Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (50 page)

A
few
of
the
audience
had
also
noted
where
the
attention
of
the Soldiers
was
directed;
those
Others
were
holding
themselves
very still,
he
saw,
but
several
were
unobtrusively
bringing
their
feet
into a
position
of
readiness.
He
made
a
note
of
their
faces.

"Stay
calm,"
he
said
now
to
the
whole
room,
projecting
his
voice to
reflect
authority;
and
then
repeated
the
command
in
a
quieter, soothing
tone,
making
a
slow,
downward
patting
motion
with
his
left hand.

As
he
spoke,
his
right
hand
had
been
under
the
table,
unclipping a
void
pistol
that
had
been
stealthily
placed
there
the
preceding night.
He
had
not
wanted
to
bring
it
in
himself—void
pistols,
although
silent
weapons
that
killed
without
leaving
a
mark
on
a
body, were
necessarily
rather
large—but
he
wanted
this
one
for
the
immense
psychological
weight
it
would
lend
him.
Everyone
knew that
the
charge
emitted
by
the
long,
coil-wrapped
barrel
was
almost invariably
fatal.

He
swiveled
in
his
seat
and
pointed
the
pistol
at
Gelica
from
a
distance
of
less
than
a
foot.
Her
eyes
fastened
on
his
face,
but
she
made no
move.

"I've
got
her,"
Bleys
said
softly
to
Toni.
"Watch
the
seats."

Toni
pulled
her
small
pistol
away
from
Gelica's
head
and
stepped quickly
to
her
left,
passing
behind
Bleys
and
around
the
end
of
the head
table
to
take
up
a
position
against
the
wall
and
near
the
front
of the
seating
area.
From
there
she
pointed
her
pistol
in
the
direction
of the
same
group
the
Soldiers
were
watching
from
their
places
along
the opposite
wall.

"Sit
absolutely
still,
all
of
you,"
Bleys
said
to
the
room
at
large. He
put
into
those
words
every
ounce
of
the
ability
he
had
developed
to
project
a
feeling
of
authority,
but
he
never
took
his
eyes
off Gelica.
"Make
no
sounds
at
all."

"You
know
what
this
pistol
is,"
he
said,
now
speaking
softly
to the
woman
beside
him.
"A
void
pistol
doesn't
wound."

He
gave
her
a
moment,
and
then
ordered
her
to
raise
her
hands and
rise
slowly
from
her
seat,
taking
care
to
touch
nothing,
including
the
table
and
her
chair.

"I
want
you
to
back
up,"
he
said,
"always
keeping
your
hands
in the
air."

In
a
moment
her
back
was
against
the
wall
behind
the
table. Bleys
had
risen
to
move
with
her,
and
now,
from
a
position
slightly to
her
side
and
a
half-arm's
length
away,
he
placed
the
pistol
at
her temple.

"We
know
your
people
have
entered
the
building,"
he
told
her now,
speaking
loudly
enough
that
everyone
in
the
room
could
hear him.
"But
if
you,
or
your
people
here
in
this
room,
make
any
move to
reach
for
a
weapon,
or
to
communicate,
you'll
all
be
killed
instantly."

He
took
a
moment
to
speak
more
loudly,
never
taking
his
eyes off
Gelica.

"You
in
the
seats
should
know
that
not
only
are
there
five
weapons aimed
in
your
direction,
but
they're
held
by
people
very
skilled
at observing
and
interpreting
the
slightest
movement
that
might
hint of
danger.
If
you
want
to
live,
sit
still."

There
was
a
dead
silence
in
the
room
behind
him.
Gelica's
eyes remained
fixed
on
his,
a
hint
of
extra
redness
showing
in
her
face.

"We
began
to
suspect
you
some
time
ago,"
Bleys
told
her,
now speaking
in
a
much
lower
voice.
"Now
we've
baited
a
trap
for
your friends."

"There're
too
many
of
them
for
you,"
she
said,
her
voice
husky. There
was
a
hint
of
moisture
in
her
eyes,
but
he
did
not
make
the mistake
of
taking
that
as
a
sign
of
weakness.

"I
don't
think
so,"
he
told
her.
"We
knew
that
by
scheduling
this appointment,
we'd
give
you
an
appealing
target.
But
we
have
many more
Soldiers
here
than
you
saw.
Some
of
them
entered
this
building
and
even
these
offices,
last
night—they
planted
this
pistol
for me—and
have
been
hiding
nearby,
waiting
for
our
signal—"

He
broke
off;
his
wristpad
had
once
more
prodded
him,
in
a
series
of
short
coded
touches.

"Your
people
have
gotten
on
the
elevators,"
he
told
her.
"Our Soldiers
now
hold
the
lobby
behind
them,
and
will
disable
the
elevators
once
your
people
get
to
this
floor.
When
your
people
get
off the
elevators,
they'll
be
trapped
in
the
foyer
and
covered
from
all sides
by
experienced
fighters
firing
from
good
cover."