Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (31 page)

"The
equipment
and
clothing
are
all
locally
produced,"
Toni
said.
"Henry's
reluctant
to
use
official
channels
to
follow
up
the
serial
numbers
on
the
weapons,
because
that
might
tip
someone
off on
what
we're
doing."

"He's
correct,"
Bleys
said,
"but
I
don't
think
it
could
hurt
us,
as long
as
the
request
seems
to
come
from
the
Abbeyville
consultate— it
would
be
normal
for
us
to
be
trying
to
follow
up
the
attack."

"It's
still
daylight
in
Abbeyville,"
Toni
said.
"I'll
have
Henry
forward
the
information
through
the
staff
there.
Is
there
anything
else?"

"Not
at
the
moment,"
Bleys
said,
"but
there'll
certainly
be something
for
him
to
do
tomorrow—maybe
we
should
get
him
prepared
for
that.
But
what
are
you
doing
up?
I
thought
you
were sleeping?"

"I
was,"
she
said,
"but
I
left
instructions
for
them
to
wake
me when
Henry
called.
I'll
be
going
back
to
bed
soon....
As
for
Henry, I'd
suggest
we
don't
tell
him
anything
about
tomorrow,
just
now.
Anything
we
have
to
tell
him
won't
be
hurt
by
waiting
until
morning— keep
in
mind,
Henry
has
probably
had
even
less
sleep
than
we
have, these
last
few
days."

"You're
right,"
Bleys
said.
"I
should
have
remembered
that."

"We
can
all
use
some
more
sleep,"
Toni
said.

"I'm
looking
forward
to
it,"
he
said.
And
he
was,
he
realized,
now that
he
had
said
it.
Because
sometimes
his
mind
produced
answers in
his
sleep.

"Don't
let
me
sleep
too
long,"
he
added,
remembering
that
on those
occasions
when
his
mind
had
worked
on
a
problem
in
his sleep,
he
had
often
slept
for
an
inordinate
length
of
time.

He
stood
up.

"How
long
is
'too
long'?"
Toni
asked.

"Let's
say—either
when
there's
some
unusual
activity
by
the people
we've
been
watching,
or
twelve
hours." "All
right,"
she
nodded. "Are
you
coming
to
bed?"

"In
a
few
minutes,"
she
said.
"Henry's
waiting
on
the
line;
and I'd
like
to
leave
a
few
instructions
with
the
duty
people."

"All
right,"
he
said,
and
went
through
the
door
to
the
corridor. As
Toni
opened
the
door
to
the
comms
room,
Bleys'
head
appeared in
the
other
doorway
again.

"Have
there
been
any
repercussions
from
all
the
bodies
we
left scattered
in
that
field?"
he
asked.

"If
you
mean
in
the
media,
or
in
the
form
of
any
activity
by
our secret
enemies—not
that
I've
heard,"
she
said.
"Our
diplomatic people
informed
the
Solomonis
that
you
managed
to
escape
when your
convoy
was
ambushed,
and
I'd
guess
they'll
be
embarrassed enough
to
keep
the
whole
thing
out
of
the
media."

"Don't
put
out
any
feelers
about
it,"
he
said.
"But
keep
listening. Silence
may
lead
our
enemies
to
make
a
wrong
move."

"I'll
leave
instructions
on
that,
too."

He
nodded,
and
vanished
from
sight
again.

CHAPTER
14

Contrary
to
his
own
expectations,
Bleys
slept
heavily
and
awoke early.
Toni
was
not
with
him,
and
he
wondered
whether
she
might have
chosen
to
sleep
in
another
room;
there
were
plenty
available.

He
lay
in
bed,
half
awake
at
best,
cocooned
in
the
force
field
that made
up
the
sleeping
surface.
He
had
not
turned
on
a
light,
but simply
continued
to
lie
there
watching
the
simulated
night
sky
to which
the
room's
ceiling
had
been
set.
Turning
his
head
to
the
right would
have
put
his
eyes
on
the
time
display
that
glowed
in
midair on
that
side
of
the
bed,
but
he
did
not
do
that.

Part
of
him
would
have
welcomed
a
longer
time
in
the
depths
of unconsciousness,
but
he
felt
vaguely
that
further
sleep
would
elude him.
He
would
only
drowse,
tossing
and
turning;
until,
finally,
he would
rise
to
start
his
day
feeling
achey
and
unwell,
his
head
thick and
his
emotional
state
depressed.

But
he
was
also
reluctant
to
start
his
day
right
away;
and
so
he
lay there
in
the
darkness,
probing
lazily
at
the
back
of
his
own
mind
and waiting
for
something—anything—to
happen.
As
far
as
he
could
tell, he
had
not
dreamed.
He
was
disappointed
about
that.

The
star
display
on
his
ceiling
was
familiar,
he
realized
idly;
it
was the
night
sky
he
had
gazed
at
as
a
youth
on
Henry's
farm—except there
were
more
stars:
this
ceiling
was
showing
him
many
of
the faint
stars
not
generally
visible
through
Association's
atmosphere. He
speculated
listlessly
on
whether
this
artificial
sky
included
such faint
stars
in
order
to
make
the
display
more
aesthetic
...
it
did
not really
seem
very
gaudy.

Night
skies
were
almost
identical
on
all
the
human
worlds,
he knew.
The
worlds
inhabited
by
the
human
race
were
not
far
enough apart
for
the
differences
in
their
locations
to
make
for
major
changes