Neither Freskel-Gar nor any of his staff were making any attempt to interrupt now. The realization of the inevitable seemed to permeate the room, as voices died and one by one the figures all around ceased tasks they now realized were futile.
The final report came from a station on the far side of the central map table. Infantry and armor were taking up positions around the Agracon and had sealed off all access. The commander of the Prince's Own defending units inside was requesting orders. A column was also heading toward Dorjon. Total silence fell. All eyes were fixed on Freskel-Gar. He looked from Hunt, to Showm, to Garuth watching from the screen, and over the expressionless faces surrounding him. As Hunt had said, it was over.
"Tell him to stand down," Freskel-Gar said.
Outside in the anteroom, where she had been told to remain in case she was needed again, Laisha was still recovering from the shock. A few minutes before, the colonel who had taken the light-skinned man inside had hurried back out, disappeared, and then come back through with somebody he had evidently been sent to fetch. Or would some "being" have been more correct? Laisha's mind was still in a turmoil. Obviously something extraordinary was going on. Her biggest regret was that Kles couldn't have been here to see it too. The being that had accompanied the colonel back, followed by two armed Lambian guards, was darker in hue than any Minervan, with an elongated head, dressed in a yellow tunic with strange fastenings and accessories, and standing over seven feet tall. But there shouldn't have been one any closer than millions of years in the past, or light-years away-if they still existed at all. Laisha had seen a real, live, Giant!
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Kles was working through the week's requisition lists but his mind was not really on the job, when the phone rang on Corporal Loyb's desk. The rest of the unit were drawing kit for a forced route march. Typically, Loyb had gotten himself excepted for office duty.
"Yes, sure, I'll tell him." Loyb replaced the phone and looked up. "Lieutenant Boros to report to the OC's office," he said. "At once."
"Oh… sure. I'm on my way." What had he started now? Kles nodded, stood up, buttoned his jacket, and pulled on his hat as he turned toward the door.
"Looks like they've got it in for you today," Loyb called after him.
Kles tried rehearsing explanations in his head as he headed toward the Admin block. He hadn't realized it was a security violation… No, that wouldn't wash. If he didn't know that, he qualified for being busted back to private. They'd done it to test the security measures, but he hadn't had a chance to report it… So why hadn't he reported it when he delivered the message from Wus Wosi at NEBA? He didn't have an answer. He'd just have to resign himself to taking whatever came of it, he told himself.
The orderly sergeant rose, beckoned, and opened the OC's door as soon as Kles entered. Kles went on through. The unit commander was already there. It looked serious. Kles removed his hat and saluted. "Lieutenant Boros reporting as ordered, Sir."
"At ease, Lieutenant," the OC said.
Surprised, Kles relaxed. Then he saw that the OC's expression was not critical; in fact, it seemed more a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. He shifted his eyes to find the unit commander staring at him wonderingly.
"Well," the OC said.
Kles waited. Then, "Sir…?"
"You don't know?"
"Know what, sir?"
"Haven't you heard the radio anytime in the last hour?"
"No, sir. I've been on duty in the stores."
"Oh, I see. The President's plane was diverted. There was a Lambian plot to overthrow King Perasmon, but it has been stopped. My first assessment would be that a course that would almost certainly have led to full-scale war has been averted."
"I… didn't know," was all Kles could think of to say.
The OC regarded him expectantly for a few seconds. "You might be wondering how that could be known so soon, and how we can say already that your warning was genuine," he said. Kles was too confused just at that instant to have said with certainty what day it was. "The confirmation came via an agency of an astonishing nature that has only just revealed itself-as far as I can make of it at the moment, anyway. I'm still not sure I believe it myself. But we have someone here who can apparently explain it better." The OC nodded to somebody on the desk display facing him, said, "He's here now," and pivoted the unit around for Kles to see the screen. It showed an office or some kind of working environment, with figures in the background. A couple of them were wearing what appeared to be Lambian uniforms. Kles looked back at the OC questioningly. And then a somebody moved into the viewing angle, leaned forward to adjust a control, and then her face broke out in a smile of delight as she recognized him. It was Laisha.
"Kles! I don't know where to begin. You know you saved the president and King Perasmon, don't you? It was part of something bigger that involved a revolution here. But there's even a lot more to it than that. I don't understand most of it myself yet. But I've got a couple of people here who were very concerned about it all, and you've saved some kind of complicated plan that they've been involved in too. They want to say thanks to you personally. Will you talk to them?"
"Well… sure…" Kles's mind was turning too many somersaults to take it all in. Laisha was biting her lip, as if to stop something exciting from bursting out.
"Here they are. There might be a problem with language because their computer that normally translates has got problems, but I'll do my best. Er, get ready. This might be a bit of a surprise…" Laisha looked away. "This is Kles."
Kles's jaw dropped, and his eyes bulged as the two Giants moved into view on the screen…
The room could have been intended for meetings or informal conferences. It had a couple of massively solid tables surrounded by upright chairs, along with an assortment of couches and more commodious seating around the sides. Two large bay windows with heavy, braided drapes looked out over what appeared to be the front area of the building. The walls were decorated in somber, subdued patterns giving way at intervals to alcoves containing vases and ornaments, and pictures of important-looking Minervans. A bit old and staid by contemporary Terran standards, Hunt supposed, and the carpet had seen better days; but it was a big improvement on the place they had been held in previously, down in the basement.
Following Freskel-Gar's surrender, forces loyal to Perasmon had taken over the Agracon and removed the prince and his would-be revolutionaries to oblivion or whatever retribution would be decided. Wylott and a handful of Jevlenese who, for whatever reason, had been left behind at another location outside the city were also being rounded up. Thankfully, none of that was Hunt's concern. He had been joined here not only by his own companions but also by the Cerian girl that he had met briefly, along with the remainder of the Cerian delegation that she belonged to, who had been similarly detained. Apparently, there were more Cerians in another building somewhere.