It sounds nutty. It would sound nuttier if I didn't know the Turks used slave soldiers and administrators to run their empire. They called them Janissaries, and their empire stayed together for centuries.
"What about that Agzaral guy?" Elliot asked. "Is he on our side?" -
"Don't know. Les won't say much about him. One thing's sure, he's playing a deep game," Rich said. "He knows about Tran, but his bosses don't. Yet he's a cop. Or something like a cop, anyway." Rick shrugged. "I don't even know how much Les knows. Maybe he'll tell us more."
"Yeah, if he lives long enough," Elliot said. "Christ, Cap'n, why'd it have to be Caradoc he's gonna put horns on? Nobody else is near that popular with the army. Even the mercs like him."
Tylara frowned. "Is it so certain that Lord Caradoc will be dishonored? Why do you think so ill of the
Lady Gwen? Surely she knows what must be."
How do I answer that? Rick wondered. No way to tell her how I know. "Girls on Earth do not think as the women on Tran do. Les was her first love, and he will be insistent. Yet, you may be right. It may be that Lady Gwen will refuse his advances, at least until the case can be heard by a court."
"Fat bloody chance," Elliot muttered.
"You have knowledge?" Tylara asked.
"Some," Elliot said. "Look, I don't want to tell tales, but before she married Caradoc-"
"Yeah?" Rick demanded.
"Well, one night I heard shots from her room," Elliot said. "I came in to find Gwen breathing hard, Larry Warner with his hideout pistol, and Caradoc waving a bloody big knife. They straightened it all out, but-"
"But she is not a chaste woman," Tylara said.
"It's not that simple," Rick protested. "Different cultures, different-"
"I am more concerned with consequences," Tylara said coldly. "If the Lady Gwen cannot use proper judgment, then we must save her from her folly. And save the University, which is such a great part of what our children will inherit." -
Damn all Tran dynasts, Rick thought. But she's right.
"My love, we both know Caradoc. He has alwa-ys been quick to defend the right. Not his right alone. Ours as well. But my lord husband, my love, even now the Tamaerthan troops are returning. Caradoc will soon be here, and if he is wronged, if his wife has dishonored him, he must act! He will challenge Les."
"He'd probably lose," Elliot said. "I don't know what Les carries, but it's sure to be as effective as our pistols. Remember Art Mason's story? The walls of the ship shot him when he threatened one of the Shalnuksis."
"And Les and the other humans are warriors," Rick finished. "Janissaries for the Galactic Confederacy." He laughed. "I don't want to believe that."
"Evidence is pretty convincing," Elliot said.
"Didn't say I don't believe it," Rick said.
Elliot laughed.
Tylara waited until there was silence. "It matters little whether Lord Caradoc wins or loses. He will insist upon his rights in this matter. He will insist that we come to his aid, or avenge him if he is killed."
"Army'll be on his side," Elliot said. "Hell, Cap'n, suppose Les kills Caradoc. You know damn well what you'd have to do."
"Yes." Kill Les. Or be a lord who's broken faith with his followers. My name will stink from the Westscarp to Rome. Caradoc's relatives will want my blood-Padraic! My own bodyguard.
"Do you see difficulties I do not?" Tylara asked. "We are two. We both have pistols. Les is only one. I saw no weapon upon him, but suppose he has? He can be killed. At this moment he is guest under our roof, but that need not be forever. We swore no permanent oath to him."
"You don't know what you're saying! You can't know what his ship will do," Rick said.
"There is no one in it," Tylara said. "I asked him. It could be a lie, but I do not think it was."
"Nor do I," Rick said.
"Then he controls the ship with that box. When we have killed him, we will take the box and use it," Tylara said.
"Won't work," Rick said. "There are-codes. One is obvious-he will not use English to speak with the ship. And smashing the box won't work, since we don't know what orders he gave the ship before he sent it up. He had plenty of time, after all."
"But what can a ship do?" Tylara demanded. "A ship with no master?"
"A lot," Rick said. "First, it will report to the next ship that comes. God knows what it'll tell them, but it can watch everything we do. It'll sit up there in the sky and watch us, and take pictures, and when the Shalnuksis come it'll tell them everything."
"And then comes skyfire," Tylara said thoughtfully.
"Unless we can work with Les to prevent it," Rick said. "One thing's sure. We won't learn anything from anybody else. Les is the only chance we have to talk the shalnuksis out of bombing this place back to the stone age. Why would he try, except for Gwen? Yet, with his help, what we have built, the knowledge we will leave our children, might withstand even skyfire. The Shalnuksis might be induced to bomb the wrong places. But that's only if Les helps."
"And yet, all know what a debt we owe to Caradoc," Tylara said. "His honor is ours. You speak of what we will give our children. Do you wish to give them an inheritance of dishonor?"
Yatar, Jehovah, Christ, somebody, tell me how to answer that. Please.
Tylara sighed. "You have no answer. Nor have I. It seems that now we are both called upon to do more than we can do. Lord Elliot, have you advice?"
"No, lady," Elliot said. "We need Caradoc, and we need Les. But it looks like one's going to kill the other, no matter what. Hell, it wouldn't settle anything if Gwen dropped dead! She's the only thing Les cares about-"
"There is his child," Tylara said thoughtfully. "If the Lady Gwen were dead, there could be no quarrel-"
"Seems to me a man would be more likely to work for his wife than for a kid he's never seen," Elliot said.
"And we need Gwen if we're going to have a University," Rick said.
"You are certain?"
"Yes, I'm certain, dammit! And do you think I owe Gwen any less than we owe Caradoc?"
"I see." Tylara sighed once more, then stood. "I will not swear to lay no hand on Les forever," she said. "But I will swear to let him take us safely to the University, and stand apart from his first meeting with the Lady Gwen." She gave a shaky smile. "I think if I did not swear this much, you would guard Les night and day with your Colt in your hand. Even against me."
No answer to that, either. "That's a good start." And-Gwen didn't get any messages from Les. Meaning what? Maybe her transceiver's busted, but maybe she isn't listening. Maybe she's in one of her moods- "He done me wrong and then run off and left me." When she's like that, she wants his cojones on a spear, and if she stays that way long enough for Caradoc to come back and make her realize that she's got to be sensible…
Maybe. It's a slim chance.
But everything else looks like no chance at all.
This time the ship tilted slightly as it landed on a patch of softer ground. The whining sound grew louder and increased in pitch, and Les frantically manipulated dials on the box he carried. The ship righted itself.
Les inspected it critically, then seemed satisfied. "Okay, wait there," he said. Then he seemed to catch himself. He turned to Tylara. "With your permission, my lady, I'll go open a hatch."
He disappeared around the stern.
Tylara glanced at Rick, then stared at the ship. They stood together in the field, with only the Fire-stealer to give light. Tylara's lips were set in a grim line.