Johanna didn't learn this all at once. Woodcarver had told her about various Tinish affairs, and gradually her own story came out, too. She seemed glad to have someone to confide in, but Johanna saw little self-pity in her. Woodcarver had chosen this path — apparently it was perversion to some — and had beaten the odds for longer than any other pack in recorded history. She was more wistful than anything else, that her luck had finally run out.
Tines architecture tended to extremes — grotesquely oversized, or too cramped for human use. Woodcarvers council chamber was at the large extreme; it was not a cozy place. You could get three hundred humans into the bowl-shaped cavity with room to spare. The separated balconies that ran around its upper circumference could have held another hundred more.
Johanna had been here often enough before; this was where most work was done with the dataset. Usually there was herself and Woodcarver and whoever else needed information. Today was different, not a day to consult the dataset at all: This was Johanna's first council meeting. There were twelve packs in the High Council, and they were all here. Every balcony contained a pack, and there were three on the floor. Johanna knew enough about Tines now to see that for all the empty space, the place was hideously crowded. There was the mind noise of fifteen packs. Even with all the padded tapestries, she felt an occasional buzzing in her head or through her hands from the railing.
Johanna stood with Woodcarver on the largest balcony. When they arrived, Vendacious was already down on the main floor, arranging diagrams. As the packs of the council came to their feet, he looked up and said something to Woodcarver. The Queen replied in Samnorsk: "I know it will slow things down, but perhaps that's a good thing." She made a human laughing sound.
Peregrine Wickwrackscar was standing on the next balcony over, just like some council pack. Strange. Johanna had not yet figured out why, but Scarbutt seemed to be one of Woodcarver's favorites. "Pilgrim, would you translate for Johanna?"
Pilgrim bobbed several heads. "Is, is that okay, Johanna?"
The girl hesitated an instant, then nodded back. It made sense. Next to Woodcarver, Pilgrim spoke better Samnorsk than any of them. As Woodcarver sat down, she took the dataset from Johanna and popped it open. Johanna glanced at the figures on the screen. She's made notes. Her surprise didn't have a chance to register, before the Queen was talking again — this time in the gobble sounds of interpack talk. After a second, Pilgrim began translating:
"Everyone please sit. Hunker down. This meeting is crowded enough as it is." Johanna almost smiled. Pilgrim Wickwrackscar was pretty good. He was imitating Woodcarver's human voice perfectly. His translation even captured the wry authority of her speech.
After some shuffling around, only one or two heads were visible sticking up from each balcony. Most stray thought noise should now be caught in the padding around the balcony or absorbed by the quilted canopy that hung over the room. "Vendacious, you may proceed."
On the main floor, Vendacious stood and looked up in all directions. He started talking. "Thank you," came the translation, now imitating the security chief's tones. "The Woodcarver asked me to call this meeting because of urgent developments in the North. Our sources there report that Steel is fortifying the region around Johanna's starship."
Gobble gobble interruption. Scrupilo? "That's not news. That's what our cannon and gunpowder are for."
Vendacious: "Yes, we've known of the plans for some time. Nevertheless the completion date has been advanced, and the final version will have walls a good deal thicker than we had figured. It also appears that once the enclosure is complete, Steel intends to break apart the starship and distribute its cargo through his various laboratories."
For Johanna the words came like a kick in the stomach. Before there had been a chance: If they fought hard enough, they might recapture the ship. She might finish her parents' mission, perhaps even get rescued.
Pilgrim said something on his own account, translating: "So what's the new deadline?"
"They're confident of having the main walls complete in just under ten tendays."
Woodcarver bent a pair of noses to the keyboard, tapped in a note. At the same time she stuck a head over the railing and looked down at the security chief. "I've noticed before that Steel tends to be a bit over-optimistic. Do you have an objective estimate?"
"Yes. The walls will be complete between eight and eleven tendays from now."
Woodcarver: "We had been counting on at least fifteen. Is this a response to our plans?"
On the floor below, Vendacious drew himself together. "That was our first suspicion, Your Majesty. But… as you know, we have a number of very special sources of information… sources we shouldn't discuss even here."
