Of Beleaugered Policemen (excerpt)
(it's been some time since I posted here- working on Force of Fate at jinxtigr.com- so here is a big chunk from the 'Of Beleaugered Policemen' chapter of the Tally Road novel. It covers a lot of plot motion and lots of characters, from action to drama to character-building, and goes from the beginning of the chapter to the change of scene right at the end, totalling almost 10,000 words. If you want to keep going, continue at http://www.jinxtigr.com/writing/tallyroad/of-beleaugered-policemen.html and go from there, because this novel IS complete and the next one is coming along nicely :) )
Jennis followed the white feline in, and noticed with a touch of professional jealousy that the kitty wore her few extra pounds better than Jennis did. It seemed to have gone to her butt and breasts, where Jennis's had apparently gone to her belly and shoulders. Well... it didn't matter so much now, she'd be doing other work. With a bit of luck she'd keep her hand in. She was not at all ready to just abandon eros in favor of muscle- but in this place, she wouldn't be the main attraction. Far from it.
The door opened on a large common area, like an atrium that opened on two floors: the lower floor featured a curtained wall with a central corridor extending off from it. The upper floor also showed a central corridor, but also a balcony, with no sort of railing, and no sign of stairs or ladders- no, wait, there was the end of a rope ladder hanging over the side, which Jennis didn't see at first because of the telephone pole in the way.
Jennis blinked in surprise. Yep, that was a telephone pole. Could it be a sort of giant scratching post? Her curiosity was very quickly satisfied, as Demarle swarmed up it almost without breaking stride, and scampered down the upstairs corridor, calling "Tery! Cery! Business!"
Jennis looked blankly at the rather clawed-up pole. She'd just have to wait- it wouldn't be a simple matter to follow the white kitty. That, presumably, was the point.
But there was no harm in showing her ingenuity.
Jennis ran up and made a determined leap, slamming against the curtained wall just short of the end of the ladder- missed! She took a moment to remind herself how stupid that would've been if the curtains hadn't been against a wall. They looked purely decorative, but you never knew.
As the white kitty's voice was heard in the upstairs hallway, returning with co-workers in tow, Jennis tried again, and just managed to snag the end of the latter before crashing to the ground once more. The ladder spilled over the edge, and Jennis bounced up and scrambled to get to the top. She prepared to stick her head up like an unexpected jack-in-the-box with a cry of "You call this security?"
She didn't even get the first word out. As she started to pop up into sight, her progress was halted by an iron grasp on her tail.
Jennis glanced down in alarm, to see a burly and heavyset older Runge gentleman, with a graying muzzle, a disapproving look, and no clothes at all.
"Ma'am, I don't think you're supposed to be up there." he said.
Hot on his heels was somebody Jennis recognized instantly, a grey feline with a shape that still hinted obliquely at her former glories, a face and presence that Jennis had known of since her youth.
Of course it could only be Faisand- the real Faisand, whom Jennis had never been this close to. There seemed to be something the matter with her left ear, but Jennis didn't have time to look further, because Demarle and two other kitties were rapidly approaching.
"Whatcha doing, trying to follow us?" said Demarle.
"Yeah. Mind telling this guy to let go my tail, please?"
"Not until you state your business." said the naked lupine gentleman.
"This lady's thinking about hiring me." said Jennis, clinging to the rope and held by the tail. She considered taking a well-aimed kick at the guy, but didn't think it really gave an impression of professionalism.
"Is that true, Arle?" asked Faisand sternly.
"Yes, completely." said Demarle. "She says she's a bouncer. She wants to take over Mags' job."
Faisand and the Runge guy looked at each other.
"How do they know, so quick?" she said, dismayed.
"It's the word on the street, okay?" said Jennis. "Listen, I'll come back down, now would you let go my damn tail already?"
"She's pretty aggressive." said the guy.
Faisand shrugged, elegantly. "Enforcers often are. That might be a good sign. Go ahead, let her go."
He did, and Jennis descended the rope ladder, noting that Arle, the white kitty, hastened down the telephone pole but the other two stayed up. There was a huge ginger one and a smaller black one, and they watched fascinatedly.
"Thanks, dude." said Jennis wryly.
"Go get your clothes on, Anzy, there was no emergency." chided Faisand.
Jennis added, "I didn't want to hurt you, otherwise I'd have made you let go."
"Oh?" said Anzy, cocking his head to the side.
"Yeah. It wouldn't be professional. Not what you call an audition."
"Do you want one?" said the big wolf guy. "Demarle, do you want me to audition this mouthy lady?"
"What've you got in mind? You've been full of surprises so far."
Jennis felt the situation slipping out of her control, making less and less sense. She was almost certain she'd seen two kids peeking from the upstairs corridor, and not even Nerre kids- Runge, like her. That was wildly incongruous, even a violation of Verss code in some situations. She fought to keep things moving in a useful direction. "Demarle, how about I disable this guy without hurting him? I need to ask first if it's okay for him to hit the ground hard."
"Oh, nice!" said the guy. "Demarle, I'm throwing her out. If I can do that, don't let her in, she failed..."
Jennis flexed her wrists unobtrusively, and braced her paws well. "If that's the way you want it, come on."
"Get back, Arle!" cried Faisand. Above her, a ginger and a black feline face watched avidly, now joined by two little Runge cub faces, black and blonde.
"One." said the guy. "No, let's make that 'one half'."
He lumbered forward at her, hands out to grab her, a slightly mocking expression of aggressiveness on his face- and in a blur of motion, he appeared to flip himself over, for his hand had gone out and been grabbed by Jennis and twisted. The guy hit the ground with a bone-jarring thump, but he kept moving. He rolled and sprang to his feet with a grace that startled Jennis very much, and now he was grinning.
"Level two." said Anzy- and began to move in again.
Jennis stared warily at the guy. What the hell was he? He didn't look tough, but here he came again, and it was going to be embarrassing at best if she couldn't take the guy down. At worst, she'd get injured, break up the place, and still not get a job. She put such thoughts out of her mind determinedly.
Fine- if he wanted to play, let's skip the games, thought Jennis.
"Fuck your levels, fat boy. You're the one hitting the floor. Come on."
It was too much to hope that he'd lose his temper and rush her again, for this time she wasn't fooling around... but she saw that her taunt had an effect, for the guy stepped back, and looked at the floor for a moment. He looked up again real quick, for Jennis feinted at him right then.
"Come ON!" she cried.
He glanced at Faisand, as if in apology, and strode right over- directly at Jennis, who didn't back off an inch, and things happened very quickly after that.
Anzy went for Jennis again, and again fell for a wrist-lock and flipped over as if flinging himself to the floor, but as he hit, he twisted around and kicked Jennis's paws out from under her. She dropped, and tried to scramble clear, but was yanked to a halt by another grab of her tail.
She kicked at his arm, but he only grabbed tighter despite a few solid blows, and he was just beginning to twist when Jennis doubled up, ignoring the pain, and came straight at his eyes with her hands formed into points. He flinched, which was good because she wasn't planning to soften the attack for him- and in doing so, he let go her tail and Jennis had freedom of movement again.
She went for him, but he scrambled backwards directly towards Demarle and Faisand, who scampered out the way in alarm. Jennis wondered if he'd meant that on purpose, and quickly decided that yes, he fucking well had- for he took the opportunity to bounce to his feet again, and obviously was about to go on the attack. The guy was a fucking nightmare, what the hell was he?
Desperation gave Jennis inspiration. As she closed with the guy, she twisted in a convulsive kick that both took his legs out from under him, and dropped her to the ground as well... under him, with her left arm flying up as if about to grab onto him for support, crossing his field of vision. He had just a moment to decide what to do as they fell, and he went for the bait- attention toward the left arm, reaching for it to get a joint lock.
It was too bad for him that Jennis wasn't about to grab him with the left arm at all... instead, it flexed back uncomfortably, out of reach for just long enough to let her unheeded right hand grab his wrist and twist, ferociously, moving that arm behind his back.
Jennis thought for an instant, as they hit the floor, that she'd taken it too far- she sensed how near she'd come to breaking his bones. It didn't slow her, for she knew she had to handle this guy as if he was on drugs or in a rage. In an instant, she was atop him, paws braced, twisting his arm in a vicious joint-lock, and she barked three words with life-or-death urgency...
"You! Stop! Now!"
Anzy's free arm waved frantically for a moment- and then he slapped the floor, three times, hard.
Jennis released the pressure just a hair, and panted, "You better not be faking..."
The free arm slapped the floor twice more, and Anzy panted, "Whaddya want it in writing? I give, lady!"
Jennis released the pressure more. "What the hell are you, guy? I'm trying to figure out if you'll come at me again once I let you go."
"I'm a cop, dammit! Let me go!"
"He's a cop." confirmed Demarle, who seemed most amused. "Among other things."
"Oh, fuck!" was all Jennis could manage, as she hastily got to her feet and helped Anzy up. "I am so sorry!"
"You could've been sorry a little quicker," said Anzy, "damn near broke my arm, lady!"
Faisand ran over to provide mixed comfort and scolding. Her paws were gentle on Anzende's arm as she inspected it and remarked, "Serves you right, carrying on with another woman..."
"So, does she get the job?" said Demarle.
"Come on, I was just kidding." said Anzende. "That's yours to decide. I just wanted to see if she was yanking your chain."
"Or pulling my tail?" said Demarle.
"Well, now," said Jennis defensively, "that, he started."
"Yeah, people don't usually try to get upstairs." said Anzende. "That was unusual. And you're a woman, the clientele here is mostly guys..."
"Mostly?" blinked Jennis.
"Um." said Anzende. "Maybe that doesn't really count."
"Professionally I'd like to know about any unusual situations, officer... Anzy?"
"That would be Anzende. Sergeant Anzende Ndeschwin to you- I probably should let you use my personal name, since we've been sparring honorably. At least I think it was honorably... I'm not sure where you'd have drawn the line, and I'm not real comfortable with that. We've had enough renegade enforcers in this place."
Jennis picked her words carefully. "Yes, I understand sparring in the dojo is different. We're not in that place- and I needed to make you stop whether you were trained or not, whether you were on drugs or not. You'll never know whether I would've done you serious injury, because you yielded."
"Oh?" said Anzende, not liking the answer.
"It's not a half-ass job, Sergeant Ndeschwin. Nobody gets through me, civilized or uncivilized."
"Nobody gets through me either, ma'am."
"I did. Sir."
Demarle was taking all this in, but the last exchange won her over. "We're keeping her. Unless you're going to arrest her? Please don't, it looks like she's perfect for the job!"
"Oh, Arle." sighed Faisand.
Anzende glanced between her and Demarle. So did Jennis, who looked somewhat taken aback. "I'm not sure just what happened." she said. "Who does the hiring around here? White-kitty? Or Faisand? Bring me up to speed, please."
"Oh, great!" cried Demarle, and stalked off to jump on her bed and sulk.
"Okay, seriously..." said Jennis.
Faisand left Anzende and padded over demurely to Jennis, looking up at the larger wolf-woman with a level gaze. "Probably nothing that would concern you. It has to do with Anzy's remark earlier."
"That being?"
"It's true that we mostly have male clientele, as you'd expect. And Demarle does the hiring and runs the place, but I advise. I'm going to ask you, how comfortable are you with Nerre females?"
"I'm gonna have to be!" joked Jennis.
"I mention it," continued Faisand firmly, "because some of us are male-oriented- Tery and Cery, for instance. Our Arle is different. She will happily perform with males but her first love is other females..."
"Oh..." said Jennis, uncertainly.
"Particularly dominant ones." finished Faisand. "It's best you have all your information before you decide."
"Oh." said Jennis. "You're saying, that just turned her on."
"Terrific!" cried Demarle from her sulk.
"And I'm spoiling her fun," added Faisand, "by telling you all this, because she'd rather seduce you, but the last time we did that we got Magarce and that didn't work out too well."
"Really." said Jennis. "And other than that, it doesn't matter to you, does it?"
Faisand gave her a haughty look. "Our morals are our own affair, dear. If you don't like that, walk on out."
Jennis thought hard. This made things more complicated, that was for sure. Was there a way to manage this?
But of course there was- given a little creative interpretation of the role of 'boss'. Faisand appeared to be prepared to go along with all this, and was giving her information largely so she could say yes or no. It would be up to her.
Jennis padded over, sat on Demarle's bed, and as the white fluffy feline looked around in startlement, Jennis slapped her plush buttock solidly and held up a finger for attention, addressing her 'boss' in a very authoritative voice.
"Not while I'm working. Got it? I don't mix work and play."
Demarle nodded meekly, wide-eyed.
"You will not interfere with my job, or distract me."
Faisand was looking on, fascinated.
"If this is the way you want to play it, these are the rules. It's called boundaries. What you get when I'm off work depends on how well you respect my boundaries when I am at work. Do you understand?"
"When do you get off work?" breathed Demarle.
"Oh, Arle." chuckled Faisand.
Jennis playfully slapped Demarle's quivering, fluffy rump again, and the white kitty gasped.
"Ya ain't hired me yet!"
"She'll do." said Faisand, amused.
"Yeah." said Anzende, rubbing his shoulder. "Convenient."
Faisand gave him a look. "I'm not sure I like the way you said that, darling. What's on your mind?"
The naked wolf cop looked abashed. "Maybe I'm just off balance- and I don't like losing. I'm not sure what anybody would gain from screwing with you guys that they can't get from, well, screwing you guys. It just seems like funny timing."
"It's wonderful timing!" said Demarle.
"Sure. I ought to go get dressed, just because it's my day off doesn't mean I can't have standards. I do wonder where this lady came from, why she's suddenly free to come here."
As he turned to leave, Jennis answered, "Mistress Elistary," and the room fell silent. Anzende Ndeschwin froze in his tracks, and turned to look at first Faisand- who wore a horrified expression- and then Jennis herself.
"No," he said, "I guess you're going to have to tolerate my state of attire, because I'm not missing a word of this explanation."
"You're a spy!" cried Faisand. "You're here to finish the job!"
"What? No!" said Jennis. "What're you talking about? What job?"
The elderly grey feline was trembling, perhaps with rage, perhaps with fear, and most of the other people in the room looked more embarrassed than anything, not sure what to say. Anzende stepped forward, then stopped, as Faisand padded deliberately forward with her prim little walk which betrayed her age, and stood directly before Jennis, whiskers bristling.
"Do it." she hissed. "Go on. I'm too old to run, and I'm tired of the fear."
Jennis was horribly dismayed at this turn of events, to the point that her tail began to tuck between her legs. This one-time heroine and role model now stood, enraged at her, for no reason Jennis could underst...
Faisand's ears were pretty close to flattened, but not entirely- and Jennis could easily see they did not match. The left ear was notched now.
Warily, Jennis reached out. As she did, Faisand's ears flattened even more, but the old cat stood her ground, teeth gritted and chin held high, not resisting as Jennis's finger lifted the wounded ear for inspection.
"Tell me who did this to you." said Jennis in an icy-cold tone.
"Don't play with me." said Faisand. "Finish it."
Demarle called, "Faisand... she's not here to hurt you."
"Yes, she is!"
"Tell me who did this to you." said Jennis, again.
"Elistary did this." said Faisand. "Not with her own teeth, oh, no. She sent somebody to do it. But why am I telling you something you know quite well for yourself?"
"No."
"She's sent you to finish the job." said Faisand, shaking- and then unexpectedly shrieked, "I don't want to die, damn you! Don't fucking drag it out like this!"
Jennis reached suddenly out and took the elderly feline's head in her hands, thumbs under her delicate chin to force Faisand to meet her gaze. This startled Anzende so much he nearly rushed them- and Faisand's bravado was visibly splintering, the grey Nerre keening with anxiety.
"She's a BITCH." said Jennis with deadly conviction. "I fucking hate her like nobody else on this planet. She's unprofessional, and up to something, God knows what, and she's just fired me. She fired me for trying to keep riffraff out of her place, so she's not only a bitch, she's a stupid bitch."
Faisand's lower lip began to quiver, and she couldn't look away from Jennis's fierce eyes.
"I've known about you for most of my life, Faisand. I grew up idolizing you, no shit. You're the best."
Faisand's eyes began to fill with tears.
"And nobody will hurt you again. I'll die first. No way is anybody getting past me. For you... it's not just for the job."
Jennis released Faisand's head, and grasped her frail, elegant shoulders.
"For you- it's personal."
That did it. Faisand needed no more convincing- every word Jennis said was from the heart, and also obviously from somebody with no gift for sophistication. The bluntness that so often worked against the burly wolf lady had come to her aid for once in her life, and perhaps that once made up for all the times she'd made enemies with it or got herself fired with it.
Faisand burst into tears and wails, and fell forward into Jennis's waiting hug, with Demarle and Anzy left to watch in astonishment.
"Why didn't I ever think of that?" marveled Demarle.
"Wouldn't work for you." said Anzy. "And I'll bet anything you care to name that she's not changed her mind about the basic idea..."
"Hey, did you notice? She said Elistary's up to something. What if Faisand hasn't been wrong about all this?"
"I think I'd better question this lady. Uh... when she's done..."
"Sure." said Jennis, petting Faisand while she hugged. "Here, c'mon, honey, come sit down..."
Jennis led Faisand over to Demarle's bed, and took a position that she privately thought of as an 'I win' position: sitting up, cuddling Faisand with one arm while Demarle snuggled against her on the other side.
Anzende noticed this. "Looks like you're settling in nice and quick, huh?"
Jennis shrugged. "Suits me. You'll understand soon enough why this seems like a big step up in the world for me."
"Well, it is, lady... Demarle, did she even tell you her name?"
"Now that you mention it, no." said Demarle.
"I'm Jennis. What did you want me to tell you about?"
"Actually, hang on." said Anzende. "You good where you are for now? Don't start talking yet, because I seriously am going to go get dressed."
He hurried off, and Jennis considered her situation. She probably wouldn't have got round Faisand so completely if the old cat hadn't jumped to that alarming conclusion. Jennis was still quite awestruck that she'd ended up cuddling Faisand. She was also rather distracted by Demarle's attentions, for fluffy white paws kept sneaking into her lap or to other places on her body.
"H... hey! Kitty, cut that out, okay?"
"You said yourself, I haven't hired you yet..." purred Demarle.
"Yeah, but I'm about to talk to a cop. Seriously, give it a rest!"
"Agreed." said Faisand quietly. "Let her be, Arle. I want to hear her story. I told you Elistary was trying to destroy us."
"I'm not sure I can say that. I could say she's doing a pretty good job of destroying herself, at least in professional terms."
"Good." said Faisand.
"I don't think she's trying to destroy you, though." said Jennis.
"Yes she is." said Faisand, as Anzende hurried back, buttoning up his shirt.
"Okay." he said. "You say Elistary fired you. Why did she do that?"
"I told you- well, I told Faisand. She's a bitch and I was trying to keep riffraff out of her place. Did you ever hear of this guy called Wern?"
"I know five guys named Wern, all in Kiesens. I'm not a Verss cop, if that's what you were thinking."
"Well, this one raped a little girl, a lot of years ago, and got out of prison within the last year. He was coming around Mistress Elistary- the house, not the person- and I was trying to keep an eye on him. He hadn't got in any trouble, but then Allie..."
Jennis broke off, with Faisand and Demarle looking at her curiously. After a moment, she said "Give me a minute."
"Who's this Allie? Somebody at Mistress Elistary?"
"Dammit." said Jennis. "What was I thinking? I shouldn't have gone off like that."
"Who's Allie?" repeated the cop. Behind and above him the boy cub Hallem heard the cop-tone in his voice, peeked over the edge of the ledge, stuck his tongue out and ducked out of sight. Then, Brittery could be heard demanding, "Put that down!"
"What's he doing, Tery?" called Demarle.
"He wants to throw a chair!"
"Sorry about this..." said Demarle to Anzende. "We didn't know that little rescue mission was going to turn out this way."
Anzende Ndeschwin glowered. "I doubt it would help if I told him I was Kiesens and not Verss. I really can't blame the kid, but I'm not gonna let him throw chairs at me, I'll tell you that. And my friend Voustrets would never forgive me if I didn't do this questioning- he might have to come down here himself."
"Wait," said Jennis, "do you... Voustrets? The Estrai detective guy? Voustrets Talanstre Laimontre? That one? He's your friend?"
"Yeah, unfortunately." said the cop.
"Can I meet him?" said Jennis.
"How much can you tell us about the operations at Mistress Elistary?"
"I was the floor manager until she fired me. I had to hold everything together, keep the accountant from quitting when she made him cook the books..."
Anzende whipped out a phone, and pressed one button. He listened for a few seconds, and said, "Vu, it's me. Get over here. I've got that informant you wanted to find."
He listened again, and said "Yeah. And what's more, I have survivors from that Ungov..." and broke off, as a chair hit the floor behind him. "Shit! I'm not going to put up with much of that."
Demarle called up to the balcony, "Tery, Cery, stop him from doing that!" and heard only swearing coming back.
Anzende glanced at Jennis, who'd finished very little of her story. "You want to see Mistress Elistary taken down a notch, do you?"
"Hell yeah." said Jennis.
"Cooperate with me and Voustrets. He's trying to figure out something about her that doesn't add up, and you can help. But there's something you can do even sooner than that."
"What?"
"Go get that kid and bring him down here. He might have another piece of the puzzle... bring him here, don't hurt him, don't let him hurt me either."
Jennis glanced up at the balcony, in alarm.
Anzende caught the glance, and grinned humorlessly. "Yeah. Let's see how good you really are. No armlocks this time, ma'am."
Jennis glanced at him, gently coaxed Faisand and Demarle to back off so she could get up, and sprang for the rope ladder without hesitation- only to see it vanish, pulled up onto the balcony by small hands.
"Hey!" cried a feline voice. "Cery, grab him! They want him downstairs!"
There came a low chuckle, and a "Get away from me!", and Jennis decided that she'd get nowhere letting the upstairs kitties play.
She jumped up as high as she could and grabbed the telephone pole, to the surprise of Demarle and Faisand, who knew she didn't have claws. That was perfectly true, but she was in a hurry, and if the rope ladder wasn't available, she'd manage other ways.
Jennis hung on with her arms, splayed her legs out, and grabbed the pole between her feet- and proceeded to swarm up the pole about half as fast as the Nerre did, just alternately grabbing with hands and feet, distracted only slightly by hearing Arle below breathe, "Oh, dibs on that one..."
At the top, she braced her paws and jumped over to the balcony, to see the tall rangy butterscotch kitty stalking the male cub. She was clearly enjoying herself, and Jennis imagined the amazing assortment of neuroses and fetishes the kid would get if she allowed the kitty to 'catch' him.
"Cut it out!" she snapped.
"It'll only take a moment..." purred the butterscotch kitty.
"No, I mean it." said Jennis. "Back off!"
"Do as she says, Daucery!" came Faisand's voice from below, and Daucery promptly turned and padded off, with a definite 'I meant to do that' air to her. Jennis wondered again at the strange pack arrangements of these Nerre, but only for a moment, as she had bigger problems.
"Hey!" she called to the kid.
"Fuck you!"
That wasn't helpful, but trust these amateurs to stampede the boy into complete rebelliousness- since he'd begun by throwing chairs, there was no point assuming cooperativeness.
"Hey, I need your help with something."
"No way! Fuck you!" the kid replied, looking cornered. He eyed the drop over the balcony, apparently calculating how badly he'd be hurt if he just jumped and ran for it. The answer was not reassuring, so he stood his ground.
"I mean it. I need you calmer, able to talk." said Jennis levelly.
"Yeah, to the cop!"
"Hey, you know Mistress Elistary?"
"What?" said the kid.
"Do you know Mistress Elistary?"
"I don't care. Fuck off!"
"It's a whorehouse, kid. Ever heard of it at all?"
"So is this! I don't care about that stuff, and I don't care what..."
"They fired me from that place, because I was trying to get rid of a guy that hurt a little kid like you."
"So? And I'm not that little, and..."
"I hate Elistary. That's the lady that runs that place. It's named after her, you know. She's the one that fired me."
"Tough luck. Why should I care? You're all a bunch of coercive assholes, I need to get me and my sister out of here..."
"You fuckin' crazy, kid? Where you going to go?"
"I can run down a bunch of levels to where the cops don't dare to follow. I thought we'd be okay here for a while."
"Listen, I need to use that cop. Quit throwing chairs at him."
"That's a laugh. Use a cop? You're joking." said the kid.
"What's your name?" said Jennis unexpectedly.
"Uh, Hallem. No, don't tell me, you're gonna start using my name and sounding all parental," he said bitterly, "and you think I'm going to trust you 'cos of that..."
"No, kid, you're gonna trust me because I'm not jumping you and because I called off the big kitty. She coulda taken you down in seconds, you saw her."
"True." said Hallem. "What do you mean, you're gonna use the cop?"
"Ever heard of an Estrai detective who lives in Kiesens? A Voustrets Talanstre Laimontre?"
"Um, yeah? That guy's famous. He's kinda cool, I guess. Not a real cop."
"Ever been to Kiesens?"
"No," said the kid, "only Verss. And h... and home."
Jennis kept throwing in conversational twists, keeping the kid off balance. "I think this cop here is wrong. You think he's wrong?"
"Uh... on general principles yes totally," said Hallem, "but what are you talking about?"
"Well, on the one hand he figures I can't bring you down to talk to him..."
"Fuck that!"
"But he also probably expects me to just grab you, and you can see I'm not doing that..."
"You try it!"
"Give me a break, kid, seriously! Can't you see I'm doing things differently from that? I coulda just had the kitty pounce you. And the cop is wrong in another way."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." said Jennis. "Listen up. He said he doubts if it would help if you knew he was from Kiesens and not Verss. I'm gonna explain to you exactly why that does matter. It's shit you need to know anyhow on the streets, so you have every reason to pay attention..."
Downstairs, Anzende stared hectically up at the wolf madam and the orphan kid. What a clusterfuck, he thought- where do you start? How do you fix something that's gone that sour?
"Hon?" said Faisand.
"Erf?"
"You looked so angry. You're not going to arrest that kid, or our new bouncer, are you?"
"No, no, I didn't." mumbled Anzende.
"Oh, yes, you did." said Faisand tartly. "I'm not sure it's advisable, it does seem like the last thing that child will tolerate."
"She's right." said Demarle. "You looked- frightening."
"I'm not, really." said Anzende. "Not if I don't need to be. That bothers you?"
"Do you mean me, or Arle?" said Faisand.
"Demarle, of course."
"Well..." said Demarle hesitantly, "yes, I guess I have to admit that. I don't like admitting it. When Magarce is away I am the main bouncer, because I'm the biggest and strongest apart from Cery, and she's... odd about aggressive Runge males and can't be trusted to deal with them. I shouldn't find you intimidating, but I do."
"I don't think I'll have to be intimidating with you. Apart from you guys concealing stuff from me, but that won't happen again, alright? Say, you need to tell that new lady the same thing- no hiding information, especially if it's rough stuff. I'll look after you but I need the truth."
"Uh-huh." said Demarle. "At this point I'm okay with that. I thought we could be safe with Magarce because she was so aggressive, but I guess we were wrong..."
"Listen, if you find out about her, or she turns up- don't hold out on me. You know she needs to be kept somewhere safe. Maybe they can even make some progress with her." said Anzende.
"Don't bet large sums on it." said Faisand, wryly.
"Hang on- why'd he say of course? You asked if he meant me or you," said Demarle, "about his anger bothering us. He said me 'of course'."
Faisand leaned over and snuggled against Anzende's side. "I trust him- but also I've seen him like that so often. You never have, because he was playing a big baby to get in here secretly. We'd talk about what was happening on the street..."
"As soon as I realized you guys were fooling me I wondered what you were really doing all those years..."
"Fucking, darling." winked Faisand. "But he was also picking my brain for everything I knew about street-level Verss. I could observe things he couldn't. I've been a spy. It was all rather sexy and exciting..."
"But... fucking can't have made him angry! You're way too good at it for that!"
"Thank you, darling," said Faisand, "and of course it wasn't that. I often used it to try and soothe him- we do love each other, have for years. No, what I mean is just that- street-level Verss."
"He wants to fight criminals, then?"
Faisand thought. "I'm not sure how much of this he'd like to have explained..."
"Go ahead." said Anzende. "I think you're all sort of stepping into that role."
"They're not going to share everything I have with you!" replied Faisand. "If I'm yours, well then, you're mine!"
"Of course not," said Anzende. "I'd think you'd understand Runge by now, maybe your line of work confused things. I'll be faithful, totally- what I mean is, they can help be my eye on the street."
"This is weird, Faisand." said Demarle. "Since when did you abandon your career?"
"It's sort of abandoned me- we'll talk. But enough about that, you wanted to know about Anzende, why he's so angry."
"Sure. It's not about the crime, then? I would think that would be enough."
"Crime's not as bad in Kiesens, at all. They're doing a lot of community outreach. Anzy's behind a lot of that. His friend Voustrets advises, too. He's got this theory that crime is part of a feedback loop that includes the responses to it, and the extent to which cops know the people they're supposed to be policing..."
"Really? That sounds very dangerous. There's murders every day in Verss."
"Do you know how many murders in Verss are committed by police?" said Anzende, and there was a hint of that anger again in his voice.
"I know occasionally they get some celebrity, or somebody who's got money or influence, and it makes the papers. Come to think of it, these kids that are here..."
"More than half." said Anzende. "How many in Kiesens?"
"More than whuh? You're kidding. All right, how many in Kiesens?"
"None. The p.."
"Just last month there was! It was in the papers, a sort of drug kingpin..."
"That guy's no longer a cop."
"They made it out to be a hell of a fight... the cop, he was like a hero..."
"He got reviewed, he did justify his actions, though I wouldn't call him a hero. He's not a cop anymore. He's retired. Mandatory."
"Are you joking?"
"Dead serious. If you want to remain a cop in Kiesens, you have to bring guys in without killing them. Some of the bad guys are a lot more worried about other bad guys than about us. It's like, if our guys kill they're retired or put in jail- and if the bad guys get in too hot water, sometimes they turn to us for protection. Guys will go to jail if they know they're being seriously hunted on the outside."
"That works? I mean," said Demarle, "that really works?"
"It works a little." said Anzende, and he sounded a little proud of himself as he said it.
"That's awesome. So why are you so angry, then?"
The anger immediately showed.
"Here in Verss, they just hunt the bad guys themselves."
"But... these kids that are here now, they almost got killed too!"
"No shit." said Anzende bitterly. "And they wonder why they have a war on their hands."
"Anzy becomes very upset with this city, at times." said Faisand.
"It's just such a huge problem," muttered the wolf cop, "it's hard to know where to start..."
"Hey, they're coming down!" said Demarle.
They were indeed. The rope ladder flipped over the edge, and first to start down it was the boy cub. They couldn't see his face, and Jennis was waiting for him to reach the first floor before descending herself.
"Don't approach him, dear." said Faisand softly, and Anzende stayed put.
The kid turned, and glared- clearly Jennis hadn't changed his mind much, but he walked over anyhow, to stand in front of Anzende with his paws on his hips.
"She says you're not a Verss cop." said Hallem.
"Yeah, I'm not a Verss cop."
"She says you're from a place called Kiesens."
"Yeah."
"She says you're really different in Kiesens, and you might be trying to do something that doesn't suck. Are you different from a regular cop?"
Anzende stared back, but it was more of a glare- perhaps just through frustration and the pressure of anger and mistrust. The kid didn't flinch, and just waited for an answer.
Suddenly, the cop moved, and Hallem did flinch, but all Anzende was doing was taking off his hat- and for good measure, taking off his badge. He put them on the bed beside him, and drew a deep breath.
Anyone expecting statements like "I'm very different" was going to get a bit of a shock.
"I AM a regular cop." growled Anzende. "It's the clowns in this city who poison that for people like you."
"People like me? You mean criminals?"
"Come off it, kid. You're no criminal."
"I'm an anarchist. What do you think about that?"
"So what? Do all you anarchists throw chairs at people you don't like?"
Hallem was taken aback at this. "You're an enemy! It was sort of self defense."
"Yeah, kid, but I'm just sitting here. Is it the anarchist thing to just attack people for sitting there?"
"Of course not," said Hallem. "You're a coercer! That's your whole job, so don't try to weasel out of it."
Anzende wished he had the wit of his friend Voustrets- failing that, he did his best to stay sharp. "Coercer, huh? But you see I'm still just sitting here. What if I do nothing? I'm from Kiesens, I work a desk job. You're obviously not from Kiesens, huh?"
"Runge lady says it's different there." said Hallem guardedly.
"Bigtime. Kid, I gave civilians my police cruiser so they could go rescue you. It came back with the two civilians, two kids, and a Tompar who's out having lunch with the civilians. Name one Verss cop who'd do that."
"Why didn't you go?" asked the kid shrewdly.
Anzende looked down, awkwardly. "Uh..."
"We were making love." said Faisand.
"Yeah. That." said Anzende. "As strange as it may seem to you..."
"Is that ALL you were doing?" asked the kid.
"What do you mean, all?" said Faisand. "Dear child, you may not understand yet, but between a Nerre and a Runge it's quite a procedure, let me just say! It had my full att..."
"No!" said Hallem. "What I mean is- was he really only doing it for romance, or maybe he's really using you as a spy to learn about stuff he can't find out for himself?"
Faisand was speechless, and Anzende blinked in surprise at the kid's insight- assuming he hadn't simply overheard snatches of conversation from upstairs. Even if he had, he was slanting it in a bad direction.
"Both, kid." said Anzende. "Seriously, both, to the Nth degree. I love this Nerre lady with all my heart and don't want anybody else. But hell yeah, she's my spy."
"On what?"
"What do you think?"
"On criminals. Like us. But it's just me and my sister left now."
"Yes and no, kid. On criminals- but more and more, it's the ones with badges."
"Do you expect me to believe that?" said Hallem.
"Damn right I do. For starters, I want to know as much as you can stand to tell me about the cops that raided you..."
"Why?" said the kid.
"Because it's out of character, even for a Verss raid squad, to do what they did. You can believe that or not, I don't care, I'm just telling you. They never did anything like that before, did they?"
"No." said Hallem. "They never did anything like that before. We'd have been ready if they had, we didn't expect it."
"Did they say anything- anything at all- to suggest a reason for what they did?"
"You fucking go ask them. If you're a cop and all..."
"Okay," said Anzende, "this is gonna cheer you up, kid. I can't do that."
"They won't talk to you? They hate you for being a wuss from Kiesens?"
"As a matter of fact, some of them do take that attitude, but that's not the reason. They're dead, kid. All but one."
He waited for a second, and said "This is your cue to say 'good', 'kay? I won't hold it against you."
"No," said the kid, "I wouldn't say that."
"Charitable of you." said Anzende. "What would you say?"
"I'd say whoever did it was t.. too l... too late..."
Hallem stood very straight, with his arms by his sides, but with that he broke down completely and silently, weeping with his chin held high and his teeth clamped tight.
"Oh, hell." said Anzende after a moment. "Somebody? For God's sake somebody go to him, I sure can't..."
Jennis was up in a flash, but made a point of not just grabbing Hallem. She saw his terrible, brittle tension, and just put one arm across his shoulders, not attempting to draw him to her at all. The kid stood frozen. He begrudgingly leaned in to Jennis just a little, his jaw set, his lip quivering the tiniest amount, but enough for the wolf madam to spot.
"Kid?"
He didn't trust himself to speak, he just glanced over to where Jennis extended the other arm for an embrace.
"Kid- we'll get back to tough later. I promise, you can put it back on afterwards. For now? These people, they're gonna pretend they're not here."
Hallem nodded stiffly, trusting the strange outlaw lady who'd beat up the cop and seemed to know the secrets to everything.
"And as for me... aw, baby, I am so sorry..."
Hallem cracked, and turned towards Jennis, with a cry that was like a howl of pain that ended buried in Jennis's shaggy fur, and she hugged him very tightly, wincing at the raw anguish of his tormented cries. Mostly he was silent, but when his voice burst free it was hard to listen to. The kid was so smart and determined that you could almost believe he'd been ready to see his parents killed and then turn to survival for himself and his sister- and he had done that, successfully, getting himself and Aine into hiding, and then making judgement calls every step of the way about each person he encountered.
You could believe he was equal to all that right up to the point where you heard him crying in Jennis's embrace.
That was when you learned what it had cost him.
By the time he'd got control of himself again, Jennis, Faisand and Demarle's fur was streaked with tears, and Demarle was clinging to Faisand- for the fluffy white feline, always emotional, had been so distressed by the sound that she'd needed cuddling herself to stand it.
"Think you can handle it now?" said Jennis softly. "We really do need to figure out what the hell is going on."
"Keep holding me." said Hallem. "Can we sit down? ...maybe you go first, with the questions?"
"Yeah, sure." said Jennis. "I know he had questions for me as well. Though it's got nothing to do with what happened to you..."
"I'd think so too," said Anzende, "but Voustrets is looking for information about both things. I don't see a connection, but he's surprised me before. So- what's going on at Mistress Elistary?"
Jennis thought. "I'm trying to figure out if there's a connection now..."
"Please don't. Just tell me what's happening, ma'am, the famous fox genius will do the figuring..."
"Huh. Just because there's a kid here, suddenly it's ma'am like I'm some housewife. You could give me a 'miss', you know." said Jennis.
"I sure will." said Anzende solemnly. "And you know, ma'am's short for madam, so you're in the right place for it..."
"And a famous place it is, to be sure!"
All heads turned in startlement. Voustrets Talanstre Laimontre had arrived.
"How the hell are you..." sputtered Anzende, "why are you here already?"
The small but debonair Estrai explained. "You have said, on the phone, Vu, get over here. You have the informant. You say you have survivors from the Ungov- then it is the next thing, you break off. There is the sound of a blow, and your phone goes dead. Anzy, it is for me to ask, how the hell are you?"
"I'm fine. This informant..."
"But this is not enough! Who is it, who struck you down, shutting off your phone?" cried Voustrets.
Anzende Ndeschwin rarely got the chance to yank Vu's chain, and he couldn't have stopped himself for a million credits. He nodded towards Hallem, hoping the kid would play along. "It was this guy. Don't let him fool you, he's a dangerous anarchist. I'm lucky you got here. He might want to finish the job."
Voustrets glanced at Hallem, very shrewdly. "He is with great remorse, now- surely he is not still violent?"
Hallem wiped his eye... and said, "No, that was against our principles. He wasn't attacking. I should never have done it."
Vu glanced hectically between the hulking wolf cop and the child. Vu's left ear was flicking, which Anzende rejoiced to see, because it meant the fox was seriously flummoxed.
"...mysterious!" breathed the small vulpine, and got back to his original intention. "This small one, is he the informant?"
"No, he's the survivor..." said Anzende.
"I can't get used to the idea that I'm an 'informant'," said Jennis. "I guess there aren't any positions for vengeful shaggy byotch?"
"It's pretty much the same thing, most of the time." said Anzende.
"Ah!" said Voustrets, turning to Jennis. "This lady, she is the one that works at Mistress Elistary?"
"What?" said Jennis.
"You will go back," said Voustrets, "find things out for me?"
"She fired me. I don't think I can go anywhere near the place now."
"Tch!" said Voustrets. "But surely you have made friends?"
"How do you mean?" asked Jennis warily.
"It is of the highest importance... you can think of some person remaining at Mistress Elistary (the whorehouse), who is trusted by Mistress Elistary (the person), but whose loyalty is, shall we say... illusory?"
Jennis, very slowly, sagged. She looked away- she put her head in her hands- she muttered, "...my fucking temper..." as Hallem regarded her curiously.
"Do you know such a person?" asked Voustrets.
"Yeah... yeah, you could say that."
"Who is in a position of trust?"
"She's in my old job. That alone is fucked up, she doesn't know anything. Elistary has to be up to something because none of it makes sense in terms of the trade..."
"And you can win her loyalty?"
"Uh, that's going to be kind of a problem..."
"She was saying things about an accountant." said Anzende.
"Yeah!" said Jennis. "I was the one who had to cool that guy off when he wanted to quit. Elistary had him cooking the books. He didn't seem to think he'd get away with it."
"To get away with what? Exactly?"
"I know he had to cover where the money was going." said Jennis, as Voustrets and Anzende glanced at each other. "That was his big problem."
"And where was it going?" asked Voustrets nonchalantly.
"Um." said Jennis, drooping. Vu's ear twitched at her tone. She added, "I'll have to get back to you on that..."
"You don't know." said Anzende. "Does the accountant?"
"I'm not sure even he knows. It didn't sound like he did. He griped about that, too... like, how was he supposed to make it convincing when he didn't even know what she was really doing..."
Anzende and Voustrets looked at each other, again. Anzende said, "It could be just luxuries, shit like that. People cheat for a lot of reasons."
"No!" exclaimed Voustrets. "It is more! It is much more!"
Turning to Jennis, he demanded, "Does she behave like she is concealing some great plot, scheme, obsession? Is she smug, brooding, overbearing?"
Jennis stared at him. "Haven't you ever seen her? All of that stuff, plus being a total bitch. I was getting pretty tired of it. When she fired me, I walked right out and I was glad to do it."
"I don't think you're going to get any more from her." said Anzende.
"If I knew more, I'd tell you..."
"You said you knew somebody who's still there?" said Anzende.
Jennis's ears went back. "I'm gonna have to grovel. I really went off on that girl. Is it really important?"
"I cannot tell you everything." said Voustrets impressively.
"Because he doesn't know it." added Anzende, which got him a vulpine glare from Voustrets.
"I cannot tell you everything," repeated the Estrai stubbornly, "but let me just to say, it could be of the most extreme importance to this and many other worlds."
"No shit?" said Jennis.
"Bullshit." suggested Anzy.
"Be skeptical." said Voustrets. "You will apologize later. I'll compose a poem of apology for you to recite."
"I think I could manage a dirty limerick." said Anzende. "I thought that Vu's skill was all luck, his recentest theories sucked, kept me in the dark till I wanted to bark and I knew in the end I was..."
"Enough!" snapped Voustrets. "I cannot reveal the full extent of my theory. One day you'll understand why. For now- dear lady, will you cultivate this person who still remains within the clutches of Mistress Elistary?"
"Sure, all right." said Jennis.
"Which leaves this young and unaccountably destructive yet sad gentleman." said Voustrets, turning to Hallem.
Hallem's little muzzle quirked into the hint of a smile. "Nobody's ever called me unaccountably destructive yet sad before. Is this guy for real?"
"I'd say you get used to it," said Anzende, "but it might be just wishful thinking."
"Shush, accountably tiresome wolf..."
"Oh, you're going to count me now?"
"You can count on the great deal of trouble from me, unless you hold your tongue."
Voustrets turned to address Hallem, with some gravity.
"Young sir, you have survived a massacre- more than that, an inexplicable massacre. I do not know the extent of your knowledge about your previous home, which is now lost- but if we desire any sort of justice, we must learn what motivated these killers, who are now all dead, and discover who directed them."
"I did talk to the surviving guy- well, I read what he wrote." said Anzende.
"He can't talk?" said Hallem.
"Magarce shot half his face off." said Anzende darkly. "He hasn't got a lower jaw. He wrote."
A brief glimmer of glee and vengeance passed over Hallem's face, but he made no comment.
"We must learn what motivated them," continued Voustrets, "which might mean unveiling secrets once held by Ungovernment. You may wish to take these secrets to the grave, but if you will share what you know of them, we shall weave the strands into a thin but tough garrote that will strangle the malefactors who set these events in motion!"
Hallem glanced at Anzende. "Is he real?"
"Yup." said the cop. "He means it, kid."
"Why's he so hot to strangle them? I mean, I am too, but what does he have to do with it?"
"Uh, that would mean him telling us his schemes before they've come out. Maybe you can get him to do that? I'd appreciate it, he won't do it for me."
Hallem shrugged. "I can try. Mister Voo-stray... what do you have against them? I like your attitude. Tell me more, or I won't tell you nothin'."
"You already have, young man." said Voustrets smugly.
"When?" protested Hallem.
"Your very attitude speaks volumes. There's nothing left behind for you, nothing that remains uncompleted. You take no concern for the consequences of your actions- you are not how they say, undercover."
"Yeah?"
"Before this tragedy, you would not have been so aggressive. You would avoid calling attention to yourself, for fear it would lead unwanted attention back to your secret home in the anarchist commune..."
"It's Ungovernment, not an 'anarchist commune'." said Hallem.
"No matter. You have no secrets to keep. Tell us what Ungovernment was doing with Dinsam Industrial Fabrication."
Hallem's mouth dropped open- the cub was clearly stunned. He tried to recover, with "Why don't you tell me, if you know so much? Are you trying to trick me into talking? What if I never heard of them?"
Voustrets scoffed. "We are far beyond that, young man. Ungovernment was making repeated deliveries to Dinsam Industrial Fabrication. Deliveries under cover of darkness, deliveries which I believe may have just finished days, even hours before the raid. What were your people supplying them with, and is it true that the supplies had either run out, or completed?"
Hallem stared at the Estrai detective. "How do you know this?"
"He won't tell you, kid." rumbled Anzende.
The revelations had left Hallem extremely wary, but he couldn't avoid the truth of what Voustrets said- and Hallem remembered Vu's words of strangling and vengeance, even if he didn't understand why the fox would be on his side.
"We were done." said Hallem, eventually. "We didn't run out, we finished the job. We were waiting on the final third of the payment when they hit us."
"And what were you smuggling to Dinsam's factory?" said Voustrets.
"Chemicals."
"Illegal chemicals?"
"Vistalrechar."
Anzende's head jerked around to stare at Hallem. "Where the hell did you get that? It's a damn good thing the Tompar lady isn't here to hear you. Tompar gland extract? Do you know how they get that?"
"I know it was tough to get." said Hallem.
"You mentioned coercers." said Anzende. "Think for a moment about how somebody would get supplies of fresh Tompar adrenal venom booster. They don't generate that unless they're in a death struggle..."
"Since when do cops care so much about Tompar?" said Hallem defensively.
"Depends who you ask." grumbled Anzende.
"Please, Anzy, don't distract! This is vital information. So, your people were able to get vistalrechar, and deliver it to Dinsam. Do you know what they proposed to do with it?"
Hallem blinked. "Actually, no. Maybe they're trying to make super-Tompar with extra venom?"
"Or kill a hell of a lot of them..." grumbled Anzende.
"That is, perhaps, more likely." said Voustrets. "Vistalrechar is nontoxic to the Tompar that secretes it, but for only a very brief time. Exposed to air, it catalyzes and triples in potency, becoming just as dangerous to its creator as an assailant's would be."
"Dinsam is trying to make a super-weapon?" said Anzende.
"It degrades within five minutes of exposure to air."
"Yeah, but they're a top organic chemistry outfit. What if they were able to stabilize it?"
"While it's active," said Voustrets, "one drop would kill fifty Tompar, or seven hundred Runge- twelve hundred Nerre- nearly ten thousand Aintar."
"Holy crap." said Hallem, who looked sick.
"Aintar have almost no body weight- their avian metabolism is very sensitive to such poisons." said Voustrets offhandedly.
"No, Vu. I think the little guy didn't quite realize the consequences of what his people were doing..."
"I think my father must have." said Hallem. "He got pretty touchy, and he was sleeping around more than usual- I think he did that Nerre who came along to rescue me. When he was anxious he would always end up in more people's beds, or there'd be more people in his..."
"That cause any problems for him?" asked Anzende.
Hallem stared at nothing. "He died trying to shield Mom. Mine, that is, not Aine's. I'm glad she got to see that in the end."
"Easy, kid." rumbled Anzende. Jennis held Hallem close, but he kept staring at nothing.
"Do you want to help?" said Voustrets. "Would it trouble you to turn about again, and try to solve the puzzle of what has happened, before these weapons are used somewhere?"
Hallem kept staring, not crying now. "Dad always said, not everything works. Sometimes, you make a mistake, or you intend something and it goes all wrong. He said, that's what separates the moral anarchists from the overgrown children- when you reject all authority you end up with all responsibility, and the catch is, nobody can handle total responsibility. We do the best we can, but we don't always understand as much as we need to."
Everyone was silent, listening to the still-childish voice.
"Dad was getting so upset. He tried so hard to keep his word, but he was getting so upset, not being able to sleep, going to bed with everybody he could find, the newer the better. It wasn't helping."
Silence.
"I think he'd figured out what you told me. I think he wanted to stop, but he'd given his word, and we couldn't really turn down the money. Someone else would just take over the job if he got cold feet. And he got them, I'm sure of it."
Hallem looked at Voustrets.
"Yeah. I'll help you."
Voustrets beamed. "You may well be able to. You appear no more than a child, and could probably mimic one with much success, and yet you were able to knock out Anzy..."
"No, Vu." said Anzende. "He threw a chair off the balcony. It didn't hit me, I shut off the phone by accident. He is a child."
"Then he is courageous and quick-thinking." said Voustrets. "I may have use for him regardless."
"Doing what?" said Hallem.
"That is uncertain. I think, to go into Dinsam, I would look to the male Nerre and the Tompar..."
"Hey!" said Anzende. "So that's what the Tompar lady is doing on this planet! Somebody back home must have noticed the vistalrechar shipments, sent her to find out what they're doing with it!"
"Don't confront her with it." said Voustrets. "She will not tell you. Tompar Mued give no secrets."
"Tompar Mued are dead lizards walking." objected Anzende. "They're disposable. Their system has a really shitty retirement plan. Why should she be loyal to that?"
"But they are." said Voustrets. "So often, they are. If she opened her schemes to you, there would only come another Tompar, to dispose of her."
"Terrific." grumbled Anzende. "You think you can use her in your own schemes, huh?"
"There is no reason the Tompar government should not also know what is happening. Our paths walk single file, for a time."
Hallem looked troubled by this talk of the expected death of Siertes, but he repeated, "Doing what?"
Voustrets studied him. "I think you would go best with the Runge lady, Denenke. Do you know what a look-out is?"
The cub nodded. "With a radio- some kind of alert signal?"
"Exactly. When she, the Nerre, and the Tompar return, we can begin our plan..."