Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (129 page)

"I
suppose
so,"
Bleys
said.
"But
remember,
Dahno
is
cautious above
all
else.
I
can
tell
you
with
absolute
certainty
that
when
he thought
about
doing
something
like
that—and
I'm
sure
he
thought about
it—he
also
realized
I'd
be
unlikely
to
remain
in
Favored
waiting
for
him
...
in
fact,
it's
probably
the
last
place
he
expects
me
to be,
just
now.
So
it's
the
safest
possible
place
for
me."

"And
if
Dahno
has
people
watching
from
the
port,
to
tell
him
you haven't
left
the
ship?"
Toni
asked.

"That's
why
I
had
two
of
the
techs
rent
a
shuttle
and
take
it
over the
horizon,
right
after
we
landed,"
Bleys
said.

Toni
subsided
in
the
face
of
Bleys'
logic,
but
there
was
still
a small
frown
line
between
her
eyebrows.
Henry,
in
the
screen,
nodded
thoughtfully;
and
then
signed
off,
intending
to
review
his
Soldiers'
preparations
and
positioning.

That
had
been
more
than
half
an
hour
ago.

Mars'
star
was
now
on
the
horizon
behind
the
port
buildings,
just out
of
Bleys'
view,
and
the
sky
in
his
screen
was
shading
itself
to
a dark,
almost
metallic
indigo
color
that
managed
to
suggest
coldness without
actually
being
the
black
of
space.
Stars
were
already
showing,
in
the
darker
edge
of
that
sky.

"There's
a
ship
approaching,"
Toni's
voice
said.
After
Henry
had signed
off
she
had
moved
to
the
communications
room;
these
were the
first
words
he
had
heard
from
her
since
that
time.

—And
there
it
was,
suddenly!

The
ship
was
not
as
large
as
Favored of God,
and
was
shaped
a
little
differently—a
more
flattened
cylinder.
Like
Favored,
it
was largely
a
silver
color,
polished
to
a
mirror
finish;
but
it
was
painted
in a
few
places,
with
letters,
numbers,
and
other
markings
Bleys
could not
make
out.

The
ship
seemed
to
be
moving
slowly,
almost
hovering
and
drifting
into
its
place;
and
yet
it
had
seemed
to
appear
out
of
nowhere, so
swiftly
had
it
dropped
from
above.
He
supposed
that
meant
it had
a
very
experienced
driver,
one
of
those
who
could
make
everything
about
shiphandling
seem
effortless.

He
wondered
if
Dahno
had
hired
a
Dorsai.
It
was
possible,
he supposed,
although
his
intelligence
people
had
been
telling
him
for some
time
that
the
Dorsai
were
going
back
to
their
planet.

For
the
first
time
he
wondered
whether
Dahno
might
have
told the
Dorsai
this
would
be
a
good
place
to
take
action
directly
at
their major
enemy.
He
felt
a
breath
of
coldness,
but
shook
it
off—Toni had
always
insisted
the
Dorsai
would
never
stoop
to
assassination.

Bleys
put
no
faith
in
the
likelihood
that
people
in
trouble
would remain
true
to
their
principles.
However,
he
thought
the
Dorsai
had to
realize
that
assassinating
a
foreign
dignitary
in
Old
Earth's
space would
cause
more
trouble
than
they
might
want
to
handle.

The
ship
was
down
now,
nestling
almost
softly
onto
the
resilient pad
surface.
And
in
almost
the
same
moment,
Toni's
voice
came over
Favored’
s
intercom.

"We've
received
a
message
from
Dahno,"
she
said.
"He
says
he's just
landed
and
wants
to
know
where
to
go
to
meet
you."

"Tell
him
to
meet
me
in
the
bar
on
the
main
concourse,"
Bleys said.
"We'll
decide
where
to
go
from
there
...
oh,
and
tell
him
to dress
warmly,
and
to
bring
oxygen."

Bley
s
was
perched
on
a
tall
stool
at
the
bar
of
the
Seven
Came
Back Tavern
when
his
half-brother
loomed
in
the
broad,
open
doorway. Bleys
had
known
Dahno
was
on
his
way,
because
a
series
of
alert-looking
individuals
had
been
drifting
through
and
past
the
bar
for the
last
five
minutes.

From
halfway
across
the
room,
it
seemed
obvious
that
Dahno
was angry.
Most
of
the
bar's
few
patrons
noticed
it
quickly,
and,
prudently respecting
the
huge
size
of
the
newcomer,
moved
quietly
away.

"I'm
not
as
angry
as
I
look,"
Dahno
said,
as
he
took
the
second stool
over
from
Bleys—one
that
was
just
around
the
curve
of
the bar.
"You've
seen
this
act
before."
He
punched
the
control
pad
before
him
for
a
drink
while
waving
away
the
bartender.
At
this
late hour
there
were
few
people
about
to
patronize
the
port
services, and
the
bartender
was
happy
to
be
left
alone
with
her
entertainment
console.

"Hello,
Toni,"
Dahno
continued.
He
smiled
cheerily.
Bleys thought
his
brother
had
put
on
a
little
more
weight.

"It's
good
to
see
you
again,
Dahno,"
Toni
said.
She
was
smiling, too.

"It's
good
to
be
seen,"
Dahno
replied;
and
reached
for
the
drink rising
from
the
interior
of
the
bar.
Then
he
snorted,
looking
back
to Toni's
puzzled
face.

"Sorry,"
he
said.
"That's
a
very
old
Earth
joke."

"You
didn't
look
as
if
you
were
in
a
joking
mood,"
Toni
said.

"No
doubt,"
Dahno
said.
"I
like
the
privacy
people
tend
to
give me
when
they
think
I'm
angry."
He
turned
his
eyes
to
his
brother.

"With
just
a
little
more
work,
we'd
have
privacy
to
talk
right here,"
he
said.
"My
people
can
bring
in
an
inhibitor
field
generator."

"Aren't
they
illegal
here?"
Toni
asked.
Dahno
shrugged.

"I
can
set
up
a
HUSH
field,"
Bleys
said.
"But
I'm
not
comfortable
about
depending
on
that
for
the
important
subjects.
You
have to
know,
from
my
mention
of
oxygen,
that
I
wasn't
planning
to
talk in
this
place."

"I
know,"
Dahno
said.
"But
it's
cold
out
there!"
He
grinned,
a
little
savagely.

"And
how
do
I
know
who
else
might
be
out
in
the
dark?"
he added.
"I
saw
some
familiar
faces
in
the
concourse
as
I
walked
over here."

"I
figured
you
wouldn't
feel
comfortable
unless
you
saw
a
few Soldiers,"
Bleys
said.
"But
I
guess
you
don't
trust
me,
brother?
I've never
tried
to
harm
you
in
any
way,
you
know
that."

"Turn
on
the
field
and
I'll
admit
it,"
Dahno
said.
"I've
learned you
weren't
behind
the
people
who
were
stalking
me
on
Earth."

"I
don't
know
anything
about
that,"
Bleys
said.
"I
do
know
you were
behind
the
police
who
came
after
me."

"You're
right,"
Dahno
said.
"I
guess
I
owe
you
an
apology."
He grimaced.

"I
lost
my
head,"
he
went
on.
"You
know
I've
done
that
before, under
stress.
My
people
stopped
several
attempts
on
my
life,
and one
was
a
staff
person
from
the
Freiland
organization.
I
thought maybe
you'd
sent
him
after
me."