They’re running out of time. And Ingray hadn’t heard anything at all from Tic, in all this time. Had he not been able to get in? But she didn’t want to think about that. “Did you know? That Prolocutor Budrakim was involved with the Omkem like this?”
Prolocutor Dicat scoffed. “We’ve all been courted by the Federacy. You said it yourself, they’ve been trying to bribe anyone they thought would swing the prolocutors and Extra-Hwae Relations their way. Did I know Ethiat Budrakim was a greedy, power hungry traitor, is the question.” E made a meditative hmph. “Well, he’s always been greedy and power hungry. That’s normal for an ambitious Assembly representative. The traitor is new.”
“He might not think he was being a traitor,” Nicale pointed out, timidly, looking to Ingray for reassurance. “If it was a question of just looking like he was saving Hwae from the Omkem.”
“If he was stupid enough to invite the Omkem here and think they wouldn’t take whatever they could, you mean,” corrected Prolocutor Dicat.
“So Garal coming back actually did him a favor,” Ingray suggested. “Sort of.”
Prolocutor Dicat made a disgusted, incredulous noise. Opened eir mouth to say something more but a deafening bang sounded, startling Ingray into throwing her hands up in front of her face. Heart racing, she looked around to see what had happened. Commander Hatqueban strode past, headed for the mech at the entrance away from the Rejection. Its gun was pointed at the white-painted ceiling.
Chenns was suddenly beside her. “Don’t move!” he cried. Gasping slightly. He must have run to them from Commander Hatqueban’s side. He looked as startled as Ingray was. Nicale lay flat on the floor, her hands covering her head. Prolocutor Dicat was bent forward in eir seat.
As Commander Hatqueban neared the mech it fired and the sudden loud sound brought Ingray’s hands up again. “What is it?” she asked, not even trying to sound calm.
“I don’t know!” Chenns replied. “But you need to get down. The prolocutor needs to get down.”
“E can’t get down by eirself,” said Ingray.
The mech swung its weapon toward another part of the ceiling and fired again. Dust and fragments of plastic dropped to the floor. Nicale, arms crossed over the back of her head, whimpered.
“We need to get the prolocutor down on the ground,” insisted Chenns, and pulled his helmet on.
The mech fired again, seven shots in rapid succession. Something large and black appeared, clinging to the white ceiling for just a moment, and then it dropped and hit the floor with a splat, a few meters from where Nicale lay.
“Confound it!” said Chenns, according to Ingray’s translation utility. “What is it?”
Ingray made a strangled sound. Three eyestalks tried to lift but then flopped down again, and one of the thing’s hairy, clawed appendages twitched. Blue fluid pooled around it, and more spatters of blue surrounded it.
“Fiddlesticks!” swore Commander Hatqueban, striding up to the bleeding, now-still spider mech. “Fiddlesticks! Fiddlesticks! Confounded Geck ambassador!” She turned to Ingray, said in Yiir, “She was following you.”
Ingray felt tears start. She was in terrible danger and she was utterly alone. “No! She had everything she wanted, she had Garal, she had …” She couldn’t allow Tic’s name to come out of her mouth, or she would break down utterly. “She doesn’t care about me at all!”
“Hatqueban,” said Chenns. In Yiir. “Tell me we didn’t just shoot the Geck ambassador to the Presger.”
“But …” began Ingray, and stopped herself before the words it’s just a mech could escape. How clear had the news services been about that? She wasn’t sure. The mech had stopped moving, its eyestalks lying flaccid in a pool of … was that blue fluid blood? She couldn’t keep from making a distressed moan.
“This isn’t good,” observed Prolocutor Dicat drily. E was again sitting up, leaning against the back of eir chair.
“Why was she here?” Commander Hatqueban demanded of Ingray.
“I don’t know!” Ingray cried. “How am I supposed to know?”
“Hatqueban,” said Chenns, and continued, not in Yiir, “for what reason is the event? No plausibility that the Geck might interfere for this one.”
“The Pahlad the Garal Ket is this one’s ally,” replied Commander Hatqueban. “Or else curiosity. Erratic is the ambassador.”
“If you’ve broken the treaty,” observed Prolocutor Dicat, voice still dry, “I expect every human government will be more than happy to make the most abject apologies to the Geck, and as part of that they’ll likely promise to do whatever will make the Geck forget about this, up to and including handing you and your soldiers over to them. The Omkem Federacy very possibly included.”
“Be silent,” snapped Commander Hatqueban. And stood then, motionless for a good minute. Considering, maybe, or communicating with her troops elsewhere. Or both. Ingray sniffled, and stifled a sob. She couldn’t prevent the tears from rolling down her face.
Chenns pulled his helmet off again. “Miss Aughskold, are you all right?”
Ingray took a ragged breath. “I’m fine.” But she wasn’t. She was alone, and there was no help coming.
“Are you all right, Prolocutor?” asked Chenns.
“Do you actually care?” asked Prolocutor Dicat.
“Prolocutor, I assure you, I …” Chenns began.
“Excellency Tai,” Commander Hatqueban said abruptly, in Yiir, seeming not to notice or care that she had interrupted Excellency Chenns. “You will open the case in which the Rejection of Further Obligations to Tyr is stored. Without triggering any alarms.”
Silence. Then, “I won’t,” said Nicale.
“You will,” said the commander, calmly. “Or I will shoot Excellency Aughskold.” Some catch or compartment near Commander Hatqueban’s hip came loose, and she pulled out a sidearm. A gun—Ingray didn’t know much about guns, except the sort that turned up in the occasional adventure serial. This one was black, but somehow the circle of empty space at the end the commander now pointed directly at Ingray was even blacker. The bore. That was what that was called, the channel a bullet would travel down. Her entire attention was on that hole, on the gun. Everything else seemed distant and unreal. Fresh tears welled, rolled down her cheeks.
She was alone.
“Stand up, all of you,” Commander Hatqueban continued. “We’re all going to walk over to the case, and Excellency Tai will open it and remove the Rejection of Obligations.”
“Why?” asked Ingray.
“Because the Omkem have to get out of here now before anyone realizes what just happened to the Geck ambassador,” said Prolocutor Dicat.