Korint forced a smile. "I was told you could run a bluff with a straight face."
Lupo set a cosmetic jar on his desk. "There's Jane in this. You know Jane?"
Korint knew the lady well. His companions would not approve. Who had who?
"Come, Mr. Korint. What do you have to offer?"
Blessed said, "We're as sure of ourselves as the Guardships are. We have something to sell." He leaned against a wall instead of sitting.
Lupo said, "We can't give you victory. But we might sell you a stalemate."
Blessed said, "Your Mr. Marin, of the second mission, had an intimate knowledge of your assets inside Canon space."
The Valerena Other said, "We had to neutralize those in a position to trouble House Tregesser. We left the rest undisturbed. They'll help us more where they are. For now."
One of Korint's companions muttered, "You're a murderous bunch."
Cable Shike giggled. Lupo glanced at him, startled. "Sorry. It was him getting righteous."
Korint snapped, "Let's cut the shit, Provik. You claim our only leverage is financial." ‘
"We can be bought."
"You no longer cling to the idealism that obtained in that end space?"
"Hell no! The Guardships are awake now."
The Ku said, "The dragon never sleeps, Mr. Provik."
Korint said, "I can't see that we have a basis for discussion."
"Then what the hell are you doing here?"
"The Godspeakers are used to taking what they want. But you're right. We should hear you out. What do you have?"
"The key to Starbase. Two of my people have been in there." That put the fire in their eyes. "We also have talent to rent. Kez Maefele, formerly of the Dire Radiant, whose strategies have made your attempts to harass us so costly." They recognized the name.
They looked at the living legend. He looked back. Lupo hoped the Ku would not have one of his moral seizures before the game was snared. If he sold this, they might be home free.
"I'll relay this," Korint said. "How would you price knowledge and talent?"
"Megatonnages of platinum, paladium, iridium, rhodium, transuranics, other rare elements. Information. Like everything you ever collected about the Guardships but haven't shared. What you know about the Web that we don't. Put a package together that will blind us, triple it, remember your alternative to going broke is getting wiped out, triple it again, and come back. Because you planned to screw us in the end space, we'll want payment in advance. We'll pick the time and place. Outside."
"And we'd have to trust you?"
"House Tregesser keeps its word. It's House policy. Consider. We do have a commercial interest in keeping you in business."
Three pairs of eyes drilled him with javelins of contempt. Korint said, "We have no authority to negotiate."
"I said, go see what it's worth. We'll wait. When you come back, don't bring any monsters. That would upset us. Two, turn these people over to T.W. Tell her to see to all their needs."
Turtle refused to react to the face of what he had seen. Provik was up to something. No point assuming a stance till he knew what that was.
Provik stared at the door after the Outsiders left. "Our problem is, they can take us down."
Blessed asked, "You going to tell us what you're thinking?"
"It's only starting to shape up. Till now I wasn't sure we could work anything. Now I know it won't be anything mutually beneficial. Now I know they were going to screw us in the end space. If they pull off the miracle of the ages and dump the Guardships, we're cooked just as done as if the fleet finds us out."
"You just offered them Starbase."
"We have to look like we're helping. In a way that will convince them while showing the Guardships nothing. That's why I offered. It's what they'd expect of a commercial enterprise, where the only god is profit. The rest I threw in because they wouldn't believe it if I said we were rooting for them. They know what we think of them. The ideal strategy would be to help but in some way that would take a long time. They'd keep quiet while the Guardships ate them up."
Turtle agreed.
"Kez Maefele. Can you fit your moral and ethical sets to that framework?"
"Yes."
"We couldn't sell them any of your contingency studies. They depend on Starbase not being alert."
"I have an idea that should appeal. If the Godspeakers have any vanity. An operation predicated on their ability to communicate across the Web."
Provik said, "You've been holding back."
"Of course. We're comrades in arms but we're not fighting for the same things."
"I see. And there's a little something you want from us."
"More or less."
"What?"
"There's no rush, Mr. Provik. Does House Tregesser undertake censuses of its empire? Particularly on worlds other than Tregesser Prime?"
"Periodically. Their accuracy is suspect."
"You might review those, perhaps running back a thousand years."
"That's all you have to say?" Provik was vexed.
"For now. There will be time later. When you have a contract with those devils."
— 107 —
VII Gemina eased away from Starbase. Routine patrol inside Canon. Outsiders likely to be encountered only as commerce raiders. A vacation.
WarAvocat did not intend to let it become dead time. He ordered the Guardship to P. Benetonica.
"I'm not surprised," Aleas said. "What do you expect to find?"
"Who knows? People like this Provik who filed the report reserve anything they can exploit. Also, tenuous a thread as it is, M. Shrilica is a Tregesser system."
"Tenuous for sure. This war is a watershed, isn't it? Canon won't be the same."
"No. This will catalyze changes that have been taking shape for centuries. This may send the Houses into eclipse."
"I'd think massive new territories would mean a boom. People have to be transported. Stations have to be built. On-planet infrastructures have to be assembled."
"It also creates a more mobile, more politically interested population. Especially once the Edicts take effect. It'll be an interesting universe, Aleas."
"We won't change."
"Guardships are Guardships are Guardships. The dragon never sleeps."
— 108 —
Turtle watched Provik greet Blessed with the respect due a Chair, then Shike with a nod. His own military genius got a spoken greeting that placed him on the spectrum between the two.
Provik said, "I took your suggestion, Kez Maefele. I was unaware that so dramatic a shift in population character had taken place. Though I should have known. Simon opened the technical and supervisory ranks to nonhumans because we couldn't recruit competent humans. It's been a battle with the Directors. Some would rather have an illiterate from the Black Ring manage a division."
Turtle settled into the chair Provik had had built for him. "That's human nature. And not exclusive to your species."
"I suppose not. But we ought to restrain our prejudices in the face of necessity. Have you seen the forecast Blessed's financial wizards turned in?"
"No."
"It's on the machine. Give it a skim."
Turtle went and scrolled the report. It was not an easy read. Blessed and Provik chatted about Placidia, the heir Tina had produced. Blessed was taken with the child, who was toddling now. They moved on to Midnight, then to the whirlwind of socializing that had befallen Tregesser Horata, gossiping in immemorial fashion.
Turtle finished."Grim. If your future is tied to one of the Houses."
"I didn't see it black," Blessed said. "We won't lose wealth or property. We'll even keep growing. We just won't control as much of the whole. Cable, you take a look too. It shows us our place in a Canon expanded by a sudden one-point-five to one."
Turtle made way for Shike. Cable went after the report like he understood every word. Amazing. But Cable might have surprises for everyone. Especially Blessed.