"Naur and Jimun and Schunan," Haral muttered. "Ehrran's precious patrons."
"That's precisely the shape of it. We were better off with Tahar for enemies. They were bastards, but they were spacing bastards. What we got left is the worldbound old eggsuckers like Naur; and those fat old women'd just as soon see us all back in kilts and sofhyn."
"It's me," Khym said. "
Swallow it, Khym."
"Look, if I'd stayed downworld—"
"If not that, some other thing. We brought outworlders into Anuurn system—"
"—and got a male offworld."
"So we got every bigot in the han stirred up. The spacing clans got chewed up bad at Gaohn; among the Immunes, our Llun friends lost too gods-rotted many good women; and Ehrran's been itching after a piece of their rumps for years. Sure, Ehrran'll kiss-foot for the Naur; they got themselves that shiny ship, got themselves big ears and notebooks, and the stsho—those fluttering bastards have got their fingers in the stew. The mahendo'sat leaned on the stsho to get our papers reinstated because Goldtooth suddenly wanted our help—wanted spacing hani on his side. So the stsho bent, they always will—but straightway they ran and got Ehrran's ear and sucked that fool right in. Ehrran was out at Meetpoint hunting down Tahar and doing any other bit of business the han wanted with the stsho—like secret negotiations, maybe, for a whole lot of things—and then the stsho up and offered them our hides for a bonus." "Stle stles stlen," said Hilfy.
"Stsho got humanity coming in at their backs. They waffled on Goldtooth at Meetpoint. Gods know what they spilled to Ehrran; and I think if Stle stles stlen were less corrupt and less scared of Goldtooth the old bastard would have sold Tully to the kif right off. But we were there, and Ehrran didn't bribe them, iron-spined fool that she is. Rotted stsho xenophobes are climbing all over each other, thinking about humans coming in at their backs and straight up against stsho territory. But Ehrran played politics and got outbid—I'm guessing. Stle sties stlen lost his nerve about doublecrossing Goldtooth when we turned up with a virtual blank check and high-level mahen authorizations. But I wouldn't be surprised if old Stle stles stlen worries a lot nowadays about the mahen guards at his door at night. And I've got to tell you something else. Something you'd better hear. Haral—you got that tape from down in the corridor?"
"Aye."
"Run it. That and the one with Sikkukkut.-—We've been getting a lot of offers, cousins. On all sides."
It was a long, long silence on the bridge, except for that thread of sound. Operations interrupted it. Pyanfar listened with one ear and winced now and again, kept The Pride running, tried not to think what Hilfy was going to say. Or what the translator was doing with it in Tully's ear.
Tc'a. Tc'a. Methane-breathers were upset, Jik had said.
Jik had been out in the station at large. In secret. Conniving with gods knew what agencies; and tc'a were high on the list of possibilities.
Right along with Sikkukkut.
The tape finished. There was silence after, too.
"I've got us into a mess," Pyanfar said. "One gods-be mess. I thought you'd like to know just what kind."
"Sounds like—" Tirun said, "sounds like Jik's right. We were born involved. Being Chanur. When we get home—I'm betting we won't find the han what we left."
"I'm betting we won't," Pyanfar said. "But what is, nowadays?"
Another long silence.
"Well, I'm with you," Tirun said.
"Same," Chur said; and: "Same," her sister said.
"Aunt, I—"
"Maybe you want to think about it, niece."
The beep and tick of instruments went on. Tc'a matrix came up as comp sorted it, but it was all the same.
"Tully," Pyanfar said, "you understand even half of it?"
"I hear some."
Pyanfar could not see his face, saw only a shadowy reflection in a monitor, one un-hani silhouette.
"I hani," he said. "I hani."
She blinked, thinking that through. But it made a warm spot all the same. "Khym," she said.
"My opinion?" he said. A great sigh gusted into com, a low rumbling. "Pity Ehrran's Immune."
"But they are," Hilfy said. "They'll go at father. They'll go for him at home. We may not have Chanur any more."
"I figure," said Pyanfar, "I figure Kohan Chanur's still no easy mark, niece. My brother and your father's no fool. Neither's any of our sisters, to let the bastards maneuver them out of the house. They'll be holding on. Long as we're in space, long as there's Chanur ships loose to worry about— Naur and her pets'll use some caution about dirty tricks. Kohan can still take anything that I know about, if the fight's fair."
And she thought of Khym when she said it, and felt an old pang of guilt: If I'd been home when Kara challenged him, if I'd been there to prevent hangers-on from interfering—
Khym might still be lord in Mahn if she had been home—if she had come blasting in for him the way Chanur clan had rallied for Kohan Chanur against her son Kara Mahn. Khym might not be in exile now if she had been there—even alone. Even when the rest of his wives and sisters and daughters deserted him. She might have stood by him against their son and their blackguard daughter. Chanur might then have had its best ally intact, in Khym lord Mahn. And the likes of Ehrran would not have risen and the world would not have changed.
"Nav fix positive," said Haral.
"Wonder if that tc'a up there understands the flight plan," Tirun said.
"We'll find out, I guess," said Geran. "Want to lay bets against, na Khym?"
"She's cheating again," Tirun said. "She always collects."
"We got formation behind us," Haral said. "The kif are making mark. Looks like we're really going."
"Looks like," Pyanfar said. Her nerves tingled. Her forearm shed fur on the panel-edge. Sheer terror. Doubtless the rest of them were flutter-nerved as well.
"I'm with you," Hilfy said hoarsely.
"Thanks, niece.—Stand by, everybody. We're coming up on jump. Tully. You better use the drugs. Help him, Chur. Make sure he's out."
"Aye," Chur said.
She punched in all-ship. "Kif—Skkukuk. Get ready: we're going for jump."
''I offer you your enemies.
"Fine, that's real fine, kif." She broke the contact quickly. A vague guilt still gnawed at her. For a kif.
As well talk to the walls. It talked good hani; they talked good hani back to it; and nothing intelligible got said to either mind.
/ offer you your enemies.
There was stress in its voice. Maybe it was scared, alone on a hani ship. Maybe it was trying to bargain.
Maybe it would starve, helpless and unattended in that washroom. Or break its bones in maneuver.
It was, gods knew, as trapped in its fortunes as they were—their good luck talisman; or their personal jinx.
"Jump plus ninety," Haral said. "Fixed on Kefk."
"Get it in your heads," Pyanfar said, because the other side of jump, things fuzzed and habits took over. "Jik might not make it. If he doesn't, we've got to move fast: get position first. Locate Harukk next. Remember that, hear? We're going in with G. We'll make it that easy on ourselves. If it goes real sour we've got a few options. The second we come out, we lock reference on Tt’a’va’o; we run for Meetpoint if we have to. That's not Jik's plan; it's mine. We've got those three guardstations to keep track of at Kefk. We've got heavy debris in that system, it's a close binary stirring that stuff up, and kif made our map. Even if Jik gets us one. Remember that. Remember it, all the time."