I smote my forehead in contrition.
“You are right, as always. In that case, I will use my specialized knowledge to try and help her see reality on her own. But she doesn’t want to, yet.”
“Few like to release the comfort of preconceived notions, my lord.”
At that moment, I received a ping on my viewpad. The seal of the Autocrat herself opened in a corner of my screen.
“Will you hold a moment, Parsons? The Autocrat is summoning me.”
Parsons nodded.
“Of course, sir.”
I switched over to the message. The pleasant, ridged face of Ema looked up at me. She crossed her palms under her chin.
“Lord Thomas, Her Serenity requests your presence. Will you join her at the Second Levee and stay for dinner?”
“It would be my greatest honor,” I said, returning the gesture. “Will I be required to change?”
“No. Please come as you are.”
“I will be there as soon as my conveyance can bring me,” I said. “Please give Her Serenity my compliments.”
Ema dropped her jaw. “Of course.”
I switched back to Parsons.
“I must go, Parsons. The Autocrat commands my presence once more.”
“All else is well, sir. I will speak to you later, sir. Her Excellence must not be made to wait.”
“I agree. Be seeing you.” The epicene image vanished behind the disconnection graphic. I put my viewpad away.
“Very well, then,” I said. “Driver, please take me to the palace. The kitchen entrance, if you please.”
“Yes, sir. It shall be done.”
The car lifted and smoothly moved into a gap in the traffic.
With regret, I watched the House of Deep Welcome recede over my shoulder.
CHAPTER 40
Skana heard the squeak of the window frame. She glanced up from the fruits of her shopping spread all over the broad green divan just in time to see a band of Uctus in dull brown robes and trousers leaping into the hotel suite one by one. They spotted her and strode toward her, hands out. She leaped to her feet.
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded.
When they didn’t answer, Skana reached into her shoulder bag and came up with the pulse pistol she never traveled without. She let off two bolts. One took the leader right in the forehead. His face collapsed inward. The second bolt missed and burned a hole in the window frame. She rolled over the couch and came up running.
“Nile! Tuk! Invaders!”
The nearest bedroom belonged to Nile’s girlfriends. She threw herself inside and slammed the heavy, white-painted paneled door. She slammed the latch down, regretting that she had had her bodyguards disable the other locks so the ladies couldn’t barricade themselves in the room. The two women, wrapped in white silk bathrobes until they had to dress for dinner, looked up from their own shopping in alarm.
“Get into the bathroom,” Skana ordered them. “There are intruders in the suite.” They sprang up and rushed through the second doorway. She picked up the nearest pocket secretary and flicked it on. “Nile, where are you?”
There was no answer. Instead, she heard the stentorian bellow of her brother’s voice in the sitting room.
“Dammit, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you lay a hand on me!”
The sounds of struggling were followed by a loud hissing noise. Skana started back from the door in alarm. Wisps of pale tan smoke came wafting underneath the door. She had just enough time to register its presence when her knees buckled and her mind went blank.
Her eyes flew open. It seemed as though it was only a second later, but the ceiling she was looking up at was not in the ladies’ bedroom. Under her fingertips, the surface she was lying on was covered with rough, nubbly cloth. Her knees and jaw felt bruised. She sat up. Enstidius stood beside the couch. Behind him, Nile’s girlfriends huddled together. A big Uctu with pumpkin-red skin and a pronounced ridge on his head menaced them with a knife as long as Skana’s arm.
“What the black hole did you do to us?” she demanded.
“An emergency,” the male said, helping her to swing her legs around. “You came to the attention of our enemy. We had to remove you from Memepocotel before you could be questioned.”
“Why did you have to drug us?” she asked. “How about just coming to us and telling us we needed to get out of town?”
Enstidius shook his head. “No time, when the moment of our liberation is so close at hand. You might have questioned. Or argued with my emissaries. Now we are all safe.”
“Safe from what?”
“From exposure.” He wrung his hands together. “Oh, why did I have you come here to see? Now I have jeopardized the entire coup. Toliaus told me that it was foolish to take humans into my confidence.”
“Whu—? Where—?”
Skana recognized Nile’s voice and looked around for him. He was lying on a heap of cushions close to the couch on which she had woken up. She jumped down. Her bare feet landed on a sand floor. She picked her way to her brother’s side.
“They took us out of the hotel, Nile,” she said. Tuk was on the floor, already awake and glaring. Four Uctus stood in a circle around him with their pulse rifles aimed at him.
“Why?” Nile asked.
“Because our movements could be detected by following you,” Enstidius said. “You made contact with other humans, friends of the Autocrat.”
Nile looked embarrassed.
“How do you know that?”
“It was reported by the High Wisdom’s spies. You were seen. Lord Toliaus has decreed. Those other humans will be present at the accession feast, so you must stay here until the power of our enemy is broken. We can’t risk drawing attention. No one must know until the moment of the attack. I will make certain you can watch our triumph from the nose camera of my craft.”
“You’re not keeping us away from that feast,” Nile said, angrily. “Especially if she is going to be there. I can’t let anything happen to her.”
“Her?” Enstidius blinked. “The Autocrat? I will spare her, of course.”
“No! Lady Jil Nikhorunkorn. The lady I talked to.”
“She is your loved one?”
“He wishes,” Skana said, in exasperation. “I’m with him, but for a different reason. There is no way that you are keeping us away from the dinner when all hell is going to break loose. We didn’t come all this distance to watch the action on digitavid.”
“It’s been decreed by the High Wisdom,” Enstidius said. “It will be safer for all of us if no one can connect you with us. If they find us, the coup will never take place!”
“How can they?” Skana asked, reasonably. “We’ve never been seen with you.”
“But what excuse will you give for appearing at the accession feast?”
“We’re big businesspeople in the Imperium, with lots of connections. We’re in town to talk trade with influential importers. We heard about the party and wrangled an invitation. How can they connect that with your patron taking out his rival?”
“Anything might create a chain of events in their mind. The High Wisdom reads the portents, and he is worried that you might tip the balance against him. We will have no second chance.”
“Whatever is going through that spooky mind of his, we’re on your side,” Skana said. “All he wants to do is remove his rival. Obviously, the other guy is too well protected for an ordinary assassination. We provided you with the means. We’re on your side.”
Enstidius was clearly torn. “We are likeminded souls, you and I. You will understand that the attempt might have unforeseen effects? I do not wish you to be injured or even killed. I will do my best to avoid harming the lady, or our ruler, but I make no promises.”
“Listen, my friend,” Nile said, his eyes burning. “‘No promises’ is insufficient assurance. We are going, and your High Wisdom is going to have to deal with that.”
“I am sorry. You’re not. When it is over, if nothing goe
s wrong, we may permit you to return to your lands, with our thanks, of course. There is nothing more that you can say.”
A bitter look from one of Nile’s girlfriends told Skana she was thinking ‘see how you like it?’
“The irony is not lost on me, ladies,” she said. “I’ll keep my word.”
“You are so wrong if you think we’re done negotiating,” Nile said. He plunged his hand into his pocket. It came up empty. Skana felt for her own pocket secretary and her other electronic devices. She turned desperately to Tuk, who shook his head.
“Where are our devices?” she demanded.
“We had to leave them in the city. Your location must not be traced. We are far out in the desert, away from the city.” He smiled. “I couldn’t risk you activating the destruct codes, either. I knew you would be displeased.”
“You must think that we were born yesterday,” Skana said, folding her arms.
Enstidius blinked at her.
“You are not newborns, that I know.”
Skana exploded in exasperation.
“It’s an expression! Look, I’ll lay it out for you. You’re afraid we’d talk. We won’t. But we get to see our goods in action, or there will be no coup. I can activate the destruct codes on your ships from here.”
The master looked aghast. “But you have no device! There is no signal here! How could you possibly do that? You would not dare.”
“Are you kidding? We imported five warships to this planet. We’ll dare a hell of a lot.”
“We will kill you, then you can’t activate your codes,” Enstidius said.
“They’re set with a failsafe,” Skana said. “And not the same one every time. If we don’t do certain things at certain times, they’ll activate, and you’ll have a pile of dust. You need to get us back to our personal electronics or our ship, and you have just about two hours to do it before the first combo goes into effect. Do you think you’re the first people ever to threaten us with torture or death? You amateur. You don’t really know who we are, do you?”
The Uctu master vacillated, shifting from foot to foot in worry. He stared at Skana and Nile, trying to decide if they were lying or not. She gave him a smug smile, which made him even more nervous. He threw up his hands.
“Very well. You leave us no choice. I will ask the High Wisdom for his decision. You will stay here. My people will make you comfortable.”
“Hurry up,” Skana called as he scurried away. She sat down on the couch. Nile put his arm around her, chuckling to himself. She was heaving mad, but also shaking with reaction.
The girls came up to her.
“What?” she demanded, more sharply than she intended.
“Ma’am?” said the cost analysis specialist, her face shining with shy admiration. “Some day, I want to be just like you.”
Skana patted her on the hand. “Thanks for the compliment, honey, but no, you don’t.”
CHAPTER 41
I returned from having breakfast with the Autocrat the next morning. I had been trying to teach her to meditate as I did, learning the skill of mindfulness. Alas, every time I got her settled and relaxed and thinking of an empty room or the sound of non-zebra hoofbeats, the High Wisdom would bully his way back into the State Bedroom with some excuse or other. He did not like what he saw as my growing influence over Visoltia. I couldn’t blame him. The more independent she became, the less he would be able to frighten her into acceding to his will.
At the Second Levee the day before, he hovered at her elbow while she signed requisitions. To the annoyance of the High Nourisher, he persuaded Visoltia to divert the export of crops to a distant system and divert them to a nearer one. I would have wagered that he had some kind of financial interest in the matter, but could not even imply aloud that was what I thought.
I was accustomed to seeing courtiers maneuvering for advantage. In fact, I would have thought it strange not to see it. But he was outrageous in his behavior. If he were human, I would have said he was a man on the edge of madness. Something was going to break soon, and if I were truly in touch with the infinite, I might have seen a glimpse of what it was. He was dangerous. I worried what more he might demand of her. Visoltia was so afraid of displeasing him that she sent me home immediately after breakfast. He sensed my suspicions, and could not hide how much he disliked me.
The feeling was mutual. I was on the sharp lookout for a means of discrediting him for once and all.
I stopped in their sumptuous suite to visit with Jil’s ladies, all of whom had remained behind in the hotel in solidarity with my cousin. I tapped upon the door to Jil’s bedroom in the sumptuous suite.
“Go away!” came a cry from within. I turned to Banitra, who stood beside me.
“Lady Jil,” she said. “It’s Lord Thomas. I am looking right at him. Turn on your pocket secretary.” She held up her own device and aimed the pinhole pickup in my direction. I struck a pose. “Do you see?”
“I am not coming out, Thomas,” Jil said.
I decided not to make the appeal on my own behalf.
“Visoltia kept asking for you. She misses you. I hope you will not allow one arrogant human to interfere with your friendship. No one else in our entire family can claim the intimacy you have struck up—if only you don’t let it fade away!”
“I can’t come out!” she wailed.
“But there is so much more shopping to do,” I reasoned. “You haven’t bought your outfit for the feast. You can’t be the only one of us who has nothing new to wear.”
“I don’t care. I am not going to the feast.”
“Don’t be silly. You love a good party. Visoltia told me that there will be a hundred courses, all exotic and delicious. And entertainment! Ten concerts, played by virtuosos from all over the Autocracy.”
“Go away, Thomas. Please.”
Banitra shook her head. “I will keep trying.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I went back to my chamber and found a message on the house system from Anstruther. I cast myself into a comfortable chair while Excelsis divested me of my boots, and summoned her up on my viewpad. There I found several messages from Plet, Anstruther and Redius. I had forgotten to turn it back on once we were finished with the meditation exercise. How unmindful of me.
“Good afternoon,” I said cheerily, as Anstruther’s image appeared. “How may I help?”
“Thomas,” she replied, beaming. “Is Commander Parsons with you?”
“No, he isn’t,” I said. “He went off on a matter of his own concern last evening. I haven’t seen him since. Have you tried his own unit?”
“I did, but there is no reply. He must be off-grid somewhere. I really need to speak with him.”
“You sound so excited,” I said. “What is it you need to tell him? It must be good.”
“It’s about the merchant ships,” she said, and her usually shy face took on a sly smile. “And it’s funny. But I shouldn’t talk about it on comm.”
I sat up at once. Excelsis had clad my feet in soft-soled shoes, suitable for wearing around the hotel, but not outside. I signaled him to return to me in case I needed a change in footgear.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“In our suite. Fifth floor. Room 57.”
I sprang to my feet. “I will be there in a moment.”
The set of rooms assigned to my crew was on a humbler floor than my own, but palatial nonetheless. A central sitting room led off to four bedrooms and a rather grand bath. This common chamber had become an offshoot of the Rodrigo, since the crew had moved a good deal of useful equipment into it and laid out stations that approximated their own specialties.
“I knew it had to be a fantastic discovery,” I said, the moment Anstruther let me into the room, “because you didn’t blush at using my name.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said, clutching the tablet in her arms close to her chest. She looked up at me. “I don’t mean to offend you.”
Redius and Oskelev, standing b
eside a high table with some very advanced-looking computer equipment on it, laughed aloud. Oskelev pounded the Uctu on the back, making him stagger. Nesbitt, perched on a stool beside the table, let out a big guffaw. Anstruther did blush then.
“I am teasing you,” I said. “Tell me your discovery.”
Her embarrassment vanished in a twinkling.
“I know how the programming made it into the victimized ships, and it’s not what we thought.”
“Really? Show me!”
She led me to the table, pushing Redius aside as though he was a pesty younger brother which, in a way, he was. He made way for me to a binocular scanner half a meter high.
“I think I can prove that the crew had something to do with putting the nanites on board. They conveyed a number of the nanites into the tanks themselves.”
“They did smuggle them?” I asked, looking from one eager face to another with growing horror in my soul.
“Not in a conscious sense,” Oskelev said. “You remember the symptoms that the merchant crews said they were suffering from?”
“Intimately,” I said.
“Do you remember the therapy to prepare you for the Uctu worlds?” Plet asked.
“Do I not?” I exclaimed. “What a load of disorientation! I have written a monograph on it, and the insights I gained from my days of disproportion. You should read it. I think it’s one of the best things I have come up with.”
Plet shrugged.
“Maybe later, my lord. But that is at the heart of the matter.”
“What? Disorientation?”
“No, sir. Nanites. Just like us, the crew was injected with a load of them so they could deal with the difference in sunlight and the chlorine in the atmosphere.” I looked at each of them in turn, still puzzled.
“Yes, but those were medical devices. And they were all gone from their bodies by the time the ships reached the Autocracy.”
“Their programming was hijacked by other nanites,” Anstruther said.
I felt my eyes widen.
“But where did those nanites come from?” I asked. Oskelev showed her sharp white teeth between bright pink lips.
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