Empire of Dust

by Jacey Bedford

  “Good God in Heaven!” Jack Mario had held the groundcar door for Rena Lorient, but he stood frozen as Ben nodded to Gupta and two portable spotlights flashed on, illuminating Coburg.

  Rena Lorient, emerging from the car, didn’t quite scream, but her squeal of shock was audible across the compound. She reached out for her husband, but he was already striding toward the corpse and Jack caught her hand instead.

  “What happened?” Jack sounded genuinely shaken.

  “Justice by the looks of it.” Lorient turned, and his eyes were bright.

  Ben had never wanted to put his fist into someone’s face as badly as he did at that moment. As if Cara knew, she moved up to stand right by his shoulder, her arm touching his. He let his anger sink back to a simmer.

  “A riot. Your Ecolibrians.” He waited for their reactions and glanced at Cara. “They went through Anna Govan and Don Cooksey to get to him. They killed the doctor that saved your son’s life.”

  *Jack and Rena knew nothing about it,* Cara said. *I’m getting shock and horror from both of them. Jack’s feelings are shot through with anger, Rena’s with bewilderment.*

  *Good. As I’d hoped. What about Lorient?*

  Lorient had halted in front of Coburg’s dangling corpse. He had his back to them, but that wouldn’t hinder Cara’s empathic abilities.

  He felt Cara lean against him and he reached for her hand. She was trembling. *He’s fucking excited. The bastard! Almost got a hard-on.*

  He squeezed her hand. *Sorry. Can you stick with him? Did he plan this?*

  *I don’t think so, but he’s glad it happened. Stirred up resentment and hoped for a result would be my best guess. He’s so focused on Coburg that he hasn’t even taken in the two other deaths.*

  *Thanks. I get the picture.*

  *Hard to miss him. He’s a high-reader. Emotions very near the surface. I’ve noticed it before, but never this clearly.*

  “What can we do to . . . help?” Jack had folded Rena back into the groundcar and walked over to Ben and Cara. “I’m so sorry. This is terrible. There must be something . . . Did Coburg have family? And, Doctor Govan . . . I’m deeply sorry. She was a good person. And the other man, Cooksey.”

  “Coburg has parents on Chenon. They’ll have to be informed . . . probably not the detail. Anna Govan has an elderly sister still living, on Ferrina colony, I believe. Cooksey lost his wife a few years ago on Hera-3. He’s been alone since then.”

  “Please express regrets of the colony administration. A few hotheads. We’ll take steps to find out who.”

  Ben liked Jack Mario. He was the real brains behind the settlement plan. If only the politics of the situation would allow him to work with Jack and bypass Lorient altogether, but able as he was, Jack never seemed able to stand up to Lorient.

  “We’ve got some of the culprits. Hopefully, when they wake, we’ll discover the ringleaders.”

  Lorient turned, and Ben felt Cara flinch.

  *Go and wait in the med-center,* he told her.

  *I’ll stick it out.*

  He felt a rush of admiration for her. It wasn’t easy for Empaths in a confrontation situation. He damped his own anger down even further so he didn’t contribute to her problem.

  “Director Lorient.” Ben waited for Lorient to come to him. “Do you want to send someone to sit in when we interview the suspects?”

  “Suspects?”

  Ben explained about the anesthetized rioters.

  “I want to see them.”

  “They’re still out cold.”

  “I still want to see them.”

  Ben led him into the accident and emergency unit inside the med-center where four sleepers lay on gurneys.

  “I don’t know them,” Lorient said, trying to hide the relief in his voice.

  *That’s true,* Cara said.

  “You must have a fair idea who did this.”

  “No. No idea at all.” He quickly turned away, avoiding eye contact.

  “We do expect that you will deal with this, Director. Otherwise we will have to, and you don’t want that.”

  “You have no legal jurisdiction here, Benjamin. None. It’s our colony. You’ll release those four to my associates.”

  “Erich Coburg was my responsibility, as were Anna Govan and Don Cooksey.” Ben schooled his voice to a growl. “If I dragged the culprits back to Chenon in body pods, I would have interstellar law on my side. Don’t think I won’t do it if I have to.”

  “Of course we’ll seek out the ringleaders.” Jack Mario eased himself between the two men, ignoring, for once, Lorient’s scowl.

  “See that you do,” Ben said.

  As Lorient stepped inside the groundcar, Ben called Jack back. “What’s the size of the problem, Jack? How many rabid fundamentalists does Lorient have? It seems to me that most of your settlers are reasonable people trying to get on with their own lives, but if this is what Lorient’s fundies are capable of, we need to stop them now.”

  “Not as many as you might think, but they tend to be the ones who are hanging around Timbertown. They attend a lot more of the director’s meetings and it reinforces a very negative message.”

  Ben stepped back for now. Maybe Jack just needed a small infusion of backbone and the will to stand up to Victor more firmly. This was a step in the right direction. He watched them climb back into the groundcar and give the driver the nod to leave.

  “Do you think they will investigate?” Cara asked.

  “I think Jack will try, but Lorient will protect his hardcore. I don’t think there are many of them, but they stir up the easily led. I suspect the four that we’ve got are the led rather than the leaders.”

  “So what do we do? Are you going to release them to Lorient?”

  “For now, but tag them with a subcutaneous tracking device so we can pick them up again when we need to. Gather evidence at the scene.” He nodded to Gupta. “Take Mr. Coburg down now, please.”

  Gupta began to direct his team.

  “Come on,” Ben said, holding his hand out to Cara. “Let’s go. We’ve got an early start in the morning. Gupta knows what he’s doing.”

  He was quite surprised, but gratified, when she took it.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  SEARCH

  Ben roused before first light, though he wasn’t actually sure he’d had any significant amount of sleep. He had a jumbled memory of alternately staring at nothing, eyes wide open in the velvet-black darkness, or staring at the inside of his eyelids waiting for the blessed relief of sleep that never came. When he did doze, he saw Coburg’s mutilated corpse or Anna’s smiling face and heard her reassuring voice while staring in horror at the small round wound in the center of her forehead.

  He was glad to dress and join the small flotilla heading for Ronan’s base camp. Cara was already up and out of their room. He suspected she’d had a sleepless night as well. Ben piloted a two-man flitter with Cara at his side, holding open communications for the four flitters preparing to fly regular search patterns over rough terrain.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” Ben asked.

  She sighed. “Numb, but I won’t let it interfere with the job.”

  He adjusted course and nodded. “I know we have a bit of a strange personal relationship, but I probably don’t always remember to say that I’m very lucky to have you as a working partner, even if I don’t always know what makes you tick.”

  “Should I take that as a compliment?”

  “You should.”

  They were approaching the mountains when Cas patched through a call from Wenna. Cara held the link.

  *Ben.* Wenna was agitated, her telepathic ability weakened by the distance. *Lorient’s upset about Gupta asking questions. He says he expects you to be in his office by nightfall.*

  *Not possible. Tell him you’re in charge,* Ben said.

  *He’s likely to try and call you. Be warned.*

  *Thanks, Wenna. It’s times like this when I’m grateful for this planet�
�s EM interference. I really don’t think I want to talk to him today.*

  Right on cue the radio link crackled.

  Ben sighed. “At least it’s only audio. I don’t think I could stomach the sight of the self-righteous bastard turning purple at the other end of a video link.” He made another minor course correction. “I’ve made every effort to placate Lorient up to now, but I’m running out of patience. There are three people who probably need medical attention, stuck halfway up a mountain. I’m not about to abandon this search in favor of going to a meeting with a megalomaniac.”

  Cara hit connect.

  “Benjamin.” The comm line crackled with ill-concealed malevolence. “Why didn’t you tell me there was an emergency situation involving one of your psi-techs and one of my settlers? I have a right to know. Marling and Constant. Are the two of them alone together?”

  “They were working together, that’s all. We’re taking a rescue team in now.”

  “But they are alone?”

  There it was, the not-so-hidden subtext.

  “You forced the volunteers on us, Director. Constant is actually one of the more useful ones. Don’t be surprised when we give him a job to do.” Ben’s voice was still remarkably calm, given the way he felt. “Constant is with Gen and Lee Gardham. No need to worry.”

  “You can say that after Coburg?”

  “Especially after Coburg. You’re not trying to tell me that the Fenec girl was unwilling, are you?”

  “Do you want to bring her before the council to find out?”

  *Didn’t this man learn anything from last night?* Cara flashed the comment across to Ben.

  *Apparently not.*

  Ben continued with Lorient’s call. “Let it lie, now, Director. There’s been enough unrest already.”

  “Don’t try that one on me, Benjamin. Crowder told me I could trust you, but that’s the problem, I don’t trust any of you.”

  Cara saw Ben’s knuckles whiten as he clenched them on the flitter controls. He took a deep breath. “Director Lorient. I think everyone needs to cool off. This mission will take as long as it takes. In the meantime, I’m going to pull my staff out of Timbertown, and I want you to take some time to calm your settlers down.”

  “Are you giving me orders, Benjamin?”

  “I have the authority to take every one of my psi-techs off this planet if lives are in danger.” Ben hoped that Lorient was getting this message loud and clear. “I’d say that last night was a pretty good indication that there is very little goodwill between your people and mine. Unless you want us to leave your settlers to sink or swim alone, I suggest you ease up.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “What do you think?”

  Ben cut the comm-link and groaned. “What have I done?” He shook his head and rubbed his forehead with the fingertips of his left hand. “That was dumb. I should have sucked up to him again. That’s what Crowder would have done.”

  “You don’t know what Crowder would have done. He’s not here and you are. I know how much you’ve bitten your tongue to keep Victor Lorient sweet. I don’t think even Crowder would have had this much patience.”

  “Last night, when I saw Coburg hanging there, I wanted to smash my fist into Lorient’s face. I still want to.” Ben put both hands over his eyes. “I’m really not cut out to be a diplomat.”

  “But you didn’t do it. You went for the best option.”

  Cara reached across and touched the back of his hand. He turned his hand over and grasped her fingers.

  “Thanks. Moment of weakness over. We’ve got a job to do.”

  “Hey, if you need another moment of weakness anytime, I’m around.”

  He smiled at her. “I know. Thanks.”

  “It’s not much, after all you’ve done for me.”

  “I’m not keeping a tally.” He let go of her hand. “Someone’s going to have to jolly Lorient along for a few days. Get hold of Saedi Sugrue. Tell her to find Jack Mario and have him contact me on a secure mechanical link. I might get some sense out of him.”

  Jack Mario came through within a few minutes.

  “Jack. We’ve still got problems. You and I need to talk.”

  “You might be right.” Jack sounded guarded, but there was something in his tone that gave a slight opening.

  Ben took the opportunity that was offered. “Jack, I need to buy some time without your boss going off the deep end.”

  Jack made a noncommittal sound, but he certainly didn’t spring to Lorient’s defense. It must be bad if Jack was backing off.

  “Have you got problems, too, Jack?”

  “Look, is this conversation private? I mean like just me and you?” Jack asked.

  “Cara’s here. That’s as good as private. She knows everything I know.”

  “I shouldn’t be talking this way, Ben, but last night sickened me and it sickened quite a few others as well. We’re not all fanatics, you know.”

  “I’ve told Lorient I can pull my people off planet. And I will, if I must.”

  “No!” Jack was obviously alarmed at the idea. “We need you here for the full term of your contract if we’re going to have a chance of anything like a decent life in the first years of this settlement. You know that as well as I do. Even the director knows it. And the people—most of them—really appreciate the help you’ve given them.”

  “Lorient forgets very quickly when it suits him.”

  “He’s confident that we’ll succeed against any odds, but he’s not always practical.”

  “He’s starting to believe his own publicity. Jack. If the director isn’t . . .” He paused, searching for the right word. “If he isn’t well, perhaps he should stand down as leader, temporarily, of course.”

  “I hear what you’re saying, but I couldn’t force him to do that. He’s up and down—erratic—but the man’s a genius when he’s working a crowd. Most of the settlers are here because they followed him back on Earth. They’re looking to him as their head. What he says goes.”

  “Are you going to be able to calm the situation down a bit?”

  “Mrs. Lorient and I are trying our best. She doesn’t say much, but she’s well aware of the problems. A lot of people go to her instead of to the director, especially the women. She has a natural bond with them. Not flashy like the director’s but very real. She doesn’t want to be disloyal, but last night’s incident scared her.”

  “It didn’t do much for me, either. Look, Jack, if you can do anything to keep the lid on this situation, I’d appreciate it.”

  “I don’t know how long I can give you.”

  “Do your best. Wenna Phipps is the one to talk to while I’m not there, but if you need me, then contact me through Saedi Sugrue. You can trust her.”

  “Yes, I know. I’ll do what I can,” Jack said.

  • • •

  The flitter droned onward through the morning. It had been a long night, and there was the prospect of an even longer day. Cara watched the rolling land below. It had ceased to look alien to her already. Even the broc trees looked normal.

  And right now she wanted to see normal things.

  She didn’t want to think about last night, but Coburg’s mutilated body seemed to be strung up just behind her eyelids and Anna’s sightless eyes stared over her shoulder. She didn’t need that right now; she needed to concentrate on Gen and Max.

  She didn’t let herself think about the possibility of finding a crash site and more corpses, especially if one of them was one of Lorient’s settlers. As they flew steadily north, Cara continued to send out a steady stream of inquiry aimed at Gen, but couldn’t raise her. They were in the shadow of the mountain range before there was a fluttering reply.

  “Ben, I’ve got Gen! She’s weak, but I’ve got her.”

  Cara brought Ben into the communication. “Can you get a fix?” he asked.

  “I need a Finder.” *Sami?*

  Sami Isaksten was their best psi-tech Finder.

  *Here.* She r
eplied at once from one of the search-grid flitters.

  *I’ve got contact with Gen. Can you get a trace on her?*

  *I’ll try my best.* Sami slipstreamed into Cara’s link with Gen.

  *Okay, Gen, take it easy,* Ben said through Cara. *Status report, please.*

  *Transport wrecked. Max . . . broken ribs I think. Bashed head, hurts, headache.*

  By the confusion, Cara took it that Gen was the one with the head injury.

  *Location?* she asked.

  *North.* Gen was positive on that one. She was, like Ben, a Navigator, not as talented in the “human compass” department as he was, but still sure of herself. *Northeast of where we left the shepherds. Ten klicks. Caves.*

  Ben dismissed the rest of the search vehicles and alerted Ronan. Two rescue flitters and a medevac transport came together over the foothills and followed the course of a sharply defined valley into the mountains. Sami, tracking mentally, gave constant directions until they came to a spot surrounded by almost sheer rock walls. At the far side, a waterfall plunged down from the mountainside above.

  They landed a safe distance away from the wreckage of the airbus. To one side was a sad, lonely shape laid out and wrapped in a survival blanket. Cara saw the body. Lee. Gen had not mentioned Lee. She’d been hoping against hope that it was because the gentle veterinarian was alive and well and not in any immediate danger, but Cara knew firsthand what concussion could do to a psi-tech’s brain. It was possible Gen didn’t even realize Lee was dead.

  She heard Ben groan beside her. One more death for him to carry. He shouldn’t, but she knew he would. She touched his hand and received a mute squeeze of the fingers in return.

  A whistle from beyond the falls attracted their attention. Max stood by a cave mouth.

  The flitters settled into their antigravs in neat formation close to the pool. Ronan emerged from the medevac vehicle. Leaving Sami with Lee, Ben and Cara followed Ronan to the cave. The young medic looked pale. Losing Anna was a hell of a way to get a promotion to chief medic. Cara could sense he’d bottled up his feelings, and she didn’t intrude.