Chanur's Homecoming

“Nobody else can get close to the gods-be kif-”

“He’s going to be expecting a move like this. That’s why no one else can get close to him. This is why it doesn’t work for the kif. No percentage in it. You do it, Py, and we got ourselves a kif ball-up right here in the system.”

“We just got to get me inside there, that’s what we got.”

“We got those mahendo’sat hanging off system. We still don’t know where Goldtooth is-he could come tearing through here any minute, f godssakes, him and the whole clutch of humans. We got that message going out to the mahendo’sat. Jik’s coming in here-don’t do it. Don’t throw yourself into that mess. We just stay tight here, we talk to that bastard as long as he wants to talk, we got to hold our nerve, captain,

that’s what we got to do. We got to just bide our time and hope to-”

“Captain,” Hilfy said. “We got a query from Vigilance. Query, query, query, quote. That’s all they say.”

“Gods rot that nest of lunatics. Tell ’em shut it down. My gods, they’ll blow this up yet. Tell ’em-No. Tell ’em what I said. Shut it up. Next ship transmits out of turn I’ll have some ears for it, say that. Tell Harukk again the system is stable and his enemies are in retreat. Say that we have a contingent of mahendo’sat insystem in support of Jik, who’s gone on in pursuit of Akkhtimakt. Say that we’re ready to meet and arrange things.”

Eighteen ships in. The range out there was a confusion of ship IDs and colors as ships downshifted their V and others kept arriving.

“Aye,” Hilfy said.

“Captain,” Tully said. “Wrong. Ship wrong.”

“Gods.” Geran’s voice. “No ID on that last ship. It’s not outputting. We got an anomaly out there.”

Her heart sped. “Track and target. Get me vector on it.”

“Working,” Sif said.

It was behind the others. The line popped up, projecting course right with the rest of the mass.

14

It kept coming, a ship on which ID squeal had malfunctioned.

But that kind of malfunction was a kifish trick.

A pirate trick.

“My gods. It’s not theirs. It’s not theirs, they know it- stand by, stand by armaments!” Pyanfar shoved her arm into the brace and gulped air in starkest panic. “Haral! Control to me!”

“Aye,” Haral said on the instant, went over to switcher-one while Tirun busied herself with the tracking of the armaments.

“What is it?” Sirany wondered from her vantage.

“A stray,” Pyanfar said. “It’s a godsforsaken stray, Goldtooth’s or-”

“Priority!” Geran yelled, but it was already clear on the screen: the interloper had not dumped, and something else had come out from it: missile fire, projectiles launched C-fractional at ships that were relativistically stationary targets dead ahead of it.

“Priority!” Hilfy cried. “It’s Tahar! That’s Moon Rising! My gods, she’s going to run right through them!”

“Track on Harukk!” Pyanfar yelled, and slammed the mains in. “All ships, fire at will-tell ’em that’s an ally coming through!”

The armaments were tracking. Missiles launched with a thump and a shock against their own substance. Dead against Harukk, everything they owned to throw, hard as they could throw it.

“Ikkhoitr!” Pyanfar yelled over the whine of reloading. “Tirun, get their vanes. Never gods-be mind the others! Hilfy, give me output!”

“You got it,” Haral said. “Tully, output! Talk to humans, got it?”

In the case there was anything back there to talk to. All kinds of com ready-lighted, human channel, mahendo’sat, kif, hani, while that dopplering ghost that was Tahar’s Moon Rising came ahead pouring fire at a single target, savvy and deliberate.

“This is the mekt-hakkikt Pyanfar Chanur: Akkhtimakt is fallen and Sikkukkut has run here pursued by a thousand enemies who are my allies, hammered between mahen forces and the unity of han. In this pukkukkta I give you a chance, Chakkuf, Nekekkt! You’ve served us well on this voyage. You have my favor now! Hani ships and mahendo’sat, be sure of your targets! Harukk is your target, and any other ship which fires in our direction! Make no mistakes! Kifish ships, run from this system and my agents will hunt you down even to Akkht! Join us in this hunt and become among the first of my skkukun, all of you strong enough to maintain your place! Hani, fire your loads and scatter!”

This while The Pride belched out all the missiles and all the fire it had; while a deluge of fire converged from the ships in formation. Something came over com, overhead, general address: a hani voice, a familiar voice:

“Here’s from us, you godsforsaken motherless son of a nightwalker! Hearth and blood! from me and my crew!”

“Tahar!” Pyanfar cried. “Gods rot you, I forgive you!”

A timelag off in messages. The kif had only limited fire-sweep aft, because of its own vanes, and it had to track a ship whose missiles were only scantly lagged behind its com-wave, the difference between realspace V and lightspeed. Tahar’s missiles hit: others were still incoming from all points of the sphere.