Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📕

official Engineering and Cartography signatures here. As you can imagine, this is quite the departure for my Guild, and we would not enjoy having to shut down other gates, should we be wrongly charged for passage because you did not have appropriate clearance.”

Drake didn’t snort, though he couldn’t keep his ears entirely still. Ifka spoke as though she had any control over the code the Aku had developed that had shut down the E’cop’k system’s gate. She was lucky they had a vested interest in maintaining her strong bargaining position. It mattered more to get out of this entropy-ridden corner of the galaxy than to put her in her place.

“To assign you privileged and free gate passage in perpetuity, it should be at least five percent.”

“Two percent.”

The Vergola said nothing, and the silence stretched. Finally, the female Lumar crossed her arms, making only the barest of sounds, and Ifka snapped, “Three percent, but if you don’t like that offer, we can go back to blowing each other up, and no one gets credits.”

Drake’s nose twitched, and his eyes roamed the room, not sure what he was looking or smelling for. His senses had snagged on something, but he couldn’t bring it to conscious thought. The Lumar looked bored, his father and Anderle had long perfected their flat expressions, and his siblings seemed equally calm. Veska had eyes only for Rex and the Zuul captain across the room.

A’kef and the captain were the Zuul mirror images of his father and Anderle. The Zuparti and Vergola were just staring at each other and rambling about decimal points of profit that would ultimately equal more money than Earth saw in a decade, and the two Pushtal stood very still to the side.

No one reached for a weapon, no one tensed to leap across the room and rip out throats. But something had burrowed into his gut and tugged, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

* * *

“Based on the profits your guild can expect, this seems to be a satisfactory end to our engagement in the E’cop’k system,” Nillab said as the Vergola rode back to their base in a flyer.

“It is not as much as we could have had, had your forces won outright, but it is no loss,” Fak’l agreed grudgingly.

“Considering the contract you have with us is null-and-void,” Nillab replied, “I see your decision as a simple one. I will only allow this illusion of proper employment to last as long as it is clear a resolution is forthcoming. That and you agree to pay us the contract rate in full. As for fighting, we’re done.”

Fak’l glanced at the Zuul again, then returned to watching the frozen terrain race by under the flyer. Fak’l considered the Zuul mercenary leader critically. He had to admit, he’d underestimated her. The complaints against the forced contract were completely valid, and he’d known about them from the beginning. Who knew the Zuul could read in such detail? Their species wasn’t exactly known for their scholarly achievements.

He turned enough to look at Meesh and Skeesh riding in silence. Since the announced ceasefire, the Pushtal had been uncharacteristically quiet. Fak’l had been certain the felines would go berserk, so much so that he’d had a squad of assistants armed and ready. Many other races underestimated Vergola because they seemed frail. That would be a mistake. Had the Pushtal attacked him, it would have ended with Meesh and his filthy pirate scum followers as frozen corpses dumped on this miserable world.

The Pushtal didn’t look back at him; neither did it snarl and threaten. He’d already told the Pushtal its clan would share in the bounty of an agreement. Yes, it would be less, but considering the miserable disgraced felines had started with nothing, this would be a massive improvement for them.

They arrived back at the base a minute later, the flyer sliding into the bay amid a swirl of ice and nitrogen snow. Fak’l had spent the final part of the drive calculating the Cartography Guild’s profits from this venture and wondering if it would give him enough capital to make a move toward becoming guildmaster. Sure, his odds were reduced somewhat. However, with the Pushtal coming under better control, he could bring them to the table, as well. Some pet Pushtal to provide muscle with plausible deniability would help. If they proved an eventual liability, well, that would of course necessitate their disposal.

“Gather your troops,” Fak’l told Nillab. “We’ll announce the cessation of hostilities.”

“Then you have decided?” Nillab asked.

“Yes, it is an equitable deal. I have already ordered my executive assistant to transmit the agreement to the Engineering Guild.” The Pushtal made the barest of noises. Fak’l turned and glanced at him. “You disagree?”

“No,” Meesh said. “You must do what you must do. It will be all for the best in the end.”

“Very wise,” Fak’l said. He saw the facial muscles twitch on Skeesh, yet the commanding Pushtal’s assistant remained silent.

Nillab merely stared at the Pushtal, who glared back before he spoke to Fak’l once more, “Since the fighting is done, and the stargate reactivated, we will prepare to depart.”

“You aren’t going to wait for your payment?”

“I trust you’ll follow through,” Meesh said. “You wouldn’t dare double cross us.”

“I would never think of it,” Fak’l replied. The two stared at each other for a second, then Meesh left, with his assistant close behind.

“Aren’t you concerned they’ll cause trouble?” Nillab asked after the Pushtal were gone.

“Oh, they will certainly be a problem later,” he agreed. “But credits will mollify the hurt of not being part of a glorious conquest, for now. I’m more concerned about you.”

Nillab flicked an ear dismissively. “The credits help, but more than that is knowing the Cartography Guild owes Insho’Ze a debt for not bringing up this issue with the Mercenary Guild. I’ve filed