Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (48 page)

"For
the
moment,
at
least,
assume
you're
in
charge
here,"
he said,
returning
to
a
more
comradely
informality.

Her
face
recovered
its
professional
blandness,
but
it
took
her
a moment
to
respond.

"All
right,"
she
said,
finally.
"What
do
you
need?"

"You
can
start
by
leading
the
way
to
the
conference
room."

He
gestured
for
her
to
precede
him,
and
then
followed
her
down the
short,
plushly
carpeted
corridor.
Watching
her
as
they
walked,
he caught
a
slight
anomaly
in
her
movements,
as
her
right
arm
seemed to
stiffen
from
its
normal
swinging
motion,
and
shorten.
Bleys
realized
she
had
bent
the
arm
at
the
elbow,
reaching
across
her
front— and
the
arm
of
one
of
the
Soldiers
behind
him
reached
past
Bleys, holding
a
pistol
pointed
directly
at
Gelica's
back.
Bleys
gave
a
silent
hold
signal.

On
Gelica's
left
side,
her
loose
beige
jacket
twisted
slightly,
as
if something
had
pulled
on
that
side
of
its
fabric.
Immediately,
Toni, directly
behind
Bleys,
tapped
once
on
the
side
of
his
left
arm,
without
speaking;
and
pushed
her
left
arm
into
his
view
as
he
looked sideways.
Her
wrist
control
pad
was
indicating
that
a
very
brief
electromagnetic
impulse
had
just
been
intercepted,
its
origin
very
near. He
nodded,
and
signaled
for
the
Soldier
pointing
the
gun
at
Gelica to
drop
back.

"You'll
chair
the
meeting,"
he
said
to
the
back
of
Gelica's
head.

"May
I
point
out
that
I'm
only
staff?"
she
said,
looking
back
at
him now.
"And
even
among
the
staff,
there
are
others
here
senior
to
me."

"I
know,"
he
said,
as
she
halted
before
the
closed
double
door and
turned
sideways
to
look
at
him.
He
stepped
to
his
right,
rather than
moving
up
beside
her,
and
she
took
a
step
backward
to
keep him
in
view.
"And
if
one
of
them,"
he
continued,
"or
a
junior,
for that
matter,
is
shown
to
be
abler,
you
may
be
moved
to
other
duties. But
for
the
moment,
the
job
is
yours."

She
nodded,
and
then
darted
a
glance
at
Toni—and
her
eyes widened
a
little
as
four
of
the
Soldiers,
their
void
pistols
carried
at
a
high
ready
position,
moved
quickly
past
her
to
the
door.
One
placed a
hand
on
the
right-hand
knob
and
glanced
a
question
at
Bleys. Bleys
nodded.

In
seconds
both
doors
were
open
and
all
four
Soldiers
were
inside,
their
pistols
now
down
and
pointing
in
the
general
direction
of the
milling
crowd
before
them.
The
chatter
in
the
room
died
down almost
as
quickly,
as
the
Soldiers
moved
to
and
down
the
length
of the
side
wall,
the
lead
Soldier
proceeding
almost
to
the
other
end
of the
room,
where
the
serving
tables—not
yet
set
up—were
waiting.

"Go,"
Bleys
said;
and
Gelica
moved
ahead
of
him
into
the
room.

All
the
conference
attendees,
Bleys
saw,
were
on
their
feet
and facing
the
armed
Soldiers,
even
as
they
unconsciously
backed
away from
them
and
toward
each
other,
as
if
trying
to
stand
back-to-back in
the
face
of
danger.
None
of
them,
he
noted,
were
tripping
over chairs.

"Sit,"
he
said,
and
eyes
flickered
toward
him.

"Sit,"
he
repeated,
only
a
little
more
loudly.
This
time,
they
did.

They
sorted
themselves
out
quickly,
most
taking
whatever
seat was
closest—although
a
few,
he
saw,
seemed
to
seek
out
the
seats closest
to
the
emergency
exit
near
the
back
of
the
room.
Once seated,
all
kept
their
eyes
on
Bleys,
seemingly
ignoring
the
armed men.

Bleys
had
reached
the
head
table
before
most
of
the
conference attendees
had
managed
to
seat
themselves.
As
he
seated
himself
in the
middle,
larger
seat,
Toni
took
the
chair
to
his
immediate
left, and
then
pulled
a
small
electronic
device
from
a
thigh
pocket,
placing
it
on
the
table.
Gelica,
on
Bleys'
right
side,
stood
behind
the chair
at
her
place
without
speaking,
for
long
enough
to
grab
the
attention
of
the
audience.
When
at
last
she
spoke,
her
voice
projected through
the
room
without
seeming
overly
loud.

"Bleys
Ahrens
will
address
you
now,"
she
said;
and
turned
to look
at
him.