“That’s to our advantage though,” ‘Ziana pointed out. “We’re Starfarers. We go everywhere and everyone knows it. No one will suspect we’re deliberately guarding the Shahrcmul. They’ll believe us if we say it was a chance encounter.”
“I see that,” Pal said, “But we’re still not soldiers or police. Many of our number are still under twelve.”
“Some of the fiercest fighters in history have been kids,” Market said.
Kheti had been very silent, but now she said, “It’s good to know how to fight to protect yourself and others but Pal is right. We are none of us professional fighters and if Kisia Manjari and her uncle are using some of the same network her father once employed, they are very professional indeed.”
“Training is all we need,” ‘Ziana said. “That and maybe a little advice. And the coordinates where you believe the Linyaari home -world to be, Mr. Baird. We won’t need your course.” She glanced at Johnny Greene. “We Starfarers have our own methods of navigating.”
The Council members were all nodding. Reamer could see Pal and the others were outnumbered. Pal sighed and said, “Okay, but if/^w adviser could give one more piece of advicethe one member of Mr. Li’s staff who is still available, as far as I know, is Nadhari Kando. If you have to have one trainer and adviser, she’s the one.”
“The last I heard, she was staying in General Ikwaskwans compound, helping train his troops,” Mercy said.
“Now, that’s handy,” Pal said. “If we need extra fire power it’s right there. We could apprise the general of the situation, too. With your authorization, Rafik, we could retain the Red
Bracelets on a standby basis in case your uncle runs into further problems.”
“That’s a good idea. Pal,” Rafik said. “Meanwhile, I can speak with Federation officials about possible sentient rights violations. Trafficking in the horns of non-Federation peoples known to be sentient surely must break some kind of law.”
“And I can get the authorities on Kezdet off their duffs and launch an investigation into Ganoosh’s illegal activities,” Gill said.
“I think someone could just try using the secure channels on the com lines instead of everyone going rushing off into space,” Judit suggested.
Calum shook his head. “I wondered why Hafiz didn’t do that instead of seeking out Rafik in person. Even when he spoke to me, he used a kind of personal code. I realized that he suspected his own security had been breached. As a precaution, I took a look at our equipment and programs. They’re all manufactured by Kezdet-Kom, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Interlay Enterprises, which is owned by a company owned by Ganoosh. Our security programs are manufactured by another of his puppets.”
“Just can’t get good help these days,” Gill growled.
“We’ll go find her,” ‘Ziana rejoined
Kheti said, “I’m going with you. Pal has been out of the camps too long. I can identify quite a few ofManjari’s perverts for Nadhari and the general if they need me to. If the Piper’s cronies are causing trouble again, I want to personally make sure they’re stopped. None of us will be safe until that whole machine is destroyed, once and for all.”
“I think that’s a little beyond the scope of our mission, Khetala, but you’re very welcome,” Markel said. The other council members nodded assent.
“Daddy, we should go, too,” Turi said. Reamer had been so engrossed in watching the proceedings that he hadn’t noticed his kids had wandered over to stand behind him, where they had apparently been taking in every word. “The horn is ours. Mr. Becker gave it to us to help the Lady and her people. We should be the ones to take it to them.”
Reamer didn’t much like conflict of any kind and the idea of kids doing battle with people like Edacki Ganoosh scared the living daylights out of him. But so did the idea of his kids being plucked up like ripe fruit for Kisia Manjari and her uncle to use as they wished.
If there were going to be lessons for youngsters on how to take care of themselves from a former captain of the notorious Red Bracelets like Nadhari Kando, Turi and Deeter should be in on them. Him, too. Not that he’d be much good at combat. But maybe he could repair weapons or something. Bound to be able to make himself useful one way or the other. And it sounded like a “wild adventure.