"Sh, sh," Viki said softly. That only made the giggling louder. How long had Viki been praying for spirit to return to these two? And now she wanted them just to be quiet for a bit. She shut them out of her mind and concentrated. Hunh. It wasn't exactly sound, not for the ears in your head, anyway. But all along her underside she could feel it. There was a steady background hum...and other vibrations, that came and went. Ha! It was a ghost of the thrumming life you felt in the tips of your feet when you walked around downtown! And there! The unmistakable burring of heavy brakes making a fast stop.
Jirlib was chuckling. "I guess that settles that! They thought they were so clever with that closed cargo box, but now we know."
Viki rose to a more comfortable position and exchanged looks with Gokna. Jirlib was smarter, but when it came to sneakiness he had never been in a class with his sisters. Gokna's reply was mild, partly to be polite, partly because the appropriate tones would have sent the babies back into hiding. "Jirl, I don't think they were really trying to hide things from us."
Jirlib shifted his head back, almost his "brother knows best" gesture. Then he caught her tone. "Gokna, they could have gotten us here in a five-minute drive. Instead, we were on the the road for more than an hour. What—"
Viki said, "I think that may have been just to evade Mother's security. These cobbers had several cars running around; they switched us twice, remember. Maybe they actually tried to get out of town, and saw that they couldn't do it." Viki waved at their quarters. "If they have any sense, they know we've seen way too much." She tried to keep her voice light. Birbop and Alequere had wandered over to the still-sprawled Brent and were picking his pockets. "We could identify them, Jirlib. We also saw the driver and the lady down in the museum loading area."
And she told him about the automatic shotgun she'd seen on the floor at the museum. An expression of horror flickered across Jirlib. "You don't think they're trads, just trying to embarrass Dad and the General?"
Both Gokna and Viki gestured no. Gokna said, "I think they're soldiers, Jirl, no matter what they say." In fact, there had been lies on top of lies. When the gang appeared at the videomancy exhibit, they'd claimed to be from Mother's security. But by time they dumped the cobblies here, they were talking like trads: The children were a horrible example for decent folk. They weren't to be harmed, but their parents would be revealed as the perverts that they were. That's what they said, but both Gokna and Viki noticed their lack of fire. Most traditionalists on the radio positively fumed; the ones Viki and Gokna had met in person got all torn up just at the sight of oophase children. These kidnappers were cool; behind the rhetoric, it was clear that the children were just cargo. Viki had noticed only two honest emotions under their professionalism. The leader was truly angry about the two that Brent had squashed...and every so often, there was a hint of distant regret for the children themselves.
Viki saw Jirlib flinch as the implications hit home, but he remained silent. Two shrieks of laughter interrupted his grim introspection. Alequere and Birbop weren't paying any attention to Gokna and Viki, or Jirlib. They had discovered the play twine that Brent kept hidden in his jacket. Alequere hopped back, drawing the twine out in a soaring arc. Birbop jumped to grab it, ran in a quick circle around Brent as if to trap him round the legs.
"Hey, Brent, I thought you had outgrown that stuff," said Gokna, a forced cheeriness in her teasing.
Brent's answer was slow and a little defensive. "I get bored when I'm away from my sticks 'n' hubs. You can play with twine anywhere." For what it was worth, Brent was an expert at making twine patterns. When he was younger, he'd often roll onto his back and use all his arms and legs—even his eating hands—to wrap ever more complicated patterns. It was the sort of silly, intricate hobby that Brent loved.
Birbop grabbed the tip of the rope from Alequere and raced ten or fifteen feet up the wall, nimbly taking advantage of every grasp point the way only the very young can. He wiggled the rope at his sister, daring her to try to drag him down. When she did so, he jerked it back and climbed upward another five feet. He was just like Rhapsa used to be, maybe even a bit more nimble.
"Not so high, Birbop, you'll fall!"—and Viki was sounding just like Daddy now.
The walls stretched up and up above the baby. And at the top, fifty feet above them, was the tiny window. Behind herself, Viki saw Gokna start with surprise. "Are you thinking what I am?" Viki said.
"P-probably. When she was little, Rhapsa could have climbed to the top." Their kidnappers weren't as smart as they thought. Anyone who had looked after babies would know better. But both the male kidnappers were young, current-generation.
"But if he falls—"
