[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
I even got a chuckle out of my predicament. "I bet Croaker would have seen
this coming a month ago, as paranoid as he was about supposed friends and
allies."
A nearby crow squawked agreement.
I should have considered the possibility. I really should have. Farfetched is
not the same as impossible. I should have had something planned.
One-Eye became as serious as ever he gets. "You know what this means? If the
kid is right?"
"The Company is at war with itself?"
The little guy waved that off like it was just another annoying gnat of
reality. "Suppose Mogaba is giving them a golden bridge so they can get rid of
us for him? They still have to get through the pilgrims to reach us."
I didn't need to think long to see what he meant. "That asshole. He going to
make them kill Shadowlanders in self-defense. He's going to use them up
killing his enemies for him."
"Maybe he's a bigger snake than anybody thought," Bucket growled. "It's for
sure he's changed a lot since Gea-Xle."
"This ain't right," I muttered, although swords would enter the fight on our
side whether or not they wanted to. Other than a few small skirmishes with
lost invaders during past attacks the worst that had happened to the Nyueng
Bao was that their pilgrimage had gotten them trapped in the middle of
somebody else's war. From the first clash of steel they had worked hard to
maintain their neutrality.
Shadowspinner has his spies in the city. He would know the Nyueng Bao had no
interest in antagonizing him.
"What do you think they'll do?" Goblin asked. "The Nyueng Bao, I mean." His
voice sounded odd. How much beer had he put away?
"How the hell would I know? Depends on how they see things. If they think
Mogaba dragged them into it on purpose it might get unhealthy to belong to the
Company. Mogaba could see this as a chance to squish us into a crack between a
rock and a hard place. I'd better go see their Speaker and let him know what's
happening. Bucket. Make up a twenty man patrol and go looking for southerners.
See if Sleepy is right. One-Eye, go with him. Spot for him and cover our guys.
Sparkle, you watch things here. Send Sleepy after me if it gets too much to
handle."
Nobody argued. When things get tight the guys do become less fractious.
I descended the stairway to the street.
Chapter 25
I played the game the way I thought the Nyueng Bao would want. Ever since
childhood I have suspected you get along better if you respect people's ways
and wishes regardless of your apparent relative strengths.
That doesn't mean you let people walk on you. It doesn't mean you eat their
pain for them. You need to demand respect for yourself, too.
Dejagore's byways are close and fetid. Typical of a fortified city. I went to
an obscure intersection where under normal circumstances I could expect to be
seen by Nyueng Bao watchers. They are a cautious people. They watch all the
time. I announced, "I would see the Speaker. Harm is headed his way. I would
have him know what I know."
I didn't see anybody. I didn't hear anybody. I expected nothing else. Someone
who strolled into my territory would see and hear nothing, either, but death
would be nearby.
The only sounds came from fighting several blocks away.
I waited.
Suddenly, in that instant when my attention finally wandered, Ky Dam's son
materialized. He made no more noise than a tiptoeing moth. He was a wide,
short man of indeterminate age. He carried an unusually long sword but it
Page 35
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
remained sheathed across his back. He stared at me hard. I stared back. It
cost me nothing. He grunted, indicated that I should follow. We walked no more
than eighty yards. He indicated a doorway. "Keep smiling," I told him. I
couldn't resist. He was always around somewhere, watching. I never saw him
smile. I pushed the door inward.
Curtains hung two feet inside. Very weak light slipped through a rent. I
closed the door carefully once I understood that I would be entering alone,
before I parted the curtains. Wouldn't do to let light splash into the street.
The place turned out to be about as pleasant as you can get in a city.
The Speaker sat on a mat on a dirty floor near the one candle offering light.
There were about a dozen people visible, of all ages and sexes. I saw four
children, all small, six adults of an age to be their parents, and one old
woman of granny age who glowered like she had a special bunk in Hell reserved
for me even though she'd never seen me before. I saw nobody who could pass as
her husband. Maybe he was the guy outside. Then there was a woman as old as Ky
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]