Gods, of course it won’t turn now. Things are too uncertain. It’s in crisis they kill their officers.
And their allies.
“Have ’em put Skkukuk on.”
A pause. While the mains blasted away, squaring the V and bringing them at an angle to the kif. Kif could fire from any angle. The Pride and the rest of the freighters had their limits.
It’s godsblessed suicide. Bluff from one end to the other.
“They’re sending for him,” Hilfy said. “Captain, there’s
a Situation over there. That was the captain who asked instructions, I think, by their comtech.”
“I think you got it,” she muttered. Push the bastard. Make him get your own skku to the mike. Gods. What’re the han doing, what are they thinking, the ships out there? Chanur’s talking to the kif, we got a kif right into Gaohn, we got kifish and human transmission going out of this ship. …”
It’s Harun and the rest they’re watching. The ships that came with me. Spacers. That’s what they’re taking their cue from-they know Chanur could be crazy, but not Chanur and five other clans and the mahendo’sat. They’re holding steady so far-gods, they know the kif, they know, this whole mess is unstable.
If they knew how much-
“Skkukuk to your com one,” Haral said. A light blinked.
She punched it. “Skku of mine. We’re taking Kura vector. See to it.”
There was a pause. Is he on? Gods, let’s not have a mistake.
“Chanur-hakkikt.” In a voice cold and clear and clipped.
Skukkuk? Is that Skkukuk?
“Pukkukf on your enemies, hakkikt. / will give them to you.”
“Skkukuk?”
A pause. “Of course, hakkikt-mekt. Skkukkuk.” An edge to the voice. The tone was different. “Pukkukt’ on all your enemies. Rely on me.”
What in the gods’ name is he up to? Is that him? What’s going on with him?
Is this some gods-help-us kifish test?
Or a kif gone important?
“Get those gods-be ships into line and get it organized. First one makes a wrong move, take it out!”
“Yes.”
The light went out. Like that. A little chill went down her back.
“What’ve we created? Migods, what’ve we created out, huh?”
Haral looked her way. Mirrorlike. “Mekt-hakkikt, was it?”
She blinked. The chill got no better. And no questions came through com from hani ships. Or station. Or the few mahendo’sat keeping their post out there with the kif Skkukuk had just appropriated.
Not a word from Sirany Tauran, sitting a duty post like crew.
It’s out of control.
Crew’s not talking. Stations are too quiet. What are they thinking, for godssakes?
Last run we make, and we know it, don’t we? It’s not what we used to be. None of us are that.
She coughed. “We got one of those gods-be black things loose somewhere up here, gods know where it’ll land when we maneuver, just want you to know that.”
“Gods,” someone muttered. And it was as if the whole crew drew a collective breath and loosened collective muscles. “What say?” Tully asked plaintively, lost as usual. “What say?”
“Captain said-” Khym began.
“Movement on Nekkekt,” Geran said monotone, deliberate monotone. As Haral prioritied scan up. No emergency. That was where it had to be.
“Transmission,” Hilfy said. “Skkukuk’s passing your orders to the kif. Ordering the clans and the mahendo’sat to clear out of their way.”
“Confirm that to our allies.”
A pause. A longer-than-one-breath pause. Then: “Aye.” And compliance, rapid pushing of buttons.
“Captain.” Chur’s voice, quiet, very quiet. Strain was in it. “I got this idea-”
“Spill it.’
“The kif. They know their enemy. They turned round here. Akkhtimakt’s ships-” The voice faded out, restored itself. “They knew it was sprung, the trap- They’ve been here-how long? Jik went on-but there’s others-”
“Timetables. Gods. The mahendo’sat know there’s a second wave, they knew it. Hilfy. Transmit: Hasano-ma. My gods, we’ve been sitting on that code program-Jik’s letter. Run the coded parts through. Spit it on at them. Send it out on the Ajir vector. Put our wrap on it and get the mahendo’sat-
gods, gods, gods, the man gives us a key and a coder and we sit on it.”
“That’ll worry the kif some.”