Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (123 page)

Now
he
glared
at
them,
as
if
defying
them
to
argue
with
him— with
someone
they
had
to
know
was
correct
about
everything.
..
.

"You've
grown
into
the
two
worlds
of
people
who
dominated
the economies
of
all
the
inhabited
worlds—so
that
you
wouldn't
have
to spare
time
from
your
search
to
struggle
for
a
living.
You've
bought and
sold
armies
so
that
you'd
be
free
of
fighting,
and
of
all
the
emotional
commitment
that's
involved
in
it—all
so
you'd
have
the
best possible
conditions
to
continue
your
work,
your
search.

"Now,
after
all
those
many
years
of
putting
that
search
first,
you seem
ready
to
put
it
in
second
place
to
a
taking
of
sides,
in
a
transient, present-day
dispute.
I
tell
you
frankly—because
by
inheritance
I'm
one
of
you,
as
I
think
you
know—that
even
if
it
should
be
the
side
I find
myself
on
that
you
wish
to
join,
at
the
expense
of
your
long
struggle
to
bring
about
humanity's
future,
I'd
still
stand
here
as
I
do
now, and
ask
you
to
think
again
of
what
you
have
to
lose
by
doing
so."

He
stopped,
trying
again
to
focus
on
his
audience;
but
their
faces continued
to
elude
his
attempts
to
hold
them
with
his
eyes.
He could
find
no
reaction
out
there....

There
was
no
sound
for
the
long
moment
in
which
he
waited; until
finally
he
stepped
backward,
as
if
dismissing
them;
and
stood in
place
for
a
moment
more.

"That's
all
that
I've
come
here
to
say
to
you,"
he
said
at
last.
He felt
deflated.
"That's
all
there
is.
The
rest,
the
decision,
I
leave
to you.

He
stood
there
for
a
moment
longer,
silent,
still
waiting
for
them to
react
...
he
knew
it
was
futile,
but
he
could
not
help
it—he
needed
some
sign
from
them.

But
there
was
nothing;
and
at
last
he
turned
and
walked
off
the platform.

Once
out
of
the
light,
he
could
see
that
Hal
Mayne,
Padma
and the
other
tiny
Exotic
were
awaiting
him,
standing
before
a
group
of chairs.
But
nothing
had
changed.

"I'd
like
to
speak
privately
to
these
people,"
Hal
said
as
Bleys reached
them.

That s it then,
Bleys
told
himself.

He
made
himself
smile,
and
nodded.
He
let
himself
be
led
away by
the
elderly
Exotic
who
had
been
Hal
Mayne's
guide,
who
seemed to
scurry
now
to
keep
up
with
the
long
strides
Bleys
found
himself using.
Bleys
forced
himself
to
slow
down,
so
as
not
to
seem
to
be running
away;
and
in
a
moment
he
was
through
the
doors
and
had been
turned
over
to
Sulaya
again,
who
led
him
away.

CHAPTER
40

"I
was
never
actually
told
what
the
meeting
was
about,"
Bleys,
back on
Association,
said,
"but
the
fact
they
were
waiting
for
Hal
Mayne to
come
back
and
speak
to
them
tells
me
they
were
listening
to some
plan
of
his.
I
think
he
was
off
the
planet
dealing
with
the
Dorsai.
I
think
he's
persuaded
them
to
come
to
Mara
to
defend
the
Exotics
against
us."

"The
fact
they
were
waiting
for
him
doesn't
mean
the
Exotics agreed
to
his
plan,"
she
said.

"By
itself,
no,"
Bleys
said.
"But
I
think
the
Exotics
I
met
had
already
decided.
It
was
in
their
eyes,
and
their
attitudes.
It's
the
only possibility
that
fits
the
intelligence
that's
been
telling
us
the
Dorsai have
been
bringing
their
ships
and
people
back
to
their
planet— they
can
only
be
preparing
for
some
large
move."

"You
were
on
Mara
and
dealt
with
those
people,"
she
said,
"so
I can't
argue
with
you
about
that.
But
I
find
it
hard
to
believe
the Dorsai
would
make
a
move
that
would
leave
their
own
planet
defenseless
...
although
it's
true
they
have
a
myth
about
defending
it with
women
and
children."

"It's
the
only
thing
that
makes
sense,"
Bleys
said.
"They wouldn't
be
gathering
their
assets
if
they
weren't
planning
major
action.
I
don't
think
it
can
be
a
coincidence
that
while
they've
been gathering,
the
Exotics
have
been
moving
their
own
wealth,
ships, and
mobile
technological
resources—even
many
of
their
most
important
experts;
and
it's
no
coincidence
they
held
that
meeting
on Mara.
So
what
else
makes
sense?"

"I
can
believe
the
Dorsai
are
planning
something,"
she
said.
"But the
only
reason
to
think
they're
going
to
Mara
are
a
few
reports
of
a rumor
among
the
Exotics
to
that
effect.
It
could
be
wrong."