Hex by Allen Steele

emissary about this, and...” D’Anguilo stopped, slowly let out his breath. “Have you ever heard a nord laugh? They don’t do it very often. Maybe it’s just as well, because it’s pretty unpleasant, but... well, that’s exactly what he did. Then he told me that it didn’t matter. We could poison the place, he said, and the danui wouldn’t care.”
    A low whistle from Mark, while Sean and Kyra traded an astonished glance. Cayce stared at the astroethnicist. “They don’t care? What are they... ?”
    â€œLieutenant.” Andromeda gave him a cold look, and Cayce shut up. She looked at D’Anguilo again. “So what else have the nord let us know? Surely they’ve supplied us with vital info. Mass, surface gravity, atmospheric composition...”
    â€œNo. Not even so much as a photo.” D’Anguilo reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small black cartridge. “Just this starbridge key,” he added, holding it out to the captain. “It’s programmed to let us make the jump to HD 76700... and, yes, before you ask, we’ve been promised that it’ll work in reverse as well.”
    Andromeda took the key from D’Anguilo. “Will this put us out near the danui homeworld, or didn’t the nord tell you that either?”
    â€œThe starbridge it opens is located one-half AU from our objective,” D’Anguilo said, “or one and a half AUs from HD 76700.” Andromeda opened her mouth, but he held up a hand before she could say anything. “I don’t know if that means it’s at a Lagrange point or in a trojan orbit or anything like that. All I’ve been told is that’s where the danui starbridge is located, and that the world we’re being allowed to colonize is within half an AU of that position.” He hesitated. “I’m sorry, Captain Carson, but that’s all the nord would let me know. They seem to take some amusement by keeping us ignorant.”
    â€œI don’t like this.” Sandy’s voice was low; she’d folded her arms across her chest and was scowling at no one in particular. “There’s no reason why we should trust them... and I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me nothing about the place they want me to go, I get the feeling there’s something there they’re trying to hide.”
    Sean nodded, and to his surprise, D’Anguilo did as well. “I agree. I think the nord are hiding something, and so are the danui .” A corner of his mouth ticked upward. “That’s why I went through diplomatic channels and sent a private communiqué to the hjadd ambassador on Coyote, to ask himher what heshe knew about HD 76700.”
    â€œWell, that’s resourceful,” Andromeda said, and Sean reluctantly found himself agreeing with his mother. The hjadd were humankind’s closest allies among the Talus races; if any of them were going to offer candid information, it would be them. “What did heshe say?”
    â€œNothing... or almost nothing.” D’Anguilo turned to look her straight in the eye. “Heshe wouldn’t tell me what was there. Not in specific terms, at least. But what heshe did say was we’d find—and I quote—‘the greatest wonder of the known galaxy, and we’re honored to have the danui share it with us.’ ”
    No one said anything for a moment until Sandy slowly let out her breath. “Yeah, that’s a lot of help. And why should we believe anything the beakheads have to tell us?”
    D’Anguilo glared at her. Beakheads was a racial epithet, usually directed at aliens in general and the hjadd in particular. Before he could retort, though, Mark cleared his throat. “Pardon me, but I know for a fact that the hjadd ambassador is a devout follower of Sa’Tong , just as I am. And the Third Codicil of the Sa’Tong-tas prohibits us from any