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wondering if the Kailth was suspicious or merely having difficulty sorting
through the
Anglish. "Were you?" he asked.
Was I helpful? What exactly did he mean by that? "I tried to be," I
stammered.
"I he did send me back here to see them."
"And to purchase their calices."
"Yes," I said, bracing myself. This was going to be risky, but it might just
add the necessary bit of verisimilitude to my story. "He was very upset when I
refused to sell him the one Tawni gave me," I told him. "I told him it was a
gift, and that I wouldn't give it up under any circumstances."
The warrior eyed me, and I held my breath. If the possessiveness I really did
feel for Tawni's calix was part of its programming, then the Kailth should
conclude that it was doing its job and let me go about my business.
And apparently, it worked. "How many calices does Convocant Devaro wish to
purchase?" the warrior asked.
I started breathing again. "He would like to buy three or four," I said.
"Though that would depend on the price he only gave me twenty thousand to
spend. He wants to give them as gifts."
The warrior turned to his comrades and said something in the Kailth language.
One of them answered, and for a moment they conversed back and forth. Then the
first warrior turned back to face me. "He may have three," he announced.
"They shall be gifts, without payment required."
Gifts. At least, I thought, the Kailth had the class not to require the
UnEthHu to pay for its own destruction. "Thank you," I said. "You are most
generous."
"The generosity is not for you," the warrior said. "Nor for Convocant Devaro.
It is for this citizen-three who calls you friend."
It was a line, of course, something to allay any suspicions I might have about
getting such valuable artwork for free. But just the same, it dug another
sharp edge of guilt into me. Tawni had indeed called me a friend to her
overlords, and here I was using her against them.
But then, the Kailth were using me as a pawn, too. It all came out even.
Maybe.
Tawni bowed to them. "I am honored, Warrior-Citizen-One," she said. "Thank
you."
"It is our pleasure," the warrior said. "You may take the human male to where
he may choose."
She bowed again and pulled gently on my arm, and together we turned away and
left the clearing. It wasn't until we were out of the grove and heading up the
slope of the volcano that she spoke. "You still think ill of the
Kailthaermil,"
she said quietly.
My first impulse was to deny it. But I'd done enough lying for one day. "I
don't trust them, Tawni," I told her. "They're conquerors. Who's to say they
aren't going to take a shot at the UnEthHu next?"
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"But you are not like the others they have fought against," Tawni said. "You
do not enslave other peoples, nor do you seek to impose your will on them."
That was true enough, I supposed. Preoccupied with our own internal
squabblings, the UnEthHu generally ignored the alien races we came across
except to get them involved in the arcane labyrinth of our commerce. "You
weren't bothering anyone on Sagtt'a either," I pointed out. "Yet you have
Kailth war platforms orbiting overhead."
"That is not the same," she insisted, shaking her head in exasperation. "The
stations are there for our protection." She made a clicking sound in her
throat.
"You choose not to see. But someday you will. Someday the Kailthaermil will
prove their true intentions."
"Yes," I murmured. "I'm sure they will. Tell me, what were those warriors
doing in the grove?"
"They have brought a new shipment to us," Tawni said, still sounding a little
cross with me. "They will stay another few days before departing, and prefer
to sleep outdoors."
Bivouac practice? "Why in the grove?"
She shrugged. "I am told they enjoy the scent of the flowers."
I stared at her. "You're kidding."
"Why should I be?" she countered, throwing a puzzled look up at me. "Can
Kailthaermil not enjoy the small things of life as well as you or I?"
"I suppose so," I conceded. "It's just not something I would have pictured
warriors doing."
"The Kailthaermil are not like other warriors," Tawni said. "Someday you will
see."
We reached the volcano and went in through the crack in the cone... and for
the second time that day I found myself stopping short in shock. There on the
wall shelves, where a few weeks ago there had been only eight calices, were
now nearly fifty of the sculptures. "Tawni those calices," I said stupidly,
pointing at them. "Where did they come from?"
"That is what the Kailthaermil brought," she said, as if it was obvious.
"They believe this volcano to have unusually good curing characteristics. They
have decided to test this by bringing calices here from other artisan
colonies."
"I see," I said, getting my feet moving again. "You've never told me how long
the curing process takes."
"They will cure for fifteen days," she said. "When they are done, the
Kailthaermil will bring more in. They say the complete test will require a
hundred days and three hundred calices."
"I see," I said, gazing uneasily at the glittering sculptures. Three hundred
calices, suddenly and conveniently moved here to a minor border world.
A border world which the Dynad and Convocation just happened to be paying
virtually no attention to. Coincidence? Or could the Kailth plan be further
along than Devaro realized?
"Will you choose your three calices now?" Tawni asked as I hesitated. "Or
shall we spend a pleasant evening together first, and a night of sleep with
the others, and you may choose in the morning?"
With an effort, I shook off the sense of dread. If the Kailth were planning
these calices for a prelude to invasion...
But what difference could a single night make? Besides, it occurred to me that
if Devaro proved the calices were weapons, this would likely be my last trip
back here.
My last chance to see Tawni.
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