Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (71 page)

"No,"
Bleys
said.
"She's
possessive.
I
don't
think
she'd
react
well
to
that.
We'll
give
her
several
more
deputies,
but
we
have
to
make it
clear
to
her
she's
still
in
charge."

"Overly
possessive
subordinates
grow
to
be
a
problem,"
Dahno pointed
out,
oblivious
of
his
own
shortcomings.

"That's
true,"
Bleys
said,
"but
for
the
moment—and
probably for
a
long
time
to
come—we'll
need
her
efficiency
to
cement
the
alliance—"

"By
giving
the
Families
everything
they
want,
of
course,"
Dahno interrupted. "For
now."

"All
right."
Dahno
nodded.
"But
those
people
are
smart,
and
I don't
want
us
overlooking
something,
and
finding
we've
been
gulled. Going
along
with
them
makes
sense
for
now,
if
you
think
she
can
be depended
on
not
to
try
to
push
too
far—the
Families'll
be
watching for
tricks."

"Pallas
Salvador
has
strict
orders
not
to
take
any
action
that
might spook
them,"
Bleys
said,
"and
I'll
be
watching
her
closely.
For
the moment,
doing
exactly
what
the
Families
want—weakening
the Dorsai
and
the
Exotics—is
just
what
we
want;
so
we
lose
nothing
by seeming
to
cooperate,
and
in
fact
we
gain
from
use
of
their
power and
connections."

"Can
you
keep
close
tabs
on
Pallas
Salvador
and
still
run
the
rest of
the
organization?
Or
do
you
want
me
to
take
an
extra
hand?"

"We'll
all
be
taking
those
'extra
hands,'"
Bleys
said.
"Our
plan
is growing
faster
than
expected,
and
we'll
all
have
to
take
on
more work—become
more
efficient."

"The
only
reason
I'm
not
fighting
you
over
this
alliance,"
Dahno said,
"is
because
I
don't
see
how
its
failure
can
hurt
us.
I
don't
trust the
Families—I
know
you
don't
either—and
they
don't
trust
us. But
if
this
deal
falls
apart
all
we
lose
is
our
organization
on
Ceta,
and we
can
live
with
that."
He
had
regained
some
of
his
apparent
cheerfulness.

"Are
you
trying
to
warn
me
about
something?"

"Maybe
I
am,"
Dahno
said.
"I've
said
it
before:
you've
taken
this organization
very
far,
very
quickly.
But
this
unrestrained
growth
is dangerous!
We're
far
short
of
the
trained
people
we
need
just
to keep
control
of
what
we've
gained,
and
I
just
don't
see
any
way
the two
of us
—even
with
Toni's
more-than-able
assistance—can
keep everything
going
...
it's
becoming
a
gigantic
juggling
act,
and
you and
I
can't
be
everywhere
at
once,
making
every
decision
and
keeping
an
eye
on
every
one
of
our
people."

"You're
absolutely
right,"
Bleys
said.
"But
there
are
a
few
things we
can
do
to
take
some
of
the
load
off
ourselves."

"I
don't
think
I
like
the
sound
of
that,"
Dahno
said,
his
eyes
narrowing.
"Come
out
with
it:
what've
you
decided
to
do
without telling
me,
this
time?"

"It
takes
too
much
time
to
pump
out
well-trained
Others
from your
training
program,"
Bleys
said.
"You've
produced
able
people who've
served
us
well,
but
we're
short
on
numbers."

"We
can't
change
that!"
Dahno
protested.
"We've
expanded
the program
as
far
as
it
can
go
without
being
diluted
by
the
lack
of
individualized
attention."

"I'm
not
so
sure
about
that,"
Bleys
said.
"But
you're
right
about one
thing:
whether
we
can
expand
the
program
or
not,
it
would
take time
to
build
the
system,
and
we
just
don't
have
it."

"We
can't
speed
up
the
process,"
Dahno
said;
"what's
in
the pipeline
is
what
we'll
have,
for
a
while."

"That
means
we
have
to
compensate
for
the
lack
of
trained
Others,"
Bleys
said,
"by
making
our
trained
people
work
harder,
and moving
the
untrained
recruits
into
more
responsible
positions."

"How
can
you
get
our
people
to
work
harder?"

"You
should
know,
brother,"
Bleys
said.
"You're
the
one
who taught
them
all
to
be
ambitious."

"Ambition?
You
mean
you
have
something
more
to
appeal
to them
with?"

"Certainly:
more
power."

"What
kind
of
power?"

"More
control
on
their
worlds,"
Bleys
said.
"More
worlds
to
control.
And
more
of
a
voice
in
running
our
organization."

"You
can't
be
suggesting
we
give
up
our
control!"

"I
am,"
Bleys
said.
"Some
of
it,
anyway."