The sovereign laughed nervously. Then he guffawed out loud.
"You are right, Terence," he spoke, "You are right! I will gather your… representatives. Let them decide themselves who is gonna be the minister! And let Mr. Shavash prove them that he acted for the people's good, let's see if my people are as stupid as I am!"
The Emperor rose and rushed into the inner halls. Giles and Shavash hurried after him but the guards didn't let them through. Bemish turned around, tripped over a golden peacock and bolted downstairs. Halfway down, he almost collided with Kissur who was ascending quickly.
"Kissur," Bemish said desperately, "You know that they forced me to do it."
Kissur just waved his hand.
"How is the sovereign?" he asked.
"He fired Yanik."
"Great Wei! Who is the first minister?! Shavash?!"
"Nobody," Bemish said, "The sovereign promised to announce elections to the Parliament."
Kissur's face contorted.
"You suggested this to him, didn't you?"
"You know my views."
"I know your views. You don't give a damn about this country. You think that democracy will raise the stock quotes of your blasted companies!"
"Time spent with me was beneficial for you, Kissur. How long ago was it when your understanding of stocks equaled my understanding of horses?"
Kissur threw himself down on a stair and squashed Bemish's foot. He sat there for a while and then he stood up.
"It's not a problem. I've hanged one fully assembled parliament already and I will hang another one. Take this into account when you plan your investments."
And he ran up jumping over three stairs at a time — however, they were quite low.
Still airborne on his way to Assalah, Bemish spent an hour giving orders to buy the stocks of Weian companies, to buy as many of them as possible and to keep low profile while doing it.
In an hour, having finished all his calls, Bemish extracted a sheet of paper and started drawing a diagram illustrating his company's refinancing scheme. High yield Assalah bonds currently paid off at fourteen percent a month. Parliament elections and the subsequent rise of the country's rating would increase the bonds' value. Accordingly to Bemish's calculations, they should cost a hundred and three to a hundred and four cents for a dinar in two to three months. Even now they reached a hundred and one point one cents for a dinar — under these conditions even a bond bought at the price above its face value still brought thirteen percent. Accordingly to the IPO's conditions, rise (and fall) of the bonds' value caused the interest rates to adjust so that the bonds would cost hundred cents per dinar. New Assalah bonds, Bemish calculated, should make eleven to twelve percent.
A phone call interrupted his calculations.
"I have news about Inis," over the receiver he heard Giles' cold voice.
"Finally. Where is she?"
"You should better come to the villa."
In half an hour Bemish stood in a far corner of his luxurious garden, next to a carved gazebo entwined with ivy. He stood near an ornamental well that was a necessary feature — together with a hermit's hut and tame deer — of a country manor. Nobody used it for the original purpose since running water available was available. But tame beasts started behaving strange next to the well and three hours ago a meticulous gardener had taken a look into it in case something was wrong.
Bemish stood and watched two security service guys, clad in tight rubber and leather, pulling a white swollen body over the well's edge. Far away in the sky among the stars, danced blue and yellow lights of the rising ships and a bold nightingale in a neighboring bush was singing a song accompanied by a chorus of night cicadas.
"Do you know what Blue Sun will publish tomorrow?" Giles moved nearby. "It will write that a foreign vampire killed his lover and hid her body in an abandoned well.
Bemish turned and Giles saw with horror that the businessman's grey eyes were as empty as a safe that robbers had broken into. Then, the general director of Assalah Company swayed and, unconscious, slowly collapsed in Giles's hands.
THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER
Where the nation expresses its will with unpredictable results
Two months passed by. Preparations for the elections were at their peak. Throughout the whole country, the officials had their precinct gates wide open and fed their future electorate with, square like Weia, rice pies and with, round like the sky, wheat pies. Throughout the whole country, zealots performed shows about iron people. Throughout the whole country, entrepreneurs and traders made donations to the officials' election campaigns instead of bribing them.
Bemish spent this time flying around the Galaxy. The people closest to him knew that he was horribly upset about Inis' death. The Earthman hadn't stepped out of his bedroom for the first two days and, then, he threw himself into his business like a fish dives into the ocean with an evident and almost hysterical desire to drive the recent events out of his mind.
Various suggestions were made about the murderer's identity, including the ex-first minister Yanik and the Following the Way; a number of people suspected them to be connected. Mr. Yanik, alike the zealots, didn't approve of the Empire being bought by the people from the stars. He wholeheartedly wanted his friends to buy the Empire but, unfortunately, the people from the stars had more money.
Shavash was also mentioned quite often; people said that the vengeful official had killed Ashinik in retaliation for the old assassination attempt and that he had killed the woman because once Bemish hadn't shared her with him and also to mislead the investigation. They said that the Earthman grieved so much because he knew who the man behind the murder was but he could avenge it only by destroying his business in the process. Frankly, the comments hit reasonably close to the truth.
Another rumor was also popular — the Earthman had knifed the woman to demonstrate his grief and to alleviate the suspicions about his love for another woman — they mentioned Idari quite loudly.
They searched for Ashinik very thoroughly, sometimes suspecting him of his wife's murder and sometimes thinking that he had been killed together with his wife as a traitor. But Ashinik disappeared without a trace. They, however, found the man who had handed the papers about the spaceport's military future to the zealots. It was the marxist technician who had arrived with Ashidan at Kissur's villa and spied on the spaceport later.
Bemish went to see what was what left of this man. The next day, during negotiations in Los Angeles Bemish would catch himself thinking occasionally about possible reactions of his polite colleague in tortoise glasses if this colleague knew that six hours ago the respectable director of Assalah Company had cold-bloodedly observed how an alive man had his flesh cut off him bit after bit and how this man screamed at the top of his lungs that he knew nothing, absolutely nothing about Inis.
X X X
Having traveled for a month, Bemish returned to Weia. He had practically finished the negotiations concerning BOAR. At the spaceport, he ran into a flock of journalists who arrived to monitor the fairness of the election preparations. One of the journalists asked him, "What do you estimate Yadan's chances to win the elections are?"
Three hours before Bemish's arrival, the leader of the White Sect, a mortal foe of the Earthmen and, therefore a mortal foe of all their inventions such as democracy, credit cards and pizza, had declared that he would participate in the elections.
"What are Yadan's chances?" Bemish was astonished.
"He is a madman who believes that Earthmen are demons. He looks at my spaceport and says that I built a hole to hell. He says that he climbs a ladder to the sky every morning and there are no Earthmen here. It means that all our ships and equipment are phantoms and our spaceports are holes leading underground. He also says that he was born out of a golden egg."
The journalist grinned and asked, "Why, in this case, does Ashinik follow Yadan in the party's hierarchy? He was a vice-president in your company and he seems to have worked under the billion
aire Ronald Trevis. Does he also think that the spaceport is a hole leading underground?"
Bemish froze. Ashinik is alive! The journalist pursed his lips and said, "Aren't you ashamed to repeat the rumors spread by corrupted officials to discredit the people's leaders?"
The next day, Bemish read an article about Weia in an influential and, therefore, liberal newspaper Standard Times. The article was written by the abovementioned journalist. The article presented the election company on
Weia as the fight between the corrupted officials and the true democratic representatives of the people. Yadan was the true democratic representative of the people. The corrupted officials and certain Earthmen who had reaped off a lot of money robbing Weia tried all they could to smear the people's leader.
An interview with Yadan followed the article. The journalist asked Yadan, "Is it true that you consider Earthmen to be demons?"
"I don't know where this crazy rumor came from. You see, Mr. Bemish doesn't speak Weian very well. You sometimes say "Go to hell" and we say "You are a demon, go home." It could be that one of my friends swore at Bemish and he, not really understanding our culture, took this expression literally. I can give you another example. Some Earthmen started a rumor that Following the Way claimed that their leader had been born out of a golden egg. But it's just a metaphorical expression. "To be born out of a golden egg" is equivalent to your expression "to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth."
Having finished the article, Bemish ordered Ashinik to be delivered to him. It appeared to be a difficult task. Even though Ashinik was no longer in hiding, he appeared everywhere accompanied by a triple layer of bodyguards. Bemish had to limit himself to the zealot's satellite phone number which was known only to a dozen people. He called him and screamed at him in perfect Weian, "I don't really speak Weian, do I? Was it your invention, Ashinik, to use Earth media to strengthen the sect's position? Was it your idea to persuade a passerby pen pusher that he knew the subtleties of local culture better than the Assalah Company director?"
"Ai-tana khari (Demon, go home)," Ashinik replied sarcastically and he dropped the receiver.
Bemish was pissed off to such a degree that he gave an order to fire Ashinik. The latter had still been formally a member of the Board of Directors.
Together with the majority of the Earthmen living and working in the Empire Bemish found himself facing a strange problem. On one hand, the local Earthmen understood perfectly well — better than the local officials — what exactly the so-called party of the people's freedom, led by co-chairmen Yadan and Ashinik, was about. It would not be difficult to start a large scale media campaign against these people. But such a campaign would crash the Weian stock market because nothing is as easy to scare away as money. At the same time, this campaign would not hurt the zealots since they didn't give a damn about demons' newspapers anyway.
The local Earthmen took a counsel and came to the conclusion that there was no chance these halfwits would win the election. So, let the liberal newspapers idolize the new heroes. Why should they bother exposing them? It would only be bad publicity for the new IPOs.
As the elections were approaching, the fund index grew like bamboo, since fund indexes in developing countries always grow before the elections. To scream about the party of the people's freedom under these conditions meant killing your own profit. A considerable part of the paper and speculation profits, obtained by the Earthmen financiers and manufacturers, was donated to Shavash's election campaign. They and their wallets just loved this future country's leader. Their enthusiasm for donations was based on the solid and persuading results of the sociological studies predicting Shavash's victory.
What the financiers didn't know was that these studies were paid for by Shavash. It is much easier to buy two hundred sociologists than to buy fifty million of voters.
The elections caused certain problems, however, to Assalah Company. Ashinik occasionally appeared on the pages of the Galaxy newspapers. While his general comments towards Earthmen were restrained, he used Terence Bemish as an example to explain the peculiarities of the corruption in the Empire. Mostly, he commented on the abuses of Assalah customs and unabashed insider trading in Bemish's funds.
It wasn't particularly beneficial for the company's quotes and their growth lagged noticeably behind the general fund index.
But the worst for Bemish was that, due to the elections, Kissur and Shavash — two people that meant a lot for the planet and quite a bit for Bemish personally — quarreled. Their breach started almost unnoticeably, at the moment when Kissur declared openly that he was against all the elections. Shavash had opposite views. When the sovereign declared in Shavash's face that he would never appoint him as a first minister, Shavash realized that he would be able to become a first minister only by people's volition.
Practically immediately, in a great hurry, Shavash channeled all his power and money into a huge political campaign and into the creation of his own party. Shavash's methods were as primordial as they were effective. The doors to the vice-prefect's manor stood wide open for the poor — they could get there free soup and pies day and night.
The minimal wage law was under consideration at that time. The first minister Yanik insisted on a fifty isheviks minimal wage while Shavash suggested eighty. Yanik won. Then, the vice-prefect Shavash declared that he would pay the difference to the workers in the capital drawing a salary of less than eighty isheviks.
Two assassination attempts were made at Shavash's life. It's hard to say whether or not they were real but Shavash clearly gained from them. He became the only man opposing the zealots for both foreign investors and well-intentioned people.
While Kissur and Shavash could live in peace at the Emperor's court, the fallout between became inevitable once the latter emerged as the head of Weian Democratic Alliance party since the former considered democracy to be an ultimate stupidity that Weia needed just as much as somebody would need a fur hat amidst a hot summer.
The final quarrel happened at a party in one of Shavash's country houses. Bemish attended it — he needed to meet some officials from Chakhar and hand a check for the election campaign to Shavash.
They were all drunk; Kissur was somewhat more sober while Shavash was boozed up completely. Shavash reclined on a sofa with one of his slaves sitting on his knees. The slave was a cute fourteen-year-old boy and nobody had any doubts about the precise nature of his relationship with Shavash. The boy was kissing his master's fingers and picking bits off his plate and finally the time arrived when the future prime minister, the light and hope of the people, the enemy of inflation and the paragon of virtue started walking towards an exit pushing the boy in front of him and looking horny. Two or three supplicants had been circling around Shavash hoping to discuss some important matters; they jumped out of his way not willing to distract the vice minister away from his modest boy. At that point, Kissur appeared in front of Shavash.
"Shavash," an Empire's ex-first minister said, "are you really going to Lannakh tomorrow?"
A meeting of three provinces was taking place in Lannakh with feasts for the chosen and pies for everybody.
"Yes."
"I beseech you not to go there."
Shavash smiled confounded.
"I can't, Kissur. The people are waiting for me there."
"I beseech you, Shavash, don't do it. I ask you in the name of our friendship. It's not befitting for a Weian official to ape these stupid Earthmen and to take part in the elections."
Shavash giggled drunkenly.
"Is it your personal request?"
"No, I speak on the other's behalf."
Kissur didn't say "other person's". He never called the Emperor Varnazd a man. The Emperor was always a god in his eyes.
"Is he, in whose name you speak, afraid of me winning the elections?"
"You are not worthy of heading the country."
Everybody was listening to this dialog breathlessly; soon afterwards, it was to acquire the mo
st fantastic details added to it. Both Kissur and Shavash were boozed up to the hilt and what a sober man has on his mind, a drunkard has on his tongue…
Shavash laughed.
"What would you offer me instead, Kissur?"
"Anything you wish. You wanted Iman. (The sovereign gave to Kissur a lot of land in the oil-rich areas of Iman). Would you like me to cut Yadan down?"
Shavash giggled louder. He swayed and grabbed Kissur's shoulder to avoid falling. Then, he missed a step and dropped on his knees. His lips touched Kissur's hand.
"Kissur… Give me Idari and I won't participate in the elections."
Everybody froze not comprehending yet what was happening. Kissur was the first one to react. His hands were next to Shavash's face, they suddenly locked together on their own and Kissur hit Shavash with his locked hands in the chin.
The vice minister sailed in a long arch through the air and landed with his back on the banquet table. Sauces and appetizers flew to the sides and priceless fifth dynasty china plates were smashed.
Kissur grabbed the object that was closest to him and it was a tall five candle chandelier in the shape of a burning rose on a bronze rod and rushed at Shavash roaring wildly. At this point, Bemish and Shavash's guards tackled him and if it had not been for them, Kissur would have certainly slaughtered the welcoming host. As it was, he had to limit himself to killing one guard and leaving another one disabled.
X X X
The next day Bemish came to Kissur's manor to beg forgiveness. Green with hangover, Kissur lay in a wide bed with a broken hand in a sling. Bemish had broken this hand yesterday.
Kissur's brother, Ashidan, and Khanadar the Dried Date sat at Kissur's feet and they weren't particularly welcoming towards Bemish.
"Son of a bitch," Kissur said out of his pillows. "I'll kill him anyway."
He meant Shavash.
"You were drunk," Bemish objected, "You will still make peace."
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