Conquerors' Legacy

30

Five hunbeats ago he had indeed been awakened. And was no longer smiling. "How in the eighteen worlds could this have happened?" he thundered to the Elder hovering nervously before him. "You had everything you needed."

" 'It wasn't enough,' " Mnov-korthe's tart reply came a few beats later. " 'We found the illegal cutting, all right, but Prr't-zevisti was alive. And somehow in contact with the Overclan Prime.' "

Cvv-panav slashed viciously at the air. And that part was his own fault. But how could he have known—? "Never mind," he growled. "The Prime may have won a battle, but the war is still ours. He wants peace? Fine; we'll give him peace. The peace that comes with final victory."

The Elder nodded and vanished. Yes, they would have peace, all right, Cvv-panav told himself as he keyed his reader for current status of the warships being towed toward the heart of Human-Conqueror territory by their Mrach allies. A little over a tentharc away from Earth now, still off the Human-Conqueror detectors. And when they did appear, looking merely like a fleet of harmless Mrach spacecraft—

The Elder reappeared. " 'There is news of that, as well, Speaker Cvv-panav,' " he quoted Mnov-korthe. " 'As Mnov-dornt and I were being taken to confinement, I overheard one of the Human-Conquerors tell Commander Thrr-mezaz that the spacecraft that had escaped Dorcas had taken with it the final piece of the CIRCE weapon.' "

"So it was there after all," Cvv-panav said, a flicker of his earlier satisfaction returning. "You were right: the Mrach intelligence reports were indeed wrong. Excellent. That means there will be no chance at all of our assault force having to face that weapon."

" 'Yes,' " the reply came. " 'I suppose that's something.' "

"That's everything," Cvv-panav countered. "It's the upcoming victory at Earth that will vault the Dhaa'rr back to power. What's going to happen to you now?"

" 'The Overclan Prime will be sending a ship to return us to Oaccanv.' "

Cvv-panav flicked his tongue in contempt. "Don't let it worry you," he said. "Long before you reach Zhirrzh space, the Overclan Prime will have ceased to exist as a political force. Farewell."

"Close the pathway," he told the Elder. Yes, the ship commanders of his warships would find this good news indeed. As would the Mrachanis towing them; and this would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to those nornin-furred aliens that the Zhirrzh weren't dependent on them for information about their enemies. "And open a pathway to the Trillsnake."

Mra was receding behind the Closed Mouth when the word finally came from Oaccanv. "It has happened, Lord-stewart Cavanagh," Nzz-oonaz said, his voice sounding both excited and surprised. "Exactly as you predicted. The Dhaa'rr warships have reported to Warrior Command that the Mrach spacecraft have broken their tow cables and fled into the tunnel-line. The commanders are close to panic—they say they are now within enemy detection range."

"Have the Overclan Prime tell them that as long as they stay where they are, they can't be detected," Cavanagh said. "It's only in the tunnel-line that we can find them. Once we get a proper and official truce established, they'll be able to leave. You can let them know when that happens."

"I obey," Nzz-oonaz said. He turned back to the waiting Elders and began to speak.

Beside Cavanagh, Bronski shook his head. "You called it," he conceded. "But I'm still not sure I believe it. Why would the Mrachanis cut and run that way?"

"Because the only reason they allied with the Zhirrzh in the first place was because they were convinced CIRCE didn't exist," Cavanagh told him. "They'd drugged Ezer Sholom on Mra-mig, remember—they must have learned about CIRCE's nonexistence from him and then cleared out just before we got there. At that point it became a typical Mrach power game: manipulate the Zhirrzh against the Commonwealth and see what advantage they could get out of it. By having Pheylan and Commander Thrr-mezaz plant that story with Cvv-panav's agent, all I did was give them strong evidence that Sholom was wrong."

"Ah," Bronski said, nodding. "Which instantly changed all the percentages they were playing. If CIRCE really did exist, the last thing they'd want would be to get caught in the company of a Zhirrzh war fleet. But how did you know Speaker Cvv-panav would even bother to tell them?"

"Because I've known too many politicians just like him," Cavanagh said. "Politicians who like to gloat and show off their knowledge to allies and enemies alike. And who never let prudence get in the way of their personal agendas."

"Mm," Bronski said. "Speaking of politicians like that, I'll bet Parlimin Jacy VanDiver is going to want your head over this one."