Captain Vorpatril's alliance

“They might…maybe they were on the other side of it, when that explosion went off,” Em tried. “Maybe they got out. Maybe…ImpSec will find them over there. Or‑Imola said he didn’t see them, and they can’t have got past him, so maybe they went to hide up one of the other branches.”

Or down one. Tej had an instant and unwanted flash of it, freezing water pouring into some Mycoborer side‑channel, knocking the two off their feet, making the slope too slippery to scramble up…

“Or maybe…” Em ran down, which relieved Tej of the urge to slap her silent. But for a snap decision on Dada’s part, it would have been Em out there with their youngest brother, Tej reminded herself.

Ivan Xav hesitated, then said, “Couldn’t you use the Mycoborer to tunnel out?”

Tej was briefly thrilled with her Barrayaran husband’s simple genius, but Grandmama frowned; she said, “It consumes oxygen as well…at a rate of…hm.”

“Don’t bother trying to calculate it,” sighed Amiri. “The box is back at the entryway with the rest of our supplies.”

A sickly silence. All around.

“How many cold lights do we have?” asked Pearl, patting her pockets. She came up with a single spare.

This triggered a general inventory. Most of the Arquas were carrying one or two extras; Ivan Xav harbored a double‑dozen, plus a couple he quietly palmed to an inside pocket when almost no one else was looking.

“Rather a lot,” the Baronne concluded. “But space them out. Don’t start any others till the ones we have run down.”

The eight cold lights presently providing their bright chemical glow made the lab seem a well‑lit workspace. Tej imagined it with only one or two, and the word that rose in her mind was haunted. And not just with all the history.

“Water?” said Pidge, and gestured inarticulately when Tej gave her a look. “I mean water that’s safe to drink.”

“I might find something to filter some,” said Grandmama. “Boil…no, likely not.”

“We brought plenty of food to keep everyone going all night,” said Pearl glumly. “Too bad it’s all back at the entrance with everything else.”

Em swallowed, and said, “Air…? These walls are pretty tightly sealed.”

Perfectly sealed, as Tej understood it, except for their new door and maybe the old one, filled with rubble.

“The rooms are rather large,” said Amiri, his voice thin with a worry that undercut the actual sense of his words. “And there are two of them.”

“And the tunnel,” said Tej. “And…there might be some oxygen exchange through the surface of the water out there?”

“Works till we have to seal the door on it,” said Pidge. “But there are twelve of us in here breathing.”

Quite a few Arqua gazes swiveled to Imola, still sitting on the floor beside his unconscious hirelings and listening in growing horror.

“Nine would last longer,” said Pearl, tentatively.

“Premature,” growled Dada, “though tempting. Very tempting.”

“Yes, but if we were going to do it at all, sooner is better than later,” argued Pidge, in a tone that attempted to simulate lawyerly reason. Tej was almost glad that she quavered a little.

“Nevertheless,” said the Baronne. Her tone was cool; her gaze calculating; her word mollifying; yet Imola shrank from her more than he had Pidge. No quaver there.

“Those two,” choked Imola, with an abrupt gesture at his snoring followers. “You could have those two.” He contemplated the inert forms, then offered, as if by way of a selling point, “They’d never know…”

“I’ll be sure to mention you said so,” purred Dada, “when they wake up.” He strolled away to look over the contents of the chamber some more; scouting for ideas, Tej suspected, rather than treasure. Dada had never run short of ideas that she knew of; he merely made more.

Ivan Xav looked at Imola and just shook his head. He leaned over and murmured to the man, “Look on the bright side. With all these other constraints, it’s unlikely we’ll have time to work around to the cannibalism.” He bared his teeth in an unfriendly smile.

Imola flinched.

“Still, probably better not to indulge in, um, too much heavy exercise,” Amiri offered. “Just…sit or move quietly.”

“Mm,” said Pearl. She and Pidge moved off to poke, quietly, though a few more boxes. Opening presents seemed a lot less riveting now than it had been at first.

Tej was watching Ivan Xav running his fingers along the side of a bin, lips moving as he estimated the number of papers packed inside, when a sharp scrape, a loud pop, a dull yellow flash of light, and a yelp rising to a screech whipped her head around.

Pearl had pried open the top of some ornately‑enameled bottle that she’d unearthed, which had exploded. Whatever liquid it contained had splashed upon her black jacket, dancing with blue and yellow flames. She recoiled, flung the bottle away, and leaped aside.

“Pearl, don’t run, don’t run!” Ivan Xav bellowed. Pearl, mouth open and astonished, only had three steps to do just that before Ivan Xav brought her down. “Drop and roll, roll!”