Ecolitan Prime (Ecolitan Matter) (19 page)

T
HE
G
RAND
A
DMIRAL
glanced back at the faxsheet that lay before her on the console.

For the fifth time in as many minutes, she picked it up again and read it through. Then she put it down.

Were her hands shaking? Nonsense!

She turned in the noiseless swivel and beheld the outer world. From her double thickness permaglassed view, she looked down and out over the golden plain, her eyes focused beyond the dome that contained the Imperial Palace.

Not looking at the words, she picked up the thin white sheet once more, and finally turned back to the console. She reached for the communication studs, then drew back her hands and read the fax message, this time slowly, and word by word.

No diplomat had written it, nor any functionary from any of the other Ministries. But how had the writer gotten her personal codes, down to the final and hidden authentications?

Not even the Emperor had those.

She did not doubt that the copy had in fact gone to the Emperor.

The fax was phrased as a public interest warning but was nothing more than a threat. And yet…even if she published the entire text as she had read it, who would believe it? If they did, wouldn’t she be adding to Accord’s credibility with the nonaligned systems?

She paused, then asked the console the question.

She returned to looking at the eastern plains, thinking, and waiting for the system to supply the answer.

Buzz
.

“Gerson’s Disease. Pathology. Informal name for influenza polioencephaliomyelitis (D-strain), an acute, infectious, virus disease characterized by inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord, and of the brain, coupled with respiratory inflammation, headache, fever, muscular pains, and irritation of the intestinal tract. Mortality in an untreated and susceptible population approaches ninety percent, but baseline T-type populations have normally demonstrated an immunity that approaches unity…immunization requires a series of injections…spread over roughly three standard months…”

The Admiral read the listing on the console screen twice, and the furrow between her eyebrows deepened into a gouge by the time she had finished.

The message was either a colossal bluff, or…

The Grand Admiral picked up the faxsheet and quietly tore the message to shreds.

Then she tapped out two instructions on her console.

If the fax had been correct, Accord not only possessed the ability to infect the most secure structure in New Augusta, but also to modify a disease in two separate aspects, a modification currently beyond Imperial medical technology.

Only time would tell, but at least for that time, any more of the attacks against the Ecolitan Envoy would have to be postponed. The risk was too great, even for her, particularly if the Emperor had a copy of the fax. If the Ecolitans had her codes, she had no doubt they had the Emperor’s.

She repressed a shiver and turned back to the view of the plains, leaning back in the swivel. For a time she regarded the grass and the distant line of clouds above the horizon.

At last, she tapped a code, waiting…

“Marcella?”

N
ATHANIEL STRAIGHTENED HIS
tunic in mid-stride, not pausing in his steps but matching his pace to Sylvia’s.

“I’m still not sure why this has to be done,” said Sylvia in a tone that was half statement, half question.

The Ecolitan inhaled deeply. The air in the corridor was still, with a metallic trace scent to it, the first hint of oil and machine he had smelled since he arrived in the indoor world of New Augusta.

“Metallic smell,” he commented.

“The filters and recyclers are about ninety-nine and nine-tenths percent effective. The circulation here in the deeper parts of the tower isn’t quite as effective as elsewhere.”

“That’s why we need to stroll through as much of the Defense Tower as possible. The relatively accessible corridors will do.”

Sylvia straightened her own military tunic and frowned.

“You still haven’t elaborated. But not now.”

Nathaniel sighed. “Have I asked you all your secrets?”

She laughed, a short gentle sound, “Touché.”

The first security gate was staffed by a single guard, enclosed in a permaglass booth.

Nathaniel ran his eyes over the enclosure—guarded against energy weapons and projectiles, but not airtight.

“Let’s see your passes.” The woman’s bored tone echoed in the emptiness of the deep corridor. Despite the standard lighting, the lack of ornamentation and the metallic edge to the air gave the area a tomblike feeling.

Sylvia placed two square cards facedown on the scanner.

“And your I.D.s and thumbprints,” added the Defense sentry.

The three waited momentarily in the silence.

Nathaniel caught the green flash reflecting in the permaglass behind the sentry and almost shook his head. Bad design. A really alert intruder could take advantage of the warning.

“You’re cleared.”

The gate swung wide enough to let them pass through one at a time, then clunked shut. The sound reminded Nathaniel of a coffin lid falling shut.

He wondered whose coffin—Accord’s or the Empire’s?

“This way.” The corridor branched, and Sylvia touched his hand, led him to the left.

Signs of greater activity began to appear as well as portals in the sides of the corridor and a military figure or two heading in one direction or another, some in uniforms similar to those he and Sylvia wore and some in the plain jumpsuits he had earlier suspected of being of military origin.

He nodded to himself.

Wheels within wheels…but all he had to do was to walk through the tower.

True—he could have planted the dispersers on Sylvia and asked her to do it, but that option bothered him. If Accord had dirty work, then he should be the one doing it. He knew his decision was irrational, and he hoped the Coordinate and the Institute didn’t end up paying for it.

To be discovered as the Envoy from Accord within the top-secret sections of the Ministry of Defense might be more than embarrassing. It might prove fatal.

He almost laughed, and had he done so, the sound would have been grim. Were he to be discovered, he wouldn’t ever be found. The last thing the Empire could afford would be an admission that Accord could breach Imperial security at will.

After three more turns, the corridor, now more of a thoroughfare, widened further into a lift/drop shaft concourse.

“We’re ordered to the fifth level,” Sylvia said in a tight and controlled voice.

He nodded and followed, presuming, although she had said nothing on the subject, that every word within the Defense perimeters was monitored or at least computer scanned.

He straightened automatically, keying in a military posture, and let himself follow Sylvia. They had a lot of corridor left to cover.

H
IS FEET HURT.
He had walked further, hiked through the high plains of Trezenia, through the Parundan Rain Forests of Accord, and done it all with a standard field pack. He had forgotten how many extended marches he had led his trainees through, whether in rain, snow, or blistering sun. But now his feet hurt. And the muscles in his right arm still ached.

Nathaniel looked down at the omnipresent permaplast floor tiles. While they gave slightly under foot, they were hard, and he and Sylvia had walked more than ten kilos through the Defense Towers and the caverns beneath.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the portal to the Legation, and the pair of Imperial sentries.

“Here’s where I leave you, dear Envoy. I hope things turn out the way you hoped.”

“So do I.” So do I, he added mentally.

Sylvia was gone even as he watched her melt into the passersby. He shook his head and trudged toward the portal, flinging back the film cloak to reveal his diplomatic blacks.

“Lord Whaler…we’ve been—”

“The same,” he responded to the Marine with a smile, and he marched into the Legation.

“Lord Whaler, we’ve been a bit worried…what with the power failure and the disappearance of the man who attacked you. Then you dismissed your guards and went off by yourself.” Heather Tew-Hawkes had moved around the reception console to greet him.

“How’s Hillary?”

“They got her to the health center in time. It was close, but she should be back in a few days. She rambled a lot and kept insisting that there were two of you, and how she wasn’t sure which one you really were.” Heather smiled a tight smile, one obviously put on, and waited a moment before going on, as if to see whether Nathaniel would respond.

He didn’t, just stood there, meeting her gaze levelly.

“She seemed more worried about you, but she’s going to be fine.”

“I’m glad of that.” And he was. At the same time, the guilt and sadness rose within him.

Shortly, thousands of relatively innocent individuals would sicken, and some of them would die. Had there been a better way? Had he missed it?

He shook his head, forgetting where he was. How long, how long…?

“Lord Whaler, are you all right?”

Heather’s voice lost its tightness. Her tone of concern brought him back to the small Legation reception room with its mismatched lorkin wood furniture.

“Yes, Heather,” he said slowly. “I’m all right. Tired, but all right.” As right as can be, now.

He straightened.

“By the way, Heather, would you get someone to clean up my office. If I had an intact office, I might actually stay in it. Especially now, I might stay there.”

A puzzled look flitted across the redhead’s face, but she answered without questioning. “Mydra has already made the necessary arrangements. Maintenance has just about finished the repairs. They should be complete tonight, and your office will be ready in the morning.”

The Ecolitan shifted his weight from one sore foot to the other. Perhaps it had been the weight of the special heels on his boots. They might have changed the pattern of his stride just enough.

Shaking his head again, he turned toward the portal that led to his office and to his quarters.

“Lord Whaler?”

He turned back to the tentative sound of Heather’s voice.

“Would you like me to order something for you to eat?”

“No, thank you, Heather. I appreciate it, but I’m not hungry right now. Perhaps later, perhaps later.”

He gave her a short smile that felt false, then went through the portal and down the hallway toward the staff office.

Mydra was standing by her console.

“The maintenance staff is finishing up the repairs to your office.”

“That’s fine. I won’t be using it tonight anyway. Where are the guards?”

“They’re stationed outside the Legation and outside your private doorway.”

He nodded an acknowledgment.

“Lord Whaler, you look tired.”

“I am tired. Tired beyond…” He broke off. Who would really understand?

Instead, he took a deep breath, inhaling the odor of wall solvent, and gathered himself together.

“You’re right. I am tired, and I need a good night’s rest. I will see you in the morning, Mydra.” He paused, then finished in a softer tone. “And thank you for getting this mess cleaned up.”

He had turned even as she said, “That’s only my job.”

The crew of three women and two men did not look up as he passed through his office. Thin blue plastic sheeting covered the carpet, the console, and the furniture. His boots left a line of tracks through the whitish powder that lifted at each step.

His quarters were empty—and clean. Even the private entryway tiles had been repolished to a beige glaze, with all the scuffs and bootmarks removed.

He took out the two probes from his belt and began to work on the portal controls. After several minutes, he stopped. The newly replaced control units were more complicated than the originals. His right hand was trembling too much to finish the alignment he needed.

Putting down the probes, he sat cross-legged on the tile next to the wall portal, concentrating on holding back the waves of fatigue, while trying to let his arm and finger muscles relax.

At last, he got back on his knees and completed the changes.

With a sigh, he closed the access panel, leaned to his feet, and trudged back through the quarters to the exit portal between the private study and the office.

Again, he changed the fields to lock totally the portal. This time he had to stop twice to rest.

Finally, with another deep breath and a sigh, he headed to the sleeping quarters, forcing himself to take off his clothing piece by piece before collapsing onto the bed.

Just before the darkness washed over him, he wondered if he had smelled orange blossoms.