The Cause of Death Read online

  Jamie shrugged. "Certo. Nostromos estamos aqui para ajudar-io. E nuestro job."

  "No, it isn't," Hannah said sharply. That was what she was afraid Jamie would think. They weren't here to help Hertzmann. It wasn't their job. "We're here to help the human race. The most useful and important thing we can do is to convince the Elder Races that humans are worth troubling themselves with, and to convince them that we play the game fairly. We look out for our people, but we don't shield them from justice. If a human does wrong, we don't pretend otherwise. We're not defense attorneys here to get Georg Herztmann off on a technicality. We're not here to save him--but to act in the best long-range interests of the human race. We're not just cops, not just investigators. We're out here not just to solve crimes, but to represent humanity to a universe full of intelligent species, most of whom don't care about us at all, and some of whom are actively, dangerously, hostile to us. Whatever job we were summoned here to do, remember the job is first, and helping out our fellow humans comes second, by a long shot. Comprende?"

  "Comprendo," Jamie said. "Pero--"

  And then their minder bustled into the copse. "Excuse-me-honored-sirs-but-there-is-danger,"his

  speech generator burbled, all the words run together as if he had only had to push one button to get the whole preprogrammed announcement to run--which was probably the case.

  Jamie shut his mouth, shook his head, and opened it again. "Right on schedule," he said to Hannah as he stood up. He turned to their minder and nodded wearily. "Right," he said. "Terrible, terrible danger," he said. "Let's go. We must flee at once. Thank you so much, Honored-sir, for saving our insignificant lives."

  But Honored-sir's speech generator didn't seem to have any button he could push to respond to that.

  * * *

  Honored-sir the Minder boldly led them clear of the completely undetectable danger and back to Hotel Number Two. There was an unusual amount of hustle and bustle around its entrances when they got back. There were three large and very grand ground vehicles parked outside, with drivers in formal livery standing in the Pavlat equivalent of parade rest in front of each one.

  A small crowd had gathered, and there was an excited buzz of conversation. Jamie and Hannah didn't even bother to ask Honored-sir what it was all about. The obvious way to find out was to head directly up to the General Room on the top floor--where the answer was instantly apparent. There were two beings, a Pavlat and--infuriatingly enough, a Kendari--dining at the best table in the room. Indeed, at the moment, the only table in the room. Everything else had been cleared away. The normal hum and bustle of the General Room had given way to almost complete silence, though the room was far from empty. A large and respectful crowd of Pavlat, all of them hotel employees as best Hannah could tell, were standing three and four deep behind a rope barrier, staring at the diners.

  Where are all the guests--all the xenos? Hannah asked herself. At a guess, they had all been told to stay away--or all simply had the sense to stay away. And what in the name of the dark sky devils is a Kendari doing here?

  Whatever was going on was plainly for their benefit. Jamie and she had been allowed straight on up and in, with no word of warning, no mangled order from Honored-sir. Suddenly Hannah understood why they had been allowed out of the hotel in the first place, and why Honored-sir had detected terrible danger at just the moment he had. It was theater. They had been cleared out of the way to set the stage, then, once all was ready, had been summoned back to play their parts in whatever artificial drama this was.

  "It's a setup," Hannah whispered to Jamie as they moved forward into the room. "Watch yourself."

  "How about watching out for that Kendari having a nice lunch with the High Thelek himself?" Jamie whispered back.

  "What?" Things had just gotten taken up a notch. "The High Thelek? Are you sure?"

  "Either that, or I was wasting all my time memorizing those Pavlat faces and insignia on the ride here."

  "Don't get cute," Hannah said tersely. "We need to play this totally straight. He's here for our benefit. I just don't know why." She paused, and looked about the room, just as the crowd parted to let them through, and an obsequious attendant opened the rope barrier and gestured for them to step inside. "Okay," she said, looking straight ahead at the table, smiling faintly, "I've got the field experience and you did more study on Reqwar politics. Which one of us does the talking?"

  "I haven't the faintest idea," said Jamie.

  "Me either," said Hannah. "We'll make it up as we go."

  SIXTEENTHELEK

  "Ah, there you both are," High Thelek Saffeer called out. "Come, Agent Wolfson. You too, Agent Mendez. Please, join us."

  Senior Inquirist Brox 231 watched nervously as the two human agents approached the table. He glanced over at Thelek Saffeer. The fool was positively radiating confidence, utterly sure that he had already won, that the game was over before it began. The High Thelek had of course known that the humans suspected their Pavlat-made clothes were bugged, and that therefore it was to be expected that the humans would wear their own clothes, however absurd-looking, when they wanted a private chat. The Thelek, Brox knew, had deliberately used that knowledge to arrange for this meeting to take place when the humans were badly dressed. What sort of creature would go to that effort merely to make an opponent look bad?

  "Welcome, welcome to you both," the Thelek said.

  "Thank for welcome," said the younger of the two humans, the male. Mendez, that was the name. The Thelek had spoken in Reqwar Pavlat, and Mendez had at least done his best to answer in the same language.

  "You are of course the brave human lawkeepers Mendez and Wolfson," said the Thelek. "I am known to you. I present Brox 231, of the planet Kendal." It did not escape Brox's notice that the Thelek did not identify him as an Inquirist of the Kendari Inquiries Service. On the other hand, the humans were not likely to assume he had come to Reqwar as a tourist.

  Both humans turned to Brox, and nodded very slightly. "My partner and I greet you," said Agent Wolfson, likewise in Pavlat, very stiffly and correctly. And we don't much like seeing you here. They didn't say it, but they might as well have done so.

  "Please," said the Thelek. "Sit down, join us."

  The two humans exchanged a quick glance, a half nod that Brox would not have caught at all, if not for the training he had received on human nonvocal communications. The humans were unsure of their ground, but confident enough about each other to go forward without discussion. Brox felt sure the Thelek hadn't spotted any of that. He was taking a terrible risk with a face-to-face meeting if he couldn't interpret human reactions better than that.

  The two humans took to their seats at the two more or less human-style chairs set at the six-sided table, between Brox and the High Thelek. There was no food or drink set at their places, and their chairs were equidistant between Brox and the High Thelek so that they had to sit at the angles of the table, rather than at the sides. All that was theater, of course, and Brox had no doubt the humans were receiving the message that the High Thelek was sending. We have placed chairs suited to your species, so you know you were expected. We have not arranged a comfortable place for you, or a meal, however, so that you will know you are not worthy to eat with the High Thelek, though Brox the Kendari has received that honor.

  Brox had to wonder why the Thelek had chosen to bring him along to such a public occasion after keeping him hidden away for so long. Certainly part of it was to put him on display in front of the humans, but why do it so publicly? Reqwar Pavlat didn't care for any non-Pavlat sentient beings.

  Was the Thelek hoping to play off against the current tension by trotting out his alliance with a species that was perceived as being antihuman? That would be giving the Thelek a great deal of credit for subtlety. Saffeer worked almost entirely by instinct and impulse.

  And what part was Brox to play here? Was he on display as Saffeer's partner, or advisor, or spy? Were the humans supposed to think he endorsed everything Saffeer said? And
would the humans read it the way Saffeer wanted? Had it crossed the High Thelek's mind that the humans might see Brox as his keeper or his instructor? Probably not. The Thelek's imagination might not be much, but his ego was massively strong.

  "Ask what is occasion for you us be here?" said Mendez, still struggling with Reqwar Pavlat.

  Brox could see that the High Thelek was baffled by the question. He would be willing to bet that it had never occurred to the High Thelek that his guests might not speak his language fluently. He had brought no translation equipment along. "Perhaps it would be wise to use another form of speech," said Brox, speaking for the first time. He turned to Mendez and spoke in middling-fair English. "I doubt Thelek know any human tongue, but he does good talk in Lesser Trade Speech. You talk it?"

  It was the female, Wolfson, who answered--in Lesser Trade Speech. "Lesser Trade Speech will be fully acceptable," she said, but then she glanced at her partner. "I believe Agent Mendez is somewhat less practiced in Lesser Trade, but he will at least be able to follow the talk."

  Mendez instantly demonstrated he could do more than that. "Notable High Thelek," he said in quite good Lesser Trade, "I politely ask the reason for our meeting here and now."

  The Thelek cocked his head to one side and spread his ears out in an expression of relaxed confidence. "To welcome our human guests, and to provide you with useful information."

  "Notable High Thelek," said Mendez, "forgive the rudeness, but your allies and subordinates tried most hard to kill us, many times, during our arrival. Your people have spied on us constantly in many ways since we came to Hotel Number Two. I must ask: Why the attacks and spying, and why, now, such a very fine welcome?" Mendez gestured at the table, taking in both the meals in front of Brox and Saffeer and the blank places before the humans. Even the Thelek would be hard-pressed to miss the implied sarcasm. Brox could not but admire the courage of this young Mendez, though perhaps his judgment was somewhat impaired.

  Or perhaps not, for the Thelek did not seem disturbed. "Circumstances change, young human," said the Thelek. The word "young" was mildly insulting in Lesser Trade, as it was in nearly all the languages spoken by the Elder Races. "New information arises. But, most importantly, we meet here today, in a place where the Thelm's Law is in effect. Here I enforce his commands, and he has commanded that you be kept safe. In my own lands, which, as of quite recently, include the spaceport, I rule by the grant of the Thelm's Will--but I am left entirely to myself in interpreting what his Will would be if he ruled where instead he wills me to rule."

  "Even if he does the exact opposite in places where he expresses his Will directly?" asked Agent Wolfson.

  "Just so," said the Thelek.

  Wolfson touched the pendant at her throat. "Then the Thelm's Hand is of no protection in the lands that you rule by grant of the Thelm's Will?"

  "Oh no, that is quite a different matter," said the Thelek. "In effect, the Thelm's Hand places you inside a bubble of Thelm's Land that travels about with you. You are under his direct rule wherever you go, and under his protection."

  "Then what of those who fired at our vehicle after we landed, after the spaceport security personnel had been told we and our ship were under the Thelm's Hand?" Mendez asked.

  "Ah, that was a flaw in procedure," said the Thelek. "Zahida Halztec was empowered to place the two of you under the Thelm's Hand. She was in no way empowered to place your vehicle, or any other inanimate object, under his Hand."

  "No doubt the assault car drivers consulted with the best legal authorities before firing on our ship," said Hannah.

  "Unlikely, I grant--but my people are well schooled, and well trained--and the power to extend the Thelm's Hand to an object, rather than a person is not valid unless properly published. They could have looked it up from the scout cars' data systems. But, as there were no survivors, it is impossible for us to know."

  "Your well-trained assault car teams fired on me, directly, when I was well away from the ship," said Mendez. "And I can tell you they made no effort whatsoever to check if anyone was still aboard the craft before they fired at that inanimate object. If we had still been inside, our bubbles of Thelm's Land would not have been much protection."

  There was a sudden hint of steel behind the geniality as the Thelek answered. "There are often unanswered questions. You are alive, and now under the Thelm's Hand and Law, both because of where you are and because of the pendants you wear. I would gently suggest that you leave it at that."

  "Noble Thelek, I will," said Agent Mendez. "But I am grateful to hear you confirm that we are now and shall remain under the Thelm's Hand, which, needless to say, you honor in all respects."

  "Yes, yes, of course," the Thelek said hurriedly, obviously not seeing the trap that had been set.

  But Mendez's partner saw it plain, and she snapped it shut on him. "Does not the protection of the Thelm's Hand extend to surveillance and privacy?" she asked. "Has there been some oversight on the part of the attendants here at Hotel Number Two? We are trained to watch for watchers, as it were--but I can tell you the watchers here have not required much skill to detect."

  A moment's silence grew longer, and longer still, before the Thelek could reply. "Yes, of course," he said again, quite meaninglessly. He gestured toward the silent crowd that stood observing them all. "As you can see, my popularity is strong. Some subordinates are overzealous, too eager to please me. They seek to anticipate my wishes--and they do not always guess my wishes correctly. I will see to it that surveillance of the two of you on the part of employees of Hotel Number Two will stop."

  One would think the human Mendez had spent his whole life comparing the Thelek's promises against his actions, judging by the way he pounced on the glaring loopholes in Saffeer's words. He spoke carefully, shifting to Spoken Greater Trade Writing Language for the purpose. "Forgive me, noble Thelek, for use of the more formal version of speech, but my skill in Lesser Trade Speech sometimes is not complete. I might have missed part of that. Are you promising that, effective immediately, there will be no more listening, watching, datalifting, or other covert information retrieval directed against us, by any person in your employ or under your direct or indirect command? And that there will be no literalist or tortured interpretations of that commitment?"

  "I did not say--but, well, yes, of course. All that goes without saying it."

  "But now it has been said," Mendez replied. "And all is made clear, to all present."

  His command of Lesser Trade Speech might or might not have been limited, but his use of Spoken Greater Trade Writing was highly skilled. Even the High Thelek would have a hard time finding a hole in that promise, given in front of a herd of witnesses he had invited himself.

  Brox looked over the BSI agents. The Thelek--and Brox himself--had underestimated these two. But if these humans thought that scoring a point or two would win them the game, then they would be underestimating the High Thelek--to a most dangerous degree.

  And the Thelek undertook to demonstrate that immediately. "But these are things of the past," said the Thelek, making a dismissive gesture. "I have come here now to do you a service--to provide you with vital information that no one, not even your great friend Zahida Halztec, has seen fit to give you. Indeed, so vital is this information to your work, I was not even aware you did not have it until just today: I assumed it had been provided to you. It shows that you were not wise to trust in a person of such poor pedigree. She is the grandniece of the traitor Bindulan Halztec--an exile of such degraded reputation that it is forbidden to so much as utter his name in the Thelm's presence."

  "We'll bear that in mind if we ever meet the Thelm," Mendez said. "Please go on."

  "You should know that I have an intelligence service that rivals your own fine organization. And as I am sure you do know, much of the work in intelligence concerns itself not with what is secret, but rather with what is freely available and yet unexamined. Thanks to my private service, I have seen, as you have not, the original ver
sion of the message sent to the human government, as well as the mangled version finally delivered to your superiors."

  Private service indeed! Brox restrained the temptation to growl. Brox and his secret informants were the only intelligence service that had brought Saffeer any useful information on the subject. And yet he was forced to sit here and listen to this nonsense. Was that why he had been brought here, or at least one of the reasons? To force him into a situation where he dared not deny the Thelek's near lies, so that he would be forced to stick to the story in the future?

  "Can we take it that there was some significant difference between the two?" Wolfson asked.

  "Oh, yes," said the Thelek, "a very great deal of difference indeed. But it was the absence of information that told me the most, and is the greatest of reasons that, as I have said, circumstances have changed."

  In other words, why he no longer feels as if he needs to kill you, thought Brox.

  "So," asked Mendez, "it is the change in circumstance, and not the awesome respect all hold for the Thelm's Hand over us, that keeps us alive?"

  Anger flashed in the Thelek's face, and his ears darkened in color as they folded back hard against the back of his head. Brox marveled at the risks the humans were taking--but then thought to wonder if they were risks. The Thelek, after all, had acknowledged publicly that he was not going to harm them, and that he now considered them inviolate.

  "Do you question my honor, young human?"

  "Noble Thelek," Mendez replied, "I do not believe there is the slightest question concerning your honor."

  It was not at all clear to Brox if High Thelek Saffeer saw the double meaning in that answer. But what was starting to become clear was that, in some way, the Thelek needed the humans. Even so, Brox had no doubt that the Thelek was already imagining tragic accidents that might befall them the moment their usefulness was at an end.