Venus of Dreams

by Pamela Sargent

  “Words!” Eleanor screamed. “Earth is good with words. Why can’t they put in another clause to cover that?” She twisted in her seat. “Olivia, you said you knew about contracts. Why didn’t you see this coming?”

  Olivia’s face was white, making her freckles seem even darker. “I didn’t think —” She waved her hands helplessly.

  Amir leaned forward. “If the Nomarchies make an agreement with you now, they’ll be admitting publicly that they can be threatened into such agreements. It’s not a good precedent. You can see that.”

  “You must have known this could happen,” Eleanor said, “when you came here.” She pulled the box toward her chest. “Can’t they put in a clause to cover this?”

  “They could,” Olivia replied, “but they could claim that clause had been put in under duress, and therefore —”

  “Words!” Eleanor screamed. She clutched at the box. “It’s all a trick. If we give up before we have the agreement, there won’t be anything to stop them from acting against us.”

  Iris had to calm the woman. “Eleanor,” she said as gently as she could, “they’ll make an agreement with you. Pavel said so, and Amir and I are witnesses to that. We could argue that this makes what he told you public in a sense. If Earth tried to punish you, which I doubt, you’d still have the right to an appeal, and we’d tell everyone what we heard at your hearing.”

  “You’ve won,” Amir said. “Earth has always kept to the letter of all agreements. The Mukhtars know all too well what happened in the past when they weren’t kept. Their power rests on such trust. Make this concession.”

  “Concessions.” Eleanor’s voice was roughened by fatigue. “They nibble away at us with concessions.”

  “Earth will concede this much,” Pavel said over the screen comm. “If you dismantle your controls and disarm those charges, you can stay there until the agreement is read over all public channels. If anything displeases you, you’ll still be able to arm your charges again. That ought to reassure you.”

  Iris’s head jerked up. She saw what Pavel was trying to do. Once the charges were disarmed, and the controls disassembled, there would be nothing to stop an attack on the dome by Guardians. She was sure that the Guardians had the means to force their ship into the bay if necessary. By the time the conspirators knew they were under attack, they were unlikely, in their present state, to be able to reassemble their charges. Pavel would win. She, Chen, and Amir stood a good chance of losing their lives one way or another during an assault, as did the conspirators; Fawzia and Pavel would sacrifice them to take the dome.

  “We should do what he says,” Fei-lin said. He sat on the edge of a cot; he was in his suit and held a helmet on his lap. “If Pavel’s telling the truth, we’ve won. If he isn’t, we can still appeal.”

  “You idiot,” Eleanor cried.

  “I don’t want to die down here,” Fei-lin responded.

  Eleanor had lost them, Iris saw. Most of the people in the room were already checking their suits and searching for helmets; they were too weary to resist much longer.

  Eleanor slumped in her chair, looking defeated. “The charges should be brought back here when they’re disarmed,” Amir said. Eleanor did not reply. “You should look happier. You’ve won.”

  “Have I?” The blond woman looked around the room. “None of you want to refuse this demand?” No one answered. “Very well. Go get the charges then, all of you. We’ll take them apart here.”

  Antonio stood up. “After we bring the charges back, I think we should go to the ship.” Eleanor did not look at him. “We can listen to the public announcement there, and be ready to leave.”

  Iris kept her face still. If the others went to the ship, she and Amir might be able to disarm Eleanor easily; if she then told the other conspirators that they would be attacked if they did not give up, they might be willing to surrender. She waited as the others put on their helmets and walked toward the lock. In a few moments, she and Amir were alone with Eleanor and an armed man who was sitting near the screen.

  The man stood up. “I can take the controls apart,” he said as he gestured at Eleanor’s box. “I put them together, after all.”

  “The Mukhtars have won,” Eleanor said.

  “No,” Amir said to her. “You have.”

  “They’ve won. Just a few words from Pavel, not even a public promise, and the others are ready to give up. They’re weak. We needed that public promise.”

  “But you’ll have it,” Iris said. “Pavel said —”

  “Earth can make it seem that it’s beaten us, that no one can force them into anything. You two came here to wear us down. Pavel Gvishiani will find a way to hang on now, and you two will be showered in glory for helping him.”

  The other man was walking toward the table. “No,” Eleanor said. Her hands moved swiftly over the box, pressing a sequence of buttons and levers.

  Iris leaped toward Eleanor, too late. Eleanor jumped up as Iris fell across the table and knocked the control box to the floor. Eleanor backed away, laughing.

  “Can you do anything?” Amir shouted at the man.

  He shook his head. “She’s already armed them. They’ll go off in five minutes.”

  Iris struggled to her feet. There was no time to reach the bay; even a cart would not get there in time. She darted toward the screen and saw that its channels were still open. “Listen, all of you,” she cried. “You’ve got to get to those charges fast. They’re armed now. You’ve got to take them apart out there.” She took a breath. “Teofila. You’ve got to get your ship out of the bay now. We can’t reach you in time. Get away as fast as you can. If we disarm the charges, another ship can come for us.” She prayed that the pilot would listen. “I’m closing this channel now. Farewell, Chen.” She closed the channel to the ship. Chen might be trying to speak to her. She did not want him occupied with that; she wanted him to get away.

  Eleanor’s fellow conspirator was staring at her in horror. “You bitch,” he burst out. “You know they can’t stop this.”

  Eleanor lifted her head. “I was prepared to act. Earth will lose after all. They’ll lose this dome and they’ll lose any chance of building in this region again. You heard what she said before.”

  “It was a lie,” Iris answered. Eleanor’s eyes widened. “You’ll destroy one dome and lose your life for nothing. The Habbers are safe, and the Project will go on. You’ve lost everything.”

  Eleanor screamed as she aimed her wand; the other man knocked it out of her hand. Iris picked up her helmet as Amir hurried toward her; she touched his face before he put on his helmet.

  They entered the lock together. In a few moments, the outer door opened and they stepped out under the dome. Two carts were still rolling toward the wall at the edge of the dome; a third suddenly swerved and moved toward the direction of the entrance. Iris did not open her suit comm; she would only hear despairing cries and curses. One cart bounced over a ridge and fell on its side. They would never reach the charges in time.

  Amir leaned over and touched her helmet with his own. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “We might have saved the Project.” His voice sounded hollow.

  It came to Iris then that she had always known she would die here. She had escaped from Venus once; the planet would claim her now.

  She clung to these last moments of life; no prayers came to her. Amir embraced her with one arm. Against the dome’s distant wall, a bright bloom appeared. The last sight she saw was a blinding white light.

  “Farewell, Chen,” Iris’s voice said.

  “Iris!” he cried. Teofila slapped a panel; on the screen, he saw that the wall was already being lowered.

  “Get in your seat!” Teofila screamed. He stared at the screen numbly as he sank back against his seat.

  “Iris,” he said more softly. His heart hammered against his chest as the moments passed. “We have to wait. We have to wait for her.”

  “You heard what she said. Those pumps had better work
now.” The floor below was dropping away slowly as the cradle holding the ship began to rise. The devices might fail, he told himself; they might be disarmed in time. Iris was only being cautious for his sake. He cursed himself for falling into Eleanor’s hands.

  The comm was silent. Any moment now, Iris would call out again to tell him she was safe. He looked at the lights of the ship’s panels; the roof above them was opening. The bay fell away as the ship, released by its cradle, began to float up. The dome was a large red blister veiled by the smoggy atmosphere; it suddenly blazed with a bright white light. For a moment, he thought it would hold, that the light would fade.

  The dome shook. It seemed to rise a little, as if it were about to follow the ship, then fell in on itself; it continued to glow as it sank. The airship cabin shook violently as a shock wave struck it; Chen was thrown against his harness. The ship veered; Teofila’s face was grim as she watched the panels and small screens. The ship continued to rise as clouds hid the destroyed dome.

  Chen was numb. He couldn’t have lost Iris, not now. He would turn and see her in a seat behind him. She would laugh and tell him that he should have known she would find some way to save herself.

  The ship shook again. He could not care whether he lived or not. His mind was coiled inside him. He was dimly surprised at how little he felt, at how the shock had driven away pain. Iris couldn’t be dead. Any moment now, a message would come over the comm and he would know that she was alive.

  “We’ll make it,” he heard Teofila say. He turned his head toward her; she had put on her band. Something inside him snapped. He was suddenly standing next to the pilot; he did not recall releasing his harness. His hands reached for her neck. She struck him with her quick, strong hands, knocking him to the floor.

  “Don’t be a fool,” she rasped. “You need me to get you back.”

  He staggered to his seat. “I didn’t think they’d do it,” she said. “I didn’t think in the end — but I guess you don’t care about that.”

  He gazed at her. The pilot looked ill. Her face glistened with sweat; there were two red blotches on her cheeks. She had chosen to live; he wondered why. Perhaps he had touched some cord in her, and she had acted to save him. More likely, it was only a reflexive action, a combination of her training and an unconscious will to live. She would be punished soon enough.

  He heard a growl, a low animal’s cry. It rose until it became a steady keening sound, a wail. At last he realized that it came from his own throat. He turned away from the screen.

  Several Administrators seemed to be calling to Pavel at once. His temples throbbed. Someone on Earth wanted to speak to him. Teofila Marquez had been seized in the airship bay and Counselors were now questioning her; she had described a Guardian officer who had aided the conspirators, someone who, it seemed, was close to Fawzia.

  Pavel closed his Link, welcoming the silence, then saw that he was not alone in his room. A Habber woman was standing near his door; he did not recall admitting her.

  “Pavel,” she said; her face swam in front of his eyes. At last he recognized her.

  “What do you want, Erena?” he asked.

  “We have been in contact with Earth. Should you come to any agreement now, our people will continue to aid you. I thought you would want to know that. It’s true that a few of your people made captives of a few of ours, but others gave their lives to save them. Their example gives us hope for the rest of you, you see. We owe a debt to Iris Angharads and Amir Azad and the Project they worked for, and we will pay that debt.”

  “You might have thought more about them when they were alive.”

  “Did you?”

  Pavel did not reply.

  “I believe Earth is trying to find a way to resolve this whole matter,” Erena said. “I hope that you and they will come to some arrangement soon.”

  He waved her away. The door opened and he caught a glimpse of the people waiting outside; the door closed again. He was alone.

  Pavel thought of Amir. He had closed his own Link when he had realized that the younger man was going to die. Perhaps Amir would not have survived in any case, not if Pavel had found a way for Fawzia’s Guardians to take the dome; in the confusion of an assault, Amir might have been lost.

  Pavel stood up, went to a drawer, and opened it. The device he had smuggled here from Earth so many years ago was there, ready to be assembled and used. If it turned out that Fawzia had in fact encouraged the conspirators, he could have his revenge on her with impunity; he would never have to pay for that secret crime. On the other hand, Liang Chen was still alive; his bondmate had accomplished that much. Chen might guess what Pavel had done, and might even spread his suspicions. Earth would not have to punish Pavel; the Islanders might take that upon themselves.

  It was odd to realize that Iris Angharads was dead. She still had, it seemed, some power to affect his actions. He could almost hear her voice now, the insistent tone in her speech that he had heard when they were alone. Give yourself up, Pavel. Give Earth someone to punish, give the Mukhtars a way out.

  He had lost already. He would have to resign from the Committee and let Earth decide what to do with him; there might be a chance for others to reach some agreement if he did. He could accept responsibility, and perhaps the Mukhtars would be mollified. Perhaps he could conquer the evil that he had come to embrace.

  Iris had once trusted him; she had believed that the Project needed him. She would have hoped that he would do what he could to save it now, and he could do that only by allowing others to take his place.

  He gazed at the contents of his drawer, at last seeing a possible use for his weapon. Destroying the secrecy surrounding it would make this particular weapon useless. It might make an interesting display when he spoke again to his fellow Administrators, and it would no longer matter what they thought of him for smuggling it here; he could point out that he had never used it. He could alert the Islanders to the fact that some on Earth had stooped to such means and perverted the function of Counselors. The Islanders would be more vigilant in the future, and there would be less chance of Earth importing such an evil to Venus in order to maintain its power.

  He would also be able to remind Earth that its reliance on cyberminds, and on Linkers who were trained to piece bits of data together, made it unlikely that such a secret could be kept for long. It would be a useful reminder to those who still thought in old ways, who did not yet see that the tools they had created would inevitably shape them. It was unfortunate that he himself had not learned this lesson earlier.

  Iris Angharads, he was sure, would have been pleased with his decision. He would not be haunted by her memory.

  |Go to Table of Contents |

  Thirty-Four

  February 568

  From: Myra Hassan, speaking for the Council of Mukhtars

  To: All citizens of the Nomarchies of Earth

  In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate, Whose Hand guides us all, Who saved us once from destruction at the beginnings of our history and Who watches over us now.

  Heed our words! Misguided souls who were part of our most glorious enterprise, the terraforming of Venus, sought to subvert this most noble Project and endeavor for their own purposes. In thrall to ambition, they turned against Earth and attempted to take control of the Project for themselves. Forsaking all loyalty to their own people, these malefactors lied to the Cytherian Islanders and even dreamed of forcing their will upon the Mukhtars. Though it grieves us to admit it, we must also confess that one on the Council of Mukhtars, the former Mukhtar called Abdullah Heikal, took actions that only inflamed the situation.

  God has judged the few who sought to destroy our noble Project when their own will was thwarted. They now lie buried under the rubble of the dome they destroyed in their madness. Let their names be erased from our memories. One of their number, a pilot who managed to escape from the destruction, has judged herself, and taken her own life; may she be forgotten.

  Others must
be judged by us. Know that Abdullah Heikal and those who misguidedly followed him have been removed from the Council of Mukhtars and its associated Committees; may they do penance for their deed in obscurity. Know that Fawzia Habeeb, the Guardian commander who forgot that she was our servant, has, along with her treacherous aides, been stripped of all position and honor. Know that Pavel Gvishiani and the members of his Island Council who were closest to him have been deprived of their Links and are no longer Administrators.

  Know also that we can show mercy. Though Pavel Gvishiani acted against us to further his own ends and dreams of power, he and his colleagues once served the Project well before ambition led them astray. They will be allowed to continue laboring for Venus under the supervision of others, though they must never be allowed to rise again. In this way, we seek to heal the wounds that they inflicted on our noble Project, and will allow them to labor with those they sought to deceive.

  Those who dwell on the Cytherian satellite Anwara are free from blame and will not be punished.

  Those dwelling on the Islands were lured into seeking to betray the Project, yet the blame for their actions must rest with their leaders. Therefore, they shall not be punished. Let the Islanders ponder their past actions, and be grateful to those who show them such mercy. May they redouble their efforts as they work to settle the new world, and may they remember that punishment for any future traitorous activity will be swift and sure.

  Those Guardians now residing among the Islanders are guilty only of following the orders of their commander, as they were trained to do, and they shall remain unpunished. Those who wish to remain among the Islanders may, if they have skills useful to the Project and are accepted by the Island Committees, resign from the Guardians to serve the Project. The others will be brought back to Earth and will continue in their Guardian service here.

  Those living in the artificial worlds called Habitats will be allowed to aid the Project in their own small way, according to the terms of our new agreement with them. Though we do not need their aid to realize our dream, we shall allow them to do what they can to aid the construction of domes on the Venusian surface, since they wish to show their gratitude to us for our forbearance when we might have attacked their worlds. Misguided individuals sought to make allies of the Habitat-dwellers in their treachery, and though we might have acted forcefully against the Habitats, we stayed our hand and drew no blood. We shall allow the Habitat-dwellers to do penance for their misguided actions by giving what small help they can to our Project.