I spread my hands, palms upward. “I know, and I’m sorry,” I apologized. “Sometimes things happen that are out of anyone’s control.”
Hardin exhaled heavily. “I’d like to believe that, Frank,” he said. “But the damage has already been done.” He held out his hand. “I’ll take that credit tag now, and all the equipment I gave you. I trust you can find your own way home?”
I stared at him. “You’re joking,” I said. “You came all the way out here just to fire me?”
“As I said, I have other business out this way,” Hardin said, his hand still outstretched. “Finding you was just an extra bonus. My credit tag?”
“I am making progress,” I insisted. Oddly enough, it was even true.
“I’m sure you are,” he said. “But I’m starting to wonder whether it is, in fact, the progress I hired you to make. You see, even while you’re running up bills at fancy resorts, I’ve noticed you’re not using my credit tag to pay for your Quadrail travel.”
I suppressed a grimace. I should have known he’d spot that, too. “I’d have thought you’d be pleased that I’d found a way to save you a little money.”
“What pleases me is to have someone who’s supposed to be in my pocket actually stay there,” he said. “When a person starts climbing out on his own, he gets assisted the rest of the way. My credit tag and equipment?”
I grimaced. But there was nothing for it. “Fine,” I said, fishing the credit tag out of my pocket. Ignoring his outstretched hand, I dropped it on the table between us, then added my watch, reader, and gimmicked data chips to the pile.
“Thank you,” he said, pulling everything to his side of the table. “Good day, Mr. Compton.”
For a long moment I considered pressing my case. I still needed all those items, especially the credit tag. And though Hardin had no way of knowing it, I could guarantee he would never, ever find another investigator with my current qualifications.
But I knew it would be just so much wasted breath. And in the meantime, I had more important things to worry about than my professional pride. Standing up, I turned my back on him and headed back across the cafe, trying not to think about the long and expensive torchliner trip from Terra Station to Earth that I no longer had the funds to pay for. Maybe I’d wind up going to the Bellidosh Estates-General with Fayr, after all.
I was nearly to the café exit when I discovered McMicking was still at my side. “What do you want?” I growled.
“Just escorting you back to your platform,” he said mildly. “Why? Don’t you like my company?”
I didn’t, but since he already knew that there wasn’t much point in saying so. “He’s making a mistake, you know,” I said instead, trying one last time.
“That’s possible,” he agreed. “Happens to all of us. Speaking of mistakes, you haven’t been kicking dust at the Halkan Peerage lately, have you?”
I looked sideways at him. “Why do you say that?”
“No reason,” he said. “I’ve just been noticing there are a lot of Halkas out here in those three-colored robes the Peerage always wears.”
“Really,” I said, my throat tightening. I’d been assuming that if the Modhri wanted to make a move, he would use the local Juriani to do it. It had never occurred to me that he might nudge a group of Halkas into coming down to Jurskala for the occasion. “Maybe it’s a convention.”
“Or not,” he said, and I could feel his eyes on me. People like McMicking had a keen sense of atmosphere, and he was clearly picking up my sudden tension. “I count at least five different color combinations, with five to ten Halkas in each group. This have anything to do with that resort incident Mr. Hardin mentioned?”
“Could be,” I conceded, craning my neck over the crowd. I could see Bayta and Fayr ahead at our platform now, both of them looking around for me.
And McMicking was right. There were a lot of Halkan Peers here. “Thanks for the heads-up,” I told him. “I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”
“It’s no problem,” he assured me.
“It is for me,” I countered tartly. “I don’t want my friends to see us together.”
“Ah,” he said with a knowing smile. “Of course not.”
“And if you’re smart,” I added, “you’ll get Mr. Hardin out of sight and onto the next train back to Earth.”
The smile faded. “Just what kind of trouble are you in?” he asked quietly.
“Nothing that concerns you anymore,” I said. “Now get out of here. I mean it.”
He held my eyes a half second longer. Then, with a curt nod, he turned and melted back into the crowd. Trying to watch all directions at once, I made my way to the platform.
“There you are,” Bayta said, her tone halfway between relieved and accusing as I came up beside them. “Where have you been?”
“Scouting the territory,” I said. “We’ve got a problem. The entire Halkan Peerage seems to have come by to see us off.”
Fayr’s eyes flicked over my shoulder, and I saw his whiskers stiffen. “Any ideas?” he murmured.
“I suggest we take the next Quadrail as planned,” I said. “They can’t all get tickets before it arrives.”
“Perhaps,” he said slowly. “It will be as safe as we’re likely to get.”
His eyes met mine, flicked to Bayta and then back to me. “Agreed,” I said, giving him a microscopic nod in return. Two warriors, taught from the same handbook, understanding each other. “Let’s do it.”
NINETEEN:
Three minutes later, the Quadrail pulled into the station and began discharging its passengers. Two minutes after they were off, Bayta and I were in my compartment.
“Don’t get comfortable,” I warned her as I dropped my carrybags on the bed and crossed to the window. We were on the side the train was loading from, and I felt my stomach tightening as I spotted all the tricolored robes climbing aboard.
And not just in first class, either. A number of them were getting on in second and third class, too, as far back as I could see. Places where a Halkan Peer usually wouldn’t be caught dead.
There was a multiple tap on the door, the distinctive rhythm I’d set up earlier with Fayr. Bayta opened the door and he slipped inside, locking it behind him. “It doesn’t look good,” he warned.
“No kidding,” I said. “You told us earlier that Modhran colonies can take over their hosts’ bodies if they want to. Any idea how long they can hold them that way?”
“None,” he said. “As far as I know, it could be indefinitely.”
“But the longer the host is under control, the more likely he is to realize afterward that something strange has happened,” Bayta added. “The Modhri might be able to pass off a few seconds’ blackout as daydreaming, but he’d have a harder time covering up one that lasts longer than that.”
“In that case, there must be a lot of pretzel-twist rationalization going on out there,” I said. “They’re piling in all the way back to third.”
“Planning on having his revenge during the trip,” Fayr rumbled. He fingered his plastic status guns, undoubtedly wishing he had the real ones instead. “He therefore arranges his walkers so that there will be no safe haven for us anywhere aboard.”
I looked out again at the crowd. A lot of the Peers had gotten on our train; but there were a lot more still hanging around on the nearby platforms. “No,” I said. “This is way too elaborate for simple revenge.”
“Then what is it about?” Fayr asked.
“I have an idea,” I said. “But I may be wrong, and we sure as hell don’t have time to discuss it now. Grab your bag, Bayta—we’re getting off.”
“We’re what?” Bayta demanded, her eyes widening.