Wizards At War

The three of them walked toward the crowd of Tawalf, in step, taking their time. The crowd clustered closer together as they approached. As the three of them got closer, Nita looked at the Tawalf and found herself feeling strangely sorry for them. They look kind of helpless and pitiful, she thought, without their big fancy weapons. Which is good for me, since now I have to make sure I’m not influenced by the fact that they would have blown me away without a second thought.

Sker’ret and Nita stopped; Carmela did, too, stepping a little away to watch what they did. The Tawalf glared at them.

“We are on errantry, and we greet you,” Sker’ret said.

“Not that you particularly merit greeting,” Nita said.

“And, additionally,” Sker’ret said, “I represent the constituted authority of the Crossings, an independent political entity of Rirhath B. I inform you that you are now to be placed in Crossings custody for a number of local and planetary infractions. You have the right to send to your homeworld through our independent travelers’ representative—when we manage to locate it—for whatever legal assistance you require. Meanwhile, we have the right to require of you all pertinent details concerning your presence here, your actions while here, and information concerning those of our station staff who were involved in attempting to prevent your access.”

There was a long silence. Then one of the Tawalf said, “There weren’t any.”

Knowledge of the Speech made the words understandable, but the sense was still ambiguous. “Weren’t any what?” Sker’ret said.

“Attempts to prevent our access,” the Tawalf said.

“Where are the station staff?” Nita said.

The Tawalf who had spoken looked at Nita scornfully, and then threw a strange look at Carmela. Maybe it’s the pants, Nita thought. They certainly made her eyes vibrate when she looked at them.

“We don’t know,” the Tawalf said.

“Somehow I doubt that,” Nita said.

“They ran off somewhere,” said another Tawalf, looking sullen—insofar as it was possible to look sullen with such expressionless eyes, like polished pebbles. “Probably hiding elsewhere on the planet.”

Nita glanced at Sker’ret. What do you think?

I don’t know what to think. It doesn’t seem in character. But then my ancestor wasn’t behaving as usual when I saw him last, either.

“Where did you people come in from?” Sker’ret said. “Who sent you?”

None of them would answer.

“Oh, come on,” Sker’ret said. “No Tawalf does something unless valuta‘s changed hands. You didn’t just turn up here with a pile of heavy weapons because you felt like it!”

The Tawalf glowered at him. “We’ve been bought once,” one of them said. “We can’t break our contracts.”

“And saying anything would be breaking them.”

Nita frowned. “You don’t have to say anything,” she said.

They all glared at her now, and Nita hoped her bluff wasn’t about to be called. Wizardries designed to get into people’s minds and take out information forcibly were almost as hard on the wizard as they were on the victim. But we have to get this place secure and running before we move on.

You have the power if you need it, the peridexis said in the back of her mind.

I know I do. But I really don’t know if I want it for this. Yet it seemed to Nita that she might have no choice, and time was flying.

The Tawalf who had spoken first had been watching Nita. Now it laughed, a nasty ratchety sound. “You won’t do it,” it said. “Wizards! Everybody knows you were always weaklings, afraid to lose your power by using it the wrong way. And now, after all these centuries of being so nicey-nice, you’re losing it anyway! So you’re finished running things in this universe! And your people are through running this place,” it said to Sker’ret, “and controlling all the wealth and power that flows through here. It’s up to the smart ones and the strong ones now to take what they want.”

“What we want,” said another of the Tawalf.

The rest of the crowd behind them started to join in that nasty snickering noise. Nita’s fingers clenched on the accelerator in anger.

“I dislike this necessity,” Sker’ret said. “But if psychotropic spelling is required to restore the Crossings to its normal function—”

“Sker’, let me,” Nita said. “I don’t like it, either, but maybe I have a way to—”

“Guys,” Carmela said. “Wait a sec.”

Nita and Sker’ret looked at her.

“You get more honey with flies,” Carmela said, and then paused. “Wait a minute, that’s not how it goes. Never mind. Here—”