Page 53 of The Tainted Cup

“You’re…you’re sure about this?” I asked. “You’resurethis person was grouped in with Loveh and the rest of the Engineers?”

“I am,” he said. He’d recovered his pride and stuck his nose in the air. “I told you I remembered, and why. Try listening.”

My thoughts danced as I turned this bit of information over. I caught Miljin’s eye, and saw a keen, burning look in his face, and knew he was thinking the same thing asme.

We have a survivor.An eleventh member of the group. Someonewho went to one of these mysterious meetings—and maybe walked away.

“Describe her, then,” said Miljin. “What’d this gal look like?”

“Tall woman,” said Vartas. “Broad. Very stern, very serious. Face like she’s always sucking on a lemon seed.”

“What race was she?” Miljin asked. “Tala? Rathras? Kurmini?”

“You know…I couldn’t quite tell,” admitted Vartas. “She had a Kurmini name, but she didn’tlookKurmini. She was far too tall, and her hair was pale yellow, and tightly curled. I’ve never seen a Kurmini with hair like that.”

“What assignment did she serve under in the Apoths?” asked Miljin.

“Don’t know. I never talked to her in person. I wasn’t invited to the party,” he said bitterly.

We quizzed him further on this Jolgalgan, but he could give us little. Eventually I gave up and tried a new angle. “Did Signum Loveh bring anything back from these meetings?” I asked.

“No,” said Vartas.

“Did she bring anythingtothese meetings?” I asked. “Documents? Money?”

“No, but…” He frowned, thinking. “But sometimes she…she took something from her quarters on these visits. A little coin thing, it looked like. I caught her putting it in her pocket once. I asked what it was, and she said she couldn’t tell me. So I…”

“So you reckoned it was part of these meetings,” I said.

He nodded. “But that’s all I knew. I just knew the meetings, the money, the coin—and not to ask questions. When you came and brought her up, I…I worried it was some corruption. I thought she had the right to lie in peace with a clear name, and thought Commander Blas could maybe help give her cover…”

I looked him over and didn’t see any lie there. Evidently the man didn’t know.

“Commander Blas is dead,” I said.

“He…he what?” said Vartas, shocked.

“Blas is dead,” I said. “Along with all these other Engineers who went to these little secret meetings. Probablybecauseof these secret meetings. So if there’s anything else you know, you need to tell us now.”

“I don’t know anything more!” said Vartas.

“You sure, boy?” said Miljin.

“I promise, I don’t!” Then a faint pout of horror crept into his face. “Why are you two asking about this? Does this have anything to do with the breach?”

There was a long silence. Miljin picked up one of Vartas’s unlit shootstraw pipes and sniffed at it. “You keep yourself in this bed, Signum,” he said. “You keep your fucking money. And you keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, I am going to come back here—and this?” He pointed to the gash in the bed, between Vartas’s legs. “I shall do the same again, but six smallspan higher. And then six again, and six again. Am I clear?”

Beads of sweat came boiling out of Vartas’s brow. “As mountain water, sir.”

“Good.” He pocketed the shootstraw pipe and swatted my shoulder. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

—

MILJIN AND Istood in the medikkers’ halls, thinking in silence as the attendants swarmed aroundus.

“So,” he said.

“So, sir,” I said.