"More like one and two-thirds," Klnn-vavgi said, flicking his tongue toward the rack ofkavra fruit set up beside him. Generally, the rite of thekavra was dispensed with between such close family members; obviously, procedures at warrior bases were more stringent. "It was at Kylre Point, at the bonding ceremony of Klnn-poroo and Rka-felmib."
Klnn-dawan-a looked at him sharply, her tongue pressing hard against the roof of her mouth. But there was none of the sly taunting in his expression that she'd half expected. "I presume you've heard that the Dhaa'rr-clan leaders have annulled my bond-engagement to Thrr-gilag."
"Yes," Klnn-vavgi said, not looking at her as he chose one of thekavra from the rack. "We have a couple of Dhaa'rr Elders here who keep up on the gossip from home."
Klnn-dawan-a picked up her ownkavra, her tongue pressed hard against the side of her mouth. Gossip. Her love for Thrr-gilag-his love for her-their hoped-for, longed-for, pleaded-for future together. All of it reduced to nothing more important than gossip.
Klnn-vavgi must have seen something in her expression. "I'm sorry," he said hastily. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."
"It's all right," Klnn-dawan-a said. "I suppose to anyone else that's all it is." She held up thekavra fruit and slashed through it twice with the edges of her tongue, with perhaps more force than was really necessary.
Klnn-vavgi followed with his part of the ceremony, and they dropped their lacerated fruit into the disposal container. "Commander Thrr-mezaz wanted me to bring you to him as soon as you arrived," he said, gesturing the way toward one of the buildings near the landing area. "I understand you've brought some personal messages and items from Dharanv for the Dhaa'rr warriors here."
"Yes," Klnn-dawan-a said. "They're in with the general supplies in the shuttle's cargo area."
"I'm sure the warriors will be pleased to receive them," he said, throwing her a thoughtful look. "I'm a little surprised you came all this way here yourself for such a trivial errand."
"Comfort for warriors in a war zone is hardly a trivial errand," Klnn-dawan-a said mildly.
"It is when there are other priorities involved," Klnn-vavgi said. "In the middle of a war against an alien race, an expert on aliens and alien cultures should have more pressing demands on her time."
"Specializing in a field does not necessarily make one an expert in it," Klnn-dawan-a pointed out. "I'm sure Warrior Command is indeed keeping the true experts busy."
"Of course they are," Klnn-vavgi said. "Still, Commander Thrr-mezaz seemed very insistent that you be allowed to personally come down to the surface. He even had to argue a little with Supreme Ship Commander Dkll-kumvit about it."
"I imagine he's anxious to hear about his brother and what happened at the bond-engagement hearings," Klnn-dawan-a said, fighting to keep her voice steady. Clearly, Klnn-vavgi hadn't been taken in by this personal-messages ploy of hers.
And if he wasn't fooled, others probably weren't, either. And if one of them was suspicious enough to order the Elders to do a thorough examination of the waist pouch hanging at her side...
"It's none of my business, of course," Klnn-vavgi said with a shrug. "But there are some here who think everything that happens on Dorcas is their business. I just wanted to warn you about that. Here we are."
"Thank you," Klnn-dawan-a murmured as they stepped between the two warriors guarding the door and went inside. Yes; the Elders would be trying to put the pieces together, all right. What else did they have to do?
Though, on the other side, that might not be such a bad thing. If they thought she'd come here to talk to Thrr-mezaz about her bond-engagement to Thrr-gilag, maybe they'd be less inclined to dig for another motive. Maybe for once the Elder preoccupation with gossip was going to work in their favor.
At first glance the room they walked into reminded Klnn-dawan-a of a sample testing room for some important and well-funded alien-studies group. A circle of optronic-equipment racks and monitors lined three of the four walls, with a Zhirrzh busy in front of each of them. Other Zhirrzh were moving back and forth between the stations, and a quiet buzz of low conversation filled the room. Hanging over all of it was a cloud of fifteen or twenty Elders, some moving around between the racks, most grouped together around one particular station.
Standing in the middle of the group, gesturing to the display in one of the racks, was Thrr-mezaz.
"Yes, it's been mentioned on several occasions that the rocks in that area are rich in metal ores," he was saying as Klnn-vavgi led her over to the edge of the crowd of Elders. "I'm not interested in hearing it mentioned again. This is the first solid lead we've had, and we're going to follow up on it. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Commander," one of the Elders said, in a tone that Klnn-dawan-a suspected was bordering on insubordination. "We'll do whatever we can."
"You'll do whatever it takes," Thrr-mezaz corrected him quietly. "You have your orders."
"I obey, Commander," the Elder growled. He half turned to the other Elders, gestured impatiently with his tongue. "You heard the commander," he said. "Let's get to it."
The whole group flickered and vanished. "They found something?" Klnn-vavgi asked.
"That appears to be a matter of opinion," Thrr-mezaz said, flicking his tongue in a grimace. "The Elders searching the area north of the village ran into a slender nonmetallic cable about four strides underground. Definitely of Human-Conqueror origin."
"Sounds promising," Klnn-vavgi said. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is that it's going to be difficult to trace through the ore-bearing rocks in the region," Thrr-mezaz said. "Several of the Elders are balking at the task, especially since they're half-convinced it's nothing but a control cable for the Elderdeath weapon we destroyed when we first attacked the planet." He shifted his eyes to Klnn-dawan-a. "Welcome to Dorcas, Klnn-dawan-a. You've come at a busy time-I'm afraid our hospitality isn't going to be quite as generous as I'd like."
"You forget I'm used to temporary field shelters on alien worlds, Thrr-mezaz," Klnn-dawan-a said dryly. "Anyway, I'm not here for a vacation."
Thrr-mezaz's tongue twitched. "No, indeed. Let's step into my office."
A hunbeat later they were alone, the office door closed to the warriors in the room outside. "I'm glad you made it here safely," Thrr-mezaz said, gesturing her to one of the couches as he sank onto the couch behind the desk. "I don't mind telling you I was pretty worried when I heard about the Human-Conqueror attack on Shamanv."
"I was pretty worried myself," Klnn-dawan-a said, feeling her tail twitch at the memory. "I was standing right out in the open when three of those black-and-white Human-Conqueror spacecraft flew past overhead. Good luck must have been with me."
"Immense good luck," Thrr-mezaz agreed. "The reports indicated those were probably Copperhead warcraft. The most dangerous the Human-Conquerors have to offer."
Klnn-dawan-a's tail twitched again. "Just as well I didn't know."
"Probably." Thrr-mezaz paused. "You have the package with you?"
"Yes," Klnn-dawan-a said, looking around the room. "Is it safe to talk here?"
"As safe as anywhere in the encampment," Thrr-mezaz said, also looking around. "All the Elders should be either on sentry duty, searching that area north of the village, or acting as communicators out in the command/monitor room. I wish I'd thought to have you pick up a hummer before you left Dharanv, though. Either you or Thrr-gilag."
"It wouldn't have helped to tell Thrr-gilag," Klnn-dawan-a said. "By now he should be well on his way to the Mrachani homeworld."
Thrr-mezaz threw her an odd look. "That's right-you probably don't know. He was taken off the Mrachani mission. He's on his way here instead."
"Here?" Klnn-dawan-a echoed. "What for?"
"He didn't want to say, even on that secure Elder pathway Prr't-casst-a set up for us," Thrr-mezaz said. "But he's only about a fullarc behind you, so we'll be able to ask him ourselves soon enough."
"I see," Klnn-dawan-a murmured. "What do we do first?"
Thrr-mezaz looked around the room again. "First you'd better give me the package."
"Gladly," Klnn-dawan-a said, opening her waist pouch and digging down toward the bottom. "I've been terrified ever since we got it that some Elder would happen to run into it and be suspicious enough to alert someone."
"That problem I can guard against, anyway," Thrr-mezaz said, standing up and walking around the corner of the desk. "There's a metal box in one end of that cabinet over there in the corner, probably the Human-Conqueror commander's safe. It can't be sealed anymore-we burned off the lock to see if there was anything inside-but it should at least keep the package safe from accidental discovery."
"Good," Klnn-dawan-a said, producing the case containing the slender tissue sampler she'd used at the Prr-family shrine. "We'd still better get it where it needs to go as quickly as possible."
"There are many other reasons to do that," Thrr-mezaz reminded her grimly as he took the case and opened it. "Prr't-zevisti's life, for starters. Is this really it?"
"That's really it," Klnn-dawan-a assured him. "I know it looks strange, but it ought to work as well as any normal cutting."
"We'll find out soon enough," Thrr-mezaz said, crossing the room to the cabinet and swinging open an outer wooden door. "Some fullarc you're going to have to tell me how you two got hold of this." He squatted down, pulled open the warped metal door of the safe itself, and set the case inside-
And suddenly an Elder appeared in front of the desk.
A small gasp escaped Klnn-dawan-a's mouth before she could stifle it. Thrr-mezaz didn't even flinch. "Yes?" he demanded, half turning around.
"We've found something, Commander," the Elder said, his voice pulsating with excitement. "A large underground structure, perhaps fifteen strides across at its largest, buried twenty strides below the surface."
"Have you looked inside yet?" Thrr-mezaz asked, swinging the safe door closed and straightening up again.
"We can't get in," the Elder said. "There's an inner lining of metal."
Behind Klnn-dawan-a the door opened, and she turned as Klnn-vavgi hurried into the room. "Commander, we've-ah; you've heard."
"I've heard the first part, anyway," Thrr-mezaz said, crossing over to him. "Have they found the way in?"
"There's an angled tunnel leading down into it," Klnn-vavgi said. "At the end are a camouflaged doorway and entrance chamber built into a hillside. The Elders are still searching for the opening mechanism."
"We'll burn it open if we have to," Thrr-mezaz said. "Get a sectrene of warriors together, Second. We're going in for a look."
"I obey, Commander," Klnn-vavgi said, heading back into the command/monitor room. "Communicator?"
"Shouldn't you send some technics too?" Klnn-dawan-a asked Thrr-mezaz.
"I wish I could," the other said, flicking his tongue. "Unfortunately, every technic on Dorcas-and most of the ones from the encirclement ships, too-are up to their tonguetips looking through the spacecraft the Mrachanis came in. The Overclan Seating's contact mission is due to hit the Mrachani homeworld in about a fullarc, and Warrior Command wants to know as much about Mrachani technology as possible before they land."
"Wouldn't Warrior Command be willing to reassign some of them for this?"
"They might," Thrr-mezaz said, throwing a quick look around the room. "On the other side, they might also order me to stay away from that underground structure entirely. In fact, they may do that anyway-there are probably Elders who'll be reporting this discovery whether I do directly or not."
Klnn-dawan-a looked around the room, too. No Elders were visible, but that didn't prove anything. "Why wouldn't Warrior Command want you investigating the structure?"
"Call it a hunch," Thrr-mezaz said, taking a step toward the door. "If you'll excuse me, I'd better get those warriors moving."
Klnn-dawan-a made a quick decision. "Let me go with them."
Thrr-mezaz flicked his tongue in a negative. "Not a good idea," he said. "It could be dangerous."
"So could having warriors blundering around not knowing what they're doing," she countered. "I know a fair amount about alien artifacts."
He gazed hard at her, indecision flicking across his face. "Thrr-gilag will raise me to Eldership personally if anything happens to you."
"He has no say in it," Klnn-dawan-a said, tasting bitterness beneath her tongue. "Our bond-engagement has been annulled, remember?"
"Yes, but-"
"And the only way we're going to get together again," she went on quietly, "is if we make such a contribution to the war effort that the clan leaders have no choice but to reconsider. Could this underground structure be such a contribution?"
Thrr-mezaz's tongue flicked. "Yes. It could indeed."
"Then I'm going," she said, standing up. "Do I have time to change into field clothing first?"
"I think so, yes." Thrr-mezaz's tongue flicked again. "Klnn-dawan-a-"
"I'll be fine, Thrr-mezaz," Klnn-dawan-a assured him, touching his cheek gently with her tongue. "Really. Just let me get my bags from the shuttle, and then you can show me where I can change."
It was odd, Melinda Cavanagh had thought more than once during the past twenty days, how the twin tensions of warfare and forced confinement worked so effectively together to bring out both the very best and the very worst in people.
She'd seen a pair of Peacekeeper soldiers stoically endure enemy laser burns that should have had them screaming in agony, insisting that she give her attention first to fellow soldiers whose injuries were worse than theirs; yet barely two days later she'd had to rebandage some of those same burns after a casual insult had precipitated a brief but vicious fight in one of the hillside bivouacs. She'd watched civilians uncomplainingly take their turns standing watch at the perimeter sentry posts in the icy mountain air, knowing full well that those posts would be the first to go when the inevitable Zhirrzh attack came; yet those same men so calmly facing death could launch into five minutes of swearing at the news they'd been tapped for latrine-digging duty. Melinda had experienced the same paradoxical tugs on her own psyche, working straight through the night to treat burns and abrasions and frostbite, yet nearly going ballistic one evening when her meal ration was one meat strip short.
All of which had made Lieutenant Colonel Castor Holloway's conduct over those same twenty days stand that much further above the crowd. In her multiple roles as physician, microbiology researcher, and occasional idea sounding board, Melinda had spent a fair amount of time with Holloway or in close proximity to him, and she had been thoroughly impressed by his consistent professionalism and self-control. She'd seen him grim, tired, amused, thoughtful, even frustrated; but never angry, brusque, or insulting to the troops or civilians under his command.