"C. J. Cherryh - Chanur 03 - The Kif Strike Back" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cherryh C J)

But Tully handed her his own suspicions-that it was not kif which had raided them: it was knnn, and humans had fired on knnn ships.

Pyanfar was horrified.

If Tully was right, they had a potential knnn target aboard their ship. They were carrying a message which involved knnn affairs, either one of which was about as welcome as a ticking bomb. If the knnn moved on them they were flatly done for. Moreover, the kif who was hunting them had seized the route that led most directly to the mahen capital and they had to reroute to the border station of Kshshti-far from a safe place to have a prize like Tully, a place close to kif territory and frequented by the methane breathers.

As if they needed more trouble, they had picked up another pursuer. A hani government ship captained by one Rhif Ehrran was out hunting a hani renegade named Tahar. This Tahar had sided with the kif at the battle of Gaohn, and was a well-known outlaw, said to be operating as a pirate in the vicinity of Kefk and Meetpoint. But The Pride of Chanur turned up under Rhif Ehrran's nose, trafficking with mahendo'sat and kif-and this policewoman of the han diverted herself from one quarry to another potential traitor. Rhif Ehrran's political patrons would be far happier to see the demise of Chanur than that of a mere pirate already powerless in hani affairs. So priorities were revised. Rhif Ehrran learned, probably from Stle stles stlen, that Chanur had Tully aboard- and that Chanur was in the employ of a foreign government; and Rhif Ehrran saw a chance to ruin Chanur once for all.

Ehrran commandeered assistance: Banny Ayhar of Ayhar's Prosperity was compelled to dump her cargo and come along as Ehrran's ally-as they headed off in the only direction now open to travel.

Pyanfar barely reached Kshshti alive: The Pride, long running without needed repairs, broke down under the stress of the jump and limped into Kshshti to discover a welcoming committee in port: Rhif Ehrran, Banny Ayhar-and the same kif who had tried to buy Tully back at Meetpoint.

Now, this kif's name was Sikkukkut an'nikktukktin, once a vassal of Pyanfar's old enemy Akkukkak. Akkukkak in fact had had two lieutenants: Akkhtimakt and Sikkukkut; and the two of them were currently contending for primacy among kif Akkhtimakt was the one they had evaded on their way to Kshshti; Akkhtimakt had imposed the blockade not only to slop traffic, but to forestall his rival Sikkukkut-and lo! into Sikkukkut's reach came the whole mahendo'sat plan to out-maneuver the kif ... in the person of Pyanfar Chanur and Tully.

The mahendo'sat authorities at Kshshti knew what Sikkukkut was up to, and they were anxious to get The Pride out of there at any cost. They broke The Pride's old engine pack off the rear and began to install a new one, effectively rebuilding the ship, but as The Pride sat immobile in the last stages of repairs, kifish raiders kidnapped Tully and, by accident, Pyanfar's young niece Hilfy Chanur, gravely wounding Pyanfar's cousin Chur Anify.

Whoever began the fracas, Akkhtimakt's agents or Sikkukkut's, it was undisputably Sikkukkut's ship Harukk which sped out of Kshshti with Tully and Hilfy aboard, with The Pride dockbound and helpless.

Moreover, the methane-breathing tc'a delivered Pyanfar an ambiguous warning of multiple factions and connivance among kif; of danger to themselves, and of knnn involvement in the whole question.

At this depth of despair another ship pulled into Kshshti: the mahen hunter ship Aja Jin, commanded by none other than Keia Nomesteturjai-Jik, to his friends; partner to Goldtooth; agent of the mahen government and armed with enough authorizations to coerce even Rhif Ehrran.

Pyanfar still had the message packet destined for Maing Tol-but Sikkukkut's parting message indicated if she wanted to see Hilfy and Tully alive she must come instead to Mkks- even deeper into the border zone, where kif were predominant.

Jik called a conference of captains and handed the packet to Banny Ayhar with orders to get it to Maing Tol; and thrust upon Rhif Ehrran a set of authorizations that won her cooperation as well.

So one message has sped toward Maing Tol; Hilfy and Tully are held hostage on the kifish border; Goldtooth is among the missing and one more dockside has been wrecked.

They move each as they must. And The Pride leaves Kshshti, headed deliberately into a kifish trap.



I

The Pride came in, dropping suddenly into here and now; and Pyanfar Chanur reached for controls, half-dazed yet.

Where? she thought, with one wild panicked notion that the drive could have betrayed them and they might be nowhere at all. There were new routines to remember. There were new parameters, new systems-

No. Go on comp, fool, let the autos take her-

"Location," she said past jaws gone dry as dust.

"We're in the range," Tirun said.

The first dump came, phasing them into the interface and out again; and The Pride of Chanur hauled herself back to realspace with authority.

"We're alive," Khym said.

And that surprised them all.