Free Quiet Knives by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

see..."
    Carefully, he eased open the closet door,
the receptionist's desk was empty, he could hear voices, out in the
hall, and slipped forward, barely hearing Midj's curse as she
followed him.
    He crept to the hall door and peered
around--and abruptly gave up stealth.
    In the center of the hall, surrounded by
gaping humans, stood two large green--persons. On the floor beyond
them, he could see a form, a shock of white hair, a widening pool
of blood, a--weapon, though what sort of weapon he scarcely
knew.
    The largest of the two green persons--sang.
There was a flash! of pinpoint light, a snap! of sound and the
weapon was molten metal, mixing with liquid red.
    There was a stifled scream from the crowd; a
shifting of bodies, and then from the crowd, one stepped forward
and bowed.
    "I am called Sambra Reallen, Chairman Pro
Tem," she said softly. "How may I serve you, Aged Ones?"
    * * *
    SKEEDADDLE WAS WELL AWAY, on course for Clarine, and a chat
with Teyope, should he have actually happened to deliver the cargo
as commissioned. At least, that's what Sambra Reallen knew. It was
the least of what Sambra Reallen knew, and Midj hoped she had joy
of her new status. Talk about being in a position to honor
promises.
    "She'll have to be certified by the
department heads." Kore sat down on the edge of the co-pilot's
chair and held out a steaming cup. "'toot?"
    "Thanks." She took it, spinning her chair to
face him. She drew a breath, thinking she might be about to say
something, found her mouth dry, and drank some 'toot instead.
    "I wanted to say." Kore was holding his cup
between both palms, staring down as if the hot liquid were a
navigation screen.
    "I wanted to say--I'm sorry. I had no right
to pull you into that, Midj, knowing what you--and knowing what it
could become. My arrogance. I thought I was ahead of the
trouble."
    "Well," she said, softly. And then again,
"Well."
    He looked up, amber eyes wary. The black
hair showed some shine of silver, his face marked with the lines of
responsibility and worry.
    "Your plan. I mean
your old plan. Is
that playing out the way you'd hoped?"
    He tipped his head, considering. Had a sip
of 'toot.
    "Not exactly. There were compromises needed.
Somehow, I hadn't thought of there needing to be compromises. Some
good people died, and I never meant that. Justice..." The ghost of
a laugh. "Justice isn't always easy to cipher. I didn't expect that
at all." He sighed.
    "That said--we've made progress. In some
direction. We've introduced another player into the game, and
another set of rules. Is that a good thing, a bad thing, or a
null-value?" He shrugged. "Don't know."
    Right.
    Midj sipped her 'toot; used her chin to
point at the board.
    "Course is set for Clarine; it's easy to
change, if you're expected somewhere. Or I can set you down where
you say. Or you can stay on."
    There, it was out in the open.
    Kore was looking at her like he thought
hard.
    "Stay on?"
    "If you want to." The cup of 'toot trembeled
a bit in her hand, belying her attempt at a casual tone.
    She cleared her throat and met his eyes
square. "Thinking over it all--I had the idea we'd been a damn good
team, Kore. Had the idea we might be again, if you're wantin'
it."
    She felt a moment of panic
then--a moment brought on in part by twenty years of the voice in
her head nagging at her in odd moments telling her He joined up with his eyes open,
Midj -- they'll
never let him go --"That is, "she said with
a challenge, "if you want it and if they'll let you..."
    A pause, getting long while he--and
she--sipped at their cups. Then....
    "There isn't anything I want more," Kore
said slowly.
    "But I--Midj, maybe we need to do this in
stages. First, I gotta get back to the Judge. I've got to let him
know where I am, how it is with me. And--I'd like you to meet him.
Talk with him."
    Meet the Juntava who had stolen away Kore
and twenty years of their life? She felt the anger rise--shook it
off as he kept talking.
    "Then, well, I got a couple