"Most impressive," Nzz-oonaz said, passing over the point that no such alliance had in fact been decided on. "And that?" he asked, flicking his tongue at the ring cliffs.

"Again, a largely natural structure," Valloittaja said. "The noble king I spoke of turned parts of it into a fortress where he could seek safety from his enemies."

So Mrachani history included enough interclan conflict to make fortresses necessary. That was useful to know. "He carved caves and tunnels into the stone?"

"It's much more pleasing to the eye and soul than it sounds," Valloittaja assured him. "The fortress is carved from the stone, certainly, but with light and heat and comfortable surroundings. Also with many windows—you can see them carved into the sides of the cliffs."

"Yes, we noticed them," Nzz-oonaz murmured. "Will our ship be placed in there as well?"

"Yes, in an area the noble king once used to house his animals," Valloittaja said, pointing a finger off to their right. A larger rectangular opening was visible at the base of the cliffs, about half a thoustride away along the ring. "Your ship is oddly shaped, but it should fit easily through the opening."

"Can't it be left out here?" Nzz-oonaz asked. "Camouflaged with drapings, perhaps?"

Valloittaja looked at him, the edges of his mouth pressed together. "You don't seem to realize the danger your presence here has created, Searcher Nzz-oonaz," he said. "Not only to those of us here, but also to the entire Mrach race. If any of the Conquerors Without Reason spotted the tachyon wake-trail of your ship as it flew here, there could even now be a fleet of warships coming to Mra to investigate. You and your ship must be hidden beyond all possibility of detection."

Nzz-oonaz pressed his tongue hard against the side of his mouth. "They could have tracked us here?"

"Warships of the Conquerors Without Reason fly without hindrance throughout the whole of Mrach space," Valloittaja said, his tone sending a bitter taste beneath Nzz-oonaz's tongue. "They seek to dominate our worlds and our lives."

"Yes," Nzz-oonaz murmured. So there it was: final confirmation of what Warrior Command already suspected. The Human-Conquerors did indeed have a method of tracking ships through the tunnel-line between stars.

"We had to carefully reroute space traffic away from this area when we realized you were coming," Valloittaja continued. "Whether we could ever do so again I do not know. Fortunately"—he looked at Nzz-oonaz, his mouth opening to display tiny sharpened teeth—"we won't have to. You are here now; and there will be no need for you to leave until it is safe."

"Of course," Nzz-oonaz said automatically. A beat later the implications caught up with him: they could conceivably be stuck here until the Human-Conquerors were defeated.

But that was all right. If the Overclan Seating and Warrior Command decided to make an alliance with the Mrachanis, they would need to maintain a permanent liaison here anyway. "I'm sorry our presence here has put your people in danger," he added.

"It is not you who endanger us," Valloittaja said, his tone darkening again. "It is our common enemy. Are you aware of an enemy weapon called CIRCE?"

"Yes," Nzz-oonaz murmured, glancing reflexively around them. Of the Zhirrzh aboard the Closed Mouth, only his alien-studies group and the ship's Elders knew the full truth about CIRCE. "But you will speak of this weapon only to me and to those whom I designate."

"I understand your caution," the alien said, his tone darkening still further. "CIRCE is a terrifying weapon, whose name evokes terror in even the bravest warrior. But the time for safeguards against panic has passed."

"What do you mean?" Nzz-oonaz asked.

"I mean this." Valloittaja turned halfway around in the seat to face him. "The Conquerors Without Reason have succeeded in gathering the pieces of CIRCE together. Even now they are in the process of assembling it.

"And when they succeed, you can be certain that the Zhirrzh will be its first target."

" 'And when they succeed,' " the Elder quoted, " 'you can be certain that the Zhirrzh will be its first target.' "

The Overclan Prime looked at Supreme Warrior Commander Prm-jevev. "So that's it," Prm-jevev said quietly. "They have CIRCE."

"So it would appear," the Prime agreed soberly. "Unless the Mrachanis are wrong."

"They've been under Human-Conqueror domination a long time," the Supreme Commander reminded him. "One assumes they've built up a competent spy network."

The Prime looked up, suddenly aware that the running commentary from Mra had stopped. "Elder? What's happening?"

"They've both stopped talking," the Elder reported. He flicked away, reappeared. "They've reached the entrance to the ring cliffs and are disembarking."

"Security measures?" Supreme Commander Prm-jevev asked.

"There appear to be none beyond the guards already noted," the Elder said.

He flicked away, and another Elder took his place. "Searcher Nzz-oonaz and the alien Valloittaja are entering the rim fortress," he reported. "Three more Mrachanis have joined the six guards waiting at the entrance."

"Are the newcomers armed?" Prm-jevev asked. One of the warriors at the situation-table control board, consulting quietly with another Elder, keyed three more Mrachanis onto the entrance area of the fortress floor plan. As he did so, a new section of floor plan was added to the diagram as the Elders probing the rim cliffs from the Closed Mouth continued their reports.

"I find no weapons on any of them," the Elder said.

"Ceremonial escorts, then," Prm-jevev concluded. "There to show Nzz-oonaz to his place of resting. That probably means Valloittaja himself is about to leave. Have two of the Elders stay with him."

"I obey." The Elder vanished.

The Prime flicked his tongue toward the overview monitor. "They've got the ship moving now."

"Yes, I see," Prm-jevev murmured. "I also notice that storing it in that hangar is going to put a good thoustride of the western-edge fortress area out of the Elders' range."

"I thought they'd already concluded that that area appeared to be unused," the Prime reminded him.

"They have," the Supreme Commander said. "That doesn't mean the Mrachanis couldn't reopen it sometime in the future."

An Elder appeared. " 'Your living areas are along this way,' " he quoted Valloittaja. " 'The guides will take you to them. If the space or facilities are not adequate, please let them know.' "

He vanished, another Elder appearing to take his place. " 'I'm sure everything will be fine. When do you wish to begin our talks?' "

He disappeared, and the first Elder returned. " 'As soon as possible. With the Conquerors Without Reason preparing to bring CIRCE into the war, we have no time to waste. We must launch a completely devastating attack before we ourselves are destroyed.' "

" 'I understand. As soon as the rest of my group has been settled, we will begin our conversations.' "

"The rest of the contact group's coming up now," Prm-jevev said, flicking his tongue toward the overview schematic. "Ship's still moving along—western edge of the fortress has just gone out of Elder range. We may want to consider taking one of the pyramids out of the ship and moving it into the main fortress."

"You'll find yourself with a mutiny if you try it," the Prime warned. "Remember the thunder Speaker Cvv-panav brought down on the Overclan Seating when the Dhaa'rr Elder Prr't-zevisti was lost on Dorcas? You can bet he'll do the same if you put any of the Dhaa'rr Elders aboard the Closed Mouth at risk that way."

"This is war, Overclan Prime," the Supreme Commander said shortly. "We have no room for the Speaker for Dhaa'rr's delicate sensitivities." He looked around. "Speaking of whom, where is he? I thought he wanted to be here when the ship reached Mra."