“Pre-spaceflight. There’s a deal of antiquarianism in the inner Empire these days, revival of everything from fencing to allemands — uh, sport with swords and a class of dances. Wistfulness about eras more picturesque, less cruel and complicated. Not that they really were, I’m sure. It’s only that their troubles are safely buried.”
“And we’ve yet to bury ours.” She drained her cup and clashed it down on the bare plate. “If they don’t shovel us under first. Let’s talk, Dominic Flandry.”
“If you feel up to it.” He started a fresh cigaret. “I’d better. Time’s none too long ’fore you must decide what to do ’bout me.”
The dark-blonde head lifted. “I feel ’freshed. Liefer attack my griefs than slump.”
“Very well, my lady.” Wish I had a pretty regional accent.
“Why’d you rescue me?” she asked gently.
He studied the tip of his cigaret. “Wasn’t quite a rescue,” he said.
Once more the blood left her countenance. “From Aaron Snelund,” she whispered, “anything’s a rescue.”
“Bad?”
“I’d’ve killed myself, come the chance. Didn’t get it. So I tried to keep sane by plannin’ ways to kill him.” She strained her fingers against each other until she noticed she was doing so. “Hugh’s habit,” she mumbled, pulled her hands free and made them both into fists.
“You may win a little revenge.” Flandry sat straight. “Listen my lady. I’m a field agent in Intelligence. I was dispatched to investigate Sector Alpha Crucis. It occurred to me you could tell things that nobody else would. That’s why you’re here. Now I can’t officially take your unsupported word, and I won’t use methods like hypnoprobing to squeeze the facts out against your will. But if you lie to me, it’s worse than if you keep silence. Worse for us both, seeing that I want to help you.”
Steadiness had returned to her. She came of a hardy breed. “I’ll not lie,” she promised. “As to whether I’ll speak at all … depends. Is it truth what I heard, my man’s in revolt?”
“Yes. We’re trailing a fleet whose mission is to defeat the rebels, seize and occupy the planets that support them — which includes your home, my lady.”
“And you’re with the Imperialists?”
“I’m an officer of the Terran Empire, yes.”
“So’s Hugh. He … he never wanted … anything but the good of the race — every race everywhere. If you’d think the matter through, I ’spect you yourself ’ud—”
“Don’t count on that, my lady. But I’ll listen to whatever you care to tell me.”
She nodded. “I’ll speak what I know. Afterward, when I’m stronger, you can give me a light ’probe and be sure I’m not switchin’. I believe I can trust you’ll use the machine just for confirmation, not for pryin’ deeper.”
“You can.”
In spite of her sorrow, Flandry felt excitement sharpen each sense and riot in his blood. By Pluto’s single icy ball, I am on a live trail!
She chose words and uttered them, in a flat tone but with no further hesitation. As she spoke, her face congealed into a mask.
“Hugh never planned any treason. I’d’ve known. He got me cleared for top security so we could also talk together ’bout his work. Sometimes I’d give him an idea. We were both murderin’ mad over what Snelund’s goons were doin’. Civilized worlds like Aeneas didn’t suffer worse’n pratcheted taxes at first. Later, bit by bit, we saw fines, confiscations, political arrests — more and more — and when a secret police was officially installed — But that was mild compared to some of the backward planets. We had connections, we could eventu’ly raise a zoosny on Terra, even if Snelund was a pet of the Emperor’s. Those poor primitives, though—
“Hugh wrote back. To start with, he got reprimands for interferin’ with civilian affairs. But gradu’ly the seriousness of his charges must’ve percolated through the bureaucracy. He started gettin’ replies from the High Admiralty, askin’ for more exact information. That was by Naval courier. We couldn’t trust the mails any longer.
He and I spent this year collectin’ facts — depositions, photographs, audits, everything needed to make a case nobody could overlook. We were goin’ to Terra in person and deliver the microfile.
“Snelund got wind. We’d taken care, but we were amateurs at sneakery, and you can’t dream how poisonous horrible ’tis, havin’ secret police ’round, never knowin’ when you dare talk free … He wrote offici’ly askin’ Hugh to come discuss plans for defendin’ the outermost border systems. Well, they had been havin’ trouble, and Hugh’s not a man who could leave without doin’ something for them. I was more scared than him of a bounceplay, but I went along. We always stayed close together, those last days. I did tip the hand to Hugh’s chief aide, one of my family’s oldest friends, Captain Oliphant. He should stand alert in case of treachery.
We stayed at the palace. Normal for high-rankin’ visitors. Second night, as we were ’bout to turn in, a detachments of militia arrested us.
“I was taken to Snelund’s personal suite. Never mind what came next. After a while, though, I noticed he could be gotten to boast. No need for pretendin’ I’d changed my mind ’bout him. Contrary: he liked to see me hurtin’. But that was the way to play, then. Show hurt at the right times. I didn’t really think I’d ever pass on what he told me. He said I’d leave with my mind scrubbed out of my brain. But hope — How glad I am now for grabbin’ that one percent of hope!”
She stopped. Her eyes were reptile dry and did not appear to see Flandry.
“I never imagined he intended his gubernatorial antics for a full-time career,” the man said, most softly. “What’s his plan?”
“Return. Back to the throne. And become the puppeteer behind the Emperor.”
“Hm. Does His Majesty know this?”
“Snelund claimed the two’ve them plotted it before he left, and’ve kept in touch since.”
Flandry felt a sting. His cigaret had burned down to his fingers. He chucked it into the disposer and started a new one. “I hardly believe our lord Josip has three brain cells to click together,” he murmured. “He might have a pair, that occasionally impact soggily. But of course, brother Snelund will have made our lord feel like a monstrous clever fellow. That’s part of the manipulation.”
She noticed him then. “You said that?”
“If you report me, I could get broken for lèse majesté,” Flandry admitted. “Somehow I doubt you will.”
“Surely not! ’Cause you—” She checked herself.
He thought: I didn’t mean to lead her up any golden paths. But it seems I did, if she thinks maybe I’ll join her man’s pathetic revolt. Well, it’ll make her more cooperative, which serves the Cause, and happier for a few days, if that’s doing her any favor. He said:
“I can see part of the machinery. The Emperor wants dear Aaron back. Dear Aaron points out that this requires extracting large sums from Sector Alpha Crucis. With those, he can bribe, buy elections, propagandize, arrange events, maybe purchase certain assassinations … till he has a Policy Board majority on his side.
“Ergo, word gets passed from the throne to various powerful, handpicked men. The facts about Snelund’s governorship are to be suppressed as much as possible, the investigation of them delayed as long as possible and hampered by every available trick when finally it does roll. Yes. I’d begun to suspect it on my own hook.”
He frowned. “But a scandal of these dimensions can’t be concealed forever,” he said. “Enough people will resign themselves to having Snelund for a gray eminence that his scheme will work — unless they understand what he’s done out here. Then they might well take measures, if only because they fear what he could do to them.