The Cause of Death (30 page)

"Yes. Yes, of course," said the Thelm. "But only a little time--for that is all that we have left."

EIGHTEEN
LIFE

Hannah looked around the table, and at the individuals ringing the table. It was one of the most absurd and ghastly moments in her professional life. All the individuals looking at Jamie were suddenly illuminated with new hope, new enthusiasm.

But Special Agent James Mendez, BSI, didn't look hopeful.
He
looked scared to death--and Hannah sincerely hoped that it was Senior Special Agent Hannah Wolfson that he was most afraid of.

She stared at her partner--her very young partner--in shock, horror, and more than just a dash of rage. Her first impulse was to drag Jamie out of the room and beat some sense into him, but that would have to wait for later. She forced herself to focus on what was going on in front of her.

"I must return at once to Thelm's Keep," Lantrall was saying. "I slipped away very quietly, and I wish to return before too much notice is taken of my departure." He turned to Jamie. "When you have taken the time you need to think, Lawkeeper Mendez, we will all be most eager to hear your idea. For now, however, let us talk of your comfort." He fanned his ears at Jamie, then at Hannah, in what the briefing data said was a gesture of informal welcome. "'My roof shall be your nightshield,' " he said, in a tone of voice that made it plain it was some sort of quotation or formal statement.

"I--I beg your pardon?" Hannah said, still too distracted to focus properly.

"'My roof shall be your nightshield,' " the Thelm repeated, a faint hint of impatience in his voice.

"It is a formal statement of invitation," Georg said quietly. "You are asked--technically, commanded--to accept the Thelm's hospitality."

Hannah was quite certain from the way he spoke that it was very much a command and by no means a mere technicality. "Oh!" she said. "I see."

"Just so," said the Thelm drily. Probably he had expected Hannah and Jamie to accept with unbounded gratitude, rather than fail to comprehend at all. "You shall sleep tonight--and all nights, until you depart for home--at the Thelm's Keep. Your possessions have already been removed from Hotel Number Two, and by now should already be unpacked in your apartments in my home."

"We thank you most heartily for your hospitality," said Hannah. It would be a relief to be out from under the Thelek's microscope. But would the Thelm's people be any less enthusiastic about monitoring them? And being moved into the Thelm's Keep would be another point of pressure on the two of them, pushing them toward the Thelm's side in his struggle against the Thelek. Sleeping under his roof was something close to a statement of alliance--and of course the Thelm knew that.

That the move was involuntary almost made it worse; it meant they were not truly players in the great and deadly game the Thelm had spoken of--they were game pieces, to be moved around at will, used and discarded as best suited the player who controlled them. It was not all that hard to imagine all Reqwar involved in a civil war, and humanity pulled into it on one side or the other, because of where she and Jamie happened to be sleeping.

But what choice did they have? With their clothes and gear already moved out, they could not go back to Hotel Number Two, even if they had so desired, and they had to sleep somewhere. "It is a great honor that you bestow upon us," said Hannah.

To her relief, Jamie had just enough wit left to chime in. "We thank you for this boon, and for extending to us the comforts of your home."

The Thelm smiled, clearly pleased that the two thick-witted humans had finally managed to understand. "You are most graciously welcome," he said. "You shall travel there with me now, in my private aircar."

"Again, we thank you most gratefully for this further honor," Hannah said.

At that moment, the big doors at the end of the warehouse slid silently open. The Thelm's private vehicle came inside, as quiet as a whisper. Two security-agent types popped out of it and stood at the ready.

There was a brief flurry of farewells. Georg was going to a different destination, and would depart at a different time on a different route, for the sake of security and of keeping a low profile. The Stannlar were going to stay where they were. Everyone else was to travel with the Thelm back to the Thelm's Keep.

Marta and Georg stepped into the office warehouse for a private good-bye, and came out again after a minute, arm in arm, reluctant to be parted once again. The others did their best not to watch, and to offer the couple some sort of time by themselves.

"One thing--well, one of many things I don't understand," said Hannah to Zahida, taking her off to one side and speaking in a low voice. "Not to be rude or anything, but Georg is accused of what amounts to treason."

"Go further," Zahida said. "He has to all intents and purposes been found
guilty
of treason, based on his own sworn statements that he refuses to do what is required. The finding will become permanent if, ah, no change in the situation has taken place before the statutory time period expires in about four days."

"All right, then," Hannah said, making up her mind to be blunt about things, "why is Georg Hertzmann wandering around free? Why hasn't he been locked up?"

Zahida looked at Hannah sharply, then laughed. "Forgive me. To a Reqwar Pavlat like me, the answer is so obvious that the question would never enter my mind. He is free so he will be able to go ahead and--so he can do what is required if he so chooses," she said, correcting herself in midsentence. It was clear that even Zahida thought it best to be careful about what she said. "He has until the time period is expired to 'fulfill his obligation as the eldest son,' as I believe the law reads. Obviously, he has to be at liberty in order to carry out that obligation."

"Obviously," Hannah said, feeling a trifle dizzy. "But he wants to make it as clear as possible he is
not
going to commit the--ah, act." If Zahida was being careful in talking about the Thelm's death, Hannah decided she would do likewise. Was there some law against it, or just a strong tradition? "So he moves out of the Keep and into a glass-walled building and invites the world to keep an eye on him."

"Exactly," said Zahida. "You're starting to understand how we think around here."

"Oh, good," said Hannah.

"
Is
it good?" asked Zahida. "I was about to add, 'if you call that thinking.' But come on. The loving couple has finished their good-byes. Let's get everyone but Georg into the Thelm's car before they start up again."

* * *

The Thelm's aircar took off--and the Thelm started in on Jamie almost before they had leveled off. "I must say again, Lawkeeper Wolfson, Lawkeeper Mendez, how pleased I am--we all are--that the two of you did indeed come to us."

"We are delighted to be here," Hannah lied politely.

"Good, good." Thelm Lantrall hesitated, then went on, addressing Jamie rather than Hannah. "Forgive me, Lawkeeper Mendez, if I do not indulge in many pleasantries, but things are not very pleasant for any of us just now. The point is, while I very much appreciate the fact that you need time to think things through--and have had next to no time to do it--I wonder if perhaps it might be helpful if you told us
something
of your thoughts on a solution, however imperfect, to our problem. Perhaps one or more of us could help guide your thinking in some way."

I'll just bet you want to be helpful
, Hannah thought.
And it doesn't have the least thing to do with pressuring him to speak now, would it
? She could hardly blame the Thelm for asking, but she wanted desperately to keep Jamie quiet until she got him alone--but they were there in the Thelm's own private car, traveling to his home, to live under his roof--and, as she had reminded Jamie herself that very afternoon, a BSI agent was supposed to be part-diplomat. What was she supposed to do? Order the Thelm of all Reqwar to be silent? The Thelm probably had it figured that Hannah would want a chance to corner Jamie, and was deliberately leaning on him before she had the chance.

Jamie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Before I do that, Great Thelm," said Jamie. "It would be helpful if I asked you a question or two about the legal situation, if that is permitted. We are strangers here, and cannot know all. I might quickly learn whether my idea is of any use."

"Of course, of course," said the Thelm, most earnestly. "Please, go on."

"First off, you are an absolute monarch, or very near to one, and yet it is quite apparent that you cannot protect Georg in the present case. Could you explain that?" Jamie asked.

"A good point. For the very reason that it would invariably put fathers in judgment over their sons, cases concerning mandated parricide are automatically removed from the jurisdiction of any land-thelm or thelek or High Thelek or whatever who would otherwise have the right to lessen or cancel a lawful sentence. I am specifically excluded from granting mercy in such a case as this.

"The Court of High Crime has sole jurisdiction over Georg's case, and I cannot interfere. If I
tried
to interfere, that would be construed as treason after the fact.
After
the fact because the sovereign cannot commit treason against himself. Therefore, in the moment I committed an act deemed treasonous, I would cease to be the sovereign. I would be executed in the same moment as Georg to prevent the survivor of the two of us from claiming that the death of the other removed the legal basis for the charge against the survivor. In other words, if he was killed first, I might claim that my attempt to save him was moot, and therefore my treason was moot, and therefore I was again sovereign. If I was killed before Georg, he might point out that leaving me alive was his crime, now rendered moot, and--well, you see the point."

"I do indeed," said Jamie. "I apologize for bringing up such unpleasant topics."

Everyone else in the car was clearly uncomfortable with the repeated mention of the Thelm's death, but the Thelm was not. Zahida's behavior in their chat at the warehouse made it clear that it was at the very least bad manners to discuss the death of the reigning Thelm. But for all of that, it was the
duty
of the Thelm himself to make arrangements for his own death. It made for tricky conversation.

"Let us talk of perhaps less unpleasant hypotheticals," said Jamie. "I understand that Georg attempted to escape, hoping to avoid the mandated duty that way. It seems that it would have been very convenient for all concerned if he
had
escaped. Why was that prevented?"

The Thelm chuckled. "I ought to flap my ears in indignation and waggle my finger at you for asking why I didn't break my own laws. But you have already seen enough of subordinates being helpfully incompetent and dutifully misunderstanding their orders. However, if Georg
had
escaped, had managed to vanish, leaving me with no immediate heir, and the High Thelek next in line for the Thelmship--then right now we'd have a full-blown civil war on our hands.

"Things have calmed down for the moment--but things might well get very dangerous again, very quickly, if Georg were to, ah, meet his punishment in four days. There are many of my people who would not stand for the High Thelek being next in line to take over. They might well see violence as the only way out. And the High Thelek might judge, and judge rightly, that his only chance to triumph, or even to survive, would be a bit of preemptive violence on his part.

"Beyond all that, Georg misjudged the political situation quite badly when he chose which way to run. At the time my guards caught him, he was headed straight for the border of lands belonging to a certain local landowner who had shown great loyalty to the High Thelek--and great skill in misunderstanding orders correctly. Georg would not have survived a day in his custody."

"Would the same problems apply to Georg's openly going into exile?" Hannah asked, hoping to divert the conversation away from whatever Jamie's bright idea was. The Thelm was clearly in a mood to talk. Maybe she could string him along until the car landed. Maybe then she could find some way to grab Jamie and talk to him alone for five minutes--for half a minute--before any more damage could be done. "I have heard and seen references to a law that seems to say that nobles who depart the planet without leave from the Thelm are stripped of their titles. Wouldn't that apply to Georg?"

"No, and for two reasons," said the Thelm. "First, the same law that takes him out of my jurisdiction of mercy removes him from my jurisdiction of permission, and for similar reasons. If a noble leaves the planet without my permission, I am not
required
to strip him of his titles, lands, properties, and wealth--but I can if I so choose. I have the discretion, and use it, on a case-by-case basis. The knowledge that I could slows the departure of our wealthier citizens, believe me.

"But this must not be applied to the heir. Say that Georg was opposed to one of my policies, argued against it, and planned to reverse the policy when he came to power. Say that I grew weary of his complaints, and, perhaps wanted to protect my policy. All I would have to do would be to force him off the planet by whatever means I wished, fair or foul, or perhaps just wait until he went on a holiday somewhere, declare that he had departed without leave, then debar him from the succession. The law prevents such abuses.