The monster reached down a huge hand and seized the Voivode by one of his forelimb clusters. A moment later, still curled into a ball, Agayan found himself suspended in midair. The Gha commander’s bulging eyes were right before him.
Paralyzed. Only watch.
“My name,” said the Gha softly, “is Fludenoc hu’tut-Na Nomo’te. Since I have served you for more years than I wish to remember—a second time, now, when the first was bad enough—I feel that it is only proper that you should know my name.”
Paralyzed. Only watch.
“I will even educate you in the subtleties. Some of them, at least. Fludenoc is the familiar. Nomo the family name, with the ‘te-suffix to indicate that we are affiliated to the Na clan. Hu’-tut is an honorific. It indicates that my clan considers my poetry good enough for minstrel status.”
Paralyzed. Only watch.
“I will not bother explaining the fine distinctions which we Gha make between poets. They would be quite beyond your comprehension, Guild Voivode. Even if you were still alive.”
The Gha’s other hand seized Agayan’s head. Began to squeeze. Stopped.
“On second thought, I’d better not crush your wormface beyond recognition. The Romans are probably holding a grudge against us. If they can recognize your corpse, it may help.”
Paralyzed. Only watch. The Voivode saw the two Gha who had left the chamber return. Dragging the Pilot and the Medic with them.
The Gha commander’s clawed hand plunged into Agayan’s mid-section. Pushing the soft flesh aside until it gripped the vital organs at the center.
“I’m sure you never knew the names of the three Romans you executed, either. To my own shame, I only know one of them. Helvius, he was called.”
Squeezed. Squeezed.
Paralyzed, even at his death. Only watch.
The Guild Voivode’s last thought was perhaps inappropriate. It seemed outrageous to him that there was still no expression on the Gha’s face.
III
The Guild official’s body made a soft plopping sound when Fludenoc hu’tut-Na Nomo’te finally let it fall to the deck. Around the corpse, a pool of pink blood spread slowly from the Voivode’s alimentary and excretory orifices. The Gha commander’s incredibly powerful grip had ruptured half of Agayan’s internal organs.
“I am not cleaning up that mess,” announced the Gha who had killed Yuaw Khta. He pointed to the body of the Investigator. “Notice. Clean as a sand-scoured rock. Finesse.”
Fludenoc barked humor. “The worm didn’t have a neck to break. And I meant what I said, Uddumac. His corpse—if they recognize it—may be our passkey with the Romans.”
Uddumac made the sudden exhalation of breath which served Gha for a facial grimace. “All right, Fludenoc. Explain.”
The other two Gha in the room flexed their shoulders, indicating their full agreement with that sentiment. The gesture was the equivalent of vigorous head nodding among humans.
Before answering, Fludenoc examined the Pilot and the Medic. The Pilot was utterly motionless. Much like the species which had produced Agayan, the Pilot’s race also responded to sudden danger by instinctive immobility. Only her color—pale violet, now—indicated her terror.
There would be no problems with her, Fludenoc decided. He did not think she would recover for some time.
The Medic, on the other hand—
The Medic belonged to a species which would have seemed vaguely avian to humans. His instinctive reaction to shock was rapid flight. Yet, aside from an initial attempt to struggle free from the iron grip of the Gha who had captured him, the Medic seemed almost tranquil. His Gha captor still held him by the arm, but the Medic was making no attempt to escape.
Fludenoc stared down at him. The Medic’s flat, golden eyes stared back.
“Do not not mind me,” the Medic suddenly trilled. “I am just just a bystander. Interested bystander.”
The Medic gazed down at the corpse of the Voivode. “I always always wondered what the worm’s blood looked like.” He trilled pure pleasure. “Never never thought I’d find out.”
Uddumac interrupted.
“Explain, Fludenoc. I obeyed your command because you are the flarragun of our Poct’on cartouche. But now that the action is finished, I have a full right to demand an accounting.”
Fludenoc decided the Medic was no immediate problem, either. He turned to face Uddumac and the other Gha in the chamber.