Aufors whispered, “A show? You felt he was acting?”
The com-man paused, mouth open. “Now you mention it, sir. Yes. He was, and in no time at all he said he was going off to the palace to find out the arrangements. He went by the street door, and he took the other two guards with him.”
Aufors blinked slowly, not giving voice to his fury. He had always admired the Marshal’s skills, but it seemed to him now that off the battlefield, the man was an idiot.
The com-man read his face. “Well, I knew you were wondering, sir, just how it was we didn’t have the outer doors covered. Well, the Marshal and the men weren’t long gone when your lady was warned, somehow, that they were coming for her.”
“But not for a garden walk,” Aufors said bleakly.
“No, sir. So, she went by me shouting to bar the door and message the ship. I saw the way she went, then I did what she said, barred the door and sent the message. Then I checked the door through the city wall. That one was barred, no doubt by your lady, sir, for she told me to get the other one. While I was there, the old woman came down the stairs and went by me with the child, as I’ve said, and went through toward the kitchen. The man who’d been baby-tending was behind her, and I told him to stay by the door while I followed her as far as the way down and out, then I got back to the com. By that time, everyone was gathered in one place, outside the com-room, and when I got your message to evacuate, I set the charges in the com-room and got everyone out.”
“How did the Marchioness know they intended harm?” the Captain asked.
The com-man replied, “It had to be the old woman, Captain, Colonel. Who else? And if the Shah had wanted the two of you to begin with, Colonel, it would explain the two attacks, both out here and on the residence. Stands to reason it was you they were after. They already had Delganor, the Invigilator, and the Marshal.”
“They miscalculated,” said the Captain.
“They and we,” Aufors said. “Because of failed intelligence, Captain. We didn’t know they intended to pick us off. They didn’t know about the cannon or your off-world detectors. We didn’t know they were after me or Genevieve, and they didn’t know Genevieve would be warned. Why they wanted her is a mystery to me, unless it has to do with all their nonsense about women, but why did they want me? They already had the Prince.”
“My judgment would be that they can’t use the Prince for what they have in mind,” said the Captain in a dead, cold voice. “I’ve been here before, Colonel. On one occasion, a few years back, an officer of my crew was cut into pieces and left at the bottom of the ramp, merely, so the Prince said, to make a point. Perhaps they felt they needed to make another point.”
“To the Prince?” asked Aufors. “And you think I was to have been the victim?”
The Captain shrugged. “You are not of the nobility, Colonel, so your death would not offend the nobility of Haven. Invigilator Rongor is of the nobility, as is the Prince. Noble or not, you are high enough in rank to leave a noticeable hole, as am I. Either one of us would probably serve as a warning, but if they kill me, the ship might not make it back to Haven, and they wouldn’t want that. Their trade depends upon Haven and the nobility. You would serve well to make a point.”
“I would, or my wife.”
“No, not the lady. Forgive me, sir, but the Mahahmbi don’t think make any point at all. If they took your woman, they’d expect you to find another. The Mahahmbi consider women disposable,- they buy them or steal them, just as they buy or steal equipment, with no more importance than that.”
Aufors narrowed his eyes. “So they want to make a point to the Prince. The Prince, and no doubt the Invigilator as well, want them to increase P’naki production, so the point being made must belet this matter alone! They do not want to talk about increasing P’naki.”