“Thank me,” said Lak, “by telling me everything the prolocutor says to Pahlad. I’m very interested in how quickly Ethiat Budrakim turned around, when he heard Pahlad was back, and even more interested in the fact that he’s come himself and not sent his daughter, even given the Geck being here. There’s something else going on that I can’t see. You don’t happen to know what it is, do you?”
“No, I don’t. I swear I don’t.” But e was right. Ingray was sure e was right, now that e’d said it. Realized, though she should have seen it before now, that Pahlad had had eir own agenda from the start, from, at least, the moment e had agreed to stay on the ship and come back to Hwae. Ingray’s plans had been incidental to that. Pahlad’s arrest was apparently also incidental to that agenda. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry won’t unbreak the cup,” said Lak. “Now, go. I’m keeping people waiting right now who really shouldn’t be kept waiting. And, Ingray, just … you haven’t taken any advice in this so far, and I despair of you beginning now, but whatever you do, I beg you, keep me informed.”
“Yes, Nuncle,” Ingray said.
9
In the groundcar, Ingray dropped Pahlad’s black bag onto the floor, settled back into the seat, and closed her eyes. The ride from Netano’s offices to the district’s Planetary Safety headquarters was a short one—she could have walked it, would have on another day, but she didn’t want to run into someone she knew, or worse, someone from a news service. Or worst of all, the Geck ambassador.
The moment she had the thought, a whispery, whistling voice said, in Yiir, “Excellency Ingray, please don’t scream.” She opened her eyes. The voice continued. “It’s me, Tic Uisine. You don’t strike me as the screaming type, but just in case.” The bag at Ingray’s feet had sprouted a single stalked eye and three weirdly jointed, hairy legs.
She sprang to her feet—or tried to, and hit her head on the ceiling of the groundcar.
“Is there an emergency?” asked the car’s control panel as Ingray collapsed back into her seat with a cry of surprise and dismay. “Authorized voice confirmation required within fifteen se …”
“No emergency,” said Ingray, pressing herself into the seat back, as far away from the suddenly appeared spider mech as possible. “What …” She wasn’t sure she had any more words than that.
Another stalked eye popped out of the surface of the bag. It had never been a bag. Or the spider mech was able to be a bag—that went some way to explaining how the ambassador might have gotten as far as Netano’s house with no one realizing she was even on the planet. “Did Pahlad … I mean Garal …” She tried to think which name Captain Uisine would recognize. Pahlad had been carrying the bag when Deputy Chief Veret had named em. “Did Pahlad know that …”
“I just wanted to keep an eye on Pahlad,” the spider mech said, interrupting her, continuing on as though she hadn’t said anything. “Not that e needs it, necessarily, but it turns out e needs it.” Of course. The captain was far away, far enough to delay any communications with him. The ambassador had been delayed about a second. Captain Uisine was presumably even farther away. The spider mech continued. “Pahlad in the custody of Planetary Safety only has one outcome for Pahlad, and it’s not a good one. And that’s not even counting the Federacy’s involvement. I know you’ve realized that, because your shit of a brother mentioned it back at your mother’s house. You’ll have figured it out yourself, though. So the question is, what can we do about it?”
Ingray waited a moment, to see if he was still talking, but he seemed to have stopped. “Why do you care?” she asked.
“What kind of a question is that?” asked the spider mech, about a second after Ingray had finished speaking. “We don’t have time to waste. It seems likely to me that the Federacy consul is going to insist that Pahlad be handed over to them for Zat’s murder, even though Hevom obviously did it. Why he did it, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s something to do with Federacy politics, maybe it’s just feuding families, he is an affine after all. But the Federacy doesn’t mess around with things like Compassionate Removal. They’ll publicly execute Pahlad if they think that’s what they need to do. You know some influential people. So does Pahlad, of course, but they’re not going to be any help to em. Your mother is most of the way to the station by now, but that nuncle of yours seems like e might be willing to help you. Up to a point, at least. So if I know anything about you, you’re going to be confused for at least the next five or ten minutes, and then you’ll come up with something. But we don’t really have five or ten minutes, because we’re pulling up to Planetary Safety now, if I’ve counted right.” The spider mech pulled itself back into a bag shape. No, it really was a bag, even if it was also a mech, because Pahlad had kept things in it.
“Wait, what?” Ingray asked as the groundcar stopped in front of Planetary Safety. “But, no, why are you doing this?” No immediate answer. Of course. And she couldn’t just sit here arguing with a bag. She picked it up and got out of the groundcar.
“All right, five or ten minutes then,” whispered the bag, one second after she’d spoken. “That’s all we can afford. Now pick me up and let’s go.”
Ingray didn’t answer. One second. That was all the delay was. The same as the Geck ambassador. She shouldered the bag, suppressing a shudder, and headed into the main entrance of Planetary Safety.
She wasn’t sure who she should talk to, to complain about an alien ambassador bursting into her home, but she thought she might begin by asking to see Taucris. Taucris had confided in Ingray earlier, and she had always been friendly. And besides, she was well acquainted with Planetary Safety and would have a better idea of where to go than Ingray.
But as soon as Ingray came through the main door into the vestibule, a spindly, three-legged mech came to life and lurched out of its corner. “Miss Ingray Aughskold, please follow me,” it said. “The assistant to the Deputy Chief of Serious Crimes will see you immediately.”
“What?” asked Ingray, astonished. There hadn’t been even the merest chance for her to ask to see Taucris. “Has something happened?”
“Miss Ingray Aughskold,” the mech said again, “please follow me. The assistant to the Deputy Chief of Serious Crimes will see you immediately.”
“All right,” said Ingray, still puzzled. But something must have happened. “I’ll follow.”
Taucris met Ingray in the corridor, outside her office. “I was just about to message you,” Taucris said as the spindly mech spun and lurched away. “Then I heard you’d come into the building. Prolocutor Budrakim is …”