God above. I hoped they were accepting my words because of my family's position."
"More likely they just weren't sure enough to arrest you. Or else backed off in hopes that you'd lead them to me." Jin glanced at the curtained window, wondering what devices the Qasamans might have for looking through cloth and glass. But if they were doing so, again it was already too late. "They didn't have any photos of me, did they?" she asked.
"Not that they showed me," Daulo shook his head. "Though it hardly matters. As my father pointed out, there were plenty of people in Milika who saw you."
"Well enough to provide the investigators with a good description?"
He threw her an odd look. "Using hypnotics? Of course."
Jin gritted her teeth. She should have realized they'd have something like that available-her father's mission had noted the Qasamans' penchant for mind-enhancement drugs. "Yeah, I forgot about those. Well, maybe the disguise paraphernalia in my pack will be enough."
"You're not going to stay in Azras, are you?"
"Not with the alert already out for your car," Jin shook her head. "I'll head out of town, try to find a place off the road to hide the car in. With luck I'll be able to stay with it until the work party is formed on Sunday. Let me take a set of that cheap city clothing we bought-"
"Hold it a second," Daulo interrupted her, eyes narrowing. "You're not still going to try to get in there, are you?"
"Why not? Unless you told our friend Moffren Omnathi that was what we were planning. Oh, my God," she interrupted herself as the name suddenly clicked.
"What?" Daulo asked sharply.
"Moffren." The name tasted sour on her tongue. "Moff. The man who played guide to our first survey mission, thirty years ago. And very nearly nailed it." She shook her head. "Well, that's the end of the game for you, Daulo. First thing in the morning you find yourself a ride back to Milika and get out of here."
Daulo frowned at her. "Why? Just because the Shahni sent an old enemy of yours to ask me some questions?"
"No-because whatever pits there are in the story you told him, he'll find them," she retorted. "And when he does, he'll act. Fast."
"And you think running back to Milika will keep him from getting to me?"
Jin braced herself. "Of course not. But maybe it'll slow him down enough to let me get into Mangus."
For a long moment his eyes were steady on hers. "So that's what it comes down to, isn't it?" Daulo said at last. "Your mission."
Jin forced her jaw muscles to relax. "Would you have me run somewhere and hide?" she asked.
"Would you have me do so?" he countered quietly. "Would you have me go back to my father and tell him I gave up a chance to perhaps uncover a threat to our family because I was afraid?"
"But if they're watching you and you try to go into Mangus-"
"And if they're watching me and I try to run back to Milika?"
Again, they locked gazes. "Daulo, look," Jin sighed at last. "I know this isn't something a woman says to a man on Qasama... but I feel responsible for your safety. I talked you and your father into this scheme, after all, and if I can't be right at your side I may not be able to protect you."
"You didn't promise me any protection."
"Not to you, no. I did promise it to myself."
To her surprise, he smiled. "And I made a promise to myself, Jasmine Moreau: to protect you from your cultural ignorance while in Mangus. I can't do that from
Milika."
"But-" Jin took a deep breath, sighed in defeat. She simply didn't have time to argue the point any further. The longer she lingered here, the more time Moff would have to weave a net around Azras, and she had to get Daulo's car out of town before that happened. "Will you at least think about it? Please?"
He rose from the couch and stepped forward. "I will," he said softly, reaching out to take her hand. "You be careful, all right?"
"I will." She hesitated, looking up at his eyes. Cultural differences, she reminded herself distantly. He might take this wrong, but for once, she didn't care; the need to hold someone tightly was almost overpowering in its intensity.
Leaning toward him, she put her arms around him.
He didn't pull away, nor did he attempt to make the hug into anything else.
Perhaps with potential danger all around them, a simple nonsexual contact from a friend was something he needed right now, too.
For a minute they held each other tightly. Then, almost unwillingly, Jin pulled back. "You take care of yourself, too, okay?" she said. "And if you decide to stay... don't look for me in the work party."
He nodded, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "I understand. You'd better go now."
Three minutes later, the city clothing Daulo had given her knotted into a bundle on her back, she was back at the car. No one lay in wait near the vehicle; no one jumped out of the shadows or shot at her as she climbed in and drove away.
Either the Shahni's people hadn't gotten the Azras part of their operation fully organized yet, or else Moff was growing careless in his old age. Personally, she wouldn't bet much money on the latter.
But for the time being she appeared to have gained a little breathing space, and she was determined to use it to the fullest. A few kilometers south of Azras-an adequate gap between trees in the forest-and she would have a place to hide for the next day and a half. A little face-shaper gel from her pack, perhaps a wig and some skin darkening, and she'd be able to walk into Azras Sunday morning without being recognized. And after that...
But there was no point in trying to think too far ahead. With Qasama's official government actively in the game, she had to be ready to play every move by ear.
And hope that her Moreau family heritage counted for something besides just a name.
Chapter 32
"Like this?" Toral Abram asked, shifting his left foot in front of his right.
"Right," Justin nodded. "Now just uncurl your legs and drop onto your back onto the floor, pulling your knees to your chest as you do so."
The young Cobra obeyed, and a second later was spinning around, belly-up, in an awkward-looking fetal position. "And this is a military maneuver?" he asked wryly as he came to a halt.
"Trust me," Justin assured him. "You try that with your antiarmor laser firing and you'll look very military."
"If there's anyone left nearby to see you," one of the other Cobras lined up against the walls muttered.
"That is the basic idea," Justin nodded as a nervous chuckle swept the room.
"Okay, Toral, off the floor. Dario, your turn."
One of the other Cobras took Abram's place in the center of the room and got into ready position. "Ceiling flip," Justin ordered; and a second later the
Dewdrop shook as the Cobra jumped upward, bounced feet-first off the ceiling, and landed a handful of meters away from his starting point.
"One of these days," a voice at Justin's elbow muttered, "one of you is going to kick a hole in the deck doing that."
"Hello, Wilosha," Justin nodded to the middle-aged man who'd slipped unnoticed into the room. "Just can't get enough of the show, can you?"
"Watching the ship's structural integrity beaten into rubble always gives me a thrill," Second Officer Kal Wilosha retorted. "Haven't you practiced these more violent maneuvers enough?"
"No, but unfortunately we don't have the time to do it right." Justin raised his voice. "Okay, Dario, nice job. Don't forget to keep your hands up when you land so that you'll be able to fire if you need to. Now give the backspin a try."
"Yes, sir."
He did marginally better than Abram had. "Again," Justin ordered. "Remember that your nanocomputer will do a lot of the work on these basic maneuvers if you'll let it. Just get things started, relax, and let your body take it from there."