Venus Rising

by Speer, Flora

  “He’s half Demarian,” Narisa spoke up.

  “What did you say?” Almaric fixed an icy blue eye upon her.

  “His mother was Demarian,” Narisa replied.

  “Oh. A slave then.” Almaric dismissed Gaidar’s mother with a shrug. The gesture set something burning in Narisa’s mind and heart.

  “Gaidar has dealt honestly with Tarik and me,” she declared. “He is an honorable man. Both he and his mother were badly treated by the Cetans. He wants to help the Jurisdiction.”

  “I will remember your recommendation,” Almaric responded coolly. “Of course, once the Cetans take a Demarian woman, she is dead to us. No one could be expected to consider accepting such a woman back into our society after the Cetans have had her.”

  “You don’t have to worry,” Narisa told him, feeling her anger with this cold, controlled man beginning to boil, and wanting to make him feel something, if only outrage. “The woman really is dead. Gaidar’s father broke her neck right in front of their young son.”

  “And there you see,” Almaric said smoothly, apparently unruffled by this revelation, “just why we could not let this Gaidar roam loose through the Capital. Such violent people, the Cetans.”

  Narisa had her mouth open to say something more, but they had reached the transporter car, and Tarik took her arm, squeezing it rather hard.

  “Be quiet,” he whispered, putting his mouth near her ear. “Don’t argue with him.”

  Tarik’s face was as solemn as his father’s, but in his dark eyes Narisa saw both laughter and warm approval of her sudden outspokenness. Once they were seated in the cream and gray molded metal car, and the transporter was under way, Tarik began to speak.

  “Perhaps it’s just as well our guards - forgive me, sir - our escort, should hear me. The more people who know what is going to happen, the more likely the Assembly is to be moved to do something about it, I know how little they care for emergencies that disrupt their carefully arranged schedule of debate on unimportant matters.” Tarik raised one hand to stop his father’s protest against this impolite view of the august Assembly. He then began to recount in sketchy detail the destruction of the Reliance, the crash landing on an unknown planet, the sending of the rescue signal, which he told as though he and Narisa had done it together, and finally, the arrival of the Cetans and Gaidar’s story. He never mentioned the birds at all, merely saying the Cetans had been overcome. While he spoke, Narisa noticed that every member of their escort, ostensibly at formal attention, was actually listening intently to each word Tarik said.

  “Do you believe this Gaidar?” Almaric asked when Tarik had finished.

  “I do, and we have a Starthruster device to prove his story.”

  “Then we must order the Service to test it, to see if it works as you claim it does.”

  “You can’t do that. Gaidar and I disconnected it before we left the ship, and we have hidden an essential part. You see, we wanted to be certain the Assembly really would listen to us. Knowing how that body functions, I feared it would discount our story and order the Cetan ship destroyed, lest any new ideas cause alarming changes in Service procedures. If anyone tries to move the ship without the part we’ve taken, it will blow up and take the spaceport with it. That’s how powerful a machine Starthruster is.”

  “Is this true?” Almaric demanded of Narisa.

  “Yes, sir, it is.”

  “Where is the hidden part?”

  “I don’t know, sir. Commander Tarik and Gaidar would not tell me.” They had said she would be safer not knowing, and now she realized they had been right. She could not be made to tell what she did not know.

  “Well, Tarik,” Almaric said, “you will report all of this to the Assembly at once.”

  “You will stand with me?”

  “I have no choice. You are my son. If what you say is true, we will have to do something to stop the Cetans.”

  “It is true,” Tarik said calmly.

  The Assembly did not believe Tarik. The Members were so shocked that a Cetan had been admitted to their hallowed chambers that they could think of nothing else. They sat on cushioned chairs in row upon tiered row, looking down with haughty disapproval upon their unwelcome guests. On the red-floored open space in the center of the square meeting room, Tarik and Gaidar stood together, looking back at the Members with calm confidence.

  Narisa had been awed by her first view of the fabled Red Room, and of all the Members assembled there. Almaric had allowed her and Tarik only a brief pause to ascertain that Gaidar was unharmed and had been treated well. Then he had led the three of them into the Red Room through a small door at the lowest level, so that as they crossed the empty square, they had to look up to meet the eyes and frowning faces of the very annoyed Members. Narisa recognized Tyre, the famous Leader of the Assembly, sitting bolt upright in his ornate chair at the first level. The Leader was a big man, much overweight, with a flushed face and the deepest frown of all.

  Narisa had quickly been given a seat in a corner at the end of one of the bottom rows, in case her testimony should be required. She had scarcely reached it before Tarik was ordered to speak.

  It was difficult for her to sit still in her place upon soft red cushions through the hours of tedious argument that followed Tarik’s speech, without coming to his defense. She was growing more and more upset by the attitude of the Members. Tarik’s assertions about the Assembly, which she had once rejected as treasonous, now returned to haunt her. She felt as though her eyes had at last been opened to a great and frightening truth.

  She had always trusted the Assembly, without thinking very much about it. These were the representatives of the civilized Races, who had been specifically chosen to guide and protect the citizens of the Jurisdiction, and they were supposed to have the safety and well-being of those citizens as a first concern. Yet for the most part, the Members who had spoken thus far appeared to be lazily secure in their exalted lifetime positions, interested only in their scheduled esoteric debates on obscure legal niceties. They were remarkably uninterested in revelations that could mean life or death for them and the people they were empowered to protect. She began to understand why Tarik had been so scornful of Jurisdiction laws and Service regulations. The Service, after all, was completely controlled by this Assembly. The stupidity of the debate over Tarik’s and Gaidar’s claims of an approaching Cetan war fleet brought Narisa to a state of acute frustration. She began to wonder how much longer she could observe regulations and remain silent.

  “Do you expect us to believe,” asked a portly Member, whose black jacket shone tightly across his ample belly, “actually believe, that you ventured into the Empty Sector and survived to leave it?”

  “I have told you the truth,” Tarik replied patiently, too polite to remind the Member that he had previously answered the same question several times.

  “There can be no such planet as you describe,” the Member proclaimed.

  “How do you explain our story then?” Tarik asked. “Or the fact that we returned in a Cetan ship?”

  “You were obviously captured by the Cetans,” another Member called out. “They have used mind-changing devices against you. It was all in your imaginations. You are wasting this Assembly’s valuable time.”

  “No! Listen to him!” Narisa was on her feet, pulling away from the hands that tried to hold her back, striding to the center of the floor to stand with Tarik and Gaidar and proclaim the veracity of their story. “It wasn’t imagination. I didn’t believe it, either, not at first, even though it was happening to me, too. But Commander Tarik is telling the truth. You must listen to him. Your lives depend on it. Why won’t you believe him?”

  “Lieutenant, you are out of order!” Leader Tyre pounded on the rail in front of his chair, hitting it again and again with his fists, while the jeers and laughter of many Members rang in Narisa’s ears. “Everyone knows the Cetans are pirates and that they quarrel among themselves constantly. They would never have the self-contro
l required to work together in the way you describe. Therefore, your story cannot be true.”

  “They have agreed to stop fighting each other,” Narisa cried, “because they have a new and deadly weapon. They are willing to forget their rivalries for just a while. It will be long enough for them to destroy us. Please, listen to us. The survival of the entire Jurisdiction is at stake.”

  “I insist that you be silent, lieutenant, or you will be removed.” The look the Leader of the Assembly cast upon her recalled Narisa to Service discipline.

  Silence fell in the great square chamber. Leader Tyre put on his silver cap, which meant he was about to make an official pronouncement. Narisa stood between Tarik and Gaidar and watched the ranks of the Members. There were few friendly faces gazing down at them. Almaric was frowning deeply.

  “I command,” Leader Tyre intoned, “that Commander Tarik Gibal, Lieutenant Navigator Narisa raDon and the Cetan known as Gaidar all be kept in confinement until appropriate sentence is passed upon them.”

  “What sentence?” Narisa whispered to Tarik. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “I further command,” Tyre went on, “that the Empty Sector is to be sealed off completely to all traffic from the civilized Races. All who enter there do so on pain of death.”

  “Is he mad?” Narisa asked. “The Empty Sector has nothing to do with the present danger.”

  “Be quiet!” Tarik’s whisper sounded like a shout to her. “Don’t make him any more angry or we’ll never be released.”

  “In truth,” Gaidar’s low voice rumbled on her other side, “these folk are as mad, and every bit as stupid, as the Cetans.”

  “Leader Tyre.” Almaric had risen from his seat, and now bowed gracefully to the man in the silver cap. “May I make a request of the Assembly?”

  “Of course.” The Leader’s cold official tones had changed to a smooth, friendly voice that sounded false to Narisa’s ears. “What is it, my dear Almaric?”

  “As all here know, this confused young man is my son. I ask that he, and his subordinate, Lieutenant Narisa raDon, be released to me. My home here in the Capital is entirely secure. They will be safe there until the Assembly can decide what to do with them.”

  “Ah.” With a sigh of relief, Leader Tyre appeared to be considering Almaric’s request. Several Members near him tugged at his sleeve or nodded. “Because of your high rank and excellent reputation, the Assembly agrees to your suggestion. Commander Tarik, Lieutenant Narisa, you are remanded to Member Almaric’s custody.” With another sigh, Leader Tyre pulled off his silver cap and sank back in his chair as if he were exhausted.

  “Gaidar, too,” Narisa said to Tarik.

  “They won’t let me go,” Gaidar told her. “To them I am a Cetan pirate, nothing more.”

  “We gave you our word.” Narisa could not recall ever having been so angry or so frustrated.

  “Go quietly, Gaidar,” Tarik said. “Give them no cause to harm you. I will talk to my father and try to get him to use his influence to have you released to him.”

  “I understand.” Gaidar smiled at Narisa. “I knew this would happen, in spite of your word. I’m not a complete fool about groups like this. They are little better than the Cetans. Cetans usually kill each other when they disagree in assembly. These just sit here and debate, then do nothing. That is why the Cetans will conquer them.”

  Two Service guards appeared at Gaidar’s side.

  Until we meet once more, my friends,” he said, and went away with them.

  Chapter Nine

  Narisa was still seething when their closely guarded party reached Almaric’s house. Her mood was not improved by the undisguised laughter she saw in Tarik’s eyes each time they met hers. Considering the situation in which they found themselves, his humor was infuriating to her. When Almaric had formally ushered them into a large reception room, Narisa could be quiet no longer.

  “I just want to say,” she began, but stopped, surprised when Tarik laid two fingers firmly across her lips.

  “Not one word,” he said softly and intensely. “For your life’s sake, and mine, be silent, Narisa.”

  She saw something in his eyes besides laughter. A warning, a plea, she could not be certain which. She held her tongue and waited.

  “After so long an absence, you will of course want to greet your mother at once,” Almaric was saying smoothly. “Do you wish to present your subordinate officer to her?”

  “With your kind permission,” Tarik answered with equal smoothness.

  “Then I see no reason why your guards should not relax in this comfortable room with whatever refreshments my servants can provide for them. Is that agreeable to you, sir?” Almaric smiled benignly upon the youthful leader of the half-dozen guards who had accompanied them from the Assembly chambers. The young man, charmed at finding himself in the company of one of the Assembly’s most renowned Members, acknowledged the improbability of Tarik wanting to escape from his own father’s home, and made no objection to Almaric’s suggestion.

  Thus it was that Almaric, Tarik and Narisa went without servants or guards to the second floor of the house and walked in silence along a richly decorated corridor to a door that Almaric opened without knocking. They entered a square hall, which had a door in each wall. The one to their right opened, and a woman appeared. Without speaking, she opened the door directly in front of Almaric and went through it. The others followed, and the door closed behind them. The woman slid a second door over the first and sealed it shut, so tightly that Narisa could barely see the crack in the wall around its edges. Only then did the woman turn to Tank with a bright smile on her face. She opened her arms. Tarik went into them, hugging her tightly, while Almaric watched them with the first unguarded expression Narisa had seen on his face since they had met. After a while Tarik disengaged himself from the woman’s arms.

  ‘This is my mother, Kalina,” he told Narisa.

  Kalina was not a pretty woman. She was tall and rather stout, with strong, regular features. Her thick bronze hair might once have given her a claim to beauty, but it was now streaked with gray and tamed into a knot at the back of her head. It was her sparkling blue eyes and warm smile that made her attractive. A quick glance at Tarik and an even faster look at Almaric convinced Narisa that both men adored her.

  “You must be wondering,” Kalina said in a rich, musical voice, “why we meet in such a secret room.”

  “It is a most unusual room,” Narisa responded, looking around at the pale gray walls and ceiling, and the floor covered by Demarian carpets in patterns of red, blue, green, and gold. There was little furniture - three wide arm chairs and a simple bed, all covered in pale gray. The room was lit by clear glass oil lamps set on plain cube tables. There were no windows, and only the one sealed door.

  “It is a secure room,” Kalina explained. “Smooth and unornamented surfaces are easily checked for eavesdropping equipment. Most Assembly Members have such rooms for private conversations. I am certain high-ranking Service officers must have them, too, not to mention rich merchants. How else would they stay rich, save by keeping their trading secrets private? Please be seated, lieutenant.”

  Narisa sank into one of the wide chairs. Almaric and Kalina took the remaining chairs while Tarik prowled about the room.

  “I want to know,” Almaric said, craning his neck to see Tarik, “exactly how much of your story is true.”

  “All of it!” Narisa would keep silent no longer. “Every word, and more besides.”

  “Be careful, my sweet.” Tarik laughed from behind his father’s chair, and Narisa flushed at the endearment. “You are growing dangerously independent in thought and word.”

  “I am not,” Narisa insisted. “We aren’t lying, and I wish someone would believe us.”

  “I asked the question of my son,” Almaric stated flatly.

  “Narisa saved my life twice during our supposedly imaginary adventures,” Tarik told his parents. “She deserves a medal and a citation fro
m the Assembly, not disbelief and censure. She has earned the right to speak freely here, and to discuss this situation with us.”

  “As you wish.” Almaric nodded at Narisa with little obvious change in his reserved attitude. “I thank you for my son’s life.”

  “And so do I.” Kalina, warmer and more openly emotional than her husband, reached forward to take Narisa’s hands in hers. “Tarik is precious to me. You have my lifelong gratitude, Lieutenant Narisa. But what is this story my husband thought to be untrue? How did you save Tarik’s life?”

  “I had better tell you that.” Tarik spoke quickly before Narisa could open her mouth. She could not tell from his next words if he was angry with her or only teasing her. “Narisa would insist she was merely following regulations. She is an exemplary officer.”

  “I am glad to hear someone follows the rules,” Almaric observed dryly, “since you so seldom do.”

  Narisa had the distinct impression that Tarik was about to make some heated response to this, but Kalina gave both her husband and her son an unmistakable look, which effectively quelled any incipient quarrel.

  “If Narisa agrees, Tarik shall tell the story,” Kalina decreed.

  “I have no objection.” Narisa tried hard to control her amusement at the ease with which Kalina managed her two strong men. She remembered Tarik telling her once that he always made his father angry. That there was tension between the two Narisa could easily discern, but she thought there was affection, too, a proud, reserved love, which neither man could admit. She sat thinking about this while Tarik quickly recounted for his mother everything he had previously told Almaric and the Assembly.

  “I don’t suppose,” Almaric said when Tarik was finished, “that you would consider leaving the Capital at once? That would calm the Assembly. It could be arranged.”

  “I’m sure it could,” Tarik replied. “They would like that. They could forget we ever appeared before them, and get on with their endless foolish debates. I can’t go. The Cetan threat is real.”