Turtle agreed.
“Kez Maefele. Can you fit your moral and ethical sets to that framework?”
“Yes.”
“We couldn’t sell them any of your contingency studies. They depend on Starbase not being alert.”
“I have an idea that should appeal. If the Godspeakers have any vanity. An operation predicated on their ability to communicate across the Web.”
Provik said, “You’ve been holding back.”
“Of course. We’re comrades in arms but we’re not fighting for the same things.”
“I see. And there’s a little something you want from us.”
“More or less.”
“What?”
“There’s no rush, Mr. Provik. Does House Tregesser undertake censuses of its empire? Particularly on worlds other than Tregesser Prime?”
“Periodically. Their accuracy is suspect.”
“You might review those, perhaps running back a thousand years.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Provik was vexed.
“For now. There will be time later. When you have a contract with those devils.”
— 107 —
VII Gemina eased away from Starbase. Routine patrol inside Canon. Outsiders likely to be encountered only as commerce raiders. A vacation.
WarAvocat did not intend to let it become dead time. He ordered the Guardship to P. Benetonica.
“I’m not surprised,” Aleas said. “What do you expect to find?”
“Who knows? People like this Provik who filed the report reserve anything they can exploit. Also, tenuous a thread as it is, M. Shrilica is a Tregesser system.”
“Tenuous for sure. This war is a watershed, isn’t it? Canon won’t be the same.”
“No. This will catalyze changes that have been taking shape for centuries. This may send the Houses into eclipse.”
“I’d think massive new territories would mean a boom. People have to be transported. Stations have to be built. On-planet infrastructures have to be assembled.”
“It also creates a more mobile, more politically interested population. Especially once the Edicts take effect. It’ll be an interesting universe, Aleas.”
“We won’t change.”
“Guardships are Guardships are Guardships. The dragon never sleeps.”
— 108 —
Turtle watched Provik greet Blessed with the respect due a Chair, then Shike with a nod. His own military genius got a spoken greeting that placed him on the spectrum between the two.
Provik said, “I took your suggestion, Kez Maefele. I was unaware that so dramatic a shift in population character had taken place. Though I should have known. Simon opened the technical and supervisory ranks to nonhumans because we couldn’t recruit competent humans. It’s been a battle with the Directors. Some would rather have an illiterate from the Black Ring manage a division.”
Turtle settled into the chair Provik had had built for him. “That’s human nature. And not exclusive to your species.”
“I suppose not. But we ought to restrain our prejudices in the face of necessity. Have you seen the forecast Blessed’s financial wizards turned in?”
“No.”
“It’s on the machine. Give it a skim.”
Turtle went and scrolled the report. It was not an easy read. Blessed and Provik chatted about Placidia, the heir Tina had produced. Blessed was taken with the child, who was toddling now. They moved on to Midnight, then to the whirlwind of socializing that had befallen Tregesser Horata, gossiping in immemorial fashion.
Turtle finished.” Grim. If your future is tied to one of the Houses.”
“I didn’t see it black,” Blessed said. “We won’t lose wealth or property. We’ll even keep growing. We just won’t control as much of the whole. Cable, you take a look too. It shows us our place in a Canon expanded by a sudden one-point-five to one.”
Turtle made way for Shike. Cable went after the report like he understood every word. Amazing. But Cable might have surprises for everyone. Especially Blessed.
Blessed asked, “What’s up, Lupo?”
“We need to think about this future.” He steepled his fingers. “Kez Maefele suggested I study census reports. I did. Our unskilled and semiskilled employees are mostly nonhuman or artifact. With no reason to stay loyal. Our skilled workers and supervisors run half and half.”
“And?”
“Your report ignores the composition of the work force. It could desert us. Particularly given this.” He passed out three-sheet handouts.
Blessed glanced at His. “When did this come in?”
Turtle missed the reply. He was engrossed. It was a fleet edict and, therefore, as immutable as natural law.
They wanted five million volunteers. Any Canon citizen who felt capable of surviving the screening.
That alone was enough to alter the shape of the future. But it was just the beginning.
The shocker was a paragraph that extended full citizenship to any resident of Canon space who, never having stood in arms against Canon, claimed it formally.
Nonhumans aboard the Guardships? Could it happen?
Provik asked him, “What do you think?”
“I think this is the most dangerous document you’re ever likely to see. It stuns you with the call for volunteers. While you’re numb, it codifies what are de facto practices already. It takes a few nibbles at House prerogatives but balances them with hammer blows to the power of Canon’s bureaucrats. There isn’t one thing there that will offend any significant portion of the population, yet it is a revolution, a legal recognition that Canon is a multi-species entity.”
Perplexed, Blessed said, “I don’t like this, but it doesn’t look that dangerous.”
“The next one will be just as gentle. And so will the one after that. Those people see things millennially.”
Provik’s woman stepped in. “Lupo, VII Gemina just broke off the Web.” She looked numb.
Turtle reflected that the Prime certainly enjoyed the occasional ironic twist. VII Gemina!
Provik asked, “Blessed, Cable, is there anything in the system — any system — to give us away?”
“We’re clean. Unless they use brainprobes.”
“You’re sure?”
“There are no oversights,” Shike said. “We learned from M. Shrilica.”
Two agreed. “I’ve tested it. They’ve rewritten reality completely.”
“Not quite,” Turtle interjected. “You better hope they’re as focused on information systems as you. Suppose one of them tunes in a commercial news broadcast? I or my soldiers or our developing defense works get mentioned every day.” He had complained before that they had allowed him to become a public figure. No one had taken him seriously.
“A point,” Provik said. “I want a news blackout, Two. With sanctions that will make it stick.”
Two raised a finger: wait. She had the fingers of her other hand pressed to her ear, listening. Then she said, “They’re here about your reports on the Outsiders. They’re sending their own experts down.”
Provik shrugged. “Give them so much of what they want they can’t see anything else.”
Turtle told Blessed, “Don’t let Midnight know VII Gemina is here. She has friends aboard. She might try to contact them. She does not understand security.”
— 109 —
WarAvccat glanced at the screen to his left. P. Benetonica 3. A very old world orbiting an old star. He tried to recall when last he had set foot on a planet. Ages ago. He had been a combat soldier. How would he take it? Often soldiers on-planet experienced a sort of nostalgic melancholy.
He shifted attention to a tentative list of members of his landing party. About the experts there was no doubt. Gemina had picked them. But he was uncertain about the rest. Especially the Guardship soldiers from the chartered Horigawa. Would they be useful?
He had a hunch they might.
What could it hurt? They would expect him to bring an escort.
&nbs
p; Aleas joined him. “Want to hear something?” She sounded amused.
“What now?” She had an irreverent sense of humor.
“Our people haven’t had any luck getting into the local data pool. They just got an access-unauthorized response, whatever they tried. Till they pissed the system and it told them they’d be arrested and given five years to life at hard labor if they tried to get in again.”
That was amusing. “Somebody screwed up?”
“Not really. The probe during our first visit to M. Shrilica warned them they needed better safeguards. You think they’ll arrest the whole Guardship if we try again?”
He chuckled.” It is useful to know when you’ve been found out. We’ll keep digging. Though it’s unlikely we’ll find anything now.”
“Gemina says it’s not Guardship-specific. The Tregessers don’t like anybody nosing into their business.”
“WarAvocat grunted. “You coming down?”
“Try and stop me.”
Lupo and the Ku watched the visitors debark deep in the roots of the Pylon. He had gotten a panic signal from Six, who had met them at the port.... “It’s that damned Lieutenant! What the hell is she doing back?”
The Ku bent nearer the screen, shocked. Then he relaxed. “No. That’s not the same one. That’s a copy.”
“Good.” Lupo hated to think that more than one had gotten away on V. Rothica 4.
“This is the one to watch,” the Ku said. “WarAvocat Hanaver Strate. I’m surprised.”
Strate fit Provik’s stereotype of a Guardship officer perfectly. “Recognize anyone else?”
“The woman. The apparent companion. As a face in a crowd. I don’t know who she is.”
Lupo tapped his wrist. “Two. Have they broken into that data system yet?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He slipped a receiver button into his left ear, told the Ku, “Monitor the show. Give me any hints you can. Does this Strate have weaknesses?”
“He’s lonely. Loneliness is epidemic aboard VII Gemina. Anyone off that Guardship might be vulnerable to a manipulation of that. He’s also vain of his personal accomplishments. He’s fond of women. As a general rule, don’t underestimate him.”
“He’s the man who beat me in the end space. I plan to be careful.”
WarAvocat could not hide his awe of the Pylon. In its frame of reference it was as impressive as Starbase.
He refused to bow to the paranoia that was the consequence of leaving VII Gemina. He let the Tregesser woman put his people into the lift however she would.
Why had they made so little fuss? They had sent only one woman to meet them. She had driven them herself. There were no obvious security arrangements. As far as he could see, there was no effort to keep anything out of sight.
A series of lifts took thern to a reception area that suggested the level was a headwater of power in the Tregesser empire.
The woman palmed a wall plate. A door opened on a vast, mostly brown, and mostly empty room. A woman stood looking out a window. A man sat in a chair, reading. He looked up, put his papers aside, considered them coolly. A second man sat at a work station against the wall to the left, dealing with callers.
“Shoot the bastard,” he told one. “The rest will forget the idea.” He cut off, switched, said, “Sorry. Family crisis. Look, the injunction will come through. Tell Deccan to concentrate on the lawsuits. For what we pay him he ought to castrate every fatass bureaucrat on Capitola Primagenia. I have visitors, Rash.” He cut off, looked them over, lined an eyebrow, came forward. “I see you’ve kept well, Lieutenant. Welcome back to Tregesser Prime.”
“Who the hell are you?” Klass snapped.
“Same winning personality, too.”
WarAvocat scowled. He should have warned Klass.
The man said, “I’m Lupo Provik. Head of House security, doer of odd jobs. Today I’m mouthpiece for the Chair. The gentleman there is Cable Shike. He represents Blessed Tregesser, heir to the Chair. The lady is Tina Bofoku, representing Blessed’s daughter and her own, Placidia Tregesser. Whom have we the honor of addressing?”
WarAvocat frowned. This was not what he expected. “Hanaver Strate, WarAvocat VII Gemina, twice Dictat. The Deified Aleas Notable, formerly WarAvocat VII Gemina, thrice Dictat.” This Provik set off alarms.
“I presume that means you’re important. I’m not familiar with the fleet. My one encounter was when the Lieutenant threatened to destroy Prime unless Blessed let her abduct several houseguests. He doesn’t think well of you. He was infatuated with the artifact.”
WarAvocat allowed himself no visible reaction. “We’ll talk about that. If the Lieutenant exceeded her instructions...”
Provik betrayed a ghost of a sneer.
Klass handled it. Most soldiers, walking into a former incarnation cold, would have shown cracks.
Provik said, “I’m told you want to follow up on our research on Outsiders of human stock. Why tie up a Guardship on that?”
“A man in your position seldom tells a lie but never tells the truth. I want to know what you didn’t report.”
Provik denied nothing. “Might I suggest an information swap? To maintain the dignity of the laws of thermodynamics?”
He was a bold rogue. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“It’s trivial, really. But I’m curious by nature. The question: Why were the artifact and alien so important the Lieutenant threatened general mayhem to get them?”
Why did he keep after Klass? “The artifact and two alien companions had been guests aboard VII Gemina, Mr. Provik. One was the Ku warrior Kez Maefele, who commanded the Dire Radiant during the Ku wars. Some years ago, in our haste to engage an enemy, we pulled out of Starbase without them. During our absence the three fled Starbase with information that might have been deleterious to fleet security. Somehow they reached the Tregesser system M. Shrilica.”
Provik looked at him. He gulped air. His expression grew black. He turned slowly toward Shike, who had appeared astounded, skeptical, and grimly defensive in succession.
“You had that in your hands? And all Blessed could think about was wetting his one-eyed snake? Do you have any idea what we could have done with that?” He skirted his work station. “We could have traded it for a couple of star systems. Hell, for Capitola Primagenia! Blessed don’t think with anything but his balls, but you’re supposed to have good sense. Didn’t you bother to find out what you had?”
“They were DownTown stuff, Lupo. We wouldn’t have bothered with them if the artifact would’ve let Blessed break the set.”
Provik shouted at him. The Bofoku woman tried to intervene, ended up getting drawn into the shouting match on Shike’s side.
They did not care who knew they were villains, did they?
Two determined women burst in, pushed Provik and Shike apart. One forced Shike into his chair. Provik retreated to his work station. His voice quavered, promised murder. “Cable, you drag that cretin out of whatever bed he’s in and take him to his mother. T. W., get ahold of Valerena. Tell her he’s coming. Tell her why. And don’t anybody say anything about this. If the Directorate finds out what we blew they’ll hand us our heads.”
Well done if staged, WarAvocat thought. You could smell the anger and hatred.
Staged or genuine did not matter. The central fact was inescapable. If these people had known what they had, they would have exploited it.
“Get him out, T. W.”
Provik closed his eyes, took deep breaths. He slapped his desk, muttered, “We had it all.”
He was shaking still when he opened his eyes and looked at his guests somewhat vaguely. Was he unstable? A man would have to be a little insane to attain Provik’s position in one of the great Houses. “Two. Tell Research to put together whatever we’ve got on the Outsiders.”
He looked at them. For an instant raw hatred peeped through. He pressed his hands down onto his desk to still their trembling. ‘Tit for tat, sir. The thing I reserved was the fact that t
he Outsiders revealed details and identities of the agencies inside Canon space. I neutralized those in a position to harm Tregesser interests and left the others to their mischief.”
Aleas asked, “Don’t you have any loyalty to Canon?”
He looked at her like she’d just offered to show him a grotesque physical deformity. “To the extent that the Outsider alternative looks worse. Your kind doesn’t make a rite of torture and mutilation — that I’ve heard. I presume some of these people are research and technical staff?”
“Yes.”
“Six. When we’re done, take them down and let them get started. Tell Linver to give them whatever they want. Clearance is from me.”
“It’s plain you have no love for us,” WarAvocat said. “Why are you cooperating?”
“Pragmatism. Having a Guardship insystem is murder on business. Guardships get what they want. Yours will, too, whatever I like. When T. W. comes back, I’ll have her fix you up with documentation. Do be careful wandering around. Security staff won’t be told who you are. They get bonuses for shooting people who turn up where they don’t belong. You want to go somewhere, clear it with T. W.’s office. We have our own politics to survive. Anything else?”
Aleas whispered, “You’re not a demigod here, Hanaver. Just a nuisance.” Which amused her.
Provik awaited some response. WarAvocat declined. He had made a mistake, challenging these people on their home ground. Here all the intimidations belonged to them.
“A rest, a meal, a chance to freshen up would do us the most good, Mr. Provik.”
“As you will. Six. Forget the labs. Take them to Residential.” Provik turned to his screens. He was done with them.
WarAvocat noted that the man’s hands still trembled.
One, Three, and Four entered as the outer door closed. One raised four fingers. Lupo nodded, watched them place the bugs in isolation boxes. “That’s all?”