Cobra Guardian: Cobra War: Book Two (42 page)

From the complete lack of reaction at Harli's announcement, Lorne concluded that everyone in the room had indeed already heard that particular news. Probably everyone in Stronghold knew it by now. "And all four of them were highly instrumental in kicking the Trofts' collective butt," he added.

"Thank you, Broom, I
was
getting to that," Harli said, throwing a brief glower at Lorne. "As Cobra Lorne Broom says, they were indispensable members of our attack force. In fact, I'd go further. Without them, we would almost certainly have lost the battle. We would absolutely have lost a great many more Cobras."

Lorne glanced around, noting all the nodding heads. The people of Stronghold knew that, too.

"What you probably
don't
know," Harli continued, "is that Ifrit Siraj Akim and his people came to Caelian looking for help. Apparently the Trofts--
some
of the Trofts," he corrected, nodding a tacit apology to Warrior, "have decided they don't like sharing this part of space with us humans. Just as Caelian and Aventine have been attacked, so also was Qasama. Ifrit Akim has therefore come here looking for help."

He looked around the room again. "Specifically, he's looking for Cobras willing to go back to Qasama with them and fight."

Lorne had expected that one to generate at least a murmur, whether of disbelief, disapproval, or dismay. The silence that instead filled the room was far more ominous.

Matigo broke the silence first. "What does your father say?" he asked.

"The governor's still in emergency surgery," Harli said. "I didn't have time to brief him on their request before he went under."

Matigo nodded and shifted his attention to the Qasamans. "How many Cobras would you need?"

"As many as are willing to come," Siraj said. "As many as you can spare."

"And therein lies the problem," Harli said heavily. "As of three days ago, before the Trofts landed, we had around seven hundred Cobras on Caelian. Even with that we were barely holding our own." He waved a hand. "As of right now, we're down over three hundred from that number, including the dead and wounded. We also have a major part of the Stronghold wall to rebuild, nearly two hundred Troft prisoners to manage, plus all the rest of Caelian's challenges to deal with."

"In other words," Siraj said, his eyes boring into Harli's, "your answer is no."

"That's not fair," Jody spoke up fiercely. "We wouldn't even be sitting here if it wasn't for them. You said that yourself. You can't just say thank you and send them away."

"What do you suggest?" Harli countered. "You've seen what we have to deal with on Caelian. How many Cobras of our current four hundred do
you
think we can spare?"

"That's the wrong question," Jin said, her voice less agitated than her daughter's but no less firm. "It's not a matter of what the cost will be of sending Cobras to Qasama. The real question is what the cost will be if you don't."

"Seems to me that if we're going to send our Cobras anywhere it ought to be to Aventine," one of the men along the wall muttered, his eyes hard as he stared at the four Qasamans. "
They
haven't been running around for fifty years swearing to destroy us."

"The situation on Qasama has changed," Siraj said evenly. "The Shahni are willing to let go of the insults of the past."

The man by the wall snorted. "Big of them," he growled.

"The Qasamans are a proud people," Jin said. "They would never ask help from someone they considered enemies. The fact that they sent Ifrit Akim here is proof that the old animosities are gone, or at least faded enough for us to try to make a new start."

"Wait a minute," Nissa spoke up from behind Warrior. "Why are we even talking about more fighting? Warrior said that once we had a victory against the invaders the Tlossies and some of the other demesnes would be willing to help us."

Warrior's radiator membranes fluttered. [A victory, this is not a sufficient one,] he said.

"What did he say?" Harli asked.

"He said this wasn't a sufficient victory," Paul spoke up. "Unfortunately, he's right."

Matigo sent a hard look at the Troft. "In whose opinion?" he growled.

"In everyone's," Paul told him. Matigo turned to him-- "Yes, I was there, too," Paul continued before the other could speak. "I saw what it cost." He waved at his heavily bandaged left leg. "I paid some of that cost myself, you know."

"The problem is that Caelian's too unimportant for anyone to care about," Harli said. "Is that what you're saying?"

"That, and the battle itself was too small for the Tlossies or anyone else to consider it genuinely significant," Paul said. "I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. A small group of humans taking down two ships' worth of Trofts could easily be considered a fluke. Especially since you had a fair amount of help from Caelian's own flora and fauna."

"What it boils down to is that there are only two places where a significant victory will be enough to get the Tlossies moving," Jin said. "Aventine and Qasama." She looked at Warrior. "Am I right?"

[A victory on either, it would be significant,] the Troft agreed.

"Well, Aventine's out," Lorne said. "Not only would we never get in past all the ships the invaders have in orbit, but the people and government there are pretty much useless."

"How
dare
you?" Nissa snapped. "Just because Governor-General Chintawa didn't go running out into the street with a gun you think he's
useless
?"

"No, I'm saying he's useless because he ordered the Cobras to stand down without even trying to fight," Lorne countered. "He also called the governors and syndics together so that he could call for a nice, neat surrender."

"He was buying time," Nissa retorted. "Buying
us
time, so that we could get off Aventine with--"

"I have a question," Croi spoke up suddenly from beside her. "Cobra Uy, you say you don't have enough Cobras to send to Qasama. What if we could get you some more?"

Matigo snorted. "As long as we're wishing, how about getting us a Dominion of Man naval squadron?"

"I'm serious," Croi insisted. "What if I could get you some fresh Cobras? Would you have enough then to send some of yours to Qasama?"

"How many extras are we talking about?" Harli asked.

"I can get you three hundred," Croi said.

"And how fast can you get them here?"

Croi hesitated, his eyes flicking around the room. "About five days."

"Five
days
?" Matigo echoed as a stunned murmur broke out among the observers.

"Relax, everyone," Harli said, raising his voice over the excited chatter. "He's talking about Viminal, which also means he's talking through his ear. Sorry to break this to you, Dr. Croi, but if the invaders bothered to hit Caelian, they certainly didn't forget about Viminal."

"I'm not talking about Viminal," Croi said, looking around the room again. "I just can't--here with all these people--"

And in that moment, the fog of fatigue around Lorne's mind seemed to part . . . and suddenly he knew what he had to do. "He's talking about Isis," he spoke up. "It's an automated--"

"Broom, shut your mouth!" Nissa snapped, stepping up to her side of the table.

"It's an automated Cobra factory currently aboard--"

"
Damn
you, Broom, shut
up
!" Nissa snarled, her face rigid with anger as she jabbed a finger at the men standing behind the Broom family. "You--Cobras--shut him up!"

"Hold," Harli said, his voice icy cold as he held up a restraining hand, his eyes locked on Lorne's. "I want to hear this."

"No," Nissa ground out. "Cobra Uy, if this man says another word--if you
listen
to another word--I swear I'll have you and everyone else in this room up on charges."

"On whose authority?" Paul asked mildly.

"On the authority given me by Senior Governor Tomo Treakness," she said, turning her glare on him. "Dr. Croi heard him, and so did Cobra Broom. He granted me full authority of negotiation and treaty, and named me the Cobra Worlds' representative to the universe at large."

"I don't think this is exactly what he had in mind," Croi said hesitantly.

"I don't care what he may or may not have had in mind," Nissa retorted. "What he
said
was that I have full Dome authority. I'm exercising that authority now."

For a long moment the room was silent. Then, Harli stirred. "Your authority and orders are noted," he said quietly. "I still want to hear it."

"Cobra Uy--"

"And if you persist in interrupting," he added, still quietly, "I'll have you removed from this room." He turned back to Lorne. "Cobra Broom?"

Lorne took a deep breath, his mind flashing back to the family dinner--was it only three weeks ago?--where they'd all discussed the ramifications of the urgent note his mother had received to go to Qasama. Even then, he remembered, the risk of treason charges had been mentioned. Somehow, he'd never really expected it to come down to that.

Apparently, it had.

"Isis is an experimental program," he said, keeping his attention fixed on Harli. Even out of the corner of his eye he could see the fury on Nissa's face. "It's a robotic system for creating Cobras, bypassing the human surgeons. I gather it's pretty much self-contained, and I'm told it'll shorten the time necessary for equipment implantation from two weeks to five days."

Harli looked at Croi. "Has it been tested?"

"It has," Croi said. "The prototype"--he glanced at Nissa, looked hurriedly away--"is in the cargo hold of Ingidi-inhiliziyo's freighter."

"And you say it has enough equipment to make three hundred Cobras?"

"Yes." Croi hunched his shoulders. "Fewer if there's some breakage, of course."

Matigo whistled softly. "Damn, but three hundred new Cobras would be nice to have."

"I'm sure they would." Lorne braced himself. "But I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the next one." He looked at Siraj. "This one's going to Qasama."

"
What
?" Matigo demanded, his voice barely audible over the sudden uproar from the room.

"It has to," Lorne insisted, raising his own voice as he tried to be heard. "Listen to me. Please--
listen
to me."

"Quiet," Uy ordered.

The governor's son hadn't even raised his voice, Lorne noted. But within a couple of seconds the room was quiet again. "Continue, Broom," he said into the rigid silence.

"We can't win this war by ourselves," Lorne said, keeping his voice as steady as he could. "That should be obvious to everyone in this room. The Cobra Worlds haven't got the numbers, the weapons, or the industrial capability. No matter how many Cobras we have, if we try to go head to head with the invaders, we
will
eventually lose." He gestured toward Warrior. "The only way to win will be to persuade the Tlossies and some of the other local demesnes onto our side."

"Who've already said they won't come aboard without a major victory," Jin murmured.

"Exactly," Lorne said. "As was already stated, it has to be Aventine, or Qasama."

"So take this Cobra factory to Aventine," Matigo said.

Lorne shook his head. "We already covered that," he said. "Aventine is out."

"Because the people won't fight?" Nissa demanded bitterly.

"Because they aren't ready for war," Lorne told her. "They don't have the weapons or the soldiers." He grimaced. "And from what little I saw, they don't really have the mind-set."

"But the Qasamans have all of that," Jin said. "And they have more." She looked at Harli. "Lorne's right, Cobra Uy. Humanity has just one chance to pull this off. That chance is Qasama."

"Let's suppose you're right," Harli said slowly. "Let's suppose you take this Isis thing to Qasama, and you win. What then?"

"What do you mean?" Jin asked, frowning.

"I mean the Qasamans will have Cobras," Harli said flatly, his eyes shifting to Siraj. "And new, milder tone or not, I don't think we can trust them not to turn around and send those Cobras straight back at us once this is over."

"I have already said the Shahni no longer see your worlds that way," Siraj reminded him.

"I understand," Harli said. "And for whatever it's worth, I think you're being sincere about that. The problem is that you're making promises for your government, and I frankly don't think you have the authority to do that."

Beside him, Khatir stirred. "No, he doesn't," he agreed. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small, ornate disk and laid it quietly on the table in front of him. "But I do."

Siraj leaned forward for a closer look at the disk, his eyes widening. Lorne keyed in his infrareds, and there was no mistaking the utter surprise flowing across the other's face. "You're an
ambassador
?" he asked, looking with astonishment at Khatir.

"Yes," Khatir said. "Though only for the purposes of this mission, of course." He looked at Siraj and Zoshak. "That was why I was removed from that final battle in Sollas," he added. "I needed as much instruction as possible in the demands and parameters of my new position."

"I thought you came merely to serve as our pilot," Zoshak said, sounding as confused as Siraj.

Khatir shrugged. "Certainly I'm that as well," he said. "But Rashida Vil is far better qualified than I. No,
this
was my ultimate purpose in coming on this mission."

"Even though you don't even like us?" Jin murmured.

"My personal preferences are of no matter," Khatir said evenly. "But since you mention that, allow me to state that much of my animosity toward you in Sollas was based on my doubts about your abilities." He looked at Harli. "Having now seen you in true combat, those doubts have been put to rest."

"Mighty generous of you," Harli said dryly. He gestured at the disk. "I take it that's the sign of your diplomatic authority?"

"It is an ambassadorial signet," Siraj confirmed. He still looked flabbergasted, but his infrared pattern indicated he was starting to get back on balance again. "Such tokens are old and revered, and are given only to the highest of the Shahni's negotiators."

"And as such, I place the future of our peoples in your hands," Khatir said, visibly bracing himself. "Do you wish a full treaty of friendship with the Shahni? Do you wish merely a pact of nonaggression? Whatever your desire, you need only place it in writing, and I will sign it."