Neshok's nostrils flared, and mul Gurthak's eyes went a shade frostier, but only for a moment. Then the two thousand drew a slow, deliberate breath.
"A well-taken point," he said. "It appears we're fortunate to have your insight into these matters, Hundred Olderhan."
He studied Jasak with opaque eyes for several seconds, then shrugged.
"Given the role the late Shevan Garlath played in the disaster at Fallen Timbers," he finally said, "I'm forced to revise my first, overly hasty assessment of your judgment as a field officer. Five Hundred Klian's evaluation of Fifty Garlath's fitness as an officer makes it clear you were saddled with a … difficult situation, even before you made contact with these Sharonians."
He produced a wintry smile.
"One is always tempted to blame messengers who bear unpalatable news, particularly when military and political disasters are involved. But Chief Sword Threbuch's report on the second encounter with these people makes it clear?to me, at least?that you did a brilliant job of containment."
Jasak bristled silently at the use of the word "containment." It was accurate enough?he'd certainly "contained" the Sharonians, at least physically?but something about the word, or perhaps the way it had been delivered, set him on edge. That surprised him, but he didn't have time to ponder it now, for mul Gurthak was still speaking.
"I may never forgive Hadrign Thalmayr," the two thousand said in a bitter tone, "for promptly throwing away all you'd accomplished and losing the men you'd managed to bring safely back. Not to mention losing control of the portal."
He shook his head, leaned far back in his chair, and steepled his fingers across his chest.
"I realize your primary concern will be sending reports ahead as you make the return trip to New Arcana. The Commandery has to know everything you learn as soon as possible. The time lag is immense, as it is. Even at the speed hummers fly, this is a long transit chain."
"Yes, Sir. I know that only too well." The initial message that there'd been a contact with another civilization was still winging its way?literally?back to New Arcana. "No one even knows the Union has new neighbors, Sir. Let alone that battles have already been fought. No one in the Union, that is."
His eyes met mul Gurthak's, and the two thousand nodded, his expression grim. Skirvon and Dastiri's ears seemed to prick up, as if they realized something they didn't understand had just been said, and mul Gurthak favored them with a hard, thin smile.
"You gentlemen weren't listening to the Hundred," he said. "What was it he said? They don't need hummers, I believe."
Skirvon stared at him, then blanched visibly.
"Gods! They already know, don't they? They've probably known for weeks!"
"Lady Nargra-Kolmayr's effectively confirmed that," Jasak agreed unhappily. "I don't know exactly how long it took their message to get home, but given the structure she described, with official Voices stationed permanently at every single portal they've discovered, and at relays in between, as necessary, their home world may have known within hours. I'd bet that someone in their Portal Authority knew by the time we airlifted out the wounded. And something she said this afternoon confirms that her family thinks she's dead. She used the present tense, and I don't think it was a slip of the tongue. She knows that whatever message she was sending out when she was knocked unconscious at Fallen Timbers has already reached her home world."
Both diplomats had turned a sickly shade of yellow-green.
"This is a first-class disaster," Skirvon groaned. "They've had time to move in whole divisions of troops!"
"It's not quite that bad," mul Gurthak disagreed. They looked at him incredulously, and he shrugged. "I've been operating on the assumption that word might have gotten back to their high command ever since I received Five Hundred Klian's initial dispatches. The force which attacked Hundred Thalmayr was undeniably stronger than anyone anticipated, however it scarcely represented the kind of troop strength I'd have expected from a major base. And we know these people don't have dragons, or, apparently, anything else that flies. Neither, according to the Chief Sword," he nodded at Threbuch, "do they have enhanced cavalry mounts like our own. So what we're probably facing is a situation in which their high command can receive reports and dispatch new orders much more rapidly than we can, but our forces can move much more rapidly than theirs can."
Jasak nodded. He'd already reached the same conclusion himself, and it should have been reassuring to know that the senior officer in the area agreed with his own assessment. And it was … mostly. Still, there was something about mul Gurthak's eyes …
"Hundred Olderhan," the commander of two thousand continued, turning his attention back to Jasak and smiling much more warmly than before, "I want to thank you for a first-class briefing. I'm very impressed by the amount of information you've been able to obtain from the prisoners. I suppose it's another case of that old clich? about catching more flies with sugar than with salt," he added, giving Neshok a speaking glance.
"I also concur that it's critical that we get our diplomatic presence as far forward as we can, as quickly as we can. And that you continue to New Arcana with all dispatch. Indeed, I'm coming to the conclusion, based on what you've said here, that we could scarcely have acquired a more valuable source of intelligence if we'd been allowed to choose who to capture ourselves."
One again, something bristled deep inside Jasak. It was his protective instinct, he knew. His shardonai had become personally important to him, not just an honor obligation, and that might not be a good thing, from the perspective of the Union of Arcana. mul Gurthak was undoubtedly correct about Shaylar and Jathmar's value, and Jasak ought to place the same priority on squeezing them for every bit of information, as long as they weren't mistreated in the process.
"I'm sure you're fatigued after so long on dragonback, Hundred," mul Gurthak went on after a moment. "Moreover, given the … unpleasant episode down by the dragonfield, I'm certain both your shardonai and Magister Kelbryan are rather anxious to discover just how well this debriefing went. With that in mind, I'll let you go find your own quarters and reassure them that no one at Fort Talon has any intention of changing their status or attempting to remove them from your custody."
"Thank you, Sir."
Jasak recognized his dismissal and stood, although leaving that office at that particular moment was the last thing he wanted to do. Unfortunately, whoever his father might be, Jasak was only a commander of one hundred. There was no way he could insist upon remaining for the additional discussion he knew was about to begin.
"Chief Sword, Javelin, you're also dismissed," the two thousand continued. "Hundred Neshok will see to it that you're quartered."
Threbuch and Iggy Shulthan braced briefly to attention, then turned and followed Jasak and Neshok out of the office.
The sound of the door closing behind them wasn't really a thunder-crack of doom … it only sounded that way to Jasak.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The man who thought of himself as Nith vos Gurthak only when he was totally alone, watched the door close behind Sir Jasak Olderhan and his noncommissioned officers, then swiveled his eyes slowly across Rithmar Skirvon and Uthik Dastiri.
"A passionate young fellow, Hundred Olderhan," the commander of two thousand observed with a thin smile.