Halcyon The Complete Trilogy by Joseph Robert Lewis Page B

plans, and alternate plans, and backup plans, and contingency plans. Improvisation is not my strong suit. Successful negotiations with foreign governments are not about tact or grace, they are about planning. Anticipating. Preparing. Which is my way of saying that it is highly unlikely that I would ever shoot you in the back of the head. Although admittedly, not impossible.”
    “Well, that much I can believe.”
    “You see, major, I’m not in the business of making enemies. I much prefer making allies. We have enough enemies already.”
    “If you say so.” He was getting tired of standing around. Cuff her hands together. Definitely. If her friends do show up, I don’t need the dead weight on my arm. Syfax twisted the cuff around, trying to line it up with her free wrist but there was a kink in the little chain.
    “Major? Major Zidane!” The shout echoed from the far end of the warehouse.
    Syfax froze. Who the hell could that be?
    The ambassador raised an eyebrow. “It seems someone is looking for you.”
    “It does sound that way.” He flicked the open cuff back and forth in his free hand as he tried to identify the stranger. The yelling voice was closer now, louder and clearer. It was a woman’s voice.
    “I can only hope my friends don’t come back to see who is yelling. It poses a dilemma for both of us. A bloody shoot-out would be in no one’s best interests. But if you agree to my terms, everyone walks away in one piece,” Chaou said. “But I’m worried that I can’t really trust you right now, major.”
    “Then we’ll just have to risk a little bloodbath.” Syfax dropped the open cuff and reached for his revolver.
    The ambassador snaked her hand away and the marshal felt a tiny stinging sensation in his fingertips. A blade? A razor between her fingers? Syfax glanced down but didn’t see any cuts or blood on his hand.
    Chaou smiled. “Something the matter, major?”
    Syfax shook his hand to throw off the strange tingling under his skin and then he reached for the ambassador again. The older woman smiled and held out her own hand as though to shake his. Frowning, Syfax closed his fingers tightly around Chaou’s outstretched hand.
    Pain blossomed through Syfax’s arm and shoulder and neck. Every nerve buzzed and burned and the major tasted copper and oil in his empty mouth. Tiny lights danced across his vision, orange and green and purple. He yanked his hand back and lashed out with his other fist to knock the ambassador’s arm away. Syfax succeeded in hitting the older woman’s forearm as he collapsed to his side, clutching his arm and grinding his teeth, trying to blink his eyes clear of the lights. He opened his mouth, working his jaw to pop his ears. Dimly, he saw and heard Chaou mount her horse and gallop away down the street.
    “Major!” Boots thumped and Kenan dashed into view. “Major!”
    The corporal dropped to one knee and helped Syfax sit up. The orange and green spots faded and the numb buzzing in his arm gave way to a more painful and distracting ache. Syfax blinked and groaned, and spat. The street spun drunkenly to the left. He swallowed hard and blinked hard, trying to force his body into working properly.
    “Major? Are you all right?”
    “Mmm.” He nodded. Better not to use words, not yet . He gestured upward and Kenan helped him to his feet. He blinked a few more times and let the world resolve back into the shadowy shapes of warehouses and streetlights and horse dung.
    “Major, what happened?” Kenan’s voice was loud, too loud.
    Syfax rubbed his ear. “It felt like being stung by a thousand bees, on fire, on the inside. Where is she? Where’s Chaou?” He led the corporal into the street.
    “I didn’t see her.” Kenan fell into step behind him. “We came in through the other end of the warehouse.”
    “We? You brought Ohana?” Syfax stared down the road in the direction Chaou had ridden. “Where is she?”
    “No, she’s back on the airship. I brought