Venus of Dreams (72 page)

All of these thoughts ran through his mind in an instant. Pavel cleared his throat. "You've all heard the words of the pilot named Teofila Marquez," he said. "She and her cohorts are now in control of the dome called al-Anwar. I've consulted with Administrators here and on the other Islands through my Link, and they've agreed to allow me to do what I think best now." Once, he had had to extract such power from the other Administrators; it had taken years to assert his dominance. Now, he thought bitterly, they were all too willing to let him take responsibility for anything that happened. If he failed, Abdullah Heikal would not be the only scapegoat.

"I've replied to Teofila Marquez," Pavel went on. "I told her we would consider her demands. There are fifteen Habber geologists, botanists, and engineers inside the dome, along with one pilot and five Islander scientists who are now prisoners. They, quite sensibly, did not try to resist. A worker named Liang Chen is a prisoner aboard the airship with Teofila Marquez. He has not been harmed. Liang Chen confirmed this himself."

"He's alive," Iris said; her eyes glistened with tears.

Pavel looked at the woman. The recent months had aged her a little. He thought of what she had told him during their last talk; maybe he should have listened to her.

"It was Liang Chen who warned us of the danger to the Platform," Amir said. "Had he not alerted us, the Platform instead of a dome would have been threatened, and consequently all of our lives. He would, I am told, not have been a prisoner now if he had not been trying to save a friend from throwing away his life in this scheme."

"All this talk!" Fawzia burst out. "It's time to act. My words are for the Habbers." She glared at the three Habbers who were present. "Fifteen of your people are threatened with death. Don't you have the power to force Earth into an agreement if that would save them?"

The Habber named Erena plucked at the collar of her plain gray shirt. Her pale eyes were staring at Fawzia as if the commander were a member of another species. "I'll answer your question," the Habber said, "as any one of my people would answer it. Yes, we have the power to force Earth into an agreement. We have more power than they suspect. But we will not use it."

Fawzia sneered. "You'll let fifteen of your people die? You won't defend them at all?"

"If we defend them, many people will die in any battle with Earth. We can demonstrate that Earth could not win against us, but I suspect that your people would not accept such a demonstration. We could protect ourselves, but Earth would throw its forces against us, even knowing it was futile, and insist on testing us. Many would die. We won't soil ourselves with the blood of others."

"You'll let fifteen Habbers die," Fawzia said, "without fighting for their lives?"

"It's true," the Habber woman responded. "We'll let fifteen die if hundreds, maybe thousands, can be saved. Our friends inside the dome would not want us to act otherwise, they would not buy their lives with the deaths of others. Earth, on the other hand, would send thousands to their deaths to preserve the interests of a few. I'm content to let others judge which is the more civilized course of action."

"I think you have no defenses," Fawzia said. "I think you don't want Earth to see how weak you really are."

Erena smiled. "We shared your heritage before we changed ourselves. We know only too well that our desire for peace alone would not have protected us."

"And if those Habbers die," Fawzia went on, "what will you do then?"

The Habber shrugged. "Those of us here will share your fate. We won't flee from those we've tried to help, or appeal to the Earth ships to let us pass unharmed. I don't imagine our people would then want to have much contact with Earth or whatever's left of this Project." She glanced at Pavel. "You may tell your Mukhtars that, if you think it will make any difference, but this is your dispute, not ours." She paused for a moment. "Those people inside the dome could speak to Earth directly, yet they want you to speak for them. Why haven't they asked to speak for themselves?"

Pavel's lip curled. There were times when the Habbers had impressed him with their brilliance, and other times when they seemed to have no more sense than a child. "That should be obvious," he said evenly. "They want us to be part of their deed. They want Earth to see that this won't be just an isolated incident, that, to win against Earth, we have to stand with them now. It strengthens their position."

Only a Habber could have asked such a question. The woman simply did not seem to grasp the situation. Habbers pretended there were no problems, or ran away from them. That was probably their total defense against Earth—that they could simply retreat into their Habitats and run away. They were like sheep who were protected from wolves only because the wolves needed their tools and also knew that the sheep, if necessary, could escape them.

Pavel had to find a way to buy time, and there was little time left. The plotters either had to be brought to believe that they had won without really winning anything, or they had to be made to back down when they saw that they might have to die to carry out their threat. At least some of them had to be bluffing, had to be unprepared to take that final, deadly step. He wished that he had time to study their profiles, to look for weak spots and possible avenues of persuasion. If he could resolve this matter somehow, and save both the dome and Earth's pride, then the Mukhtars would find it difficult to take steps against him.

"Here is our dilemma," Pavel said aloud. "The dome is threatened. The plotters intend to set their small nuclear charges around its perimeter. The radiation produced would be minor if an explosion occurs, but it could set off a severe quake in that region. The Habber seismologists have assured me that the other domes can withstand a powerful quake, and I am assuming they're right, but we've asked the few people in those domes to leave. We have to deal with Earth over this, yet I don't know how we can. The Mukhtars may risk losing the dome. We may not be able to save the rest of the Project or ourselves unless we distance ourselves from that act instead of passing on demands and negotiating for those below. But if we don't negotiate, we lose anyway."

Fawzia leaned forward. "Then contact Earth," she said. "Let those plotters think you're working for an agreement. Tell them that you're even willing to send some of your Administrators down there to the dome to negotiate with them as well." The Guardian struck her thigh with a fist. "You won't be sending Administrators, of course, but Guardians. Let me and some of my people get inside, and we'll find a way to disable them. It's time to act, Pavel. It's the only way."

Pavel sighed. Such a plan, dangerous as it was, might work. Fawzia, of course, would take the credit for it if it did. If she had actually had a hand in the plot, she would also have a chance to erase anything connecting her to it; he doubted many of the plotters would survive, and some of their captives might die as well.

"I'm afraid," he said, "that we have no other choice."

"No!" a woman cried out, Pavel glanced at Iris, who had spoken.

Iris knew what she might be able to do. Her hands grew colder as she considered her idea, turned it this way and that, almost hoping to find some flaw in it that would keep her from speaking it aloud. She thought of Chen. Do I love you enough to do this? How can I do less than what you would do for me, what you've already done?

"You mustn't send the commander," she said. "It's too dangerous. Perhaps I can speak to them." Her voice trembled a bit. "I know some of them, you see. Administrator Amir punched up the list for me. Wu Fei-lin was a friend. I've spoken to Eleanor Surrey. I've helped a couple of others there with problems in the past. They might listen to me."

"Why should they listen to you?" Fawzia asked. "There's only one message they want to hear, and you can't deliver it. They'll only close the channel."

"They'll listen to me if I go there, to the surface."

"Iris," Pavel said softly, "are you willing to take such a risk?"

"My bondmate is down there," she answered. "I must try to save him. I might be able to convince the others to let him go. There are Habbers there, and if they die, their people will turn from us. I have no love for Habbers, as you know, but my son is one of their people, so I have, however much I dislike it, a bond of sorts with them. And there are five young people among the plotters who are hardly more than children. They don't deserve to be in danger because of their parents' madness." That cursed Eleanor had dragged her own son into the plot; she might try to appeal to Eleanor's feelings for the boy, but wondered how many feelings such a woman would have. She grimaced; she herself had failed her own son. "Perhaps I can convince them to let some of the captives return, and once they do that, they might reconsider other things as well."

"They might become more implacable," Fawzia said. "Why should they listen to you?"

"I know them. I know that some will be having second thoughts now, and I can find a way to use that."

"They might only believe," Fawzia said, "that you're trying to save that bondmate of yours and would even lie for him. They won't listen to you. You have no power here, no standing."

"But they wouldn't believe that of me," Amir said. Iris looked at him, too surprised to speak. "I'm an Administrator. I can speak for all of us, I can tell them that we're negotiating with Earth already. I have some minor practice in this sort of discussion in, of course, less drastic circumstances. They're not likely to believe I'd go there if I thought there was danger. Let me be blunt—I've never had a reputation as a brave man. I would be willing to travel there with Iris."

"You think you can settle this with talk?" Fawzia shouted.

Iris forced herself to look directly at the Guardian. "Better my way than yours," she said as calmly as she could. "You'd put everyone inside the dome at risk. I wouldn't put them in any more danger than they're already in. We'd have a chance to settle this peacefully." She turned toward Pavel. "Please let me try."

"I won't stop you," Pavel said. "Ill speak to Earth. I'm hoping they'll agree to negotiate over an open channel just to keep the plotters calm when the Mukhtars realize we're trying to deal with this matter in another way as well. You'd better prepare to leave as soon as possible. We have less than forty-two hours left."

The pale yellow light that passed for an Island dawn shone down on the people who had gathered in front of the ziggurat. Those standing on the steps parted as Amir and Iris descended; Iris nodded absently at those who greeted her. It seemed that over half of the Island's residents were present, and several people had climbed up into the trees lining the path.

At the edge of the crowd, a man with a Linker's jewel stood next to a small cart. He stepped aside as Iris and Amir approached. "The pilot Hussein Said has volunteered to take you to the surface," the Linker said. "He'll be waiting for you in the bay. God go with you."

As Iris climbed into the cart, the murmuring of the assembled Islanders died. She looked back. Pavel had come out onto the steps to speak to the Islanders; as he lifted his white-robed arms, he seemed like a king about to address his subjects.

"Fellow Islanders!" Pavel called out in an amplified voice. She saw him touch the tiny microphone at his neck. Amir pressed a panel and the cart rolled forward; the crowd was soon hidden behind the trees. "Fellow Islanders," Pavel repeated; his voice was already distant.

She and Amir had taken tablets so that they would not have to sleep; there had been no time to put implants containing the drug into their arms. The cart passed a small garden, and Iris was struck by the vivid, colorful beauty of the flowers; the pill was already imparting a false euphoria. She supposed that the plotters had taken similar substances to fuel their determination, and that worried her. Eleanor and the others might have only a shaky grip on rationality; Iris, who had not slept at all during the past hours, would have to keep her wits.

"Why did you decide to come?" Iris asked Amir.

"I have little to lose. If we succeed, I might strengthen my own position. I might even end up dealing with Earth in Pavel's place. If we don't, I'll be no worse off." He reached for her hand and held it for a moment. "You may need me there," he said more gently.

God, help me, she prayed silently. Mary, guide us. Touch Eleanor's heart, give us success. Save Chen who loved me as Joseph loved You. She suddenly wondered if she should be making an act of contrition, preparing her soul for the worst. Not yet. She would carry her sins a while longer, she would assume that she would live and have time to repent. But not now, she told herself; repenting too soon was like giving up on this life. Mary would understand. The Holy Mother might not take kindly to seeing Iris cling to a faith that she had doubted and had not practiced for years only because she was thinking she might die. Mary, let this world be built, and let Chen live, and let me see my daughter born, and I'll ask nothing more.

The dome above had grown brighter; Iris lifted her face to the light.

Thirty-Three

Teofila had left the amplifier on; Chen recognized the voice of Pavel Gvishiani. Earth was having second thoughts, according to Pavel; Earth was willing to negotiate. Abdullah Heikal would be speaking to Pavel directly. In the meantime, as a sign of good faith, an airship with a pilot and two passengers was on its way to the surface; the passengers would not have risked the trip unless the crisis was being resolved.

Eleanor had seemed oddly amenable to receiving those visitors; Chen recalled how pleased she had sounded over the comm. But Iris was on that ship; now she would be in danger as well.

The pilot turned off the amplifier. The voices of Pavel, Mukhtar Abdullah, and others were now a low murmur as they spoke of agreements and argued over provisions. Teofila laughed harshly. "We were right," she said as she turned her chair toward Chen. "Even a threat to one precious dome and a few people is enough to make them back down. Just think what we might have wrung out of them if we'd taken the Platform."