LITMIR.BIZ

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were primarily interested in making homes for themselves but a small minority had been captivated by the opportunity to study a new biological system. Mankind had discovered four life-bearing worlds so far. Two were examples of parallel evolution—the life forms roughly resembled the life forms on Earth. Fernheim was one of the parallel worlds but it had its share of anomalies. Earth had never passed through an age dominated by birds. Fernheim had reached that stage without generating an age of giant reptiles—a finding that had set evolutionists twittering as soon as the first glimpses of the fossil record had filtered back to the solar system.

      Purvali was linking every loan Kenzan had been given with the items he had spent it on. She had started with a thorough analysis of Kenzan’s accounts with Sabor. From there she would move on to the public records. Kenzan liked to brag. The public databases contained detailed information on every animal, food, woman, or grandiose display that had sucked purchasing power out of his accounts.

      Sabor activated a high-level search alter and put it to work. So far he had only heard from one other member of the four. Ar Badov had responded with a brief text message—I will give your efforts my complete support. Don’t let us down. Ar Badov had been the first banker on the planet. He and Sabor had been locked in an intense, highly personal rivalry from the moment Ar had learned that a scion of the Haveri family had set up shop on his planet.

      The fourth power center in the financial system was controlled by a remote, almost reclusive woman named Zara Nev. It had been three hours since Sabor had advised her Heinrich and Ar had joined the fray—almost seven hours since Zara had received his first invitation.

      The research alter presented him with a report twelve minutes after it started burrowing through the databanks. Zara had buried her machinations in a transaction network that included three other deals. It was a perfunctory attempt at camouflage by the standards maintained by Sabor and his colleagues.

      “I would consider that an unequivocal negative response to my appeal for help,” Sabor said. “She hasn’t sent me an outright rejection but she’s only made a token effort to hide her support for our respected opponent.”

      “There’s nothing unequivocal about the pool of capital she’s placed at Possessor Khan’s disposal,” Purvali said. “He can hire one hundred manunits at Colonel Jina’s standard price—two full squads for over four days, with one fully loaded airship.”

      They were riding into a broad, heavily forested area that stretched between two major rivers. Sabor had asked his display for a random course and it had angled them fifteen degrees southward, toward the hills that bordered the Ratagava River. The widemounts plodded through the forest undergrowth at a steady eight kilometers per hour. Once every hour they stopped for fifteen minutes and foraged. The widemounts had been equipped with intestinal addons that could convert the planetary vegetation into digestible molecules but it was an inefficient process. They needed forty percent more food, by weight, than they would have consumed if they had been processing terrestrial food stocks.

      The humans stayed inside their carriers while the widemounts stuffed bushes and leaves into their mouths. Eight guard cats patrolled the area that surrounded them. Choy received the transmissions from their implants and rotated part of his attention from cat to cat.

      The forest had slipped into darkness by the time they made their second stop. The cats refueled on meat produced by the fabricators and Sabor took Choy’s advice and let the animals rest for a full hour. He had already decided they would keep moving for another three hours.

      They were assuming Colonel Jina would probably mount his pursuit force on an airship. The planetary helicopter population had slipped past the two hundred mark but an airship was almost as fast and it could creep along under solar power if it slipped beyond its normal range and exhausted its batteries. According to Purvali’s analysis, every hour they traveled could add thirty minutes to the time an airship would eat up looking for them if it used an optimum search pattern.

      The exploration of the databanks was almost as tedious as their step-by-step progress through the night. Purvali couldn’t hop on a promising lead and pursue it through a continuous give-and-take with the public information system. Her transmissions to the communications satellites had to be bundled into blips and randomly spaced several minutes apart.

      “So far,” Purvali said, “Possessor Khan’s military expenditures look like they offer the most promise. He’s taking on two opponents at once—you and Possessor Dobryani.”

      Her report hopped to a map marked with data labels. Kenzan was renting fifty soldiers that belonged to Possessor Makajida—the possessor who owned a tract on Kenzan’s northern border. The fifty extra soldiers had been allocated to the force he had deployed against Dobryani.

      “He needs those soldiers,” Purvali said. “And Heinrich Dobble is the dominant figure in Possessor Makajida’s financial affairs. Possessor Makajida has five active credit arrangements and he’s restructured his debt six times in the last eleven years. Heinrich Dobble funded two thirds of the direct loans in four of the credit arrangements and he was a pivotal participant in five restructurings, once you do a little digging.”

      “So I say a few words to Heinrich, Heinrich says a few words to Makajida, and we both let my lady Dobryani know she can ravage Kenzan’s holdings as soon as he loses control of Makajida’s fifty warriors.”

      “It had occurred to me that might be one possibility.…”

      “I think I would prefer something a bit less obvious. I suspect my good friend Heinrich would, too. Is there any somewhat subtler method we can use to persuade Possessor Makajida he should reclaim his property?”

      “Do you have any suggestions?”

      “I’d like to leave it to your creative talents for the time being. I will then apply the all-important finishing touches, as usual.”

      The security system awoke them twice during the night. The first time a flock of nocturnal birds assumed a formation that bore a vague resemblance to a tree-skimming airship. The second time six flightless predators approached the northern perimeter and indicated they might not retreat when three of the guard cats converged on them.

      Sabor had contemplated a visit to Purvali’s carrier while he had been savoring the after taste of the sauces he had chosen for his evening meal. He toyed with the idea as he stared into the darkness after both disruptions. And decided, each time, that he should accept the realities of his situation and activate his sleep control program. He was fighting a war. He would remain in warrior mode until he eliminated Kenzan Khan.

      They started moving as soon as the morning sun glowed through the highest leaves. Sabor indulged in quick catnaps during their first legs but he made Purvali sleep a full two hours extra. He received his reward ten minutes after she finished her morning rituals.

      “Possessor Makajida has a border rival, too,” Purvali said. “Possessor Avaming. They’ve been feuding ever since Possessor Avaming occupied a slice of the lakefront that Possessor Makajida had planned to claim. Possessor Avaming has been a good customer but he’s just as spendthrift as most of his peers. I suspect he might be induced to threaten Possessor Makajida if you offered him a satisfactory incentive.”

      “And Makajida would then feel he had to recall his fifty soldiers. And there would be no indication Heinrich had anything to do with it.”

      “The effect on Kenzan Khan could be devastating. I’ve been looking at his relationship with Possessor Dobryani. There is nothing shallow about their enmity.”

      “Do you have any theories on the source of their acrimony?”

      “Their attitudes toward the opposite sex appear to be mutually contradictory. They each seem to favor the total submission of their sexual partners.”

      Sabor nodded. “I’ve had similar thoughts every time I’ve heard him attack her. There are times when he’s so rabid he sounds like he’s indulging in self-satire.”

      “I think there’s a very high probability she would seize the opportunity to destroy him if it became available.”

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