Wilosha blinked. "What are you talking about? The governorship isn't a permanent position."
"I wasn't talking about the governorship. I was referring to his status as head and chief speaker for a highly vocal political group. Think it through, Wilosha.
Aventine can't simply get rid of the Cobras, for reasons you know as well as I do."
"We don't want to get rid of you, just alter your power structure to-"
"Just shut up and listen, will you? So all right; if the Cobras are always going to exist, why shouldn't an organization whose sole purpose in life is to oppose the Cobras do likewise?"
For a moment Wilosha stared at him. "Are you suggesting," he said at last, "that
Governor Priesly started this whole movement solely to create a political base for himself?"
Justin shrugged. "You know more about the inner workings of your group than I do. Is that how he's using it? You might start by deciding whether or not you were this bitter about being rejected from the Cobra Academy before Priesly told you you ought to be."
"You're twisting the facts," Wilosha growled. But he didn't sound totally convinced. "Through Priesly we threaten your elite status, so of course you try to impugn his motives and activities."
"Perhaps," Justin said quietly. "But I didn't send someone charging into his office trying to make the Jects look like dangerous homicidal maniacs. Think about it, Wilosha. Do you really want to be on the side of a man who deliberately mangles truth in the name of political power?"
Wilosha snorted. "You're skating pretty close to slander," he said. "Unless you have some proof that that incident happened the way you claim it did. Some proof besides your brother's word, of course."
Justin felt disgust rising like bile in his throat. "Oh, for-" He took a breath, released it through clenched teeth. "Just get out of here, Wilosha. I haven't got time to waste arguing with someone who's already decided to let the party do his thinking for him."
Wilosha's face darkened. "Look, Moreau-"
"I said get out. We've got work to do."
The other opened his mouth, closed it again. Eyes on Justin, he sidled past the
Cobra and out the door. The dull metal panel slid closed, and for a moment
Justin stared at it, listening to his heartbeat slowly settle down and wondering if the talk had done any good at all. He could almost sympathize with Wilosha; the man was, after all, a would-be Cobra, and a strong sense of loyalty was high on the list of qualities the Academy screened its applicants for.
On the other hand, so were intelligence and integrity... and if he'd knocked even some of the stars out of Wilosha's eyes, the other might at least start watching Priesly's moves and words more closely. And if he found sufficient truth to the idea that Priesly was being corrupted by his own power...
It might help blunt Priesly's power. But it wouldn't help bring Jin back.
Clenching his teeth, Justin took a ragged breath. She's alive, he told himself firmly. Just as he had through the long and sleepless nights of the past four days. She's alive, and we're going to get her out of there.
Stepping up to the door, he slid it open and stepped out into the corridor.
"Cobras!" he bellowed. "Break time's over. Get back here-we've got a lot of work ahead of us."
Chapter 33
The crowd milling around the Azras city center was large and noisy, composed mainly of youths and seedy-looking older men. Some, the younger ones especially, seemed to be radiating a combination of impatience and desperation, but in general the mood of the crowd was that of slightly bored normality. At one end, seated at a table, city officials took names of each of the would-be workers, keying them into portable computer terminals where the names were-presumably-ranked according to previous work history, skills, and other pertinent information. Working his way slowly toward the table in what the city dwellers probably considered a neat line, Daulo fought against his own nervousness and tried to look inconspicuous.
"Ah-Master Sammon," a voice came from behind him; and Daulo's heart skipped a beat. As casually as he could, he turned around. "Greetings, Master Moffren
Omnathi," he nodded gravely, making the sign of respect and then shifting his eyes to the young man standing at Omnathi's side. "I greet you as well,
Master...?"
"I am Miron Akim," the other answered. "If you'd like, I'll be glad to hold your place in line while you and Master Omnathi confer."
Daulo swallowed hard; but before he could say anything, Omnathi had taken his arm and eased him out of line.
"You'll excuse this unorthodox approach, I hope," Omnathi commented quietly as he led Daulo away toward a relatively empty part of the center.
"What's this about?" Daulo demanded. Or rather, tried to demand; to his own ears his voice sounded more guilty than threatening. "I thought we'd settled everything two days ago."
"Yes, so it seemed," Omnathi nodded calmly. "But a couple of things have come up since then that I thought you could possibly help us with."
"Such as?" Daulo asked, stomach tightening.
Omnathi waved a hand at the assembled crowd. "This Mangus place, for instance.
Your determination to gatecrash struck me as being rather a waste of time and energy, even given the stiffneck pride often associated with villagers." Daulo snorted; Omnathi ignored him. "So I had my men do a complete file check and confirmed that, as we told you, Mangus is indeed nothing more than a private electronics development center."
"And you'd like me therefore to leave and go home?" Daulo growled.
"Not at all. It occurred to me that perhaps you'd been mistaken about the timing of this gatecrash being your idea... and that Jasmine Alventin might still think this work party was the best way to get in."
Daulo's lungs seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. For a half dozen heartbeats the only sound was the dull buzz of the crowd around them, a buzz that seemed distant behind the roar of blood in Daulo's ears. "Understand, please," Omnathi said at last, "that at the moment I'm not accusing you of anything except unknowing cooperation with an enemy of Qasama. I'm even willing to believe that her prompting may have been so artfully buried that you honestly think all this was your idea. But from now on, that's over. You know now that she's an offworld spy... and you'll be expected to behave accordingly."
"All right," Daulo said. "Threat received and understood. So what exactly do you want from me now?"
Omnathi sent a leisurely glance around the crowd. "If the electronics information in Mangus is truly her goal, than a little thing like a planetary search isn't likely to slow her down much. She'll find a way in... and if she does, I want someone there who can identify her."
"Someone like me, I suppose?" Daulo asked.
"Exactly," Omnathi nodded. "Of course, spotting her is only the first step. You haven't had any training in methods of fugitive capture, and it's a little too late to teach you. Fortunately, I remember that you'd originally planned to have your brother along on this trip."
Daulo glanced at the line behind him. "Which is why Miron Akim is here, isn't it? To go in with me?"
"And to command you." Omnathi's face hadn't changed... but his voice was suddenly covered with ice. "From this moment on, Daulo Sammon, you're under the direct authority of the Shahni."
Daulo swallowed hard. So Jin had been right-the story he'd worked so hard to spin for Moffren Omnathi two nights ago had been that much wasted effort. The
Shahni knew enough-or at least suspected enough-and Miron Akim was their countermove. Placing him under Shahni authority and Shahni surveillance... "And under their sword, too?" he asked.
Omnathi gave him a long look. "If you aid us in capturing the Aventinian spy, all other questions concerning your involvement in this will be forgotten.