She left in a swirl of flowery scent, with an after-tang of pine. In a moment, a Med came in to administer a shot. Ardan drifted away on a wave of drug, yet a part of his mind was still alert, inquisitive, ready to rejoin the world. And so it was that he heard the quiet voices outside in the corridor.
"He is still delusional?" That was Katrina's tone.
"Only in certain matters. He has put the injured child into perspective. Our psychs have delved into the roots of that fixation. A nasty experience, too...one that would give anyone a bad time. This illness and injury just brought that out into the open. Probably, in the long run, it will be a good thing for him."
That voice belonged to another woman. Her tones were higher, less cultured than those of the Duchess of Tharkad.
"No, it's the other thing that still has a hold upon his mind. The double of Hanse Davion. We are a bit worried about this. He should have been able to get a grip on that, the way he did the other problem."
"I have read, in tapes of old books, about such things," said Melissa. "There was a book called The Prisoner of Zenda, about a man who was the double of the ruler. He went through the coronation ceremony in the missing man's place, foiling a plot of some sort. And then they took their own places again. There are several books about such a substitution of a double for a controversial person of importance."
Katrina pushed aside the curtain and glanced at Ardan. He had his eyes closed, remained totally relaxed, breathing deeply. His body was asleep; it was his mind that was still alert.
"When you study military history, you come up with many strange matters. Once, a very long while ago, there was a war on Old Earth. The Commander of one side—I believe his name was Montgomery or something similar—reviewed troops and traveled about the battle areas, misleading the enemy totally. That man was a double. The real Field Marshal was helping to plan a major attack, which succeeded partially because of that ploy. Such things have happened more than once," she said.
"Well, this cannot be such an instance," said the doctor. "The time for such play-acting is surely in the distant past, not in our civilized present."
Another voice chimed in, deeper, assured. Doctor Karns. "He is deeply troubled by that vision. But it's hard to tell whether he really ever left his bed at all. It is quite possible the entire sequence of events was an hallucination. Yet he repeats it with utter consistency. That is unusual with a true hallucination. It is a troublesome problem."
"We shall remove him from any reminder of such matters," said the Archon. "Melissa will entertain him. We shall take his mind off anything painful or distressing."
"That should be of great help. He is most fortunate to have the friendship of the ruler of the Lyran Commonwealth," said the woman doctor. Her sycophantic tone disgusted Ardan.
He twitched his hand, trying to move, but the drug carried him away, deeper and deeper. The voices were silent, or perhaps the speakers had moved away. It was just as wed. He needed sleep.
But as he sank into that darkness, he saw the face of that other Hanse before him. Still. Uncommunicative. Unused.
20
Outside the double-glazed and insulated windows, framed in the graceful arch, a snowstorm was doing its worst. Melissa Steiner sat on the cushioned windowseat, gazing out into the blizzard. From time to time, a wayward gust would sweep the curtains of snow aside, giving a brief glimpse of the deeps below the crag where stood the favorite seat of House Steiner.
Melissa enjoyed the violent climate of her homeworld. The distant glimpses of Tharkad's snowswept crags and peaks, the tumbles of lesser eminences with their heavy wigs of white, filled her with a sort of fierce joy. She hoped Ardan was awake to look from the window beside his bed. He liked this world, too, she recalled.
At the thought of their guest, her face grew sober. From her first glimpse of the trim young officer in charge of Hanse Davion's personal Guard, she had liked him. He had always treated her with respect, but the two of them had also developed a conspiratorial pleasure in hatching practical jokes for which they were never blamed.
That was probably because nobody ever suspected that the bookworm Melissa would indulge in such pranks. Ardan Sortek was the first person ever to tap the repressed mischief in her nature. Remembering all that now, she smiled and subdued a sudden urge to do something silly.
She was fifteen now, almost a grown woman, too old to indulge in foolishness. But she was happy, indeed, that Ardan had returned. Winter could be very long and boring on Tharkad. It would be diverting to pass the time with him.
That reminded her of what she had meant to check in her Reader. Ardan's insistence that he had seen a double for Hanse had reminded her so much of that ancient novel she had read. Melissa rose and went over to the Reader, intending to review the computer records for anything similar.
She keyed in Impersonations' and touched the command key. The monitor asked: Historical? Social? Literary? Economic?
That surprised her. The computer's response seemed to indicate that history was full of such things. She decided to start with the literary references, as it was The Prisoner of Zenda that had set off her train of thought in the first place. A list of tides and authors began to scroll down the screen.
She printed out those she thought might be most interesting. There was The Prince and the Pauper, The Man in the Iron Mask, as well as a number of others that were unfamiliar to her. Next, Melissa asked for the historical data.
Those results astounded her, too. It was not only in ancient history that such things had occurred. In 2381, a double had succeeded in impersonating the Elazar of Trimerrion so successfully that his world was plunged into a war that almost destroyed it. The true Elazar had not been able to win free of his captors until it was too late to prevent the catastrophe.
Melissa's gray eyes narrowed. The situation among the ruling Houses of the Successor States was now unstable, making a treaty between Davion and Steiner a major irritation to both Kurita and Liao. Therefore, anything that disrupted the planned union of the Lyran and Federated Suns systems would be of great benefit to the Draconis Combine and the Capellan Confederation.
She read further. In 2738, one of the pivotal allies of the Lord of the Star League had suddenly changed his policies so drastically that it affected the decisions of several of the other states later involved in the Succession Wars. Only later, after the man's death, was it learned that he had not been Faillol Esteren at all. His fingerprints had been altered to match, of course, and his retinal patterns were sufficiently similar to trigger various security devices. What they found, however, was that the false Esteren had broken some bones in his youth, but his appendix was in place. The true Faillol had undergone an appendectomy at age 15, but had never broken a bone.
The mystery of who had been the imposter was never solved. Nor was it ever learned who was behind the substitution, nor how it had been done.
She read closely the detailed history of that era, learning that the false ruler's decisions had furthered two different interests. Neither appeared to be involved in the plot, but it was strange that the two closest friends of Faillol had vanished from the scene at about the same time. One had suddenly become so ill that his mental processes were affected. He was hospitalized and later institutionalized, but never recovered.
"Drugs," said Melissa. "No doubt of it."
The other was accused of treason when certain state secrets were leaked. What must have been the false Faillol had spoken half-heartedly in his behalf, making matters worse, not better, for the unfortunate man. Eventually, he was tried and found guilty. The fact that an innocent man had been dishonored and executed came out only after the imposter's death, years later. The dead man had been so completely in the real Esteren's confidence that he would have immediately detected an imposter.
Ardan, too, was the close confidante of his Prince, Hanse Davion. Could there be some devious reason for his sudden recovery at just the right moment to see that shape in the laboratory?
; For the next week, Melissa read everything she could find. The novels, the historical records, even the accounts of social substitutions. This only reinforced her first impression that impersonators were not and never had been rare. It was more that they were seldom uncovered. How many more had been totally successful, so that the imposter had gone to his grave without being detected?
When she had absorbed as much of this background as her mind could hold, Melissa went to see her mother. Katrina was, as usual, immersed in the affairs of her worlds and those of her allies and enemies. But she swept a clear spot on the carpet beside her, always glad to make time for her daughter.
"And what have you been doing all week, my dear? Is Ardan able to be up and about, yet?"
Melissa shook her head. "Almost. Doctor Karns says tomorrow he may get up and sit in the garden room. I already have a pile of books there, waiting for him. But it's about Ardan that I came, Mother. I think there may be something to his tale about the double of Hanse that he saw in the Liao base."
Katrina twirled a lock of hair about a finger. It was a sure sign that she was uncomfortable about something.
"I truly doubt that, my dear. The doctors say that the alien infections Ardan suffered also affected his mental functions. That, combined with the stresses our young man suffered, was enough to unbalance him, just a bit. Only temporarily, though. They assure me of that nothing that can't be healed by a long rest on Argyle, while the Prince is there in his summer palace."
"But mother," Melissa insisted. "I've just gone through everything I can find in the comprehensive computer files on impersonations and substitutions. You would be astonished to know how many there have been...and, of course, those are only the ones that were discovered. In fairly recent times, Mother, there have been leaders and rulers replaced by doubles who made profound changes in events." Melissa put her chin on Katrina's knee. "Do think about it a bit. Doesn't it seem odd that Ardan recovered his wits at just the right time to find himself alone?
"And isn't it strange that the voices at one end of the hall determined that he would go the other way? Right to the only door that led someplace? Right to the lab where that body was waiting in its cryogenic cubicle? I think it is straining coincidence a bit" said Melissa.
Katrina put her hand on her daughter's hair. "I can see that you have been troubled by the situation. I understand that you say there have been cases in recent history?"
"Within a couple of centuries, which isn't a lot, as history goes. And at times when the decisions those people made were unusually important. It seems to me that carrying out our treaty with Hanse might well be a similar situation. Think about it, Mother!"
"What you say is reasonable," her mother admitted, "but I must consider the expert opinions of those who care for the mentally or physically ill. It is not only the word of those doctors directly involved in the care of our guest that sway my thinking. I also have called in specialists from the foremost institutions on Tharkad." She tipped Melissa's head with her hand and looked into those intelligent gray eyes.
"They are unanimous in their verdicts. He is convalescent. He has suffered serious traumas, both physical and mental. He is overcoming those, slowly. And that story about the double is, without any doubt, simply a delusion."
Melissa sighed.
"You still do not agree?" asked Katrina.
"Something feels all wrong. Ardan isn't one to keep insisting if there's any possibility at all that he might be in error. But Mother, at least please inform Hanse that his friend has this belief. If nothing is in the wind, then no harm will be done. But if there is some sort of plot, then perhaps it may help him to guard against it"
"Good thinking," said Katrina. "When the next message packet goes out, I shall see to it. Now you go and cheer up that young man. He was staring at the wall and mumbling curses the last time I looked in on him. The nurse had tried to give him a full bath in bed."
Melissa laughed. "I can imagine how that would suit him if he is able to do anything for himself at all. Thank you for hearing me out, Mother. I'll let you get back to work now." She stared about at the confusion of papers, printouts, and micros.
"One day I’ll have to deal with all of this. How will I do it? You should have made a MechWarrior out of me! I don't know if I will ever become an administrator."
"You'll handle it, as I do—as well as you can. Now, off with you, and give Ardan my affectionate regards."
Melissa moved through the chilly stone hallways on fur-clad feet, keeping her hands curled in the deep pockets of a fur-trimmed woolen over-robe. The palace was constructed solidly, insulated as well as possible, but Tharkad's bitter winter winds managed to creep in by crannies known only to itself.
Fires burned on hearths in the luxurious rooms she passed. The heating system, powered by a reactor deep in the bedrock below the house, murmured, sending out warm currents that seemed to lose themselves against the chilly stone.
"I wish I lived in a wooden cottage with ceilings less than six meters high," Melissa muttered, turning down the corridor toward Ardan's room, which Doctor Karns had just entered. She reached the door and paused outside, waiting for him to finish examining his patient.
Though Melissa was no eavesdropper, she couldn't help hearing the murmur of voices. She was astonished to hear the doctor encouraging Ardan to hold onto his belief in what he had seen.
"Nothing that is completely a delusion could grip you so strongly," Karns was saying. "So, don't let anyone make you feel that you are mad for insisting on it. You are as sane as I. I'm sure of it."
She stepped away, back up the hall, thinking hard. This was the exact opposite of what she had heard him tell her mother, only the day before. Something was very wrong, someplace. Was it possible that a conspiracy might reach even into Tharkad? Worse, into her own house?
As the door opened, Melissa moved back toward Ardan's room.
"Oh, Doctor...how is our patient this morning?"
Karns smiled, his dark face creasing charmingly. "Much better, indeed. He will be able to get up for awhile, if you promise to put him back to bed at once if he becomes tired. We must take care...he is still in a delicate state."
Melissa smiled sweetly in return, but all the while she was thinking: / will watch you, my friend. You are not exactly what you seem.
21
Ardan looked up to see Melissa entering his room. For the first time that day, he smiled. "You look like a Winter Queen," he said. "I wish I were up to going out for some cross-country skiing. Remember how the members of the Court took to that, when I was here before?" He sighed.
"It's blowing like anything outside," she replied. "Here, let me open the curtain. See? Nobody but an idiot would go out if he didn't have to. But the doctor says you can get up for a bit. I have books and games in a nice warm spot in the garden room. Will you join me?"
He sat up straight and looked about for the heavy robe Katrina had provided for him. Melissa was already handing him a pair of furred slippers.
In a few moments, they were making their way up the corridor toward the moist warmth of the conservatory, where plants from every sort of world lived together, loops of orchidaceous blossoms hanging from entirely unsuitable trees from the swamps of Stein's Folly. Ardan shuddered as he recognized a slender, straight-trunked variety whose umbrella of rubbery leaves flared almost to the top of the distant skylight. The orchids had found purchase among the clusters of pinkish blossoms that furred the smooth skin of the plant.
There were two cushioned chairs set near the vent of the heating system. Also waiting for them were a pile of valuable printed books, which lay in waterproof coverings.
Exhausted by even this brief walk, Ardan sank into a chair and covered his knees with the light embroidered coverlet waiting for him. He gazed up into the heights of the conservatory. All manner and color of hanging vines and air plants crisscrossed the domed skylight from the room's support columns.
"This is the place for getting well," he said.
"My father always says that there's nothing like growing things to pull you together and make you feel better."
"I remember when your Prince was here. To make the ...the arrangements with Mother. He came here often and would sit just looking up as you are now. I thought then that he was a lonely man. Does he have many friends, except for you?"
Ardan looked down at the girl, who seemed so wistful now. He wondered suddenly what it would be like to be wed, as she would be, to a stranger she had seen only briefly and about whom she knew virtually nothing.
"No, he doesn't. Not really. People who want to get close are usually those hoping to use him in some way. Politicians, bureaucrats, sycophants, all of them. And those he really cares for are people who are too useful to waste at Court. He has to send them away as ambassadors or commanders of armies or representatives in all sorts of ticklish negotiations." Ardan realized that he hadn't truly understood this about his friend until this moment
That was why Hanse had seemed so sad to have Ardan ask for transfer. Of all the many people at Court, Ardan was the only one Hanse Davion could call friend, without any qualifications.
He sighed. "I didn't understand that when I asked to go into action. Not that I didn't want to...I just didn't realize how alone it would leave my old friend."
Melissa's eyes were filled with concern. "You love him, then? He is a man who is easy to love?"
Ardan considered that question carefully. "I wouldn't say he is easy to love. To love him, you have to know him well. He can seem very harsh and stern, when need be. But inside he is a caring man. Even when I was a tiny lad, and he was so much older, bigger, and stronger, he was always patient, even tender—for a boy—when it came to me. He never made me feel like a nuisance, though I must have been one often."
"What did you do together? When you were boys?" Melissa was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, looking up with the starry eyes of a child. Ardan didn't smile.
"We went fishing and caught whales that turned into minnows, once we got them home. We trapped grassbirds for the farmers, to keep them from spoiling the fields of grain. We picked fruits from my father's farm, and we helped the family that had the care of Hanse with the work there, too. Hanse's father didn't believe in bringing up a Prince to behave like someone above and beyond ordinary people."
The sword and the dagger Page 15
