Then Sidas sat down on the corner of the great wooden table by the wall, one booted leg crossed over the other. «So you want me to send Voros two or three of our Doimari lifters, do you? Why?»
His sharp tone stung Baliza. «We've already explained why.»
«Tell me again.»
«Very well, then. The three Doimari lifters can take twice as many men and guns as Bekror's two. Voros will have a stronger force, and he can fly it right into the base. With surprise on his side, he'll do more damage, then get more of his men out again.»
«Maybe. You have a lot of faith in Voros.»
«Yes. Don't you?»
«Not that much. I would believe the Sky Master Blade could do something like this. Not Voros, a man from nowhere. He's a good soldier, I'll admit. Maybe one of our best, and I don't really doubt his loyalty, even if he did desert after the rape charge. But I don't think he's good enough to do this, and with Tribesmen.»
Sidas's eyes were like stones now as he lit a cigar and offered them to the women. Geyrna took one. Baliza refused. She was afraid her hands would shake if she reached for it. Sidas puffed quietly for a minute or so, then stabbed at Baliza with the cigar.
«I'll give Voros the lifters, under one condition. You tell me the truth. Who do you think he really is?»
For a moment Baliza thought she was going to be sick. Then the nausea passed and relief took its place. The question she'd feared for so long had been asked, and she was still alive.
«I think Voros is my father, the Sky Master Blade, returned to Kaldak. I do not know how he did this, but I think he has.»
«Never mind how he got back here-at least for now,» Sidas added. «Tell me how you decided he was-who he is.» Baliza was glad to notice the hesitation in Sidas's voice. The idea of the Sky Master Blade among them again had slightly shaken even the iron-nerved High Commander.
So Baliza told Sidas and Geyrna everything she'd learned or thought about the man who called himself Voros. She kept her voice clear and steady, even through the tale of the night she'd tried to seduce him, although she felt her face turning red. Sidas was obviously trying not to laugh, but only said, «I always thought that warm blood of yours would get you into trouble one of these days. Well, better to be the way you are and your mother was, then cold and alone.» Then he was silent until she'd finished, when he handed her another glass of wine. She emptied it quickly.
Sidas sat with his hands folded in his lap, his cigar burning itself out unnoticed, until she was finished. Then:
«I'm glad you told the truth,» he said. «I wouldn't have held back the lifters, no matter what. In fact, I've already decided to send the lifters. You see, Bekror sent me a serum formula given him by Voros. I had the formula studied by a few of our own people. They say Voros is telling the truth: it is indeed an antidote to the deadly germs Detcharn plans to let loose on Kaldak. So Veros has gotten all the help I can give him, no matter who he is.»
«You won't send people from-oh, the City Regiment? Wouldn't they do the job better than raw Tribesmen?»
«With the best weapons and Voros-Blade to lead them, those 'raw Tribesmen' will be good enough. Also, City people wouldn't follow Voros unless he was pardoned for his desertion. That would raise a lot of questions better left lying. If it is Blade come back, he's probably got good reasons for not wanting everybody knowing it. For the time being, I'll respect those reasons, though I did decide to send one man from the City Regiment to help Voros train his men.»
Sidas lit another cigar, and this time Baliza joined him, although she put hers down after a few puffs. She was afraid she would be sick all over again. «No, what I'd have done if you'd lied wouldn't hurt Voros. I'd simply have ordered you to sit in Kaldak during this fight. Under arrest, if necessary.» She could tell he wasn't joking.
«Then-I can join my-Voros-in the raid on the rocket base?» She hadn't realized until now just how badly she wanted to do this, and she still didn't know exactly why.
Sidas shook his head. «He's too likely to recognize you, and spend time worrying about keeping you out of danger. That's not a worry to give a man leading a raid like that. I know,» he said with a sigh. «Your mother, as much as I loved her, would never stop giving me that worry.»
«But if he's not my father-«
«Even if he really is just a man named Voros, it's still not a good idea. Do you think he'll want to be remembered as the man who led the Sky Master Blade's daughter to her death?»
Baliza had no answer to that question, then decided there wasn't any. «Very well. You're right. But-the Laws abandon me if I'm just going to sit on my bottom in Kaldak while this is happening! You will have to put me under arrest to make me do it, I warn you!»
«I don't expect you to do anything of the sort!» said the High Commander. «In fact, we've got work for you every bit as important as the raid. You're going to enter Doimar and bring out Feragga.»
Baliza must have looked as confused as she felt, because Sidas explained himself very carefully. Baliza was to enter Doimar, find out where Feragga lived, go there, and bring her to Kaldak. Since Feragga was crippled, this would mean stealing a lifter as well.
«You should be ready to take her by force if you have to. But as the Sky Master's daughter, you're the one person in Kaldak who might not have to. That's why you're going alone. If we sent in a squad, she'd probably kill herself rather than move an inch.»
«Assuming she comes to Kaldak of her own free will, what then?»
«A lot of Detcharn's enemies will rally around her if she's alive after the raid. She won't be if we don't get her out of Doimar. Detcharn will kill her if he survives the raid, and his friends will try if he doesn't. With luck, Feragga will be ruler of Doimar again.»
«It will take more than luck,» said Baliza. «It will take the consent of the Council of Nine.»
For the first time, Geyrna spoke. «I think that will not be such a problem as you might think.» Something in her voice. .
«You two worked this out between you,» Baliza exclaimed. «You-you've been playing with me all this time!»
Sidas tried to look ashamed. He wasn't very successful. As angry as she was, Baliza wanted to laugh. Finally she said, «All right. Feragga will make a good rallying point. Even if she doesn't, she shouldn't die at the hands of Detcharn's hired killers. I'll go, on one condition.»
«Yes?» said the other two, almost in unison.
«If I don't come back, if Voros returns, go to him and speak plainly about his secret. If he is-my father-ask him to forgive me for-what I tried to do. Tell him I honored and loved him as best I could, although not as much as he deserved.»
«And if he doesn't come back?» said Sidas quietly. Baliza remembered how many people her stepfather had sent out who hadn't come back. For the first time she saw clearly that he was growing old under that burden.
«Then let him be remembered as a warrior of Kaldak. He was that, whatever else he was.» They could all drink to that.
The lifter came to a stop a man's height above the ground. Baliza swung herself out the door and dropped into the long grass. She carried a heavy pack, but the grass and the damp earth made for a soft landing. She stepped out from under the lifter and waved to the two pilots. They waved back, then the lifter whined away across the field. It stayed low, and quickly vanished behind the trees dimly visible on the edge of the field.
The long grass and soft earth now made walking difficult. After a while Baliza gave up trying to avoid leaving a trail and simply plowed straight on. By the time she reached the edge of the field it was noticeably lighter. She was soaked to the skin from the waist down, and she also discovered that the grass was full of insects. She took her trousers off and picked the insects out while studying her map.