Free Cobra Alliance-Cobra War Book 1 by Timothy Zahn Page A

didn't know. What she did know was that she and Merrick were in big trouble. There were new rules to Qasaman social interaction, and neither of them had the faintest idea what those rules were.
    Merrick had obviously tracked the same logic. "Not good," he murmured.
    "Extremely not good," Jin agreed tightly, focusing her attention back on the gate area. A few steps behind the two armed guards she'd already noted were four more men, two on either side, who she'd originally dismissed as common loiterers.
    But now that she was concentrating on them, she realized their faces were too alert for that, their eyes lingering just a little too long on each passing vehicle as it entered the village.
    Milika wasn't the haven she'd expected it to be. Milika was a trap.
    And she and Merrick were walking right into it.
    "We have a plan?" Merrick asked.
    "Working on it," Jin gritted out, forcing herself to keep walking. One of the four non-obvious guards had spotted the two incoming pedestrians and was watching them closely. The last thing she and Merrick could afford was a guilty-looking break in their stride. "You want to try running?" she asked her son.
    "To where?"
    "Exactly," Jin agreed. "Fighting is out, too—way too many people around."
    Merrick huffed a thoughtful breath. "So we bluff?"
    "We bluff," Jin confirmed reluctantly. "Okay. Best guess, and it's only a guess, is that the number of fingers used indicates rank. I just wish I knew whether two fingers is the minimum or whether it goes all the way down to one."
    "Or if women use different signs entirely," Merrick added.
    Jin winced. Unfortunately, that was a distinct possibility. "Could be," she conceded. "Haven't got a clue what it would be, though."
    "Well, all we can do is try," Merrick said calmly. "Let's both stick with the two-finger version. If they call us on it, maybe we can convince them we're social idiots who grew up in a barn."
    Not likely, Jin thought grimly. But at the moment she didn't have anything better to offer. "Okay," she said. "But if it blows up—if they want to search us or even toss us into holding—just go along with them. Whatever happens, do not do anything to show who you really are."
    "Understood," Merrick said. "And don't you forget to be a nice, quiet, submissive little woman."
    Jin grimaced. Sticking with that role had been one of the toughest parts of her previous visit here. This time, with her pride and ego presumably tempered by age and maturity, maybe it would be easier.
    "Hey!" a gruff male voice called from behind them.
    Jin turned, forcing herself not to lift her hands into combat positions. A boxy brown car was coming up along the road toward them, its driver steering with one hand as he gestured out the window with the other. "Hey, cousin!" he called again.
    Jin keyed in her enhancers, trying to cut through the midmorning glare off the windshield. The driver was a young man, Merrick's age or a bit younger, with black hair and a short, neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were locked on her and Merrick, his expression hard. "Mom?" Merrick asked quietly.
    "Better answer him," Jin told said as the car came to a stop beside them.
    Merrick nodded microscopically and touched two fingers to his forehead. "Good day—" he started.
    "Did you run out of fuel again ?" the man in the car interrupted. He was clearly trying for a wry tone, but the darkness in his face effectively negated any humor that might have been in his voice. "That was your car I saw two kilometers back, wasn't it?"
    Out of the corner of her eye, Jin saw that the gate guards were watching the conversation. "Mm-mm," she grunted softly, hoping Merrick would pick up on the cue.
    He did. "I'm afraid so," he told the driver. "We decided to walk instead of—"
    "You have to stop doing that," the other young man said. "Get in—I'll take you in. You can send someone back for the car later."
    Merrick started to look questioningly at Jin, remembered in time that he was supposed to be the one