Cordelia's Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold [42]
"What was that noise? What's going on in there?"
"Throw in a grenade and seal the door."
"We can't, our men are in there."
"Wentz, report!"
Silence.
"You go in, Tafas."
"Why me?"
"Because I order you."
Tafas crept cautiously around the door, stepping over the threshold almost on tiptoe. He turned around and around, staring. Afraid that they would close and lock the door at another firing, she waited until he at last looked up.
She smiled winningly at him, and gave a little wave of her fingers. "Close the door," she mouthed silently, pointing.
He stared at her with a very odd expression on his face, baffled, hopeful, and angry all at once. The bell of his disruptor seemed large as a searchlight, pointed quite accurately at her head. It was like looking into the eye of judgment. A standoff, of sorts. Vorkosigan is right, she thought; a disruptor does have real authority. . . .
Then Tafas called, "I think there may be some kind of gas leak or something. Better close the door a second while I check." It swung closed obediently behind him.
Cordelia smiled down from the ceiling, eyes narrowed. "Hi. Want to get out of this mess?"
"What are you doing here—Betan?"
Excellent question, she thought ruefully. "Trying to save a few lives. Don't worry—your friends over there are only stunned." I won't mention the one hit by friendly fire—dead, perhaps, because of a moment's mercy for me. . . . "Come on over to our side," she coaxed, madly echoing a child's game. "Captain Vorkosigan will forgive you—expunge the record. Give you a medal," she promised recklessly.
"What medal?"
"How should I know? Any medal you want. You don't even have to kill anybody. I have another stunner."
"What guarantee do I have?"
Desperation made her daring. "Vorkosigan's word. You tell him I pledged it to you."
"Who are you to pledge his word?"
"Lady Vorkosigan, if we both live." A lie? Truth? Hopeless fantasy?
Tafas gave a whistle, staring up at her. Belief began to illuminate his face.
"You really want to be responsible for letting a hundred fifty of your friends breathe vacuum just to save that Ministerial spy's career?" she added cogently.
"No," he said firmly at last. "Give me the stunner."
Now shall trust be tested. . . . She dropped it down to him. "Three down and seven to go. What's the best approach?"
"I can lure a couple more in here. The others are at the main entrance. We can rush them from behind, if we're lucky."
"Go ahead."
Tafas opened the door. "It was a gas leak," he coughed convincingly. "Help me drag these guys out and we'll seal the door."
"I could swear I heard a stunner go off a while ago," said his companion, entering.
"Maybe they were trying to attract attention."
The mutineer's face flared with suspicion as the stupidity of this suggestion sank in. "They didn't have stunners," he began. Fortunately, the second man entered at this point. Cordelia and Tafas fired in unison.
"Five down, five to go," Cordelia said, dropping to the floor. Her left leg buckled; it wasn't moving quite right. "Odds are getting better all the time."
"It had better be quick, if it's going to work at all," warned Tafas.
"Suits me."
They slid out the door and ran lightly across the engineering bay, which continued its automatic tasks, indifferent to its masters' identity. Some black-uniformed bodies were piled carelessly to one side. Tafas held up his hand for caution as they rounded the corner, jabbing a finger significantly. Cordelia nodded. Tafas walked around the corner quietly, and Cordelia pinned herself to its very edge, waiting. As Tafas raised his stunner she oozed around, searching for a target. The chamber narrowed in this L, ending in the main entrance to the deck above. Five men stood with their attention riveted