Pham's dive turned into an apparently uncontrolled spin, one that just accidentally slammed his shoulder into Vinh's gut and smashed the younger man into the wall. Out of sight of any camera, Pham gave his opponent a piece of elbow. An instant after the impact, the back of Vinh's head smacked against the wall. If they had still been down in the carved diamond corridors, that might have caused serious injury. As it was, when Vinh came off the wall, his arms were flailing weakly. Little droplets of blood sprouted up from the back of his head.
"Pick on someone your own size, Vinh! Cowardly, scummy piece of vermin. You Great Family Traders are all alike." Pham's rage was real—but it was also rage against himself, for risking his cover.
The wits slowly percolated back into Vinh's eyes. He glanced at Qiwi, four meters down the hallway. The girl looked back, her expression a strange combination of shock and determination. And then Vinh looked at Pham, and the old man felt a chill. Maybe Brughel's cameras hadn't caught all the details of the fight, but the kid knew how calculated Pham's assault had been. For an instant the two stared at each other, and then Vinh shrugged free of his grasp and scooted back down the ramp toward the taxi locks. It was the scuttling retreat of a shamed and beaten man. But Pham had seen the look in his eyes; something would have to be done about Ezr Vinh.
Qiwi started after Vinh, but dragged herself to a stop before she had gone ten meters. She floated in the of the corridors, staring off in the direction Vinh had gone.
Pham came near. He knew he had to get out of here. No doubt several cameras were watching him now, and he was just no good at staying in character around Qiwi. So what to say that would get him safely gone? "Don't worry, kid. Vinh is just not worth it. He won't bother you again; I guarantee it."
After a moment, the girl turned to face him. Lord, she looked so much like her mother; Nau had been running her nearly Watch-on-Watch. There were tears in her eyes. He couldn't see any cuts or blood, but bruises were beginning to show on her dark skin. "I really didn't meant to hurt him. God, I don't know what I'll do if Trixia d-dies." Qiwi brushed back her close-cut black hair. Grown-up or not, she looked as lost as during the first days after the Diem "atrocity." She was so alone she would confide in a windbag like Pham Trinli. "When...when I was little, I admired Ezr Vinh more than anyone in the universe, except my parents." She glanced at Pham; her smile was tremulous and hurt. "I wanted so much for him to think well of me. And then the Emergents attacked us, and then Jimmy Diem killed my mother and all the others....We are all in a very small lifeboat. We can't have any more killing." She gave her head a sharp little shake. "Did you know that Tomas has not used coldsleep since the Diem massacre? He's lived every second of all these years. Tomas is so serious, so hardworking. He believes in Focus, but he's open to new ways of doing things." She was telling him what she had wanted to tell Ezr. "Benny's parlor wouldn't exist without Tomas. None of the trading and bonsai would exist. Little by little we are making the Emergents understand our ways. Someday, Tomas will be able to release my father and Trixia and all the Focused. Someday—"
Pham wanted to reach out and comfort her. Pham Nuwen might be the only living person besides the murderers who knew what had really happened to Jimmy Diem, and who knew what Nau and Brughel were doing with Qiwi Lin Lisolet. He should give her a gruff brush-off and leave, but somehow he couldn't do that. Instead he hung in place, looking embarrassed and confused.Yes. Someday. Someday, child, you will be avenged.
TWENTY-SIX
Ritser Brughel's quarters and command post were aboard theInvisibleHand. He often wondered how the Peddlers had come up with such a perfect name, in two words expressing the essence of Security. In any case, theHand was the most nearly undamaged of all the hulls, Qeng Ho or Emergent. The flight-crew quarters were sound. The main drive could probably sustain a one-gee thrust for several days. Since the takeover, theHand 's comm and ECM had been refurbished to Focused standards. Here on theInvisible Hand , he was something of a god.
