CHAPTER TWO
Merrick Moreau Broom had spent a lot of time in the Muninn forest over the past couple of weeks. More time than he liked. Way more time than was probably healthy for him.
And he was getting damn sick of it.
It had been bad enough when he was traveling with Anya Winghunter. She spoke the language without Merrick’s potentially damning accent, and though she’d been away from her home world for the twelve years she’d been a Troft slave, at least she knew the people and the basics of the social norms they were trying to fit into. The fact that they’d never really had a chance to blend into the population wasn’t her fault.
Only now Anya was gone, vanished somewhere unknown. Possibly with the parents she hadn’t seen for half her life. Possibly without them.
Either way, she’d left Merrick to face the dangers of the forest alone. Or rather, with a new traveling companion.
Who happened to be a Troft. And not just any Troft, but an agent of the Kriel’laa’misar demesne, sent to Muninn to learn the details of the mind-control war drug the local Drim’hco’plai Trofts were creating to use in the Trofts’ war against the Dominion.
The fact that the Drims had already promised to sell the weapon to the Kriels was an additional twist that made Merrick’s head spin. The reason the Kriels had sent Kjoic here in the first place was to try to steal the drug, thereby avoiding any need to pay the Drims for it.
And Kjoic was deadly serious about his mission. He’d already killed an entire transport ship’s worth of Drim crewers, plus another handful of Drim soldiers, in pursuit of that end. He was also clearly ready to kill again if and when it became necessary.
It was hardly the way allies were supposed to behave toward each other, in Merrick’s view. But then, Trofts didn’t see things the way humans did. From what Merrick had read in the history books, Troft demesne-lords were never so much allies than they were temporary partners of convenience. If and when one of them saw an advantage in abandoning his partners, he would take it.
And since Kjoic’s current partner of convenience was Merrick himself…
There was a soft rustling from the top of the tree they were passing. Merrick craned his neck to look upward, keying in his infrareds. The bits of sky visible through the forest canopy were starting to lighten with the approaching dawn, but the masses of trees themselves were still dark. Up till now he’d been relying on Kjoic and whatever IR or light-amplification gear the Troft had to guide them through the night, unwilling to risk inadvertently revealing his own Cobra equipment by seeing better than a normal human should.
But as it had a dozen times throughout their long trek, the presence of a possible predator trumped the need for absolute secrecy.
Some of the earlier encounters had carried potential danger. Fortunately, this time the animal crouching on the branch above them was small and alone and therefore probably not likely to be a problem.
Unlike Kjoic, the odd thought occurred to him, who was also small and alone, and was absolutely, positively dangerous. By any measure, it was a terrible position for Merrick to be in.
But he still had a hole card. Kjoic knew his human partner-of-convenience was also an agent, though working for another demesne. What he didn’t know was that Merrick was a Cobra.
“It does not appear dangerous,” Kjoic murmured.
“What, the animal up there?” Merrick asked. “Good to hear. Are you ready to tell me where exactly we’re going?”
“Soon,” Kjoic assured him. “The remaining distance, it is not great.”
“Mm,” Merrick said, a shiver running up his back. Kjoic had taken a long and winding path through the forest over the past few hours, though whether the route had been designed to confuse Merrick or lose enemy pursuit Merrick didn’t know.
If it was the former, it hadn’t worked nearly as well as Kjoic probably thought. The nanocomputer snugged in beneath Merrick’s brain had a built-in compass, and Merrick had been carefully monitoring their progress. And if there really wasn’t much farther to go, Kjoic could have only one destination in mind: the village of Svipall, and the warehouse-type building where the Drim Trofts were creating and testing their new war drug.
“We’re heading to the test facility, aren’t we?” he asked, just to see what Kjoic would say. If the Troft lied, that would be a strong indication that their temporary alliance was already coming to an end.
“Not to the facility, but to a spot nearby,” Kjoic said. “With hope, it will prove a place where we can observe without being observed ourselves.”
“Ah,” Merrick said. “I take it that when you say observe you’re not expecting us to take any direct action?”
“Not at the present time,” Kjoic confirmed. “Shortly after your departure from the home of Alexis Tucker Woolmaster with the older female, I observed your female—Anya Winghunter—and the older male gather six bags of unknown content and depart into the forest. After the Drim soldiers arrived, I concluded that the humans had deliberately allowed you to be discovered and captured.”
Merrick felt his lip twist. He’d been mulling at that same theory for the past couple of hours.
It was impossible for him to believe Anya would do such a thing to him, certainly not willingly. But her father, Ludolf Treetapper, was something else entirely. The man was cold, calculating, and had been fighting the Trofts for the past decade and more. Or so he claimed. “Not sure what that gains them.”
“My theory, it is that they expected you to escape,” Kjoic said. “They also expected you to leave destruction and confusion behind.”
“Ah,” Merrick murmured. That possibility hadn’t occurred to him. But it was a logical enough theory, especially given what he knew about Ludolf. Even if Ludolf didn’t know Merrick was a Cobra, he’d had enough hints from Anya about Merrick’s hidden skills to suspect he could break free of the Drims. “And if I left enough confusion, they might be able to slip inside the Drim facility.”
“That thought, it is mine as well,” Kjoic said. “I am hoping we will observe whether that was their plan.”
“And whether it worked?”
“That is also my hope.”
“And if it didn’t?”
The radiator membranes on Kjoic’s upper arms fluttered. “Possibilities, there are two of them. They may not have attempted entry. If that is true, we will need to search for them elsewhere.”
“Or we can just let them go and hope they stay out of our way.”
“We will judge their usefulness before we choose our path,” Kjoic said. “The other possibility is that they did attempt entry and were captured.”
“In which case, there’s a good chance they’re undergoing the treatment right now.”
“Yes.”
Merrick scowled. Ludolf might have betrayed him, but that didn’t mean he could just stand by and let the Trofts turn the man’s brain inside out. That went double if he’d dragged his daughter in on this insane scheme with him. “What if we can’t get them out?”
“I do not expect we can,” Kjoic said. “Instead, we will watch for a time and see if they emerge.”
“And?”
“My assumption, it is that if they are conditioned, they will have instructions to locate and kill us.”
Merrick snorted. “Wonderful.”
“Not wonderful,” Kjoic said. “But useful. It will tell us how much time is required for the conditioning. If we additionally allow them to confront us, we will also learn the depth of the conditioning and the combat strength of those to whom it is given.”
Again, very logical. Also incredibly cold-blooded. Kjoic and Ludolf were definitely made for each other. “What if they’re stronger than you expect?”
Another flutter of Kjoic’s radiator membranes. “If or when it becomes necessary, we shall kill them.”
Merrick had guessed that would be the Troft’s answer. Even so, the casualness of the death sentence sent another chill through him. “Wouldn’t it be better to keep them alive? It might give us a chance to see what it takes to break the conditioning.”
“That datum is of little interest to me,” Kjoic said. “Such a truth would be useful only to you.”
“And you’re thinking I may already be dead by then?”
“As I have said, it may not come to death between us,” Kjoic said calmly. “Still, if you are the victor, you may consider that path.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Merrick said. “But let me suggest that such a truth is of interest to you. If the drug’s effects are easy to defeat, the technique won’t be worth much in your war against the Dominion.”
“Even a limited effectiveness will be of use,” Kjoic said, his membranes fluttering thoughtfully. “But your point is well thought. I will consider it further.”
Which was probably the best Merrick was going to get, at least for now. “Good enough,” he said. “Do you have any thoughts on how we watch the facility without being spotted ourselves?”
“From there.” Kjoic stopped and pointed upward. “Your ability to climb trees, you have already demonstrated it on the journey to Svipall.”
“We were all pretty inspired at the time,” Merrick said, wincing at the memory as he peered upward. They’d run into a jormungand, one of the huge and damn-near unkillable snakes that lived in the forest. Merrick had gotten them out of that one, but he couldn’t rely on his same trick working again if another of the beasts came slithering past.
All the more reason to watch the Drim facility from off the ground, in fact. And Kjoic was right: one of the taller trees, if properly chosen, should indeed provide a decent view.
Of course, sight-lines went both directions. No matter how much of himself he hid behind the trunk there would be a certain amount of visual leakage. And if he was spotted, the only quick way back to ground level would reveal who and what he was.
Not to mention that if Kjoic was planning a getaway or a betrayal, putting Merrick up a tree would be the perfect time to pull off either.
“Any of the trees here should provide an acceptable view,” Kjoic said, waving a hand around them. “You may choose and adjust as you wish.”
“While you stay down here?”
“For the present time. When you tire or need sleep, I will take your place.”
“Fair enough,” Merrick said. A meaningless offer, of course, if Kjoic planned to unleash some mischief in the next couple of hours.
With an effort, he chased the thought away. The situation hadn’t changed: he and Kjoic both wanted a closer look at the Drims’ war drug, and neither could realistically manage that on his own. Until they got inside the lab, their alliance was probably solid. “Any tree in particular you had in mind?”
“As I said, it is your choice,” Kjoic said. “You must first take this.”
He reached into his left ear and pulled out a small, tapered object. “Human ears, this may be too small to fit them,” he said, holding it out toward Merrick. “You must find a way to make it work with your anatomy.”
Cautiously, Merrick took the device. It was small and lightweight, about the size of his thumbnail at its widest. The business end was indeed too narrow to fit into his ear canal without falling out. “What does it do?”
“It warns of approaching vehicles,” Kjoic said. “Aircraft and groundcraft alike. The volume, it increases as the vehicle nears. The tone, it changes with the vehicle’s direction. If it is in your left ear, the highest pitch indicates that you are facing the vector of approach.”
“Sounds handy.”
“It has been a key factor to the safety of our current journey,” Kjoic said. “There were many aircraft in the sky this night. Knowing their locations, I could lead us away from their search pattern.”
Which explained all the meandering they’d done since leaving Alexis’s house. Merrick thought about pointing out that Kjoic could have told him about this sooner, decided such a comment wouldn’t really add anything to the conversation. Besides, it wasn’t like Merrick wasn’t keeping a secret or two himself. “How does it work?”
“It detects the emissions of the driving power sources,” Kjoic said. “It is…I do not recall the word. It does not send emissions of its own.”
“Passive?” Merrick suggested.
“Yes—passive,” Kjoic said. “That is the word. A passive sensor, it is one.”
“Good,” Merrick said. Active sensors typically had longer ranges, but they could often be detected by some other kind of sensor. The designers of his Cobra optical and audio enhancements had kept those devices strictly passive for precisely that reason. “You’re right, it doesn’t fit my ear. But I’ll make it work. I assume the plan right now is to just observe?”
“The plan, that is it,” Kjoic confirmed. “If you see any humans come from the building, watch and note all details. Entrance procedures into the outer door, they would also be useful.”
“Got it,” Merrick said. In the past few minutes the sky above the forest had lightened considerably, and he could now make out the individual tree limbs without using his opticals. “If you need me…hmm. Actually, I guess you’d better not need me.”
“Communication, it will be difficult,” Kjoic agreed. He peered at the ground around them, then reached down and picked up a pair of small objects that looked like spiral-shaped pine cones. “If you are in danger, or see danger approaching, drop one of these to the base of the tree.”
“Good idea,” Merrick said, taking the cones. “But with one slight alteration.” Carefully, he broke off a dozen seeds on one spiral arm of each of the cones. “We don’t want you getting confused if a random cone happens to fall on its own,” he said, holding up the modified cones for Kjoic’s inspection.
The Troft’s radiator membranes fluttered. “Well thought,” he said. “I will stand ready if you need me. You have your weapon?”
“Right here,” Merrick said, patting small of his back where he’d tucked the laser pistol Kjoic had given him before they started their all-night hike. He didn’t need the weapon, of course, and wasn’t particularly thrilled at having to lug the thing around.
But it was a symbol of Kjoic’s trust, and something a normal human would certainly not have turned down.
“Good,” Kjoic said. “Be careful, and watch well.”
The tree was easy to climb, with well-spaced limbs and convenient gaps in the foliage where he needed it. Three minutes after leaving the ground, he found a spot where he could see the Drim warehouse through the leaves.
It was decidedly anticlimactic. There were two entrances: a regular, human- or Troft-sized door, and a larger one scaled for medium-sized vehicles. In his mad escape earlier that night he’d only seen the smaller door, but there had been two on the village side of the building and it only made sense for that arrangement to be duplicated here. Both doors were closed, and there were four armed and armored Trofts standing guard in front of each.
Inside the village, just visible past the edge of the warehouse’s roof, he could see that a new fence had been erected between a pair of houses near the village’s outer fence. He couldn’t tell where else the fence went, or whether the house nearest the building was completely enclosed, but it was possible the Trofts had decided to switch the pre-combat work on their human test subjects to that house instead of keeping everything inside the warehouse. Given the way Merrick had torn a path through the lab and work areas, it would make sense for the Trofts to rethink their setup.
Of course, if that was what they’d done, it would make stealing a sample of the drug that much simpler. Something he and Kjoic would need to keep in mind.
Though the Trofts would surely have thought of that, too. Merrick couldn’t see if the inner fence was patrolled, but the outer approach certainly was. He couldn’t remember whether or not there’d been any guards on the exit doors when he broke out of the building, but under the circumstances it wasn’t surprising the Drims had thrown on an extra layer of security. In fact, if Merrick had been in charge he would probably have added a roving perimeter patrol and a combat vehicle or two to the mix.
What was painfully clear was that if Ludolf and Anya had gone inside, they weren’t coming out anytime soon.
In the meantime, there was nothing to do but watch and wait. Every security system, Merrick’s commanders on Qasama had told him, had a weakness. It was a tactician’s job to find that weakness and a way to exploit it.
Just above Merrick, on the far side of the trunk, was a pair of limbs that would serve as a seat. He got himself settled as best he could, wedged the laser Kjoic had given him into a notch in the bark where it would be handy but not digging into his kidney, and settled in to watch.
* * *
Seated across from Jody Moreau Broom at one end of the Squire’s long mess table, Smitty lowered his fork and eyed the man beside Jody. “Kemp, you know I hold you in the highest esteem, both as a fellow Cobra and a friend,” he said. “But I think I speak for all of us—”
“That as a cook, I suck swamp water?” Kemp interrupted, an edge of challenge in his voice.
“I was just going to say you were terrible,” Smitty said. “But sucking swamp water also covers it.”
Jody looked down at her own plate. Smitty had a point, she had to admit. The thin slab of meat was dry and stringy, some of the vegetables were dry while others were mushy, and the dinner roll was far more chewy than bread had any business being. Worse even than the texture was the blandness of the taste.
Though in Kemp’s defense, he didn’t have a lot to work with. They’d had plenty of experience with the Dominion courier ship’s disappointing larder on the five-day trip from Caelian to Qasama, and Jody had hoped to load some fresh food supplies before they continued on their journey. But the mad scramble off Qasama hadn’t given them enough time, which had put them back on Dominion rations.
Smitty’s comment had been in jest, Jody knew. Unfortunately, Kemp wasn’t in the mood. “Well, I’m just so very damn sorry about that,” he growled. “If you think you can do better, you’re welcome to give it a shot.”
“That wasn’t a criticism,” Rashida Vil said quickly, reaching a hand across the table and almost but not quite touching Kemp’s arm. “We know you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve been given.”
“Or course it was a criticism,” Kemp bit out, ignoring Rashida’s hovering hand and glaring at Smitty. “If you were serving this slop, I’d be grousing about it, too.”
“Kemp,” Jody murmured.
Kemp shifted his eyes to her, and she saw his face stiffen and then soften as he made the supreme effort to throttle back his anger. “In fact, I already am,” he said in a more civilized tone. “I’m just doing it—you know. Quietly. To myself.”
“Sorry,” Smitty apologized. “I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Was the mood doing that badly?” Kemp asked. “I guess I missed that.”
“You’ve been slaving over a hot microcooker all day,” Jody reminded him.
“Well, for a whole half hour at a time, anyway,” Kemp said. “What’s the problem?”
“No problem,” Smitty said. “At least, nothing that needs to be addressed right away.”
“Well, we’re not exactly enjoying scintillating table conversation,” Kemp pointed out. “Might as well serve a side dish of trouble.”
Smitty and Rashida looked at each other. “Okay,” Smitty said, turning back to Kemp. “We’re currently twelve days from the system Jody pulled from that crashed shuttle on Qasama. We’re wondering what happens once we get there.”
“We find Merrick,” Jody said.
“Right.” Smitty paused. “How?”
“We are speaking of an entire world,” Rashida reminded her gently. “Possibly with great cities. Certainly with great tracts of land. It will be like finding—” she looked at Smitty again. “What was the phrase?”
“A tick in a tick factory,” Smitty supplied. “And if he’s in a Troft prison, you can multiply the complexity by about twenty.”
Jody took a deep breath. Down deep, she’d known this conversation was coming. Also down deep, she didn’t have a clue. “The short answer is that I don’t know,” she said. “I’m taking this one step at a time. To be perfectly honest, I never expected us to get even this far.” She shrugged helplessly. “All I can do is hope that we’ll figure something out by the time we get there.”
The other three exchanged looks. “Okay,” Smitty said. “I guess there really isn’t much else we can do at this stage. Not until we find out what exactly we’re flying into.” He twitched a small smile. “Which won’t stop us from worrying, of course.”
“At least it’ll give you something to do,” Kemp said. “Last time I dropped by the CoNCH, it looked even more boring than the kitchen.”
“CoNCH,” a quiet voice came from somewhere to Jody’s left.
She twisted her head around, peripherally aware that the others were doing the same. There was a man standing in the open doorway. A young man, maybe her age, a bit shorter than Kemp, with dark brown eyes, a skullcap fuzz of brown hair, and an equally fuzzy several-day growth of beard.
And he was wearing a Dominion Marine combat tunic.