But Vikktakkht made a casual motion of his hand. “Audacious. Make a request of me. If you amuse me, I may do it.”
Hilfy stopped breathing, thinking, Careful, na Hallan. Think, boy.
Kif edged closer to them, listening, hissing at each other for room and silence. She felt Fala’s presence closer at the back of her chair—dared not caution her, hoped the kid didn’t shove back.
“I’d like you to understand, sir, I don’t belong to Chanur. They weren’t even at Meetpoint when I was arrested. They tried to get me back to my crew, that’s all. So nothing I’ve done is their fault.”
“Kkkt,”broke out from a hundred throats, and died in hisses. Hilfy translated that one into kifish, running it down path after path of logic. “Offended” had too many ramifications to track.
“Kkkt,” Vikktakkht said softly. “So, Meras? Is that your request? My understanding?”
While Hilfy thought: “Understand” doesn’t mean “forgive.” Boy, give it up. Stop there.
“If you’re Pyanfar Chanur’s friend, they need— they …”
Gods, boy, don’t assign him a job in front of his followers… “Hakkikt,” she said, but Vikktakkht made a preemptive move of his hand.
“Meras?”
A silence. Then: “They think you can find the stsho,” Hallan said.
“Is that your request?”
Yes! Hilfy thought. Gods, bail out, boy!
“Yes, sir.”
“Isn’t that two requests?”
“Then the second, sir. But I just wanted to clear that first up, in case that wasn’t in your record.”
“Kkkt.” A motion of the hand. A servant hastened to put a cup in it. Vikktakkht didn’t drink. Instead, a motion of the cup ending in their direction. “What motives, this hunger for responsibility? Is this a challenge? Is that the word?”
“No, sir. It is the word, but Fm not challenging you. At all, sir. It’s my obligation to Chanur, to make clear-“
“He’s saying—“ Hilfy began desperately, and the preemptive hand moved sharply, then made a second gesture.
“Translate, Chanur. I recall you have some fluency.”
“Nakkot ahigekk. Sh’sstikakkt Chanur.”
“Now he follows Chanur, you mean.”
“Yes.”
“And what does Chanur want?”
“Nakkot shatik nik’ka Atli-lyen-tlas. “
“Ah. And what opposes you? What do you suppose opposes you?”
“Paehisna-ma-to.”
The long jaw lifted. The hakkikt stared at her down a long, dangerous nose.
“Kkkt. But the mahendo’sat support the mekt-hakkikt. “
She couldn’t be wrong. She could not be wrong, and have followed the wrong ship. “Do they?”
“What does Hilfy Chanur think?”
“I didn’t come here because I believed Ana-kehnandian.”
“Kkkt. You came here because we have Atli-lyen-tlas.”
“Do you?”
“Kkkt. Kkkt. The flat-toothed stsho face every breeze. They attempt to please Chanur. They launch an initiative in this direction, in that direction. Gak-kak.”
“Herd creatures.”
“Herd tactics, Exactly. They launch an initiative at Chanur’s presence. They launch initiatives to mahendo’sat of rank. But the mahendo’sat are not gakkak. They go all directions. If you chase one, others. escape, and another may join you. Thus, Paehisna-ma-to.”
“Not a friend of Chanur.”
“Not well-disposed to kif. Some say Hilfy Chanur is not well-disposed to kif. Some say—Hilfy Chanur would be the logical ally of Paehisna-ma-to. The logical successor to Pyanfar Chanur.”
She drew in a slow, ammonia-tainted breath. “Where is the mekt-hakkikt?”
A vague move of the hand. “Where the mekt-hakkikt chooses. Recently at Meetpoint. As you know.”
Assassins, after aunt Py? Mahen assassins?
“Who blew up Kshshti docks? Who fired shots at us?”
“What do you think?”
“There aren’t any kifish dockworkers at Kshshti.”
“As happens there are not.”
“Difficult for you to get into a warehouse and steal a can.”
“Not impossible.”
“But why would you need to stop me? I’d agreed to go to Kefk.”
“Hani have not always done as promised.”
“The bomb would have heavily damaged us, without destroying the ship. And the sniper wasn’t of your quality. While Kshshti wouldn’t let a mahen hunter ship undock. Those ships have priority in any situation. Wouldn’t you think they’d let them leave, if they let us leave?”
“But we are historic enemies.”
“Kshshti put bureaucratic delays in a hunter ship’s path. It more than suspected Ana-kehnandian. I haven’t heard of this Paehisna-ma-to. So she’s new. A rising power. Urtur—was cautious with Ana-kehnandian. Kshshti was bravely cautious … nakkti skskiti.”