The Icarus Changeling (The Icarus Series Book 4) by Timothy Zahn
Author:Timothy Zahn [Zahn, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
We piled back into the two vehicles, the Ylp Iâd heard Scarf call Guard Three again riding backstop behind us, and headed out.
As Iâd anticipated, Braunâs tour of Bilswiftâs hotspots came up dry.
The same couldnât be said about the weather. The wind seemed a little gustier tonight than it had been during previous evening rains, and even with the protection of raincoats and hats enough water got blown sideways to thoroughly soak everything from midshin on down. We put up with it for nearly two hours, until the rain was starting to subside, when Selene finally called it quits.
âThereâs nothing here,â she told Braun. âAll the scents have faded.â
âI donât believe you,â Braun said flatly. âTirano said he could pick up scents even a week later.â
âHe was talking about inside scents or those on protected surfaces,â I told him. âOut here, with rain gushing down on everything, trace molecules get washed away pretty fast.â
âWhat then is your next plan?â Scarf demanded.
âWell, as long as Badgeman Zilor is blocking access to the spaceport, Tirano and Galfvi are effectively stalemated,â I said. I paused, pretending a new thought had suddenly occurred to me. âUnless . . . Braun, you said Lukki had a boat. Would Tirano or Galfvi have access to it?â
âTheyâre not supposed to,â Braun said, his voice deepening as he saw where I was headed with this. âBut with those two, who knows? You thinking they might bypass Zilor and bring the package in from the river or ocean sides of the spaceport?â
âTheoretically, they still need to come out in the open to get to the Patth ship,â I said. âBut if it has a back door thatâs out of Zilorâs sight they might be able to pull it off.â
âOr they merely kill the badgeman and are done with it,â Scarf said impatiently. âThat is the simplest solution to their problem. They have already killed Lukki and her servant. What prevents them from killing again?â
âThe fact that theyâre not stupid,â Braun said grimly. âKilling a badgeman is the one thing guaranteed to bring the whole Alainn legal system down on top of you.â
âItâs actually worse than that,â I said. âRight now, Zilorâs sitting at the edge of a spaceport, which puts it within Commonwealth jurisdiction. Among other things, that means expedited search warrants for everything in the immediate vicinity. I donât know off the top of my head what the legal radius is, but it might include all or part of the Patth ship.â
âYour people could then search it without a warrant?â Scarf asked.
âNo, theyâd still need a warrant,â I told him. âBut they could get it pretty much automatically and in a matter of minutes.â
Scarf made a sort of grinding sound. âThey are Patth. They would merely appeal to their embassy, and the badgemen would be ordered away.â
âThey could try,â I said. âBut I doubt theyâd get anywhere. Economic clout or no economic clout, Braunâs right. No one likes a badgeman killer. And Iâm guessing that also includes the Patth.
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