“Exactly,” Wandek said. “Of course, the technique may also kill you. But if it succeeds, you too will be able to look forward to a lifetime in my service.”
He took a step back toward me. “So tell me now, arrogant Human,” he said softly, “whether hopelessness is only an illusion.”
He turned again and started across the room. Prllolim and Kordiss joined him, Kordiss walking backward so that he could keep an eye on me the whole way. Even a last-second act of desperation was going to be denied me.
They were halfway to the door when an unexpected question hammered through my growing swirl of despair.
Why the hell were they bothering to alter Human brains?
There was no reason to go to all that time and effort. Asantra Muzzfor had already demonstrated that the Shonkla-raa could take control of the Modhri, and the Modhri had just as conclusively proved he could take control of Humans. Instead of spending all this time and energy fiddling with baby brains, why not simply scratch the babies—and their mothers—with some Modhran coral and be done with it?
The answer seemed obvious. As Hchchu and Wandek had both stated, there wasn’t any Modhran presence aboard Proteus. No Modhri, no coral, no Modhran walkers.
And yet …
I lowered my gaze to Doug. He was sitting on his haunches, his body motionless, his masked eyes gazing intently back at me. Doug, my faithful watchdog, who had accidentally alerted me to at least two attacks since our arrival here. Doug, whose partner Ty had inexplicably deserted me in order to stay close to Bayta, whom the Shonkla-raa had been furiously trying to get alone. Doug, who had never once greeted Ty with the same yip that both watchdogs invariably exchanged with other watchdogs they happened to meet.
Doug, who by Dr. Aronobal’s own statement belonged to a species that the Fillies knew so well they had no reason to study further.
Deliberately, I turned my eyes from Doug to Minnario. The Nemut was still lying motionless, his breathing still the slow rhythm of unconsciousness.
And then, as I peered into his face, I saw his conical mouth shift in a small, knowing, hard-edged smile.
The three Shonkla-raa had reached the door now. “Usantra Wandek?” I called.
He turned around. “Yes?”
“The next time you come after me,” I said softly, “you’d better bring all of you.”
He snorted and turned away. A moment later, the door closed and sealed behind them.
I turned back to Minnario. “Hello, Modhri,” I said.
“Hello, Compton,” Minnario murmured, his eyes still closed, his distorted mouth speaking English for the first time since we’d met. “It’s a long way indeed since the super-express.” He hesitated. “Are we still allies?”
“Yes,” I said firmly.
“Good,” he said. “Then we must hurry.”
Doug stood up and trotted to me. Lowering his head, he opened his mouth wide.
And out onto the floor slid Minnario’s missing comm.
“Bayta is in terrible danger,” Minnario continued, his voice urgent as I reached down and picked up the comm. “We must move swiftly if we’re to save her.”
FIFTEEN
Bayta answered on the second ring. “Where are you?” I asked without preamble.
“On the bullet train heading back to our quarters,” she said, her voice suddenly taut. “What’s wrong?”
“Pretty much everything,” I said grimly, walking over to the door and trying the release. It was locked, all right. “There’s been another murder, the Shonkla-raa are trying to frame me for it, and you’re in danger,” I continued, turning and heading for the desk. “You need to get off that train at the next stop and find a place to hide. Is Emikai with you?”
“Yes, he’s right here,” she said. “Do you want to talk to him?”
Minnario’s hand twitched. “There’s a place nearby that will serve,” he said.
“No, that’s all right,” I told Bayta, nodding to Minnario in acknowledgment. “I don’t think the Shonkla-raa particularly want him, so he should be safe enough for now. But tell him he has to make a choice—”
“This is Emikai,” Emikai’s voice came abruptly. “What has happened?”
“The people who killed Tech Yleli have killed again,” I told him, walking around the side of the desk and trying to activate the computer. It was as solidly locked down as the door.
“Who was murdered?”
“Why?” I asked suspiciously. “You going to call it in if I tell you?”
“Of course,” he said. “I have no choice.”
“In that case, I can’t tell you,” I said. “The killers are trying to frame me for the murder. I have to get away from the crime scene before the whole Proteus security system piles on top of me.”
“Leaving the scene will not help you,” he warned. “You will have left samples of your nucleics behind.”
“In this case, that won’t matter,” I said. “Put Bayta back on, will you?”
“Wait.” There was a brief pause. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “What can you do?”
The pause this time was longer. “Assuming you escape the scene, how much evidence will there be against you?”
“If I get out fast enough, none,” I assured him, looking at the locked door and then at Hchchu’s desk. “In fact, depending on how much noise I make, and how fast the patrollers get here after me, they’re going to be left with one hell of a puzzle. Don’t ask me to explain—it’s way too complicated.”
“No explanation is necessary,” he said, and I could hear the relief in his voice. “If you are innocent, and if the evidence will show that, there is no requirement for me to hinder your movements.”
“That’s good to hear,” I said, going over to where Minnario’s empty chair was quietly hovering. Taking one of its arms, I pulled it over beside the desk. “I’d like you to accompany Bayta to a place of safety. She’ll show you where.”
“Understood,” he said. “We will await your arrival.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Now put Bayta on.”
There was a pause— “Frank?”
“Okay, we’re all set,” I told her, searching the chair’s control board for the off control. “Emikai will go along and help keep you safe until I can catch up.”
“Where do you want me to go?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said, looking at Minnario. “Minnario?”
The Nemut’s fingers twitched again. “Ty can guide her.”
I grimaced. Of course Ty could guide her. Sometimes I forgot just how useful a group mind could be. “Ty will show you where,” I told Bayta. “Just follow him.”
“Ty will show me?”
“Yes,” I said. I found the control and twisted it, and the chair settled smoothly to the floor. “It turns out our super-express ally had an extra card up his sleeve.”
Even over the comm I could hear the hiss as she inhaled sharply. “Minnario?”
“Bingo,” I said. “Fortunately, the truce appears to still be on. Doug and Ty are also members of the club—go ahead and follow him.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice strained. “I mean—”
“I know, I know,” I cut her off. “But go back and think about everything that’s happened here. He’s been running interference for us against the Shonkla-raa ever since we set foot on the station. Including having Ty stay with you for protection, despite the fact the animal had been ordered to stay with me.”
“Yes, but—”
“More to the immediate point, up until thirty seconds ago Wandek and his buddies had me in an airtight frame-up,” I went on. “There’s no game the Shonkla-raa and Modhri could possibly be playing that would put us in a worse predicament than they already had us in. So just go—I’ll join you as soon as I can.”