Текст книги "Protector "

Автор книги: C. J. Cherryh

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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

He hopedhis aishid could figure them out: he looked at Algini, and at Jago, who gave no offender any grace.

“You posed us quite a difficulty,” Algini said to the pair in an easier tone. “You are notvillage-level.”

“No, nadi.” No hesitation in that answer. A little return of spirit.

“Where assigned?”

“We served in Amarja, nadi,” Momichi said. “In the citadel.”

“In whose man’chi?” Algini asked.

“In the aiji’s,” came the curt answer. “But not thisaiji.”

Thislord of Dojisigi clan, and aiji of a quarter of the Marid at the moment, was a fifteen-year-old spoiled brat of a girl, who had once expected to marry Tatiseigi’s nephew. She was twice lucky—first that the nephew had been packed off to the East, and second, that she was alive, and thus far getting her own way, where it regarded personal comforts and the illusion that she was in charge of the district.

But was young Tiajo likely to remain in office another year? Bets inside and outside the Marid ran counter to that. She was lord only because she was next in line, though under house arrest. She might have been a convenient rallying-point for the remnant of the Shadow Guild, but evidently even theyhad found her more liability than asset.

“Does your partner have a voice?” Banichi asked.

“Nadi,” Homuri said. “Yes.”

“ Whywere you in your village?”

“We were dismissed from the citadel,” Homuri said, “when the Shejidani Guild took over. We were told, all of us, to go separately back to our home districts, our own villages, and maintain order. We went to Reijisan. We both came from there. Our partners went another direction. To Meitja.”

“And with your skills, you could not protect this village?”

“Nadi,” Homuri said, “we could not. They took our weapons.”

“Who took them?”

“The Shejidani Guild. They confiscated all our weapons, all our equipment. When they sent us out, we went afoot, with nothing,nadi, from the point the truck dropped us, a day’s walk from our village. We had no communications, no weapons, no equipment, not even a canteen or a folding knife.”

“In the night,” Momichi said, “when the rebels drove this truck into the center of the village—we were called out. They said in the hearing of the whole village that it was full of explosives, and that if we did not come meet with them, they would set it off. So we did. They gave us their proposition, that we undertake an easy, limited mission, one man, and when they had news Lord Tatiseigi was dead—they would leave the village and we would never see them again.”

“Did you believe that?” Algini asked.

A hesitation. “No,” Momichi said. “But we still have to believe it.”

That, Bren thought, had the sound of a man who had actually made that decision.

“Where is your man’chi?” Bren asked them outright.

“To our village, now, nandi,” Momichi said.

“And to which Guild?” Algini asked shortly.

That brought silence, a careful consideration, and for the first time, Bren thought, they were going to hedge on the answer.

“Not to the rebels, nadi,” Momichi said.

There had to be an attachment, Bren thought. Man’chi had to go somewhere, it always wassomewhere, or there were dire psychological consequences.

“Where?” Bren asked again, and drew their attention back. “If you want my help—start with the truth.”

“We are Amarja Guild. We are notthese new people. We are notthese people who take hostages and threaten villages. We are not the Shejidani Guild, dispersing us, confiscating our equipment, and leaving the countryside open to our enemies.”

“You followed the oldrules,” Algini said.

“We are Guild, the same as you, nadi. This was a mission we were given—and we would do it honorably. We would observe the mission limits. Honorably. We have no personal grudge against Lord Tatiseigi, but if he died, it would throw everything in the north into chaos, and the Shejidani Guild holding Amarja might even be pulled back. We thought that might be their plan. But if that happened, wemight come back, too: we had had our assignments, under the old lord—if the rebel northerners set Tiajo free, we might take up guard in the citadel again. But they lied to us about the mission. Or they had no idea what was going on up there. We found ourselves in deeper and deeper trouble, and a situation the meaning of which we did not know, except that it involved the aiji-dowager and the heir and humans—which could bring down the powers in the heavens into it all. So we decided to abort the mission and get out.”

“Where were you going?” Tano asked.

“As far as we could. Home, if we could get there. Out of that place, in the open air, if that was all we could get. We had no hope of reaching the aiji-dowager. We feared we were set up to bring war down on the Marid. The Taibeni ran us down. But when they said the paidhi-aiji was here—nandi, you spokefor the Marid. So we agreed to surrender, if we could talk to you. We ask—we ask you go to the aiji-dowager and tell her what is happening in the Marid.”

“Go on,” Bren said.

“We ask you, nandi, first report our deep apology to Lord Tatiseigi, and to the aiji-dowager, and tell her—tell her in the first place, we did not do this willingly, we know there was no Filing, and we are guilty of that. But, nandi, we need protection. The Shejidani Guild is in Amarja, safe and secure; but those of us out in the villages, nandi, we are down to hunting rifles we borrow from our neighbors, and if a truck full of explosives drives into a village center, even if we hadour communications units—what chance the Shejidani Guild would come running on ourword, and what chance the village could escape reprisals? This is doing her associations no good either. We ask you to ask the aiji-dowager to do something—to tell someonewith associations in the Marid that the Dojisigi countryside is in trouble, and that we and our Guild are helpless to do anything.”

Silence followed that.

Bren looked at Algini, at Banichi, at Tano and Jago.

Claims. But no proof—except the presence of a very good Dojisigi unit and detail on a mission they had apparently aborted—with no collateral damage.

Finessed,as the traditional Guild said. An operation carried out within the law—give or take the critical matter of a Filing.

The dowager, intervene? The dowager’s action in the Marid had shifted over to diplomatic and legislative efforts, to advance Machigi, notthe Dojisigi’s favorite Marid lord, to take power over the whole Marid. Tabini had agreed to that solution, not because anybody considered Machigi the perfect answer, but because the alternative was another round of assassinations and wars that would let the Shadow Guild rebuild in the south.

Precisely what was starting to happen in the Dojisigin Marid– witha Guild force sitting in the Dojisigin capital.

“Cenedi has just heard all this,” Banichi said quietly. One was far from surprised Cenedi had been listening in. “He wants to talk to them.”

“Nadiin,” Bren said to the two, aloud. “Get up. I shall present your case upstairs. Youwill be talking to the dowager’s Guild senior. One urges you be very forthcoming with him—including your situation in the Marid. He will hear you. He will inform the dowager. I make no promises. But I shall see she knows.”

“Nandi.” The Dojisigi got to their feet. They bowed, as deeply as Guild ever bowed, bowed courteously to his aishid, too, and Banichi directed the two into the keeping of Cenedi’s men.

Bren set his hand on the banister and started up the stairs. But he stopped on the bottom step, and asked, “Am I a fool, nadiin-ji?”

“They are a high-ranking unit,” Banichi said. “The Dojisigi lord was very deeply betrayed by the Shadow Guild; and killed by our forces. A conflicted man’chi? We have no way to know. The order to dismiss the local Guild from the citadel and confiscate equipment makes sense. But the occupying Guild has no force adequate to handle all that territory. We have to ask—does Dojisigi Guild already in outlying districts still have their equipment, or what happened to that? And if they ordered these units out of the capital—knowing the Shadow Guild was still operating out there—why did they not return their equipment? A confused clerk? A misfiled order? Or did that clerk come through Assignments? But ifthat happened, and ifthe situation in Dojisigi is unraveling, there is nothing quiet we can do right now. We are going to question these two in greater depth. And advise the dowager. We can at least do that. What they may or may not know, Bren-ji– shehas accesses as well as associations in the Marid. Whether she will use them—she will decide that.”

•   •   •

A signal had passed. Cenedi was just exiting the door of the sitting room where the dowager and Lord Tatiseigi waited, and Banichi and Algini left with him—not the usual partnering. Bren went inside with Jago and Tano, past two of the dowager’s young men and two of Tatiseigi’s at the doors.

The presence he hadn’t expected was Jase—who had arrived in the sitting room solo, and sat there, sipping tea and, atevi-fashion, notdiscussing the business at hand.

Bren walked in quietly, gave a little bow to the dowager, and to Tatiseigi.

“Well, nand’ paidhi?” the dowager asked, setting aside her teacup.

“Their names are Momichi and Homuri,” he said. “They are Dojisigi, of the village of Reijisan.”

“Dojisigi!” Tatiseigi said.

“They asked me, aiji-ma, nandiin, to speak for them, I promised, and I shall—but they are still being questioned downstairs, and everything is still in flux. They say they served the former aiji in Amarja, in the citadel. When the northern Guild took over—all the citadel guards were disarmed, then sent out to maintain order in their own villages and districts. This is their report.”

“Disarmed and then given duty,” Ilisidi said.

“That is their report, aiji-ma. The order to go to their native villages split them from their partners. And one night the Shadow Guild drove a truck with an explosive device into the center of the village, threatening to kill everyone in the village if these two would not undertake a mission—against you, nand’ Tatiseigi. They had no orders regarding the aiji-dowager.”

“What is this world coming to?” Tatiseigi asked. “To destroy a village!”

“These two men say they undertook the mission, understanding it was limited. They went by the old train, from Senji to Kadagidi township, and from that house received specific plans to get into Tirnamardi, to take up position in the garage, and substitute for your drivers when you arrived home. They succeeded in reaching the garage, your staff being furloughed. Thus far everything was going smoothly. But then the Taibeni appeared, and Malguri Guild, setting up alarm systems—though they had no idea what was going on outside, only that more clans were involved than the Atageini, and they began to think things were not as they were told. When you suddenly appeared in the house with the aiji-dowager and the rest of us, they realized their entire plan had gone astray. They maintain they are traditional Guild, that they emphatically are not Shadow Guild. They apologize to you, nand’ dowager, and to you, nandi. They believe they were lied to, that the objective was to bring war down on the Marid, and they wanted only to abort the mission and get out. They tried and met an alarm. They tried again, this time with the notion of using the mecheiti, and that failed. They finally surrendered to the Taibeni, with no shot fired. They ask their capture be kept secret, for fear the Shadow Guild will carry out their threat. Second, that you, aiji-ma, use your resources, and your associations in the Marid, to stop the Shadow Guild. They ask you help their village.”

“The destruction of a village,” Ilisidi said, flexing her fingers on her cane, “and by such a means—would create fear, in a district where northerners are deeply distrusted. The Dojisigi are ruled by a fool, occupied by northern Guild, and then the local Guild was stripped of weapons before being sent to the countryside. Is that the story, nand’ paidhi?”

“One expects Cenedi-nadi will extract more information, aiji-ma, but yes. That is as I understand it.”

“Unfortunately we cannot phone the Guild in Amarja and askthem the truth of the situation. Stupidityin that guild does not survive training. This has the appearance of enemy action. Let us wait, then, and hear what Cenedi recommends to us. May we hope for your forbearance in this situation, Tati-ji, if they are proven to tell the truth?”

“Aiji-ma,” Tatiseigi said, and gave a nod. “At your asking, without question. One is absolutely appalled.”

“Well, well, we shall know nothing until Cenedi has a report for us, with more detail.” She flexed her shoulders. “We are tempted to go back to bed at this point, and let Cenedi sort this out.”

Of all decisions, one had hardly expected that one.

But the dowager was notdismissing the matter. She had the salient parts of the Dojisigi statement. What Cenedi, Banichi, and Algini together could sift out of close questions to those two was going to be names, knowledge, contacts, and the fine details that might prove or disprove the situation as they gave it. Cenedihad kept his finger on the situation in the south. The dowager had direct contacts down there through the Marid trade mission. Lord Machigi of the Taisigin Marid knew the northern Marid; and the dowager had direct links into the Guild units that protected Machigi. It was not impossible she had links into units in Dojisigi and Senji, and every otherdistrict of the Marid.

Sources. Indeed the dowager had them.

“We are well after midnight,” Tatiseigi said, “and with those two in hand, we have reason to expect the rest of the night to be quiet.”

“Brandy,” the dowager said decisively, and Tatiseigi asked for his servants.

•   •   •

“I advise,” Bren said to Jase privately, at Bren’s door, upstairs, and with Tano and Jago right by them, “that you and your staff go to bed and sleep hard. I’ll wake you if there’s reason. That’s a definite sleep hard.”

It was ship-speak. It meant—don’t depend on a long sleep. He hadn’t had a chance to explain the details. Jase hadn’t had time to tell him what he’d heard between the dowager and Cenedi or the dowager and Tatiseigi, in the sitting room.

But Cenedi had been tapped into the com flow, hearing everything they had heard from the Dojisigi downstairs. It was more than possible that Jase already knew a good deal of it, and knew why the urging to get to bed now.

“Just wake me if you need me,” Jase said, and headed for his suite.

Bren watched him open the door and go into his suite, then went into his own with Jago and Tano. Supani and Koharu were waiting inside, and he immediately began to shed the coat and the vest into his valets’ hands. “Is there any outcome?” he asked Jago and Tano.

“Not yet,” Jago said.

“We are operating mostly dark,” Tano added, “to give the impression we are continuing a search on the grounds. Patrols are still out.”

“Then I amgoing to get what sleep is convenient. Do as you need to, nadiin-ji.”

“Yes,” Jago said, which was all-inclusive. She was listening to something, watching that language of blips and beeps and flashes on the locator that told her where her partner was and whether things were going smoothly.

He took himself straight to bed. Tano, Jago, and his valets continued in the sitting room.

The dowager’s reaction hadn’t been disinterested. He knew that look, that half-lidded consideration of a matter. Banichi had said there was nothing they could do in the south without touching off the whole business in the north—but—God. He wished there were an alternative.

The Shadow Guild plot against a leading conservative was useful—when the dust settled and they had to prove the case to any doubters.

That the Kadagidi had provided local transport, aid, and comfort to the Dojisigi—and likely detailed house plans and even the deterrent powder and the specific route to take into Tirnamardi—right down to that concealed access– thatwas something. The Kadagidi had gotten caught before, but they were slippery, always able to claim some provocation.

Actions against Tirnamardi out of the blue, however, when there had been noactive exchange of hostilities since Tabini retook the capital, and while the Kadagidi were already under a ban that barred them from court andany legalaccess to the Guilds’ functions—that was going to be hard to deny. The Transportation Guild was forbidden to convey them. The Messengers’ Guild could not allow them phone service: they were allowed only messages to and from Tabini’s office. The Treasurers’ Guild had frozen their assets, only allowing routine expenses.

Yet they had been the receiving end for two Assassins dispatched by a Shadow Guild operation out of a Dojisigi village, to Senji and then, via the old freight line to, likely, a waiting car in the Kadagidi township—

How would a residence and a lord under a Messengers’ Guild ban even geta phone call from two Dojisigi bent on mayhem over in Atageini territory?

Damned certain Lord Tatiseigi should go to great lengths to preserve these two men’s account. They had never gotten the Kadagidi so dead to rights . . . with no Filing and, this time, Guild who had been coerced, and a Shadow Guild communications network operating between the Kadagidi and their old associates in the Marid.

Banichi had said it—there was nothing they could do from here that did not risk breaking the entire problem wide open, north andsouth.

But it could be coming. Theywere all in position, like that move in chess, lord-to-fortress.

He stuffed his pillow under his head and deliberately thought not about the Dojisigi village or the Kadagidi over the hill, but about the Najida estate repair budget, complicated enough and dull enough to blunt any imagination.

That worked . . .

•   •   •

. . . too well. He came awake with the feeling he had slept much too long, and that someone had either come in or gone out. He rolled out of bed, located his robe and the light switch, and went out into the suite’s little sitting room to find it still dark outside the window. Banichi and Jago were sharing tea and a plate of sweet rolls.

“What time is it, nadiin-ji?” he asked in some chagrin.

“Just before dawn,” Jago said. “Things are relatively quiet. The aiji-dowager is awake, and Lord Tatiseigi is waking.”

“The Dojisigi?” he asked.

“The Dojisigi have provided very interesting information, Bren-ji,” Banichi said, and added with a quirk of the brow: “The dowager sent units to look at Reijisan. They reported two hours ago.”

He had been about to propose he should go dress. “What did they find?”

“Two units we have wanted to find,” Banichi said, “one of which is no longer at issue. Our Dojisigi immediately named a name. Pajeini, Chief of the Shadow Guild in the Marid– personallyinvolved in the threat to them, and, they suspect, similar dealings with the other half of this aishid. He is not yet in our hands, but the second-in-command is. The dowager dispatched units very close to Reijisan, found things as described, and they took out the senior unit with very little fuss.”

Bren sank into the third chair. “Is the village safe?”

“There were explosives. They are removed. We have not heard all the details,” Banichi said. “This is Cenedi’s network, prearranged signals to several teams in Dojisigi, prearranged responses, by a physical means Cenedi does not discuss even with us. Cenedi has directed the other half of that unit be located. We want to know where theyare. Our pair tells us the freedom they were given on this mission was very worrisome to them, since they couldhave gotten off that train at any point, and they couldhave walked up to Lord Tatiseigi’s staff and reported themselves and their situation—but they so strongly believed failure would kill their relatives in Reijisan, they did not take the risk. That has been the character of the Shadow Guild from the start—to instill the belief they know everything, that reprisals inevitably come of crossing them, that they are threaded throughout the Shejidani Guild, and that they willtarget civilians. Our two believe it can happen, even yet, and we cannot assure them otherwise until weare absolutely sure, ourselves.”

“So they essentially told the truth,” Bren said.

“They were, they say, one of three teams protecting the former lord. And Pajeini knows them– wantedthem, and, they think, the intent was to create a crisis in the north to draw forces from the south. We do not wantto undertake operations with the young gentleman’s guests present, but—” Banichi said, “we know where Pajeini is, we have a good idea where Haikuti is, and we know where Shishoji is, a rare thing, in itself. The dowager is inclined to move.”

It was what he had feared, last night. It was everything he had sworn to Tabini would not happen—risk to Cajeiri, a potential for their young guests to be involved in a Guild action. Not to mention the risk to Ilisidi herself.

But thatwould exist, no matter what. Ilisidi was not going to fortify herself in Malguri and wait for an outcome. Far less did he believe she would go up to the space station . . . possibly that she would not want to send Cajeiri there—for political reasons. The heir of the aishidi’tat had been absent from one crisis. Even at his age—there was a problem in having him in human keeping during a second one. He saw that. But—

Damn.

“We have perhaps an hour before we get any other call,” Jago said. “Perhaps less. Will you share breakfast, Bren-ji?”

“Where are Tano and Algini this morning, nadiin-ji?”

“They are catching a little more sleep. They should be with us very soon now.”

“A cup of tea. Part of a roll, perhaps.”

Jago got up, got a cup and poured for him. The hot liquid helped the external chill. But not the one inside. His bare feet were freezing.

“There are actions under way,” Banichi said. “We have sent a warning to the commander in Amarja. We cannot be specific about it in this circumstance, but the dowager’s forces at Reijisan have now gotten their own sources of information on the Shadow Guild’s operation, and they will inform command. The matter of sending out locals unequipped—that requires a more delicate inquiry than we can make directly at this point—but the one to blame is likely one individual whose principle threat is in records, not weapons. We are not sending out couriers, badly as we need to pass word. We are not, at the moment, making any stir on the road or near the train station. The Kadagidi, meanwhile, have landed in a very uncomfortable position. One of the great advantages of Filing Intent, beyond, of course, operating within the law—is that the target is limited, everyone is advised, and there is farless chance of the sort of mistake the Kadagidi have made. Their intelligence does not seem to have penetrated Tatiseigi’s security, and consequently they have launched their operation in the presence of the aiji-dowager, the heir, and foreign guests. Is the aiji-dowager to let an Unfiled move in her vicinity pass without comment? No. Their illegal action has run head-on into the dowager’s intentions, while they are already under a ban. And that, one thinks, is exactly what the dowager is assessing. She could challenge them in court over this, and Tabini-aiji could remove Aseida from the lordship. But that would take time. The Shadow Guild connections would quietly rearrange themselves and we would still have them operating, not much inconvenienced: Haikuti would survive. Aseida might not.”

“She should go after them,” Jago said in a low voice. “We havethe route the Dojisigi were to use. There is a hole in the hedge, Bren-ji, carefully concealed, and a door to the Kadagidi kitchens arranged to stay open. A trap, very possibly, but there are also reasons the Kadagidi would like to have a report from this pair. There is even a reason Haikuti would want to talk to them and that Pajeini would want these two back in the south. They wouldbe an asset not lightly to be thrown away. And by then—they would be outlawed in the north, perfectly suited to take Pajeini’s other orders, possibly against Lord Machigi.”

“Are we ready for an operation? Did you get anysleep last night, nadiin-ji?”

“By turns,” Banichi said, and shrugged. “Do not worry about us,Bren-ji. We manage. Unfortunately, Cenedi chooses the teams to go. For thisone—he will not risk us.”

“Do we knowyet who on theirside is directing operations?”

“To a certain extent,” Banichi said, “this far up the chain of command, it may make less difference. Assignments makes the strategic decisions, but he is very old and has never taken the field. Haikuti is the tactician. They both give orders. Shishoji believes he is firmly in charge. Haikuti is disposed to believe he has the authority if he chooses to use it, and that Shishoji will be forced to take care of the details. That is my own interpretation. Haikuti is the reckless one, the engine that drives things. If there is another coup in the making, at present, it will come from him.”

Something had changed. Something more had gotten into the equation last night. Banichi spoke as if he had some window into Assignments that he had not had a few days ago. And he looked unhappy with the situation.

“This is a chancy business,” he said. “To go into that house—”

“If the Kadagidi are paying any attention,” Banichi said, “and it is certain they are—they will have noted the furor last night. They may wonder was it the execution of the mission—or did it go astray? And if their spies have already gotten close enough to get a distant view of children out on the grounds, though we have tried to prevent that—they may now know it is not Tatiseigi alone in residence, and any question of wherethe dowager has taken the young gentleman and his guests is answered. The Dojisigi did not communicate with the Kadagidi once they were here and realized they had a problem with the mission. We have the means to be sure of that. But the news of what has happened this morning in the Dojisigin Marid will travel. Once it reaches Assignments, and the Kadagidi, one is relatively confident the Kadagidi—and possibly Assignments as well—will start taking protective measures. Assassinations, attacks from the field, political accusations—any means by which they might throw us off balance and destabilize the aishidi’tat. One does not like to think of explosives targeting villages anywhere, north or south, but such things may be used in the north, just as easily, attacks aimed at our allies. These people are outnumbered. The majority of the south is now against them. If the light shines on them too directly– fearis the only weapon they have that we do not. The dowager’s view is that we have, in these few hours, a very narrow window in which to act or decline acting—and we concur. Weshould take action, in this venture into Kadagidi territory, but Cenedi will not permit it. The dowager will send Nawari, and two of her high-level units.”

Into a likely trap. If it were his own aishid going—he would be beside himself. That it was Nawari, genial, competent Nawari, closest to Cenedi himself—Cenedi was likely no less worried, but he had sent his best. His closest associate, the closest thing to going in, himself—with high, high risk in the operation.

“There is,” Bren said, “another way into the Kadagidi house.”

They looked at him, both. And he recalled he had sworn to himself notto interfere with his bodyguard.

“You are notto contemplate it,” Jago said. “No, Bren-ji.”

“If access and Lord Aseida’s attention is what you want, nadiin-ji, Ican get it. We have the bus. We do not need to walk intothat house, but I certainly can call on their lord. Socially. Noisily. Lord Tatiseigi has a grievous complaint against Lord Aseida, the dowager has one, Jase has one, and I am perfectly willing to deliver it in person. If we can pose a distraction while, say, Nawari and his men take a careful look at the other access . . .”

Banichi said, “The risk would still be extraordinary.”

“The bus has armor.”

“In some areas,” Jago said.

“There is also Jase’s bodyguard. He is the other paidhi. Anotheroffended guest with his own complaint against Lord Aseida, and his bodyguard is formidable—and proof against our bullets. Kaplan and Polano cannot sit down in that armor, not in the bus seats. They have to stand where they stood on the way in. If the Kadagidi take alarm at that, and take a shot at the bus, even their armor-piercing rounds are not going to get through that armor. And afterthat—after an attack on us, we have the right to use any force we please. So, for that matter, does Jase, his ship, and Lord Geigi.”

There was a moment of silence.

“There are rather heavier weapons in their hands than armor-piercing rounds, Bren-ji,” Jago said. “And we may well meet them.”

“Is that more danger to us than a Shadow Guild campaign, violating every rule—while wehave to obey the law? I am not happy with the notion of explosives being brought to villages, and I am not willing to see people of the dowager’s man’chi and mine take every precaution to observe a law these people freely disregard in their attacks. The Kadagidi have a history of raising claims about theirrights. But we have them on failure to File, we have them in the two Dojisigi, who can give the lie to any claim of innocence Kadagidi clan wants to make. If they fire first, with them already under a ban, Tabini-aiji has justification to remove Aseida as lord, with any force it takes. The Shadow Guild has been constantly shifting targets, in this region and that, striking and departing, doing damage as they please. But Kadagidi is a fixed asset. We have them pinned down. And I do not intend to see anyof our people observing Guild rules while the other side breaks them. We have the dowager to protect, and these foreign guests to protect. Jase-aiji has every right to use the defenses hehas, and those run all the way to the station.”

There was a moment of silence, two guarded, worried looks. Then Banichi said: “And what will you answer if they accept a conference and Lord Aseida invites you and Jase inside?”