Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (132 page)

"That'll
be
the
news!"
Dahno
said.

There
was
no
way
to
avoid
it.
Still
angry,
Bleys
collapsed
the
security
bubble.

"What
is
it,
John?"
Henry
asked.

"The
ship
is
reporting
news
from
Old
Earth,"
John
said,
speaking
directly
to
Bleys.
"They
say
there's
been
an
assassination
attempt
on
Rukh
Tamani!"

"'Attempt'?"
Dahno
asked.
"What
d'you
mean,
'attempt'?"

"The
reports
say
she
was
only
wounded."

"They missed?"
Dahno
roared.

Colville
stared
at
him,
but
Dahno
turned
back
to
Bleys. "I've
got
to
go!"

"You
can't
repair
this
by
rushing
back,
brother,"
Bleys
said.
His anger
was
gone,
and
he
had
a
curious
sense
that
he
had
been
emptied
out.

"It'll
be
easier
than
you
think,"
Dahno
said.
"It
was
already
set up
to
get
rid
of
the
actual
assassins
right
afterward;
all
I
have
to
do
is manipulate
the
way
people
talk
about
her.
No
matter
what
they're saying
now,
in
a
couple
of
days
I
can
change
the
way
they
look
at her."
He
grinned.
"I
may
even
be
able
to
blame
this
on
the
Dorsai."

"You
did
this?"
It
was
John
Colville's
voice,
speaking
to
Dahno's broad
back.
Dahno
turned
to
look
at
the
Soldier;
but
before
he could
speak,
Henry
stepped
forward,
moving
up
beside
Dahno.

"John,
you're
overwrought,"
Henry
said.
"This
is
not
your
place."

Shaking
off
Foster's
attempt
to
hold
him
back—an
attempt
hampered
by
the
Soldier's
need
to
keep
an
eye
on
Dahno's
bodyguards— John
turned
to
Henry.

"It's
not
my
place,
Henry.
I
know
that!
But
this
is
an
evil
I
can't condone."

"I
do
not
ask
you
to
condone
it,"
Henry
said.
"But
you
must
tend to
your
own
duty—"
He
indicated
Dahno's
two
bodyguards,
that John
had
been
assigned
to
watch.
"—and
I
will
do
mine."

Henry
turned
back
to
face
Dahno.

"Is
it
so?"
he
said.
"Did
you
order
this
assassination?"

"You
heard,"
Dahno
said.
"She
wasn't
assassinated."

"You
would
play
word
games
before
the
Lord?"
Henry
asked. His
voice
was
colder
than
Bleys
had
ever
heard
it.

"I have to go," Dahno said. "I can't take the time to argue semantics—not if I want to fix the damage."

"You intend to complete the deed," Henry said.

"No!"
John Colville yelled; he was turning back from where he had been watching the two bodyguards, his void pistol coming up.

"John—
nor
Henry said, his voice loud as he tried to penetrate the Soldier's anger while turning to face him. He raised an empty hand toward the younger man, stepping in front of Dahno to shield him—and as he did so, Dahno's two bodyguards acted.

The one closest to Steve Foster threw himself sideways into the Soldier, knocking him backward and freeing the other bodyguard to raise his own void pistol.

"Don’t!”
Dahno yelled; and his arm swept out to push Henry sideways, out of the path of the charge. But the bodyguard had already fired.

There was no sound, no flash, but both Henry and Dahno fell, the impetus of Dahno's arm pushing Henry to the side even as both of them fell forward. Before they hit the ground, John Colville had swung around and fired at the man who had shot. As he did so, the other bodyguard fired at him. The second Soldier, Steve Foster, having recovered quickly, fired a fraction of a second late.

It might have taken two or three seconds, Bleys found himself thinking. The scene on the patio of the Mayne estate came back up from his memory—it had taken only a few seconds to stretch seven bodies out on that floor
...
it was like an echo.

He was aware of a strange detachment in his head, as if his mind had withdrawn from the area behind his eyes, to hide in a room farther back
...
as if his being was just along for the ride now. He saw Foster turning back to face him. There were tears in his eyes.

I
should tell him to watch the door,
Bleys thought. But before he could do so his eye was caught by Toni's movement—she had somehow reached Henry without Bleys noticing it, and was kneeling beside him.

"He's alive!" She almost yelled the words, and they seemed to wake Bleys.

"How—?" Bleys took a step in her direction, but stopped to point a finger at Foster.

"Call the ship," he ordered. "Have them bring emergency medical equipment—quietly but quickly!"

"What about their people outside?" the Soldier asked.

"Make the call!"
Bleys said, and strode to the door. Pulling it open, he looked out, and saw six pairs of eyes looking back at him.

"We have a problem," he said, directing his words at one of Dahno's bodyguards. "Who speaks for your people?"

By the time Kaj Menowsky and some helpers from
Favored of God
had reached the chapel, Dahno's bodyguards, knowing their employer was dead, had agreed to sit quietly in the bar, under observation. Bleys had remained with them, knowing his presence would quell their nervousness; until Toni came into the bar to report that the medical team had removed the bodies of Henry and Dahno, as well as that of John Colville, under the guise of a delivery of supplies to the ship.

"You should call your ship, if you haven't already, and have your friends' bodies removed quietly, too," Toni said, looking at the leader of the bodyguards. "You don't want an alarm raised before you get back to Old Earth."

As he and Toni walked back down the concourse toward the entrance closest to
Favored,
Bleys' back felt cold despite the Soldiers covering their withdrawal. But nothing happened.

At the port entrance they boarded a shuttle b
us for the trip to the ship. Ble
ys expected Toni to want to talk with him, but she maintained her silence. He felt no desire to talk, himself.

Once they were on board, Toni turned to him.

"They're both alive!" she said. Bleys looked down at her. "How can that be?" he asked.

"Kaj says he thinks they were hit by a single charge," she said. "Maybe that dissipated some of the effect. But Henry wants to talk to you, and Kaj says you need to get there right away."

"I
think
Dahno
will
recover,"
Kaj
said
as
Bleys
entered
the
infirmary.
"He
was
damaged,
and
machines
are
maintaining
some
of
his vital
functions
for
the
moment;
but
he's
strong." "And
Henry?"
Bleys
asked.

"He's
still
alive,"
Kaj
said,
"but
I
think
he
doesn't
have
very long."
Toni
sat
down
abruptly,
her
head
down.
Bleys
felt
his
eyes burning
into
the
medician.

"Why
not?
If
he's
still
alive
you
might
be
able
to—"

"No,"
Kaj
said.
"Void
pistols
disrupt
neural
functions
on
a
cellular level.
He
took
the
brunt
of
that
charge,
and
was
more
damaged
than Dahno.
And
he
was
weaker
to
start
with."
He
looked
up
at
Bleys.

"I'm
sorry,"
he
said.

"Bleys,"
Henry
said,
as
his
nephew
entered
the
room.
"How
is Dahno?"

"He'll
live,"
Bleys
said.

"I
will
not,"
Henry
said.
"I
feel
it.
Do
not
grieve
for
me;
I
am content
with
my
life."

"I
won't
grieve
for
you,
if
that's
what
you
want,"
Bleys
said.
"But I
can't
promise
not
to
grieve
for
my
own
loss."

"I
cannot
argue
with
that,"
Henry
said.
His
voice,
Bleys
thought, already
seemed
weaker.
He
stood
there
for
a
moment,
feeling
helpless.

"I'll
take
care
of
Joshua
and
his
family,"
he
said
at
last.

"There
is
no
need,"
Henry
said,
a
smile
coming
to
his
face. "Joshua
is
well
with
the
Lord,
and
needs
no
more....
But
I
thank you.
I've
always
known
you
had
a
good
heart
in
you."

"Uncle
Henry,"
Bleys
began—but
Henry's
weak
voice
overrode him.

"Save
yourself,
Bleys,"
Henry
said.
"You
walk
the
paths
of damnation,
and
I
will
no
longer
be
there
to
try
to
help
you." "Uncle—"

"May
God
bless
you
and
help
you,
Bleys,"
Henry
said.
His
voice was
almost
inaudible—and
then
it
was
gone.

As
Favored
dropped
inside
Luna's
orbit,
Toni
came
striding
into
the lounge,
where
Bleys
had
been
sitting
in
silence
since
they
left
Mars
orbit.
It
was
less
than
a
Standard
day
since
Henry
had
died.
Dahno, still
unconscious,
was
alive
among
the
infirmary's
machines.

"Bleys,
you
have
to
see
this,"
Toni
said.
As
she
was
talking
she activated
the
controls
for
his
screen,
which
Bleys
had
not
turned
on; and
Bleys
found
himself
looking
across
a
green,
grassy
field,
at
what appeared
to
be
the
back
of
a
large
crowd
of
people.

"What's
going
on?"
he
asked.
"What's
that
roaring
noise?"

"This
is
being
broadcast
on
all
the
major
Old
Earth
broadcast
media,"
she
said.
"The
reporter
stopped
her
narration
to
let
the
crowd noise
come
through.
There's
a
roadway
on
the
other
side
of
the crowd,
and
those
people
are
all
there
because
they
heard
a
rumor
that Rukh
Tamani
is
coming
down
the
road,
heading
for
a
spaceport."

The
view
on
the
screen
panned
sideways,
and
the
reporter
began to
speak.

"The
crowd
seems
to
be
about
a
dozen
deep
on
both
sides
of the
road,"
she
said.
"It's
been
lining
the
road
like
this
for
more than
ten
kilometers.
We've
been
asking
for
permission
to
put
a camera
into
the
air,
but
so
far
the
security
people
have
refused—no one
is
taking
any
chances
of
a
repeat
attempt
on
Rukh
Tamani's life."

"Kayla,"
a
male
voice
cut
in,
"we've
just
been
given
permission to
take
the
feed
from
the
security
net—"
Even
as
the
man
spoke, the
view
shifted.

Now
they
were
looking
down
on
the
crowd,
and
could
see
the road
itself,
outlined
by
the
fence
that
separated
it
from
the
people. A
small
convoy
of
vehicles
entered
the
screen,
and
the
view
panned to
watch
as
they
passed
by—until,
as
the
convoy
approached
the
far side
of
the
screen,
it
stopped.