"It's a case of we need a ship and a one man scout is too small," said the Leewit. "You, me and Ta'zara . . . where is he, by the way?"
"Downstairs. They have a local surgeon with him."
"He's hurt?" The Leewit stood up hastily. "I need to go to him. What happened?"
Olimy put out a hand to stop her. "There was quite a fight after you got tranq-darted and the captain put you inside the cocoon shield. Ta'zara stopped them getting to either of you two. At last count, there were some thirty-two badly battered thugs who he personally hospitalized. He's a one-man army. But he did take some punishment. I don't think you should go there, the Leewit."
"She's a healer, Olimy," said Goth. "You see to getting us a ship. We're going to need it, and the lattice is a little bit too big and heavy."
They went down. If the Leewit was distressed by the state of her bodyguard, she did not let on. The doctor did, briefly, attempt to stop her. The Leewit was not feeling very patient, and the poor man found himself rubbing his bruised head while lying against the far wall. "I'm here," she informed the groggy Ta'zara. "Lie still. I am going to fix what I can."
The Na'kalauf man might have been having trouble getting his eyes to focus since he had a concussion, several gaping wounds, and had lost a great deal of blood, but he knew that voice and recognized the hand taking his. Goth could see him relax.
"They shed ju were orright, mistress. But better f' knowing," he slurred weakly, struggling for breath.
"And shortly you're going to be better still," said the Leewit, exercising perfect control over her voice. Goth only knew that because she knew her sister. "Gothie. Lend me some strength."
Goth had been exhausted by the fight and her klatha use in it. Time had helped a bit. But she was still bone-tired and drained. "Sure. Just . . . don't take too much, see."
The Leewit nodded, completely serious and very much more grown up. "I just need to do some things. The rest will have to heal naturally. Or later. But he's bleeding inside. In his head and body."
"Fix, little sis," she said, putting her hand on the Leewit's shoulder, feeling the surge of klatha energy.
A few minutes later they both sat down. The big tattooed man was breathing easier, and his color and pulse had improved, as the wary doctor informed them.
"Good," said the Leewit. "Now get someone to get us some food. Lots. I'm so tired I don't think I can move, and Goth is in a worse state. You can sew him up now. And give him some more blood. He needs it."
"It seems almost a shame to wake them," Goth heard someone say. She opened her eyes. Olimy and Sedmon looked at her. She and the Leewit were lying on the floor next to the remains of the food they'd devoured before passing out. Someone had been kind enough to provide her with a blanket, Goth noticed. She stretched and shook her head, trying to clear it. One of the Sedmons? Here? How long had she and the Leewit slept?
"What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.
"Such a friendly greeting," said one-sixth of the Daal of Uldune. "I heard that you needed a ship. So I brought you mine."
"How long have I been asleep?" Goth rubbed her eyes, trying to get her brain to think clearly. "It's more than a week's travel from here to Uldune, Sedmon."
"You have been out for about twelve hours," said Olimy. "You need to be careful, Goth. You can kill yourself, draining that much energy."
"Had to be done," said Goth. "Olimy, you know Karres pays its debts. And we owed him. How is he, by the way?"
"Considerably better, Your Wisdom," said Ta'zara from the bed against the wall behind her. "Well enough to defend you and the Leewit if need be."
"You just stay put," said Goth firmly. "I don't want to have to do that again in a hurry."
"Is the Leewit all right?" asked Ta'zara. "I would not have had her do herself an injury for me. Your companion Olimy said you could kill yourself, draining that much energy."
"She's fine. She'd sleep through a stampede of wild bollems, that's all. My problem was just having used a lot of energy in that fight."
"And then used even more putting me back together," said Ta'zara. "We of Na'kalauf also honor our debts. My debt to her can not even be repaid with my life."
"I shall have to be more cautious than ever about offending the Leewit," said Olimy with a grin.
Goth helped herself to a slice of pie left over from their pre-sleep frantic feed. "Now, can we stop beating about the bush, Sedmon of the Six Lives," she said. "Or I will personally call a certain lady friend of mine and tell her to make your life—all of them—the equivalent of Patham's third hell."
The lord of the bloody-historied world of Uldune, Master of the House of Thunders, sat down on the floor next to her. "We caught Mebeckey. And he sang. Told us that he had passed information on to Marshi about you needing to locate a circus. He did it for a price."
"Is he still alive?"
"At the moment, yes." The Daal tugged his chin. "It appears that the plant infestation can be gotten rid of. But it is rather like a highly addictive drug, Goth. He was desperate to get it back. That was all he asked for in exchange. He is already going through more hell than my experts could put him through. In fact, we got him to sing by giving him a palliative. He's a desperate man. You see, he got a new spore from one of her agents . . . and that rejected him too. My scientists are doing tests on him. When we got the news about the circus, we made all the speed that the
Thunderbird
is capable of. That is . . . more than we're willing to admit any ship in the Empire or Uldune can do. Not quite as fast as the Karres ships. There was a limit to subradio communications, but we did get hold of an agent on Mandellin's world. They told us you had come here. We were able to cut our journey time considerably. You see, Goth, we really do not like this situation. We're deeply concerned about this Tchab—Marshi."
"I'm sorry. She's got the Illtraming map. And the captain," said Goth quietly.
"On the other hand, it does seem that between you and Himbo Petey, and the people of Pampez, you have crippled her as a criminal power. She deployed most of her available foot-soldiers and even a large number of her capos here. And deserted them here too." Sedmon raised his eyebrows. "Can Karres never do anything unspectacularly?"
"Is the circus all right? Is Himbo all right?"
"He's been in to see you several times. So has just about everyone else in the circus," said Olimy. "And I should say the circus itself is fine too. If by fine you mean 'full-to-bursting.' They're packing them into the aisles. Even Hamlet is jam-packed and they're running a special morning show. The Pampez herders have taken them in as their own. They've almost made a planetary hero of Himbo Petey. That was why I was rather worried about you, Goth. By public demand, he rode a fanderbag around the ring and cracked that whip of his. I would have thought that the cheering would wake anyone, even halfway around the planet."
"Well, I hope it pays for some of the damages."
The Sedmon smiled sharkishly. "This is the first direct profit on my share of this investment that I have seen. You do realize, Goth, that Marshi's 'people' are by and large known and wanted criminals across the Empire. In fact, a few of them are even wanted on Uldune, and it's not something we're known for. There are some substantial rewards offered for some of them. Fortunately, dead or alive, in many cases. There have been three Imperial Security Service lighters collecting those that the locals hadn't already shot or hanged."
"Or hadn't been stood on by fanderbags, or hadn't run into the human equivalent of a threshing machine," said Olimy, jerking a thumb at Ta'zara.
"Hanged?"
Sedmon nodded approvingly. "Justice around here is swift and salutary. They were easy enough to round up—not many places to hide—and rather obvious in appearance compared to the locals. Some tried to flee out onto the plains. Others sought refuge among the wisent buyers. Except the wisent buyers—the real ones—suddenly found that they had a good reason to cooperate."
Olimy laughed. "Yes. I believe they suddenly decided to increase their purchase price, too, before the hanging seemed like too much fun to stop."
"Anyway. The citizens of Pampez, the citizens of the Empire, even some of my operatives are very pleased with the way things have come out. And the ISS and my operatives, and indeed, I believe, Karres, are hunting for any trace of the
Venture
, or Marshi. And yes, the ISS are assuming that the plant-infested criminal brethren are potentially infective," said Sedmon.
"It came out all right," said Goth. "But it's not over yet. She could do the same, or worse again if she finds what she needs to breed. Imagine if she'd got those spores into your Daalmen. Or the ISS."
"Or worse, Karres," said Sedmon grimly. "She is not a spent force yet. And we're determined to make sure she—and this plant—are destroyed. At any cost."
Goth had a sinking feeling that cost might include the life of Captain Pausert. She had to stop that from happening.
It took nearly two weeks before the news came in.
"We have a positive sighting on the borderplanet of Merega V. The
Venture
set down with four other vessels to refuel. Marshi was seen." Sedmon paused. "The operative is busy sending through an image. But there is also a person that fits the description of Captain Pausert."
Goth heaved a sigh of relief. "Let's go. You are about to experience the Sheewash drive, Sedmon."
Olimy held up a hand. "Goth. The operative said that he was in no way a prisoner. In fact he was seeing to the refueling."
Goth looked at Olimy. Sedmon. And then at her sister. "He's part of the plant!" she said in horror.
The Leewit ground her small fist into her palm. "I guess we're just going to have to get it out of him, Sis."
Olimy said nothing, but Sedmon bowed. "A leech was put onto the
Venture
. We can track her. If you want to make use of the
Thunderbird
?"
Goth stood up. "Farewells will just have to wait. Let's go, Leewit. Is Ta'zara fit to travel again?"
"I reckon," said the Leewit. "And we can work on him some more if need be."
"Going to go Sheewash. That takes it out of you too." She looked at the adult Karres witch. "You coming, Olimy?" she asked innocently.
He laughed. "No. You'll have to do your own Sheewash. I am coming along, but I'll be a step behind you. We've been calling people in from the Nanite cleanup. Karres herself is coming. But that's not so quickly or easily organized, as you know.
"Well," said Goth, pacing. "Let's get moving. They've got quite a start on us."
"You can't catch it all up at once," said Olimy, warningly. "There are some Empire ships, some Uldune ships, and Karres also on track. The
Venture 7333
is on a remote patch of the starways, but we're converging on them. Try to work on a delaying strategy if you get there too soon." He made no attempt to stop them. That was not the Karres way, after all.
The hexaperson was worried. The Daal of Uldune was no saint. He couldn't be, as the ruler of a planet like Uldune. Still, of late he had found that he was less unfeeling than it was good for the Daal to be. Uldune treated the witches of Karres with the respect—and the suspicion—with which a powerful and bloody ruler treats an even more powerful force. That had, in the past, proved wise. But as the Daal, he had grown up in an intrigue-filled and un-gentle environment, in which the six were, of necessity, almost entirely isolated from contact with the rest of the populace of Uldune. Emotion had largely been a stranger to the Daal . . . until Hulik do Eldel had woken a slumbering giant.
The hexaperson had discovered that he cared very deeply about someone. And, as if that had been a crack in his defenses, the hexaperson was discovering that he cared about other people too. Not many other people. But Goth and the Leewit had somehow wormed their way in. They were not just Karres—which was respected, but as an enemy, because all who were not the hexaperson were some kind of enemy, except Hulik. But those two small witches had become something more. He liked Captain Pausert too, for that matter. The man was just so . . . unbelievably undevious and well, idealistic. It had been a shock to realize that Karres too was rather like that. Yes, they were secretive. But had they been interested in ruling, he had come to realize that they could have seized power fifty times over.
The hexaperson was worried as a result. He was worried because he had come to think of Karres not merely as a powerful enemy to remain on good terms with because it could destroy or at least cripple you, but not even as an enemy. Almost . . . a friend. Bizarre. Not something a leader of Uldune could afford, but yet he had a feeling that he could not afford not to befriend Karres, even if it meant changing the way Uldune operated.
And he was worried for a second reason. He had seen the desperate addict that Mebeckey had become. He knew that that was the best that Goth could hope for Captain Pausert. And second, he knew Pausert's chances of survival were rather poor. His own instinct, as the Daal of Uldune, was to regard the man as collateral damage, if the opportunity arose to kill off Marshi.
Only he did not want to tell Goth that. First, it would hurt her. And second, even if he was only one-sixth physically here, and had a special cap that in theory would protect him, he thought that killing Pausert might just be very bad for his health.
There were limits even on the Sheewash drive. Both Goth and the Leewit worked at it in concert, but Goth knew that it was vital that they arrive at the
Venture
able to use klatha to its full potential. That meant not overtiring themselves. They were still pushing the
Thunderbird
along at far faster than the fastest Imperial cruiser—and her overpowered engines were thrusting her along while they rested. But it would still take at least five ship-days to intercept the
Venture
. Meanwhile, subradio information came out of the leech, letting them plot a vector.