Quest for the Well of Souls - Jack L. Chalker [71]
Trelig nodded soberly. "I have gotten this far and this high by not making any. I assure you that self-preservation is a primary objective with me."
"All right then," Ortega said. "You brought two Makiem suits?"
"Already being worked on by your people," Burodir put in. "We will be set to go as soon as they are through."
Ortega sighed. "Okay, then. Get your supplies transferred as quickly as possible, and be back here for briefing at 0400."
The Makiem rose and made for the exit. Trelig turned slightly, and said, "You won't regret this, Ortega."
"You bet I won't," the snake-man replied, and watched them go out. The door closed. "You son of a bitch," he added.
Two figures emerged from behind a partition. "So that's Trelig," Renard breathed. "Now he looks just like he always was—slimy. Color matches, too. He hasn't changed a bit."
"I notice you didn't tell him who that Agitar was," Vistaru the Lata said.
Ortega chuckled. "No, and I think you better have an alias, Renard. Something that won't give you away—and he'd better not find out, so don't slip."
Renard's grin lent a particularly evil effect to his devil's face. "I won't slip. But nothing will stop me from electrocuting the son of a bitch once we don't need him any more. You understand that."
Ortega did. Trelig had picked Renard from a Com-world mental institution, fed him massive doses of sponge, and enslaved him on New Pompeii. More than anyone, Renard knew Trelig's basic evil, his degradation. The man was a monster. But Trelig did not know that Renard was Renard—and if there were no slips, he would not. While Trelig worried about a vengeful Yaxa, right next to him would be an enemy who knew him well, knew New Pompeii well, and hated him with a passion that defied description.
"I just wish it'd been Mavra," Vistaru said between clenched teeth. "That bitch Wooley! I'll get her if it's the last thing I do."
Ortega looked thoughtful, then sighed. "Renard, will you see to some of the final preparations?" he prodded. The Agitar turned to go, and Vistaru started to follow. "No, Vistaru, not you. Stay here a minute."
She looked puzzled, and Renard left. The door hissed shut again.
"I think," Ortega said slowly, "it's time to tell you a few things you don't know. Wooley knows—I had to tell her in order to save Mavra Chang's life these many years. Now it's time for you."
Vistaru experienced a creeping dread within her, as if she didn't really want to know what Ortega was about to tell her, but dimly guessed the truth.
Ortega sighed and pulled some papers from a desk drawer, a thick file marked chang, mavra in indecipherable Ulik, but the Lata knew what it was from the photo on the jacket.
"I better start from the beginning, all the way," he said carefully. "It begins fifty-four years ago, back when you found Nathan Brazil . . ."
Yaxa Embassy, South Zone
The Torshind floated a few centimeters above the floor, a pale-red cloak without a wearer, like a vision from a nightmare. Because it was essentially an energy creature, a translator had nothing to modulate, so it was also silent now as it watched the preparations underway. Yaxa guards armed with nasty weapons stood all about as insurance against attempts by Ortega or Trelig to interfere with the operation.
A drug was administered to the party; it made them sleepy, close to comatose. Because of the supply problem, the expedition was small: Wooley, of course, and Yulin and the horselike Mavra and Joshi and, of course, the Torshind. There had been some debate about it all, particularly the inclusion of Joshi and the exclusion of another Yaxa. But Joshi provided a handle on Mavra Chang and he was needed to carry supplies—and anyway, another Yaxa would consume more in food and water than he. Five were enough; none of them trusted Yulin, so that kept him in check. None trusted the Torshind either, but the Torshind could not pilot the ship. Mavra had no hands and her shape precluded her ability to activate the ship, particularly at an incline, so she would need an ally with arms—and for that