“Yes, I do,” Mikal stated. “But please tell her that the protesters, the Klensers, are absolutely the most gentle, peace-loving human beings on the planet. None of them are to be harmed under any circumstances. As a matter of fact, I charge her to have the Torrones protect them from the Exalted, if that seems necessary. Oh, and tell her to contact one Kelt Carmaks when she starts talking to the Government officials. He’s the Senator from the Province of Ithcar, and the Carmaks are one of the handful of Exalted Families that support democratic reform. They’re on the side of the Ordinary Citizens of Vultaire.”
“I think that I will cadge a ride to the Capital City,” Vorlund muttered to himself after Mikal closed off the call. “My services may well be needed there.”
*****
In the end, Jorun, Hector Carmaks, Mathilde, and Maric Carmaks, a young Carmaks cousin who was a very competent flyer pilot, accompanied the group of more than dozen Klensers from Ithcar and the Underground Base, to the Capital City. It took both of the Carmaks’ flyers to accommodate them; that was why Maric was recruited, to his delight. Even the fact that he would be under Hector’s watchful eye did not diminish his joy with the assignment; having spent time during visits with his mother’s relatives in the Capital with his heedless city cousins, he understood Hector’s desire to keep intact the Carmaks reputation for sanity and humanity. And his mother was not coming along, thank goodness; Molly was not one to suffer fools gladly, especially if the fool in question happened to be one of her own offspring.
Maric had been thrilled to find out that Jorun, the Great Rebel Leader whom he had not met before, would be riding in his flyer. However, the mild-mannered, middle-aged man who climbed into the vehicle behind the Klensers was a bit of a disappointment—but then, what had he expected? Some hero from a children’s tale? A caped crusader, maybe? Maric chuckled inwardly at his own fantasies, as he welcomed Jorun, and took his vehicle up into the air to follow the one Hector was piloting. He might be still “wet behind the ears” as his mother complained, but he could follow instructions. Plus, he would be seeing new and amazing sights in the Capital City during this visit! The Star Federation was threatening to bring down an invasive force of troops known as Torrones Warriors! Maric had never heard of Torrones Warriors, but, apparently, they were awesome! The governing Oligarchs had, at last, done something so bad that the Star Federation had taken action to force them to release their stranglehold on the Planetary Government! The news had had Molly grinning when Hector had told her about it during his visit to recruit Maric for the flying; she who, before she had married a Carmaks, had been the spoiled daughter of an Oligarchic Family.
“But I was never stupid,” she always said when the topic came up. “I remember coming with your father to visit Ithcar, and being shocked by how well things were run here, while our Province was an economic disaster. I decided then and there that I’d marry your father, and that I would learn the ways of the Carmaks, and adopt them as my own. And I did, and I’ve been trying to convert my Family ever since, only most of my kin won’t listen to sense.”
“They don’t turn down the gifts of wine, or paper, or good food that we send them,” Mic Carmaks, Maric’s father had said with a roar of a laugh.
“No they don’t,” Molly had responded with a snort. “They accept such offerings as if it was our duty to give them. One of these days we’ll just quit giving them presents.”
“No, we won’t, my dear,” Mic had protested, putting an arm around her shoulders. “You’re too kind a woman to do that. And they are your relatives.”
Molly’s parents may have let her run wild, and indulged her to the extent that their straitened finances, and their own costly tastes allowed, but she had never followed that pattern with her own two children. She had grown up mostly in the Capital City, going to the runnerbeast and greyhound races, and hanging out with what she always referred to as “idiot-stick Exalted youth”.
“They were so boring,” she would say with a shake of her head, when she explained to her son and daughter why she was keeping them down in Ithcar, going to school, and learning the work around the Family vineyards that Mic loved. “You may think now that hanging about in the Capital City is a glamorous life, but believe me, you’d be sick of it in weeks. It’s the same thing over and over, and never a useful task performed. I remember when I met your father, I was just fascinated by his stories about the work he did among the grape vines: planting, husbanding, pruning, arranging the picking of the grapes and their transportation to the winery. I think that I probably begged him to take me home with him.”
“She did,” Mic had laughed. “Not that it was hard to humour her; she was one pretty girl. She still is.” Molly had blushed. “And when I brought her here, I could tell that she was really impressed and keen on learning everything she could about growing grapes and making wine. My uncle, Hector’s father, took me aside and told me to ‘snag that lovely girl’. He figured that we Carmaks have to spread our ways to the other Families through marriage, since it looked like we weren’t going to be changing our world any other way.”
Now change was coming, and Maric was to be in the thick of it. He had been entrusted with the task of transporting Klensers to the Capital City, as well as the Rebel Leader, himself. Hector had said that they would try to contact Uncle Kelt Carmaks as soon as they reached the City, and find out what the news was about the mysterious Unofficial Investigative Team from the Federation.
According to some rumours the Unofficial Investigative Team, and the Musical Troupe of Entertainers who had been travelling through Ithcar some months back, were the same group, but the Entertainers had had Vultairians among them, so Maric was not totally convinced of the accuracy of that information. In fact, a Carmaks Family member, good old Jock, as Maric thought of him, had joined the Troupe on their swing to the Capital City and beyond.
Jock was a Carmaks in good standing, admired for his courage in embracing life as a musician, a career choice considered by the Oligarchs to be more suitable for Ordinary Citizens than the Exalted. Maric had actually grown a little tired of hearing Molly repeat that he, Maric, could do worse than to take Jock for an example of how a Carmaks behaved. But Jock was a keen musician and not in the least underhanded, and to Maric’s way of thinking, being an investigator called for the ability to deceive when necessary.
He, Maric, could have handled that sort of thing. Some of his mother’s relatives made a habit of scamming for money to spend on wagers at the runnerbeast track, or an evening at one of the Capital City bordellos. Maric had, on his visits to the Vanta Townhouse in the Capital, carefully watched the scheming that his Grandfather and his Uncles immersed themselves in, noting the lying and the cheating, and the tricks that enabled them to slip a fast one by even observant folks. He had been contemptuous of these relatives who preferred dishonesty over learning to manage their home province in a manner that would have allowed it to prosper. As his mother was fond of saying, there truly was no accounting for laziness. However, it had occurred to him that the deceptions that the Vanta Family men enjoyed perpetrating might come in handy someday, against their very kind.
Now, with things in turmoil in the Capital, maybe the time had come to make use such talents. Hector had said gleefully, that the Star Federation had, finally, involved itself in internal Vultairian affairs. Members of an Exalted Family had pulled off a stunt which the Federation Authorities could not ignore. Unfortunately, that was all the information that Maric had been able to get, in the rush to go and meet the Klensers in Bouldertown.
He decided to approach his passenger for more information.
“Do you know what’s happening in the Capital City, and elsewhere?” he asked Jorun who had settled himself comfortably into the seat next to him.
The Rebel Leader gave him an assessing glance. Maric remembered that Hector had said that he was a bright man, and a first-rate politician, even though he did not have the benefit of a translation node. It was probably a good idea f
or a young man to stay on his right side.
“I know some of it, although probably not nearly all,” Jorun responded. “How much did Hector tell you when he recruited you for the piloting?”
“He said that the Klensers were sensing some danger through the Spirit of the Forest with which they are in touch.” Maric had his node dig out the words that had been spoken between him and Hector. “I was kind of like ‘Huh?’, since I hadn’t heard of this Spirit, unless it was in bedtime tales told by the Nurse when I was a child. But Hector said that, oh yes, the Forest Spirit was a real being, and the Klensers really could communicate with it. And that it wanted the Klensers to go en masse to the Capital City because maybe their presence there could prevent violence between the Oligarchs’ goons and the troops the Federation was sending to Vultaire to take over the government. I didn’t have time to ask more questions; Hector was rushing me to pack a bag and get moving.
“Do you know what the Federation wants to do with our government?”
Jorun chuckled at the question.
“We’re expecting them to hand it over to the People of Vultaire, meaning all of us. I did talk to Marston in Port City, now that he has a communicator which the Oligarchs can’t tap into, and he, apparently, had an opportunity to talk at length with the operative who was the first to arrive on Vultaire, after the Unofficial Investigative Team. Marston said that this Mikal fellow talked about having a Lamanian, or Lamanian-trained, contingent brought in to help us arrange a democratic, representative form of government. Lamanians are supposed to be geniuses when it comes to administering societies; they’re not miracle-workers, but their ideas about government are about as good as you can find anywhere in the Federation.”
“So this would be exactly what Hector has been hoping for?” Maric queried, with some surprise.
“More or less,” Jorun said with a grin. “Mind you, we’re not there yet. There are only six of the Four Hundred Families that are going to accept a new order without a fuss. And the big question is: How big a fuss are the Oligarchs now in power prepared to make to try to cling to their privileged status?”
“To judge by my mother’s relatives—a giant fuss,” Maric muttered. “They’ll lie, cheat, and steal; they’ll play every con-game imaginable just to avoid doing honest work.”
Jorun laughed out loud. It was a refreshing sound.
“So, it’ll be business as usual in our fair Capital, is that what you’re saying?” Jorun wiped a bit of wetness from the corners of his eyes. “Hector has mentioned that Molly’s relatives, the Vantas, have been pretty resistant to the Carmaks charm. Sounds like you have personal experience of that.”
Maric decided to trust Jorun. He had no idea that in doing so he was following in the footsteps of a lot of Vultairians.
“It had occurred to me,” he said, “that maybe I could make myself useful by using the very tricks that I’ve seen the Vanta men use to gain a little money, a little advantage, or pleasure, without paying for them. I’ve got the genetics. Why not use them for a good cause, for change?”
Now Jorun roared with laughter.
“I think that I’m gonna like you, kid,” he said. “Does Hector know what his Family’s policy of extending their reach by marrying out into the less amenable of the Four Hundred Families has spawned?”
“I haven’t explained my thinking to him, no,” Maric replied, pleased to hear the praise. “It’s been only sort of an idea. But maybe now is a good time to put it into use, what with things happening.”
“Well I’m glad you decided to let me in on your idea,” Jorun told him, still smiling broadly. “And rest assured, if we need a little deception pulled off, I’ll put your talents to use. It’s perfectly possible that you’ll find yourself working a useful scam or so, before long. You’ll be in good company, too. That Unofficial Team Leader, Kati of Terra has been pretty good at pulling the wool over Exalted eyes while keeping her own wide open, and her mind on what you might call ‘verifiable recording’.”
“Ah, so the Troupe was the Unofficial Investigative Team!” Maric was delighted to have the rumours confirmed by a reliable source. “Is Jock in on that, too?”
“Oh, Jock’s pretty deeply involved in it. But then, having spent the time he did in the Capital City, he was about as disgusted with our ruling elites as you seem to be with your maternal relatives. He welcomed the opportunity to try to do a bit of subversive messing about, and it looks like he got into the game at about the right time.”
“My maternal relatives are a part of the ruling elite,” Maric muttered.
“Indeed. And who knows, maybe we can make use of your relationship with them yet? Since you’re willing to play tricks.”
*****
Evening was falling when the Carmaks flyers reached the Capital. Hector flew low over the Legislative Grounds with Maric following him, to find that the area was crawling with people. The Klensers in the vehicles, sensing the presence of their fellows below them, immediately got restless, and anxious to be set down. Hector flew to a nearby park, more often used by the Ordinary Citizens than the Exalted, and both flyers landed there as the sun went down and the street lights began to turn on. Maric and Jorun opened the hatch and let the Klensers spill out, and head in the direction of the Legislative Grounds. Hector was doing likewise; Mathilde, coming out of that flyer, was slowing Zass down so that the two of them trailed at the end of the Klenser procession.
“Mathilde, you and Zass try to stay on the outskirts of that crowd,” Jorun shouted to her. “And keep an eye on Kaya and Katimi. We’ll come and check up on you as soon as we know what exactly is happening around here.”
Mathilde turned around in the fading sunlight, and smiled and nodded to Jorun, then followed her brother, grasping his hand. Maric watched them with interest, noting that Mathilde was carrying her rhyele and Zass had a set of pipes. Two or three of the other Klensers in Hector’s vehicle also carried simple instruments. If these Klensers were planning to play music, and the others of their kind were willing to sing, the evening in the park might turn into a pleasant one.
“We better check in with Uncle Kelt,” Hector said. “I raised him on my flyer com; he’s at home in his apartment, not at his office. He spent most of the day arranging for food and facilities for the Klensers, recruiting Ordinary Citizens to help with that. The majority of the Senators and some of their Family members have holed up inside the Legislative Buildings, their goons protecting them, and functioning as go-betweens with the outside world.”
Hector shook his head.
“The Senate Chairwoman is apparently on a communicator, arguing with some Lamanian Lady who is in command of the Torrones Warship above the city. She wants to come down and take over the city in the name of the Federation, and the Senate Chair is claiming that that’s an illegal act since she has no proof of any lawlessness sanctioned by the Vultairian State.”
“The proof will be arriving soon enough,” Jorun said. “Yes let’s go and see Kelt. Maybe if he and I pool our scraps of information together....”
“You have a lot more of it than I do,” Hector said, sighing. “I’m really feeling out of the loop here. I realize that Uncle Kelt didn’t want to say too much over the flyer’s com. Somebody in the government might be listening in. And we were in too much of a hurry when Maric and I picked you up, to take the time to have an informative chat. So I’m still pretty much in the dark.”
Maric looked alarmed.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have had our little chat in the flyer, Jorun,” he said. “What if someone in the government was listening in on us?”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Jorun reassured him. “I think that they had tuned us out long ago. After all, it was just a kid, an Ordinary Citizen, and a bunch of Klensers in that vehicle, and we weren’t talking at all for quite a long time. They might have recorded our conversation but with things the mess that they are, who’s going to take the time to play it? Now if Hector had been in the flyer with us, the Oligarchs m
ight have paid more attention, but he wasn’t, and I’d put my money on the listeners concentrating on him—if they were, in fact, paying attention to either flyer.”
“Counting on the usual indolence of our rulers, are you, Jorun?” Hector said with a grin as they headed in the direction of the Carmaks Family Apartment. “Well, it is, indeed, a pretty reliable trait, although I imagine that, at the moment, there are a lot of normally sleepy officials madly running around.
“I suppose that Kelt will take us to Marku’s Bistro to talk; it’s his favourite safe place where to have meaningful conversations.”
“He hasn’t had Kati in to check out his rooms for bugs, has he?” Jorun asked. “She’s pretty good at that, according to Marston.
“Well, we can ask Kelt about the spy-eye status, when we see him,” Jorun continued. “Marston told me that Kelt helped the Federation operative, Kati’s friend, Mikal, by fetching him and his partner from Port City, once they had snuck off their ship. Apparently, the Ordinary Citizen Port workers are fed up with the Warrions, and it isn’t hard to find holes in the security systems.
“Did you hear about the heist the Margolises pulled on the Federation Space Station, by the way? The one that finally put an end to whatever tolerance the Federation Senators have had for the Vultairian diplomats?”
“No, I didn’t,” Hector sighed. “Sounds like these days the Carmaks of Ithcar are the most ill-informed people on Vultaire.”
“You’ll howl at this.” Jorun grinned as he passed on the story of the kidnapping on the Federation Space Station, complete with its political implications.
“Our talented friend, Kati of Terra found the hidey-hole into which the Margolises stashed their prey,” he added. “And her Team, with the help of your relatives, Jock and Kelt, went after them.”
“Jock and Kelt?” Hector asked in surprise. “But Kelt’s here in town!”
On Assignment to the Planet of the Exalted Page 73
