand it over. I've got, for that matter, an obligation to that kif out there, who's played tolerably fair with me. So you've got what you want here, you haven't got what I have, you're not secure until you've got it, and you'd better damn well settle with our honor, and our claims, and our — pardon me — finance, because anything else is going to be expensive to the stsho and to this station, which isn't going to make the stsho damn happy with you, a?"