"Bet?"
Victoria answered in Motie. Glenda Ruth laughed as their speech became faster and faster. She said, "Uncle Kevin, they're betting! Descendants for their Masters! Victoria's giving four to one-"
"Later, Glenda Ruth. Omar, it looks like their whole fleet of Warriors is coming straight at us."
The cabin went dark. "I've found Agamemnon," Freddy reported. "I'm beaming your message again."
"Good. Very good. Now we've got to get out of here. Suggestions?"
No one answered. "Freddy, turn us around. Get us on course to go back through the"-hell-"through the Sister."
"Through the Sister. What thrust?"
Renner let the computer work for a moment. "That's a god-awful amount of radiation they're aiming at us. If it keeps up, we'll have to duck. What are they trying to do?"
"Kill us?" Freddy suggested.
"Well, if they can, but what else?" Renner studied the screens. If the Motie fleet continued on course, it would get to the Sister in about twenty-five hours. Another moment of indecision. Then, "Keep it reasonable. Say point three for now." The Field was dull red. Not bad, but they'd be bathed in that green laser glare for hours to come. "I want to see what those Warriors will do."
"What of our ships?" Omar asked.
"I'll keep Atropos," Renner said. "Have all your Motie ships reinforce Balasingham. Look, he's going to be a bit wary of them."
"We have discussed this," Omar said. "Our ships will position themselves to aid your warship without threatening it."
Horace Bury's voice trembled with exhaustion, but there was triumph, too. "Mercy of Allah! Kevin, we have sent our message to the Empire, and the Khanate has turned back. We have fulfilled our mission, whatever happens. Now we survive if Allah wills it."
"We may have fulfilled the mission," Kevin said. "It all depends on that Khanate Warrior fleet. We don't know what they're going to do, and as long as they're in this system, they're dangerous. They could still batter their way past Balasingham." Renner studied the screen again. "Well, as long as they're chasing us, they're not doing that. If they're back in Mote system, they're for sure not doing that. Maybe we can lead them there."
"Good," Bury said.
Kevin thought, Can you take another Jump? and didn't speak. What if he said no? "I'll tell Rawlins."
"My viewers may not understand," Joyce said. "I'm not sure I understand. First we come through to the red dwarf system. Then we fight. We win. Now for the past four hours we've been slowing down, and we're headed back the way we came." She looked at her screens, noted the yellow glow of the Field. Sinbad was under continuous attack.
"It's all part of the same battle," Freddy Townsend said.
"The important thing is that the Khanate fleet is moving toward the Sister, not going after Agamemnon," Glenda Ruth said. "We have to keep them heading toward us."
"But are they after us, or would they go back to the Mote anyway?"
"It doesn't matter, Joyce," Victoria said. "Anything that gets them back into the Mote system."
"So we're bait," Joyce said. "I guess that wouldn't be so bad-but to be bait when you don't even know it's you they're after!"
"They're after us," Freddy said.
"How can you be sure?" Joyce demanded.
"If they're not, they're sure wasting a lot of energy," Freddy said. "They can't spare the fuel. I think it's this way. If they can kill us, they won't go through, but if we run through, they'll follow us. Glenda Ruth?"
"Best bet," Glenda Ruth said.
Joyce said, "And there you have it."
"Situation unchanged, Commodore," Rawlins said. "They haven't tried to intercept the allied ships we sent to reinforce Balasingham. It's us they care about, all right, and there's too many to fight. Our only chance is to run. I suggest we increase acceleration. The less of this fire we take, the better chance we'll have once we're through."
"Agreed. Take it up to one point five gee."
"One point five, aye, aye." Rawlins's image turned away for a moment.
"Once we're stabilized in the Mote system, thrust along this vector," Renner said. There was a twitter of data. "And I had the Moties record some orders. You'll recover before we do. Send these messages to Base Six as soon as you can."
"Messages to Base Six. Aye, aye."
"Keep the comm link," Renner said. He sighed and touched the intercom buttons. "Stand by for increased gravity. One point five g." He touched another button. "Horace-"
"I will survive."
"Yeah. If they keep that beam on us too long-"
"Kevin, you will do what you must do."
Renner had been at work. Sailing Master aboard MacArthur, Bury's pilot for thirty years: this he could have done in his sleep. "Horace, can you take one point seven gee for eleven minutes?"
"Yes, of course, Kevin."
Of course. The danger to Bury wasn't from another increase in thrust, but from Jump shock. "Townsend, do it."
Ali Baba's eight kilograms hit him in the chest. The pup cried, "No, Kevin! Not again!"
"Here, Ali Baba," Bury said, and the Mediator went, fearfully. Freddy said, "Aye, aye. Done. Any margin of error there?"
"We'll be violet when we go through the Eye." Freddy shuddered.
The Engineers were up and crawling; the Mediators watched. Kevin bit back his questions and presently understood. The Moties had Cynthia's couch disassembled and were putting it back together next to Bury's water bed. That crowded Glenda Ruth, so they had to move her couch before they could return to their couches and collapse.
"Commodore? I've got the Master ships' target. It's the brown dwarf. Maybe they expect to take cover in the ring."
"Once they kill us."
Cynthia had finished her exercise set in the kitchen space. The view through the window was a uniform cheerful green.
On the enlarged screen that the Watchmakers had finished erecting, one blazing point reached the Sister and disappeared without exploding. Then the second. Jennifer heaved a great sigh of relief. "They're through," she said.
Terry squeezed her foot. She reached around to pat his cheek. "How are you doing?"
"Healing. You?"
Just waiting. Harlequin's up front getting battle data. Should I really stop talking, or try to talk them into something?"
"Talk. They'll read you anyway."
But it was over an hour before Harlequin rejoined them. "The Sister hides your ships for the moment," he said. "We did not expect they could survive our barrage."
"That's another thing about resources," Jennifer said. "Our ships are bigger, better defended, more powerful."
Harlequin laughed in great amusement and some scorn: Freddy's laugh. Harlequin must have had it from Pollyanna. "Another thing about our breeding problem: our ships are more numerous by far! Jennifer, our intentions are not your concern. We will discuss strategy. These two ships-"
"I must stop listening-"
But the Mediator's big left palm was out, pause a minute, while the Warrior spoke.
They finished. Harlequin said, "Jennifer, we sent most of our Warriors to chase your two Empire ships down, under the command of our junior Master. Medina's lizard-raping Warriors managed to destroy that command ship as they passed, but our Warrior ships are nearly untouched. They will follow your Empire-built ships through the Sister to Mote system. They can't hide, Jennifer, their drives are too peculiar."
In fact, the blue sparks of the Warrior ships' drives were disappearing even as Harlequin spoke. Other, larger sparks had flown past: the Khanate Master ships were on their way to Bury's Star. "Where will your Masters hide?"