Venus Rising

by Speer, Flora

  “No.” Suria laughed bitterly, and her next words sent a chill through Narisa. “I have been refused permission to have a child.”

  “But I thought with your important family, there was no question of refusal.” Narisa looked more closely at Suria. With a new understanding born of her own intense desire for Tarik’s child, she saw the sadness on that beautiful face, the tiny lines around eyes and mouth, and the shadows beneath the green eyes. How would she, Narisa, feel if told she would never be allowed to have a child? A sense of comradeship began to erase her initially hostile feelings toward the woman facing her. “Suria, I am sorry. You were willing to postpone your career in the service, so you must have wanted very badly to reproduce.”

  “And now I have neither child nor Service career,” Suria responded. “I was too insistent. I even taught myself midwifery and child care. I wanted to raise it myself. That was one of the reasons I was refused. I was told my eagerness was a sign of emotional instability.”

  “But there are many planets within the Jurisdiction where people raise their own children,” Narisa objected. “Belta, for example, or Demaria, and on those planets some people are even permitted to have more than one child. I don’t understand why you should be refused for such a wish.”

  “As you know, Narisa, all planets living under the Jurisdiction are permitted their own laws only at the discretion of the Assembly. The various planets tolerate this arrangement because the Assembly has succeeded in keeping peace within the Jurisdiction for many centuries. We are all taught in childhood just how terrible were the wars that preceded the Great Agreement, which led to the formation of the Jurisdiction and establishment of the Assembly to rule it. I don’t have to remind you how all the Races were nearly destroyed by those long-ago wars, and how grateful we all should be for the peace we have now.

  “But,” Suria went on, “The various agencies of the Assembly can be capricious in their judgments for individuals, and they are not required to explain their decisions. I pressed the Reproductive Agency for an explanation of their denial of my application. As a result of my determined persistence, I am no longer permitted to leave the Capital. I have been told I am free here, but it has become a prison for me. I can’t even return to my home planet. My own family refused to take me in. I disgraced them by failing to get permission to reproduce, and they want nothing more to do with me.”

  “You have been a loyal officer of the Service,” Narisa cried. “To treat you this way is outrageous.”

  “No more outrageous than the Assembly refusing to believe Tarik and placing him under arrest,” Suria replied. “I believe his story, Narisa. I know him well enough to know he is completely honest, well enough to be aware of his doubts about the Assembly and the Service, his fears that both have become so powerful and irresponsible they make a mockery of the original Jurisdiction Agreement. There were times when I thought Tarik was an overly romantic fool. Now I realize he was right.”

  “I thought he was foolish, too,” Narisa murmured.

  “You love him.” It was a simple statement. It required no answer, but Narisa bowed her head in acknowledgment of Suria’s perception. Unexpectedly, she felt Kalina’s hand on hers.

  “I came here to give vitally important information to Tarik, not to seduce him. I have no desire to become Tarik’s lover again,” Suria said bluntly. “It was a convenience between us, and a certain fondness, but no more. We were always honest with each other. We treated each other well. We remain friends. I will be your friend, too, if you will allow it. Tarik found me trustworthy, and Kalina will vouch for me.” She faced Narisa, half challenging, half fearful.

  Narisa could find no spark of anger or jealousy in her heart toward the unhappy woman. Suria deserved better from the Jurisdiction she had served so well. More importantly, it was obvious Kalina believed her. If Kalina trusted Suria, then Narisa would trust her, too, though friendship was another matter. Still, Narisa would give what she could.

  “I see no reason why we should be enemies,” she said, and felt a reassuring pressure from Kalina’s hand, which was still holding her own.

  “Suria, tell Narisa what you have learned,” Kalina urged. “Tell her what you would have told Tarik had he been here.”

  “To earn my daily food supply, I have taken a menial position in the household of the Leader of the Assembly,” Suria told Narisa.

  “But you are an expert navigator. How can you let all that training go to waste?”

  “I have no choice. I had to resign from the Service before applying for permission to have a child, and now they won’t let me rejoin. If I could leave the Capital, I might find a place with a private merchant’s fleet, but no one wants a navigator who is forbidden to go into deep space. If Leader Tyre hadn’t taken me in, I might well have starved. There are those who would say I should have done that instead of accepting his proposal.” Something in Suria’s voice told Narisa exactly what those last words meant.

  “He uses you?” Narisa whispered in horror, and heard Kalina’s soft cry of distress. When Suria nodded, Narisa continued, “Against your will? The Leader of the Assembly, that unpleasant man, forces you to lie down with him?”

  “He lies down. I’m not allowed to,” Suria responded wryly. “It’s not very often. He would rather eat and drink.”

  “My poor child!” Kalina cried. “I did not know about this. We are old friends - why did you not come to me?”

  “I was too ashamed.” Suria sat up straighter, lifting her chin. “I’m not ashamed any longer. I think it is a good thing I remained in that dreadful man’s household and have admittance to his most private room. Kalina, that is how I heard of the plot to kill you.”

  “Leader Tyre wants to kill Kalina?” Narisa was in a state of confusion. She wasn’t certain she had understood this last charge.

  “Not just Kalina,” Suria responded. “He wants all of you dead - Almaric, Tarik, you, and the Cetan who came to the Capital with you.”

  “Gaidar.” Narisa was still trying to take in all Suria was telling her.

  “Gaidar, that’s the one. You see, Narisa, Leader Tyre fears the prestige Almaric has attained by being honest and devoted to the welfare of the Jurisdiction rather than to his own personal advancement. He believes Almaric is plotting to overthrow him. That is what Tyre would do in Almaric’s position, so he wants to strike first and eliminate Almaric. Tarik’s appearance before the Assembly has provided Tyre with the perfect opportunity.”

  “The Assembly has to be told what their Leader is planning,” Narisa said. “The Members aren’t all corrupt. Surely they would never allow such violence.”

  “Why not? They have allowed violence before when it suited their purposes. The Jugarian Civil War, for example. The Assembly could have prevented that, but they let it happen. The Jugarians are an unpleasant Race, so the majority in the Assembly voted to allow them to kill each other until there were few left. The Assembly will now have Jugaria resettled with colonists of Leader Tyre’s own choice. I know Almaric voted against that decision. It’s one of the reasons Tyre hates him so much.

  “Then there was the Cetan destruction of Belta ten years ago. The Assembly knew Cetan ships were headed there, and yet the Beltans were given no warning.” Suria paused only a moment at Narisa’s strangled gasp at disclosure of this information. “The Beltan people were too free, or so Tyre thought, and they needed scourging. The Assembly let the Cetans do the job. It is a very different planet now from the one you once knew, Narisa. It is not so open a society. It’s much more like the Capital.

  “No,” Suria went on, “to be fair, you are right. Not all Members of the Assembly are corrupt. There are decent ones, like Almaric and a few others, but too often they are shouted down or their decisions are subverted by Leader Tyre and his cronies. It’s a wonder to me that the good ones haven’t all left the Capital long ago.”

  “My family died for the convenience of the Assembly? They could have warned Belta or sent help and did not? I was he
re at the Capital when it happened. How could I have been so blind to all of this?” Narisa cried. She did not doubt what Suria had said. It fit too well with what she had come to understand on her own. She felt bleak, helpless despair over any chance of ever changing an Assembly that could allow such things. “It seems my life since the day I entered the Service has been based on lies. How could I have been so stupid?”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” Suria replied. “Few people know the truth about the Assembly. We only know what we have been taught. Those of us in the Service are so sheltered during training, and later spend so much of our time in space, that we are separated from the restrictions and difficulties of ordinary life. When we are inconvenienced, we charge it to Service regulations and take pride in doing our duty. Or we disregard what our own minds and hearts tell us because we can’t bear to accept the evidence before our eyes. I was like that until I was refused a child and took service with Leader Tyre. It was only in his household that I was finally forced to accept the truth.”

  “And so,” Kalina said, returning with remarkable calmness to the principal reason for Suria’s visit, “I, my family and Narisa are all to be destroyed.”

  “And Gaidar,” Narisa added, “to whom Tarik and I have both given our word that he will be safe.”

  “About this Gaidar,” Suria said tensely. “The Cetan has been removed from confinement in the Assembly chambers and taken to Leader Tyre’s own house. He is now sealed into a room on the lowest level. It will be more convenient for Tyre to have him killed there.”

  “I can’t let that happen,” Narisa cried.

  “Then you and I will have to remove him at once.” Suria’s green eyes gleamed, and her lovely face took on a purposeful look. “After we have freed Gaidar, will you accept him here, Kalina?”

  “I will have no laws broken. Almaric’s position is precarious enough if Tyre thinks he can have us killed and not be brought down himself. I thank you for the warning, Suria, and we will do our best to prevent his plan from succeeding, but if one broken law or the absence of Tarik or Narisa from our house can be laid to us, we will be unable to help them in any way when they come before the Assembly again.”

  “Tarik is absent now,” Narisa pointed out.

  “In his father’s direct custody on legal business,” Kalina said sternly. “That does not violate Almaric’s agreement with the Assembly. They have gone openly, and three of the guards have gone with them. It is a very different thing for you to slip out with Suria and secretly enter Tyre’s house. Narisa, if you were found there, you would be killed at once, and Tyre would have an excuse he could use to justify killing the rest of us.”

  “Narisa has to go with me. Gaidar knows her. I doubt he would trust me,” Suria said. “She can enter with me, dressed as a servant. I’ll say she’s an acquaintance of mine from another house who offered to help me carry packages home from the Market. That is where I am supposed to be. Leader Tyre is planning a feast tonight for some of his closest friends. I suspect from what I have overheard that Gaidar’s death is going to be the entertainment, which is why we have to release him promptly. Narisa and I can enter by the servant’s way, loaded down with the freshest fruits and vegetables. No one will look at our faces if we are carrying outlandish parcels. Kalina, could you find a servant’s dress for Narisa, and then make up a small bundle of clothing we could take with us, something a serving man would wear, perhaps an old Demarian coat with a hood? Narisa can tell you how big Gaidar is.”

  “And shaving equipment and scissors,” Narisa added. “Gaidar has a beard and long hair. He will be better disguised without them.”

  “I cannot take the risk without consulting Almaric.” Kalina remained opposed to the plan.

  “How long will Tarik and his father be gone?” Narisa asked her.

  “Until the evening,” Kalina replied. “We are all to gather in this room before the evening meal. Halvo will be here by then, too.”

  “We can’t afford to wait that long to help Gaidar,” Narisa insisted.

  “I am glad to hear Admiral Halvo is returning to the Capital,” Suria said. “Officers of the Service will follow him, even in opposition to Leader Tyre, should there be a direct confrontation. You and Almaric are safer with Halvo here, Kalina.”

  “Gaidar should be in this room when Halvo arrives.” Narisa was thoughtful, speaking slowly as she worked through the problem of releasing the Cetan. She believed Suria had just given her the argument that would convince Kalina to go along with their hasty plan. “It will save time if Gaidar is here and can provide detailed information to Halvo about Starthruster, much more than Tarik and I know. Suria is right, Kalina; we have to rescue Gaidar at once.”

  “We will come directly back here,” Suria persisted. “Kalina, you can’t let Gaidar be killed if Tarik has promised his safety. Narisa and I will be careful, and no one ever looks very closely at servants.”

  “Please,” Narisa begged. “Kalina, please help us.”

  There was a silence that seemed interminable to Narisa as Kalina studied the two younger women.

  “Very well,” she said at last. “I may as well help you, since I doubt I could stop you. Wait here. I won’t be long.”

  Kalina left the room, and Narisa and Suria sat looking at each other rather uncertainly.

  “Thank you for believing me,” Suria said. “Let me tell you how I think we should proceed. Since you know Gaidar, you may have some suggestions to add to my plan.” They were still talking when Kalina reappeared.

  “Put this on.” Kalina handed Narisa a plain gray gown of rough material and a pair of shapeless old boots. “There is a short jacket with a scarf you can wind around your head. This bundle has a man’s shirt and trousers and a hooded coat. Also a pair of old scissors. I didn’t dare take any shaving equipment. No one uses it except for very old men. I didn’t want to ask the servants for it.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” Narisa recalled the shaving equipment in her own bathing room, but she was afraid to go and get it lest she meet someone who might question her. “We will just have to trim Gaidar’s beard as short as we can with the scissors and hope no one notices the stubble after he pulls up the hood.”

  “At least the weather has turned colder,” Kalina said. “There will be a lot of people on the streets with their heads covered against the wind.”

  When Narisa had changed into the servant’s dress, she and Suria followed Kalina along the back corridors. They met an occasional servant along the way, but since Kalina was mistress of the house, no questions were asked.

  “I’m not taking you out through the kitchen and the servants’ way,” Kalina said, turning a corner. “There is an old entrance in the wall around the garden. It has been unused for so long it is almost forgotten. There are no guards near it, so it will be safe for you to leave through. When you return, come back to the secure room by these same corridors.” She opened a door, and they found themselves at one side of the garden. A hidden path wound between the high outer wall and a tall hedge growing a few feet away from the wall. Kalina led them along it.

  “The gardeners use this way,” she said, “though they don’t use the door anymore. Here is the security panel. Memorize the numbers, Narisa. You will need them on the other side to get back in. I’ll see to it the door into the house is left unsealed.” The door in the garden wall slid open at her touch.

  “Be careful,” she whispered as she shut it behind them. “Come back safely.”

  Narisa and Suria found themselves in a narrow ally between two large houses. Suria touched her arm, and Narisa went in the direction she indicated. They came out of the ally into the street behind Almaric’s house and began walking in the direction where Suria said the Market was.

  Narisa had never wandered about the Capital very much. Trainees for the Service were expected to remain in their own compound, and she had been too busy with her studies to join the forays some of the braver cadets occasionally made to drinking houses. Sh
e was surprised at how crowded the streets were, and at the diversity of people she saw.

  “All the Races come here,” Suria explained. “This is not only the Capital of the Jurisdiction, it is an important trading post. You can buy almost anything in the Capital.”

  It was difficult to make their way through the crowds into the Market, but Suria managed with an expertise that told Narisa she had been doing it for some time. Suria also knew the best shops and stalls. Both of them soon had their arms loaded with produce brought to the Capital from many planets.

  “It’s always like this when the Assembly is in session,” Suria said. “All the Members want their native foods.”

  “Surely there is an easier way to stock up on fresh provisions,” Narisa grumbled, trying to keep a branch of heavy purple fruits from falling off the pile she held. She did not like the fetid smell of those fruits at all, and wrinkled her nose. “Couldn’t these be ordered by computer?”

  “They could, but they wouldn’t be as fresh after being packaged and shipped. Leader Tyre fancies himself as an Epicure. Nothing but the best and freshest for him. Besides, I never complain about this chore because it gives me a certain amount of freedom. I can come and go from the Leader’s house almost whenever I want.”

  Narisa thought her arms would break from the weight of all the strange fruits and vegetables she was holding. Suria’s arms were loaded, too, her collection topped by an enormous Jugarian crab whose legs, fortunately, were tied together, but whose red eyes kept rolling wildly. Finally, unable to carry one item more, they left the Market and started toward Leader Tyre’s house.

  It was more like a palace, Narisa thought when she first saw it. The facade of heavily carved red stone went on and on. They came to the end at last, turned a corner and walked halfway along the side of the building to the servants’ entrance. There they were briefly stopped by a guard. Suria identified herself. When the guard began to ask her who her helpful friend was, Suria tilted the bundles in her arms while she looked up at him, letting the Jugarian crab begin to slide off the top.