“I’ll go, too,” Brett said. “Just to be certain.”
MacKinnie got up as well.
Stark shook his head. “No need for you to come, Colonel. I’ll see you in the morning.”
And you’d rather I didn’t watch, MacKinnie thought. I’ve seen the Temple medical people work, they’re good at their job — and Hal won’t want me around when they start yanking at that shoulder. It’s easier to yell bloody murderif your friends aren’t around. “Right.” He watched as the priests led Hal and Brett away.
Nathan went to the door and closed it. When he turned back he saw Mary was still there, still lovely, making no move to go—
“Freelady, you shouldn’t be—”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “You’re shaking—”
“Yes, damn it. I—”
“So am I.” She held up her hands.
MacKinnie laughed wryly. “You’re not in my line of work. It’s always been like this, after the action is over—”
“And you wonder if I think less of you?” she asked. “Because your hands tremble?” She shuddered.
Why is she here? MacKinnie wondered. Right here, two steps away, all I have to do is—
She’s your ward and you’re fifty and she’s half your age. And damned beautiful. And what do I do now? “Do you want a drink?”
“If you’re having one—”
He poured two goblets of wine.
There was a long silence while they drank. Then Mary laughed.
“What?” Nathan asked.
“Us. You were almost killed tonight. You could be killed tomorrow. Or we both could be. And we’re standing here in the middle of this room, when — Nathan, this is foolish!”
“But-”
“But nothing! Guardians. Never be alone with a man. Nathan, that’s another world. A world so far away I can’t even imagine it — and you stopped looking at me like a daughter a long time ago …” She moved closer to him and put her hand on his arm. “We’re here, Nathan. We’re here and tonight we’re alive. Tomorrow we might not be.”
* * *
Gray dawn gave just enough light to see when
MacKinnie woke. He lay still for a moment, half remembering a dream. Then he sat upright. He was alone in the bed—
But not in the room. Mary sat in a big chair, her knees drawn up to her chin. She had covered herself with a large fur robe.
“You’re awake,” she said.
“So are you — why are you sitting there?”
“I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Are you — are you all right?” he asked.
She laughed, a soft tinkle in the gray light. “You silly goose, of course I’m all right.” She laughed again. “Why, did you think I was brooding over lost innocence? If you must know, I was thinking of how much time we wasted before tonight.”
“So was I.”
She smiled and stood. She was naked except for the fur robe, and she threw that aside. “Then let’s don’t waste any more. There won’t be a lot of privacy on Subao.”
It was fully light outside when he woke again. MacKinnie moved carefully and gently kissed her. She smiled and opened her eyes lazily.
“Good morning,” Nathan said.
“Yes. It is a good morning.” She stretched lazily. “It would be a better one for some coffee. Or chickeest. Or even that horrible tea they have here.”
“I’ll just send for some, shall I?”
She drew away in mock horror. “And scandalize your guards?”
“They would be. Or would pretend to be,” Nathan said.
“Don’t be so serious.”
“Someone has to be.”
“I suppose. And we’ve both work to do. We’d better get up.”
“To hell with the work—”
“You don’t mean that,” she said.
“Maybe I do. The harder I work, the quicker we go back. Assuming Kleinst can do anything useful to begin with, and I’m not at all sure he can. Mary — we really could stay here.”
“You’re not going to start that again, are you? Nathan, I don’t really know why we’re here. It has something to do with the library, I can guess that. And Lord Dougal said this was the most important mission in the history of Haven, important to the whole planet.”
“It is,” Nathan said. “And it’s time I told you what we’re doing here. All of you should know, so you won’t let something slip to the Imperial Navy people.” He explained the mission to her. “But I’ve come to think it’s senseless,” he finished.
“Why?”
“Why? You’ve seen their ships. How can we build anything like that?”
“What does Kleinst say, now that he’s seen the library?”
“Humph. He’s so enraptured by all the new scientific laws that he isn’t even thinking about building ships. And he doesn’t know if we can read copies of the records on Samual, even if we can take copies back. He could learn, he says. But in how many years? I think we’ve been chasing a dream, Mary. A noble dream, but nothing more than that.”
She stared at patterns of sunlight on the wall. When she spoke she was very serious. “Dream or not, we have to try,” she said. “Not just for us. For everyone. The Empire is wrong, Nathan. Their policies. Look at what they’re doing to this world. With what little we know we could save them from so much misery.”
“Or destroy them,” MacKinnie said.
“That’s strange, coming from you.”
“Oh, I’ve no love for the Imperials. I just don’t know how to do their job.”
“You don’t have to. All you have to do is your own.”
“But-”
“There really is something wrong, isn’t there?”
He nodded. “Hal won’t be coming back with us.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. He’s going to stay with Brett. He thinks he has an obligation to these peasant lads he trained. So do I.”
“He’s been with you a long time, hasn’t he?”
“Since I was a junior lieutenant,” Nathan said. “Mary, how can I leave him here? And for what? It’s not my job any longer. It’s all up to Kleinst, and he doesn’t know how to build a spaceship either.”
“Iron MacKinnie gives up,” she said. “The terrible warrior — no, I won’t mock you. I don’t suppose I’ll ever know the kind of friendship you and Hal have. But the mission isn’t finished until we get home, and Nathan, be honest, what are our chances without you?”
“Not as good as if I come.” It was as if the words were wrenched from him, as if they said themselves without his willing it. “But what good are we doing?”
“Nathan, we’ve got the library. When we started even that didn’t look possible. Now we just keep doing what we can.”
“Why is this important to you?” MacKinnie asked.
“They trusted me,” she said. “For you that’s nothing new. But for me — Nathan, I can’t betray that trust.” She moved closer to him. “I hope—”
“What?”
“I’m selfish enough to hope you won’t make me choose, “she said.
There were tears at the corners of her eyes. Nathan knew she was fighting to hold them back, that she wasn’t acting.
Duty and honor and love. He’d sacrifice all three no matter what he did. But when he looked at her, he knew he had no real choice at all.
PART THREE
PRINCE SAMUAL’S HOPE
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ARINDELL’S CASTLE
Angus Volker, fourteenth Regent of Prince Samual University, looked at the invitation and sighed. It was a simple card written by someone with beautiful handwriting, and the message seemed harmless enough. “David II, by grace of God King of Haven and Grand Duke of Orleans, Mayor of Halmarch, Prince-Magnate of Stanford, requests the honor of your company at an audience to be held at the residence of Lord Arindell at 1664 hours on Wednesday next.”
Certainly the card was formally correct
. It was not a command.
But it might as well have been. Academician Volker looked around his richly furnished tower office and sighed again. When the faculty elected him rector it seemed likely that he would preside over the University’s celebration of its two-hundred-fiftieth anniversary of independence. Now it is likely that celebration would never happen. The very titles King David chose to have placed on the invitation were significant: Orleans, Stanford, and Halmarch had all been prominent in the alliance of free states which by treaty guaranteed the independence of Prince Samual University. Now they were merged into Haven, as were several more so thoroughly subjugated that they had not even the shadow of existence in David’s titles.
I could refuse, he told himself. I could send polite regrets …
But the next invitation would not be so polite. It might even be accompanied by Haven guards. The University proctors couldn’t keep armed Haven troops from entering the campus. Some of the students would undoubtedly riot, but the end of that was inevitable. The University’s independence had never depended on anything as weak as its power to defend itself. And now the alliance which had been its real defense was a hollow shell.
No. Better to accept an invitation. So long as David was being formally correct, there was a small chance that the University might retain independence. If the gloves came off there would be no chance at all.
Volker turned the matter endlessly in his mind as his chauffeur drove him toward Lord Arindell’s palace.
Arindell. Was the meeting place significant? Arindell was a prominent socialite, and it was not unreasonable that the king might host a social gathering at his residence — but Arindell was also Minister of Justice. There were stories about him and the Haven Royal Police; of how suspected enemies of King David had vanished without a trace. There had always been such stories, but lately there seemed to be more. Was it merely because no one understood the role of the Imperials, or was there more to it? Volker didn’t know.
But surely they would not so openly arrest the Rector of Prince Samual University! The University was the most important institution on Prince Samual’s World, above petty national politics, older than most nations and subject to none of them. Surely he need not worry. He told himself that again, then carefully folded his pudgy hands in his ample lap and with an effort of will made them stay there as the car drove on through uncrowded cobblestone streets.
Lord Arindell’s palace had once been a fortress. The moat had long ago been filled in, and the cannon on the terraces were obsolete, purely decorative, their mouths stuffed with fresh flowers. Banners and streamers fluttered from high battlements. Yet despite the festive decorations there was an air of foreboding about the place, and Volker was reluctant to leave his steam car. He wanted desperately to tell the chauffeur to take him back to campus where he felt safe. But if he did, how long would the campus be a place of refuge?
“One step at a time,” he told himself. Then, louder, he told the chauffeur, “Go back to the University. Mrs. Volker will have errands for you. And send another driver for me. Have him come here and wait.”
“I don’t mind waiting, Rector. I could send a telegram to have Andrew help Lady Volker.”
“No. Please do it my way.” He hesitated. “I’m not unhappy with you, Felix. I’ve got reasons.”
The chauffeur looked up at the massive stone walls. “I guess you have, sir. If I was going in there, I expect I’d want somebody to know what time I went in. Somebody outside.”
Volker smiled wryly. “I hadn’t known I was that obvious. I’m certain nothing will happen.”
“Be more certain with me back on campus,” Felix said. “I could stop by the provost’s office on my way to help Lady Volker … I’ve got a cousin who’s a proctor.”
“It won’t be necessary,” Volker said. “Thank you.”
He waited until the steam car was out of sight before he went down the rose-lined path to the great gates.
A hundred of Haven’s most glamorous people were gathered in the ancient palace ballroom. Angus was announced by a butler and greeted by Lord Arindell. The gathering seemed purely social, but Volker remained watchful.
“The king’s upstairs,” Arindell told him. “He’ll join the party presently. Enjoy yourself.” He bowed and left Angus to his own devices.
Curious, Volker thought. It seemed a pleasant enough party. But why had he been invited? I’ll find out sooner than I like…
Most of the guests’ conversations were confined to two subjects: the war of unification, which was going well, and the economy, which was booming but which might be hurt by the consequent inflation, and which was also made uncertain because no one knew what the Imperials would do. Imperial trade would make some rich, others poor, and no one knew which. Yet even these subjects were but lightly treated. There was no serious discussion at all. A number of the people present had sons at the University, and Volker knew of most of them; the University might be independent, but it was only prudent to be wary of students from Haven’s great families. He set himself to the task of being charming, telling anecdotes about student pranks, and acting as if he enjoyed the opportunity. It was an easy act; much of the rector’s job was concerned with obtaining donations.
He had been in the palace for half an hour and refilled his cup at the punchbowl twice when a man in butler’s livery approached. He didn’t look at all like a butler. He stood too straight, and he was too young to be a retired soldier…
“If you would come with me, sir,” the servant said. “You have an appointment—”
“Certainly,” Volker said. He followed the butler out a side door and up back stairways to the third floor. At the end of the hall was a door, and three more liveried servants, all young and very military in appearance, stood outside it. They opened the door for Volker.
“In here, sir,” his escort said.
The room was a large, book-lined study. King David, Sir Giles Og, and a man Volker didn’t know were seated informally near the fireplace. Volker bowed to the still-seated king. David wasn’t his king, but it cost nothing to be polite. By rights, they should meet as equals. They were both sovereigns. It didn’t escape Angus that King David must know that as well as he did. “Your Majesty.”
“You are kind to come,” David said. “You’ve met the Prime Minister, of course. And allow me to present Citizen Dougal, a minister without portfolio.”
They stood, and Volker acknowledged their bows.
That, at least, was protocol, and Angus felt better.
“Won’t you be seated?” the king asked. “Would you care for grua?”
“Yes, please—” Volker had expected the king to ring for a servant, but Dougal went to the small table to bring Volker’s drink. “Thank you.”
“This meeting is confidential,” David said. “I want your assurance on that.”
“Certainly,” Volker said. “Although of course any discussion of importance to the University must be reported to the Regents …”
“That’s why you’re here,” Dougal said. “Let’s be open about this, Professor. You want to preserve the University’s independence. Well, you may get that, but there are conditions.”
“But the Regents-”
“Nothing said here will be reported to the Regents,” Dougal said. He sounded like a man accustomed to being obeyed. “If it comes to formal meetings with the Regents, we’ll have an entirely different conversation. One you and they won’t much care for. Better we settle matters here.”
“Honesty is important,” Sir Giles said. “But we can remain polite. However, we stray from the subject, which is your word on the secrecy of this meeting.”
That wasn’t a hard decision to make, for the same reasons that has brought him here in the first place. He could guess Dougal’s next move. He’d already hinted at it by addressing him as “Professor.” The title was used by the faculty in addressing their rector, but others generally employed more honorific phrases. Angus sighed and submitted to the inevitab
le. “You have my assurance. This meeting will remain confidential.”
“Excellent,” Sir Giles said. “Now. Let us sum up the situation. Prince Samual University has been an independent institution since just before the Plague Years. You have your own laws and courts and you set your own policies, and you share knowledge equally with all. That’s worked well. We don’t want to change it, even if you are in the middle of Haven. God knows there have been times when your privileges of sanctuary were dreadfully abused, but we’ve always put up with it.
“But times have changed. When there wasn’t any unity to Prince Samual’s World it made sense to have super-national entities like the University and the Brotherhoods, but we’re putting an end to national entities. Haven’s treaties granting you independence were for the large part with states that are now part of Haven. The rest will be soon. So it’s to talk about the future of the University under the new order here.”
“I see,” Volker said. “We have expected this, of course. But I do not see why you have not come to the Regents…”
“Because we need your help,” David said. “And we’ve agreed that you can be trusted.”
“And it is very much in your interest to work with us.” Dougal said. “You can negotiate with us. We understand each other. Your alternative is the Imperials — and they won’t leave you a damned bit of independence.”
Imperials. Interesting, Volker thought. Certainly they would have something to say about Haven’s rule of Prince Samual’s World. Curious that they’d never told anyone their intentions. Even more curious that a Haven cabinet officer would speak that way … “They are your allies, not mine,” Volker said. “Of course you probably know that the Regents have granted the Imperial officers the privileges of visiting scholars. They often come to use the library.”
“We know,” Dougal said. “What you don’t know is why they’re here.”
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