Inheritor (50 page)

"Well, well, so long as it lasts."

The dowager called rest, and Bren actively
rode
Nokhada back through the company as it drew to a halt, a choice he was sure, in the way he'd come to understand how Nokhada did think, that Nokhada perfectly well understood. She expressed her dislike with flattened ears and a bone-jarring gait which he had come to understand he had to answer with a swat or she'd think her rider wasn't listening.

But not with the heel, or he'd be through the company like a shot: he used the crop at the same time he kept a pressure on the rein. The gust of breath and the shift into a smooth gait was immediate as she moved through mechieti establishing rights over their small patches of green grass, a touchy business of snarls and status in the herd; and Nokhada breezed past lower-status mechieti with scarcely a missed beat, back to where Jase and the boy were already dismounted.

He stopped Nokhada at the edge of the herd and slid down, keeping the rein in hand and the crop visible, against what otherwise might be a tendency slyly to wander closer to Babsidi during the stop.

The head went down; she snatched mouthfuls of grass.

Jase didn't ask him, What did the dowager want? The boy didn't, either. But the boy wasn't his partner.

Maybe, the amazing thought dawned on him, Jase was waiting for
his
ally to say something.

And, dammit, the boy was underfoot and all ears, he was sure. He couldn't send the boy to Banichi. They were talking to Cenedi on matters the boy didn't need to hear, either. He looked in that direction and met the boy's absolutely earnest gaze.

And saw the escort. "Nadi," he said to the man, "Haduni, please brief the young gentleman: we may have to take a faster pace."

"Nand' paidhi." Haduni gave a nod as if he perfectly understood and had been waiting for such an order, then smoothly collected the all-elbows young lord and steered him to the side.

Bren heaved a sigh and with a sharp jerk of two fingers against the rein in his left hand, checked Nokhada's intent to gain a few meters on her agenda. "He's very anxious," he said to Jase. "He sees the reputation of his house at stake."

"What did they want up there?" Jase obligingly asked the question. Jase did the obvious next step.

"To be sure I knew things were all right," he said and told himself to relax, let his face relax,
use
expression.

And what in hell was he supposed to do? Grin like a fool? He looked at the grass under his feet and looked up and managed a little smile, one he trusted didn't look foolish. When he knew damned well he hadn't been shut down with Ilisidi. He just let Jase touch off his defenses,
that
was what he was doing, and it was a flywheel effect of distrust and guardedness.

"Jase, she said Tatiseigi might —
might
— have moved against us. I'd hope he wouldn't, but she said his virtue was a lot safer if we weren't in his reach. I didn't think that. But I did think things in Shejidan were going to go a lot more smoothly without us in the way. So it was the same move, two reasons."

Jase was listening, at least, without the anger he'd shown.

"We
are
going to Mogari-nai, nadi?" Jase switched back to Ragi.

"I have no doubt of it. The Messengers' Guild has been pulling at the rein —" Source of his metaphor, Nokhada tried a different vector and got another jerk of the rein he held, hands behind his back. "And Ilisidi intends to make it clear the authority is in Shejidan, not in the regional capitals. That's an old issue, the amount of power Shejidan holds, the amount of power the regions have. They've fought over it before. Your ship dumping technology into Tabini's hands has raised the issue again. That's
why
the tension between some of the lords and the capital."

There followed one of those small, tense silences, Jase looking straight at him as if thoughts alone could bridge the gap.

"Thank you," Jase said then, carefully controlled. "
Thank
you, nadi."

"Why?" was the invited question. He asked it, angry in advance.

"It's the first time," Jase said, "that I've ever felt I've heard the truth."

"I have
not
—"— lied, he almost said. But of course he had. And would. "I haven't known what I
could
say." He changed back to Mosphei' to be absolutely certain that Jase understood him. "Jase, if I told your ship enough to let them think they could guess the rest and go hellbent ahead, I
knew
they could tear the peace apart. You can
see
now what the stresses in the atevi system are, and I don't know the quality of people in office on your ship. But the people in my government who've cut the Mospheiran Foreign Office off from communication with the Mospheiran public have completely written off the majority of people on this planet as of no value to them. They're not pleased with my continuing to operate as
the
Foreign Office, such as it is, but here I am, and here I stay. That, I
have
told you.

For what you can see with your own eyes, look around you. See how it works.
See
the land. See the people. See everything you came here to see. It's all I've got to offer you."

And even while he said it he was hedging his bets, telling himself — just get that spacecraft built, get it flying, get atevi up there before politics shuts atevi out of the meaningful decisions.

If he could get help — he'd take it.

But jeopardize that objective? No.

Jase didn't answer him. He decided that was a relief. He couldn't debate trust with Jase. It didn't exist. It might, eventually, but it didn't, not here, not now. He daren't debate it with Ilisidi, either, but he did trust her, as far as he could reason what she was doing.

Banichi and Jago — there was his one known quantity, though Tabini never was: believe that those two, who were right now deep in conversation with Cenedi, would bend Tabini's orders a little to save his neck. He was sure they had done that very significantly at least once. Believe that Tabini valued him
and
his objectives? So far he was irreplaceable.

One of Ilisidi's men came close to him, Haduni, bringing the boy back. He looked in that direction and saw them offloading the baggage from the mechieti.

Are we camping here? he wondered. That didn't accord with his knowledge of the situation.

No, he thought, seeing men adjusting mechieti harness, we're going to move.

Harness adjustment was something he didn't venture to do. There were straps he knew what to do with: mechieti shed a little of their girth after a morning start, especially when they were traveling this hard; and a saddle that slipped more than Nokhada's had been doing just before the dismount was a problem he didn't want. Expert handlers moved through the company seeing to any mechieta the rider for one reason or another wasn't able to see to; and just as the young man was attending to Nokhada's harness, the discussion the senior security officers had been holding among themselves was breaking up. Banichi had left the group and was leading his mechieta along the edge of the company at a very purposeful stride while Jago and Cenedi went to speak to Ilisidi.

"Banichi-ji?"

"Everything is fine," Banichi said cheerfully. "Our enemies are being fools."

"Doing what?"

"Oh, nothing up here. Down the coast. The authorities have
caught
one of Direiso's folk on the Wiigin-Aisinandi line."

On the train, Banichi meant.

"Illicit radio? Saying what?"

Banichi shot him a guarded, assessing kind of look. "That Tabini-aiji is fortifying Saduri plain and preparing to bomb Mospheiran cities. That he's seizing Mogari-nai to have absolute control of the radar installations during the aforesaid operation, because he knows a retaliation is coming immediately after he bombs the island and the northern provinces are going to take the brunt of it."

"That's absolutely insane!"

"We're quite sure it is, but it
is
indicative of Direiso's objective. She wishes to seize Mogari-nai and the airstrip and say there's nothing there because she's thwarted the plot."

"The plant at Dalaigi." He had a sudden great fear of harm to Patinandi. "What if it's a diversion, Banichi-ji? Are we protected there?"

"Oh, we are protecting all such places," Banichi said. One of the men was adjusting harness, and Bren gave a distracted yank on Nokhada's rein as she swung her hindquarters and refused cooperation. "We have very heavy security on those plants, especially in facilities where you've very diligently pointed out security problems, Bren-ji, and your eye is becoming quite keen in that regard."

"One is grateful to know so, nadi-ji."

"Once the report said bombs would fall, we became very much more concerned that the reserve here is a major target — because maintaining that falsehood means controlling this area within a certain number of hours or attacking government facilities within the same time, so they can say we moved the equipment. And Direiso has adherents among Messengers' Guild officers, but
not
necessarily among the membership. That we silenced that radio and were ready with statements laying out Direiso's plans will at least throw water on the fire. Our press release
is
being routed through Mogari-nai and the local stations
are
carrying the official broadcast. It may be significant, however, that Mogari-nai was the last major communication center to pass the aiji's press release to the broadcast stations."

It was ominous. Very much so. He made a motion of his eyes toward the heavens. "If
they
have bombs —"

"No, Bren-ji. I assure you,
no
aircraft will reach us. There are aircraft sitting ready to take action against any craft Direiso can send against us. We learned at Malguri, and we have taken precautions. Not mentioning Tano's position, which is quiet, but very capable of defending itself. The fortress
is
ancient. But for you alone to know — though possibly Direiso does — even the dust of Saduri is modern. They blow it on. For the casual hiker. This is more than a game reserve. If we've kept that secret from Mospheira, numerous people will be surprised."

He was mildly shocked; and no, his government didn't tell him everything: particularly the Defense Department with its touchy secrets. His mind raced through memories of dilapidated halls, a row of doors facing their bedrooms that didn't open and didn't have windows.

In this vast, open government reserve there were fences, he guessed, that were far more than low stone walls. And he had no idea what other electronic barriers might exist out here, or what those vans he'd seen parked behind the old fortress might contain, but Tano and Algini were surveillance specialists, he had guessed before this, while Banichi and Jago were surely what the Guild so delicately called, with entirely different meaning,
technicians
.

"We aren't using the pocket corns to transmit any longer," Banichi said. "Though I assure you reception is no problem. We listen to a mobile unit up near Wiigin talk to one east of the fortress and know all we need.
This
time, Bren-ji, we are not using a defense heavily infiltrated with the opposition, as we were at Malguri. As for what we need
worry
about, there's one other road that goes up the cliffs from Saduri Township. It supplies Mogari-nai, and tourists use it to tour the cannon fort. The aiji's forces will keep that road open. Meanwhile —" Banichi's voice, from rapidfire cataloging of assets, took on an airy quality. "Meanwhile, the dowager will assert her prerogative, as a member of the aiji's household, to tour the facility. But we have to be careful. To dispossess the Messengers' Guild of Mogari-nai would tread on Guild prerogatives. Even to save lives,
our
Guild will not countenance that kind of operation. Politics, you understand. And in the balance of powers, it
is
wise to preserve those prerogatives."

"One understands that much." A Guild disintegrating would be very dangerous to the peace. As the fall of the Astronomers from credibility after the Landing had been catastrophic for atevi stability: for lords there were successors, but for the Guilds there were not. "Banichi-ji, the aiji does know, I hope, that we can receive data without the earth station. Surely he does know."

"Yes. But Guild prerogatives demand it go through the Messengers' Guild no matter where we receive it. The Messengers will bend, nand' paidhi. Their rebellion will go on precisely as long as that Guild sees other entities defying the aiji with impunity, or until the fist comes down on them. The aiji can no longer ignore Hanks' challenge to his authority."

"So we are going to fight, there? The dowager is truly on our side?"

"Fight, nand' paidhi?
Ilisidi
is on holiday at Saduri. The television says so quite openly. The television says, during her holiday, she will tour Mogari-nai." The call was going out to mount up. "Saigimi's death was a serious blow to Direiso. Tatiseigi's appearance on television was a second. Badissuni's attack of heartburn was a third, leaving Ajresi unopposed in the Tasigin Marid, and Badissuni very cooperative with the aiji, if he's wise. The Messengers' Guild admitting Ilisidi for a tour is a fourth. Direiso may strike in
any
direction, but it's the business of aijiin to settle their affairs and then the Guilds have no difficulty arranging their policies. Believe me that the Messengers are no different from
our
Guild."

Banichi made his mechieta extend a leg and got up, in that haste the maneuver needed. Others were getting up. Bren had Nokhada kneel and as he rose, turned and landed in the saddle, he saw Jase attempt to do the same.

Attempt. Jase failed, was left clinging to the saddle ring with one foot hung and the other off the ground as the mechieta rose and tried to turn full circle in response to Jase's unwitting grip on the rein. It was a dangerous halfway, from which a man could fall with his foot still trapped; but Haduni was there instantly to put a hand under Jase and boost him up, disheveled and with his braid loosening, but safe. Jase still pulled, and the mechieta resisted, lifted his head and turned another circle until Jase apparently realized it was his own fault and slacked the grip on the rein.