Captain Vorpatril's alliance

“But I saw those eye‑pins on his collar,” said Tej. Because otherwise she would start talking about Rish and Jet, and saying stupid, hopeful, unlikely things, and the spinning words would hurt like razors. “Would an ImpSec man have been trying to blow up ImpSec?” Maybe he’d been a bomb‑disposal man, instead…?

“I looked him up,” said Ivan Xav. “Yesterday. Maybe it’s day before yesterday, by now.” His stricken gaze darted around the tunnel, permanently night but for the jerking cold‑light beams poking between his and Grandmama’s tight grips. “He was one of Negri’s boys, but all his records say is that he disappeared during the Pretendership. He could have been on the Lord Regent’s side, trying to take out the building when Vordarian’s troops held it. Or he could have been one of Vordarian’s‑they had men inside all the corps, the whole military was divided‑either before or after. Once…” He swallowed. “Once Simon might have known. Which. Offhand.”

They stepped back inside the lab, where, apparently, some argument between Dada and Ser Imola had just ended; at any rate, Imola was sitting on the floor clutching his jaw and moaning, and Dada was rubbing his knuckles and being very narrow‑eyed. He looked up at them, gaze widening. “Did you find‑” he began, then, seeing their faces, cut himself off. “What did you find?”

“We can’t tell how much of the tunnel is collapsed, if any, because evidently the blast cracked that storm sewer,” said Grandmama. “Water was pouring in. It had filled the portion of the tunnel nearest the pipe already.”

“We can’t get past,” said Tej.

“It’s rising,” said Ivan Xav.

“Can it get this high?” asked the Baronne, coming up behind Dada in time to hear this. Her hand clutched his shoulder; his hand rose and pressed hers.

“It might,” said Ivan Xav. “I suppose it depends on how many of those damned random Mycoborer branches lie below our level. And how hard it’s been raining out there tonight.”

Dada moved quickly through the doorway, and bent down to examine the oval slab of wall that had been removed. “Hm.” He called back over his shoulder, “Amiri made most of his cuts angled inward, good boy. If we can find something for sealant, we should be able to boost this back up in place; the pressure of the water on the outside will hold it. If it comes to that.”

“I guarantee,” said Ivan Xav, “that we have ImpSec’s full attention right now. I expect they’ll find that access well in the garage pretty quick. If anyone can get through from that side…well, they’ll get to us somehow. Sooner or later.”

“Does‑I hate to bring this up‑but does anyone out there actually know we’re in here?” said Pidge, joining the circle collecting around the aperture.

“Star,” said Tej after a minute. “Ser Imola’s men.”

“If they didn’t just toss her in the back of their van and all take off, when the job went up,” said Emerald. “If they had half a brain among them, that’s what they should have done.”

“They likely just about did have that,” sighed Dada. “Damned cheap rental meat.”

“Ivan Xav,” said Amiri, looking around at him in fresh hope. “Surely they’ll miss you.”

“When I don’t show up at work in a couple of days, sure,” said Ivan Xav. Then stopped. And said, “Ah. No, they won’t. I’m on leave. Nobody’s expecting me.” He walked over to the still‑unconscious man he’d stunned, bent, and stripped him of his wristcom. Stepping out through the aperture, he looked up, then began trying to punch through a call. Nobody tried to impede him.

Unfortunately, no one had to. Nothing went through. He came back and parted the protesting Imola from his fancier one, and tried again.

“We’re pretty far underground…” said Tej, watching over his shoulder.

“Cheap civilian models,” he growled, shaking it and trying again. “ Mine would have worked here.” Still no signal. “Damn.”

“Simon will figure it out,” said Tej, trying to inject a note of confidence as she followed him back inside. “Wouldn’t he?”

“Simon,” said Ivan Xav, rather through his teeth, “for some reason‑you might know why, Shiv‑is under the impression that you all haven’t even started to tunnel yet. Let alone arrived at your goal. All the Arquas suddenly disappearing off the face of Barrayar…might have more than one hypothesis to account for it. In Simon’s twisty mind.”

“And you, too? Without a word?” said Amiri.

“I’ve been kidnapped before,” said Ivan Xav. “You would be amazed how many memories tonight is bringing back to me. All of them unpleasant.”

Tej would have held his hand, but she wasn’t sure it would be taken in good part, just now. He was looking a bit wild.

They all were. And maybe she was, too, because Ivan Xav reached out and gripped hers, and gave her a tight grimace that might have been intended for a smile.

“No sign of Rish and Jet?” said Em, in a constricted voice.

Tej shook her head, throat too thick to speak.