The Third Lynx

"We're playing his game right back at him," I said. "First we had to convince the Modhri, via Morse, that we'd fallen for his Laarmiten scam. Hence, the rented torchyacht. Second, we had to get Morse out of range of all the other colonies while we executed our about-face." I waved a hand around me. "Hence, the middle of nowhere."

Penny was still looking at me like I was speaking ancient Greek. But the light of comprehension was starting to dawn on Stafford's face. "I see," he said. "And since we're not due into Laarmiten for three more weeks, none of the other mind segments will even suspect anything's happened until then."

"Exactly," I said. "Though if I'm right, our mission will be over a lot sooner than that."

Stafford looked at Morse's motionless form. "Of course, you're assuming the Modhri colony in there is also unconscious. So unconscious that other colonies won't detect it once we're back at the Tube."

"That is the assumption," I conceded. "And since we've never used this gadget on a walker, we don't know for sure that that's true. We'll just have to play our odds as short as we can and keep our fingers crossed."

Stafford grunted. "Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

"As I say, we'll do the best we can," I said. "When we reach the Tube we'll circle around and approach the station from the far side, out of view of the transfer station and any other ships that happen to be wandering around. We'll enter through one of the access hatches in the maintenance end—"

"How do we do that?" Penny interrupted.

"We ask the Spiders nicely," I said. "Then, if things are on schedule, we'll board a special train"—I glanced at Bayta, got a slight confirming nod—"and head out to our real destination. There, Mr. Stafford and I will go to the transfer station, rent us another torch-yacht, and come around the back side of the Tube again to pick up Morse and the ladies."

"I don't know," Stafford said hesitantly, looking at Penny. "I don't like the idea of leaving the girls alone with Morse."

"They'll be fine," I assured him. "They'll have the kwi, and we'll want him to be unconscious the whole time anyway."

"I could stay here with them," he volunteered. "You could go get the torchyacht by yourself. I'm pretty sure I've got enough left on my last cash stick to cover it."

"Unfortunately, they'll also want to see the renter's ID," I reminded him. "If my name pops up on any official database from now on, it's going to set off alarms from here to Bellis and back again."

"I hadn't thought about that," Stafford said, making a face. "Okay, then. We'll get the torchyacht, and the girls will mind the store."

"They'll be fine," I assured him again. "Anyway, we should be back inside the Tube in a few hours. I hope you haven't unpacked yet."

"We haven't," Stafford said. "Do we get to know where we're going once we're aboard our Quadrail?"

"The place where the Modhri's taken the sculptures, of course," I said. "It turns out they're actually components of something called trinaries, with one of each type fitting together into some kind of exotic energy weapon."

Stafford gave a low whistle. "That sounds bad."

"It's worse than just bad," I said. "Which is why we have to get in there and stop it."

"And you know where they took them?" Penny asked.

"I know the exact spot," I said. "Remember the art auction at the Magaraa City Art Museum? It seems one of the Vipers blew up while the Modhri was trying to steal it a few weeks ago."

I paused, looking expectantly at them. But all I saw was blank stares. "Don't you get it?" I asked. "One of the Vipers blew up."

"Yes, you said that," Stafford said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

I suppressed a sigh. "Look. The sculptures form a trinary weapon, right? One Lynx, one Hawk, one Viper"

"You said that, too," Stafford said, starting to sound impatient.

"The third Viper is gone," I said. "So why does the Modhri even want the third Lynx?"

Penny caught her breath. "He knows where there's another Viper!"

"Exactly," I said. "And where are you most likely to find a tenth Nemuti sculpture?"

"The same place they found the first nine," Bayta said. "The Ten Mesas region of Veerstu."

"Which is just two Quadrail stops before Laarmiten," I said. "All the walkers bringing in the stolen Hawk from Bellis had to do was step outside their train and make a quick handoff to another group waiting on the platform. Then they could continue on to Laarmiten as if nothing had happened."

"So Veerstu it is," Stafford said. "I don't suppose there's time to whistle up any cavalry?"

"All the cavalry we could get would either be too late or too suspect," I said regretfully. "No, it's up to us. Well, it's up to Bayta and me, anyway. You two can stay with the torchyacht at Veerstu if you want. For that matter, once we have the torchyacht rented, you can just go home."

"Not a chance," Stafford said firmly. "They killed Uncle Rafael. This isn't just justice, not for me. It's also personal."

He considered. "Besides which, I still have to get my sculpture back."