Cobra Alliance-Cobra War Book 1 (6 page)

"How who got it to them?" Lorne asked, frowning at the note the same way his father had. "Who's it from?"

"Daulo Sammon, I assume," Paul said, cocking his head at Jin. "That
is
his handwriting, isn't it?"

"Actually, I don't know," Jin said, struggling to keep her mind focused as memories three decades old came flooding back. Daulo Sammon, Obolo Nardin and his treacherous Mangus plot, the earnest but deadly young Shahni agent Miron Akim—

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Lorne asked.

With an effort, Jin pushed back the memories. "The only thing I ever saw him write was an order at the family mines," she explained. "It was written very quickly, on a pad balanced on his arm in a blustery wind. I never saw what his writing looked like when he was being careful."

"On the other hand, who else down there ever knew your full name?" Jody pointed out. "It has to be Daulo, doesn't it?"

"There were a few others who knew my name," Jin told her. "But I doubt any of them would want to see me again."

"Except maybe for revenge," Merrick said.

"Thirty-two years later?" Jin shook her head. "Highly unlikely."

"But not impossible?"

Jin grimaced. "No."

"Let's try it from the other direction," Corwin suggested. "Any idea what the crisis situation might be that the note mentions?"

Jin snorted. "On
Qasama
? It could be any of a hundred things."

"Give us a couple of possibilities," Paul said.

"Well, there was a strong tension between the cities and the villages when I was there," Jin said. "Largely because the cities had mostly gotten rid of their mojos while the villages still held onto some of theirs."

"Using the birds as bodyguards?" Merrick asked.

"Partly that, and partly as added protection against the krisjaws and spine leopards," Jin said.

"Though if the plan worked, I would assume the mojos will have deserted even the villagers by now," Corwin reminded her. "And of course, once the local spine leopards all have them as symbionts, the predator attacks should also stop, making mojo bodyguards unnecessary."

"Lot of
if
and
should
in there," Lorne warned.

Corwin shrugged uncomfortably. "Life is uncertain," he conceded.

"Actually, I think the shift was already starting," Jin said. "But even if you write the mojos out of the equation it doesn't necessarily follow that the cities and villages will have started getting along."

"Witness the tension between our own cities and expansion regions," Merrick murmured.

"Exactly," Jin said. "And feelings and memories run a lot deeper on Qasama than they do here."

"What other possibilities for trouble might there be?" Paul asked.

"Like I said, it could be any number of things," Jin said. "Obolo Nardin's effort to subvert the Shahni with his Mangus Project might have had a resurgence somewhere. Some Troft demesne might be poking around Qasaman internal affairs again. Or someone might have been inspired by Nardin and be trying his own plan for revolt or subversion."

"So far, none of this sounds like a problem they'd want your help with," Lorne pointed out.

"Except maybe the Troft thing," Jody said. "The Qasamans can't know nearly as much about the ins and outs of Troft culture and politics as we do."

"Not necessarily," Jin said. "They've obviously made contact with at least the Tlossies." She gestured toward the paper Lorne was still holding. "Or at least Daulo has. And Qasamans learn
very
quickly."

"Yes, let's talk about the Tlossies for a minute," Paul said. "Merrick, did this courier say anything about how he'd obtained this note?"

"Not a word," Merrick said. "I had the impression he had no idea what the envelope was, that he'd simply been hired or ordered to deliver it. He did give me a card with contact information, but it wasn't for him personally."

"How do you know?" Lorne asked.

"The status curlies around the card's border didn't match those on his abdomen sash," Merrick explained. "Not nearly as elaborate, either, which means the card is from someone considerably higher in social rank."

"I spent an hour earlier trying to match the curlies to known Tlossie traders, but the search came up dry," Corwin added. "Whoever the card's from, he's apparently no one who's done serious business here."

"Have you tried contacting him?" Jody asked.

Merrick shook his head. "I assumed that whether or not we went that far would be up to Mom."

A brief silence settled over the room. Jin stared at the note lying beside Lorne's dessert fork, acutely aware of the precarious ledge she was now standing on.

The ledge
all
of them were standing on. Merrick's earlier warning that they were edging onto treason hadn't been hyperbole—the Cobra Worlds Council had imposed a strict interdiction on travel to Qasama, and they meant it. Even getting on a starship with intent to travel there could conceivably land Jin a multiyear prison term.

And the knowledge that she was planning such a trip could likewise land everyone in this room in that same prison on conspiracy charges.

But the legality of the matter wasn't really the question. The question was what was the right thing to do.

Qasama . . .

They were still waiting for her, she realized suddenly. "Well, it can't hurt to ask," she said, motioning to Merrick as she pulled out her comm. He hesitated, then slid a small business-sized card from his pocket and handed it to her. Jin glanced at the number and punched it in.

It was answered on the fifth ring. [The evening, it is good, Jasmine Moreau Broom,] a recorded Troft voice said, the alien cattertalk as crisp and precise in its way as the Qasaman handwriting on the brief note. [The voyage, if you intend to make it, will depart from Pindar three days from the delivery time of the package. All that is necessary, it will be provided.]

There was a click, and the connection was broken. "Well?" Paul asked as Jin closed the comm again.

"It was a recording," she said. "I'm to leave from Pindar in three days, at—Merrick, what time was the note delivered?"

"Just after two."

"Three days from now at two o'clock," Jin said. "He says he'll provide everything I need, which I assume will include proper Qasaman clothing and accessories."

"Sounds good," Lorne said briskly. Briskly, but with an undertone of tension beneath the words. "Three days should give me enough time to get myself on the off-duty roster. I'll collect my stuff—"

"Whoa, whoa," Jin interrupted. "The invitation was for
me.
"

"So?" Lorne countered.

"So I'm going alone," Jin said firmly.

"You most certainly are not," Paul said, just as firmly. "But you
are
right about Lorne not going with you. We can—"

"You're not going, either," Jin said, forcing herself to look into her husband's eyes.

Haunted eyes. Worried eyes. Loving eyes. "Jin—" he began.

"No," Jin insisted. "You don't know the Qasamans, Paul. One Cobra sneaking onto their world is bad enough. Two of them will be interpreted as an invasion."

"So we make sure they don't see anything that jumps them to that conclusion," Paul countered. "I can stay in the background, or be your loyal servant, or whatever you need."

Jin braced herself. "What I need," she said as gently as she could, "is for you to be willing to stay behind. I have to do this alone. I really do."

"What is this, mass insanity?" Lorne demanded. "Jody's going to Caelian, you're going to Qasama—"

"
Caelian?
" Jin cut him off.

"Lorne!" Jody bit out, her stunned expression edging rapidly toward fury.

Lorne winced. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Never mind sorry," Jin said sternly, her stomach suddenly doing flip-turns inside her. "Jody?"

"I was going to tell you after dinner, Mom," Jody said, her expression managing to be repentant and stubborn at the same time. "We got the call this afternoon from Governor Uy's office. We're leaving on the
Freedom's Fire
in—" she grimaced "—in three days."

"From Capitalia?" Paul asked.

"Yes," Jody said. "But maybe I can get the time changed."

"Don't try," Jin said, feeling the heavy weight of irony settling across her shoulders. The same time Jin would be leaving Aventine . . . only they'd be leaving from spaceports a thousand kilometers apart. The universe wasn't even going to let her say a proper dock-side farewell to her daughter. "They'd only want to know why, and we can't afford anyone asking awkward questions."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Jody said. "I know you didn't want this."

"No, I didn't," Jin said quietly. "But I doubt your grandfather really wanted me going to Qasama, either. Sometimes we just have to face the unpleasant fact that our children do, in fact, grow up."

She looked at Corwin, wondering if he would point up the obvious difference in their situations: that Jin's father, at least, had sent her off to Qasama with a group of other Cobras.

But her uncle remained silent, and after a couple of seconds she turned back to Lorne. "Your cue, Lorne," she invited.

"My what?" he asked, frowning.

"A minute ago you were all set to come to Qasama with me," she reminded him. "Time to offer to accompany your sister to Caelian instead."

"Go for it, kiddo, because
I'm
sure not going," Merrick spoke up before Lorne could answer. "Capitalia patroller duty may not be as glamorous as hunting spine leopards, but my commandant takes our duty rosters very seriously."

"Well—okay, sure," Lorne said, fumbling a bit. "Jody—"

"Sorry, Lorne, but you're not going to Caelian, either," Paul spoke up. "You have a duty to the citizens of the expansion region."

Jin turned to her husband in disbelief. "Paul—"

"Luckily," Paul continued, looking over at his daughter, "I just happen to have an opening in my own calendar."

Jin felt her lower jaw drop open, her planned protest strangling into silence in her throat. "Paul, you are
not
going to Caelian," she insisted.

"Why not?" Paul countered calmly. "No, let me put it more strongly: I'm not going to sit home and water the azaleas while my wife and daughter travel to the two most dangerous places in the known galaxy. If I'm not going to Qasama with you, I'm going to Caelian with Jody."

Jin stared at him, momentarily at an uncharacteristic loss for words.

And yet, as the emotional fogbank cleared away, she realized he was right. Even at fifty-three, with arthritis and anemia starting to make themselves felt, Paul was still a Cobra. Moreover, he had the maturity and experience and cool headedness that Lorne still lacked. There could be no better protection for Jin's little girl.

She grimaced. No, not her little girl. Her young lady.

She looked at her two sons in turn. Lorne seemed midway between annoyed and frustrated, no doubt as a result of the ground being cut out from under him twice in two minutes. Merrick merely looked his usual stolid self, with no hint of embarrassment or shame at how quickly he'd refused to even consider going to Caelian with his sister.

Or maybe he'd simply realized before the rest of them that his father was heading in that direction and had made certain he wouldn't be standing in the elder Broom's way. "I guess it's settled, then," Jin said, forcing some false heartiness into her voice. "Paul and Jody will go to Caelian, I'll head to Qasama, and Lorne and Merrick will hold down the fort here."

"And try to maintain the illusion that you're still on Aventine," Merrick put in.

Jin frowned. She hadn't thought about that part of it. "Yes, good point. Any ideas on how we do that?"

"One or two," Merrick said. "But we can work on that later." He raised his eyebrows at Corwin. "After dessert, perhaps?" he prompted.

"That is the direction we were headed, wasn't it?" Corwin agreed. "Perhaps,
now,
Lorne and Jody, you'll be kind enough to clear the table for us?"

"Sure," Jody said as they both obediently pushed their chairs back from the table and started collecting the dishes.

"So is that it for the evening's surprises?" Paul asked, looking at Corwin.

Corwin cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that enough for one night?"

"Very much so," Paul said dryly. Reaching under the table, he took Jin's hand in his. "I just wanted to make sure.
And
to make sure that everyone had a say."

"Everyone who wanted a say has had one," Corwin assured him. "For now."

The group was midway through dessert, and the conversation had shifted to Jody's plans for the Caelian study, when Jin suddenly realized that Aunt Thena hadn't said a single word throughout the entire debate.

The next three days went by quickly. Far too quickly.

The Troft recording had said that everything Jin needed would be supplied aboard ship. But she couldn't and wouldn't simply assume the Trofts knew what a proper infiltrator needed to do her job.

On the other hand, she could hardly go to the hardware store and ask the clerk to assemble a standard-issue commando backpack for her, either. Fortunately, the standard Cobra survival pack was a good place to start, and she knew its contents by heart. She bought enough supplies to stock two such packs, making sure to shop in a half dozen different stores across the city so as to muddy the backtrail a bit. Once those were prepared, she added a few other odds and ends as they occurred to her, and then decided she was as ready as she was going to be.

She spent the rest of the time she had left with her family. Those hours went by even faster.

The sky was beginning to cloud up as she stepped off the intercity transport and headed on foot toward the long, sleek Troft freighter squatting on its pad across the Pindar landing field. She'd done everything she could; had given Paul and Jody their final hugs earlier that morning, and then had called from the transport for a last good-bye as her husband and daughter watched Jody's two colleagues load the last bits of gear aboard the
Freedom's Fire.
But the farewells had been sorely inadequate for the occasion, and Jin could feel her mood filling with its own dark clouds as she walked wearily toward the ship.