VelRauthi narrowed his eyes. “Ah, yes. A change of heart that seems to be genuine.” He glanced at Ronan. “Yet you are still determined to protect her. How very touching.”
“All I want is to be returned to the Concordat,” Cynara said. “To my own kind.”
“I do sympathize with your feelings, Captain. When you came with Ronan, you did not expect him to probe your mind and take vital intelligence that might harm the Concordat. Alas, betrayal all around. But since he has already retrieved this intelligence and you have little to lose by sharing it, you and I may be able to reach an agreement regarding your future.”
“Perhaps,” she said coolly. “Why did you want the Archon dead?”
“If I told you the reason, dear Captain, I might never be able to let you leave.”
“You’re human, and so am I. Your war is not with the Nine Worlds or my people; it’s with the Concordat, who have never treated us as equals.”
“And you imply that our interests may coincide more than I might assume? You intrigue me, Captain.” He glanced at Ronan. “And I see she shocks you. You expected her to remain loyal to her own kind, as you have to the shaauri, who have rejected you.” He bowed to Cynara. “Naturally I can’t take you at your word, Captain. I know you’re a telepath of limited ability and privy to certain Concordat secrets. Secrets within secrets, perhaps?”
“By now the Concordat must realize that I left with Ronan,” she said. “They didn’t authorize it. They’ll be prepared for the possibility that an enemy might penetrate my defenses. I know very well I can’t hold out against Kinsmen.”
“Sensible. Still, your sincerity remains in question… for the time being.” He turned to Ronan again. “We were always aware even you might fail, but you may still serve some purpose.”
Ronan knotted his fists. “What became of my parents? Who sent me to Aitu and Ain’Kalevi?”
“Ah, your parents. Such a tragedy. They came to shaauri space hoping to avert a Second War, but were intercepted by shaauri… less enthusiastic about a lasting peace with humans.”
“And by Kinsmen.”
“Perhaps. In any case, I understand that Jonas Kane VelArhan and his Challinor mate escaped the ship in a lifepod before it was destroyed, just as you did. They were never found. You, however, were rescued.”
“And sent not to my father’s shaauri kin, but to those who hated humans.”
“There was always some debate as to whether or not you should be allowed to survive. Aitu was a test. You were relieved of your memories of your true parents and the time before your arrival on that world, and given to Ain’Kalevi. When you not only survived but made a place for yourself in House Kalevi—and displayed signs of your parents’ skills—it became clear that you might be an asset after all.”
“You hated my parents.”
‘They had caused me some inconvenience in the past. But you were to atone for their sins. A few conferences with the War-Leader and Ain’Kalevi—who didn’t hate Kinsmen nearly so much as the Concordat—and you were given to us.”
Ronan was sucked into a memory of the small room, the human faces, the burning in his mind as they stripped it bare and filled it again with their schemes and thoughts of death.
‘The pain was a small price to pay for what you might have accomplished,” VelRauthi said.
“For you, not for shaauri-ja.”
“You seem convinced that there is a difference. Shaauri need the benefit of human cunning and human strategies if they are to win this war.”
“The A’Aho-Kei’hon-vekki knew about the assassination attempt?”
VelRauthi pursed his lips. “He approved our plans to use you as an agent ideally suited to evading Concordat defenses against our people. The details he left in our hands.”
“Will you tell him I have failed?”
“The information you and the captain carry should be more than sufficient to satisfy the War-Leader.”
“I will give him my knowledge directly. Release Captain D’Accorso and deliver me to Aur.”
“No, no.” VelRauthi’s eyes glinted with humor, barely concealing his hostility. “You are only a tool, Ronan, and a flawed one. You’re of no more importance to A’Aho-Kei’hon-vekki than a gnat on the tip of his whisker. You live on sufferance now, just as on Aitu.”