Crisis Of Empire - Crown Of Empire Part 24

"And my part?" asked Jessine.

"Your part will be to many Governor Merikur.

With your support, he can take the Secretariat.

The Pact will continue, but will change, begin to grow again, as it has not for centuries."

"And if I choose not to support him?"

"Madame, I'd prefer not to discuss that possi- bility. After all, you are a sensible woman. Surely you understand that the Pact cannot survive much longer if it continues to abuse more than ninety percent of its population."

"Perhaps."

The driver of the aircar stopped chanting long enough to call out, "There is a fix being taken on us. Someone is tracking where we go."

"Who?" Ereley demanded, motioning to the others to chant more softly.

"I don't know. But the warning light came on

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just now. Someone wants to know where we are." The driver pointed to the light on die front panel. "What do you want me to do?

"Keep a watch on it, and set our scanners to trace it back to its origin. I want to know if the tracker is moving or stationary." He cursed roundly in Daphnean, then abruptly became nonchalant. "It isn't that important, after all. If they know where we are, so much the better. It will help them realize how serious we are. We know how strong our position is. And it's stronger than any of you Senatorials think."

"How do you mean that?" asked Jessine, still unable to believe him.

"We have access to Kitchle/s estate at Hori- zon Park, of course, and that means we can fight off attacks with a small force. 1*11 say this for Kitchley - he made a fortress of his estate. I doubt the Secretarial Palace was as well-armed as Kitchley's retreat. Well, it has to be now, doesn't it?" His amus.e.m.e.nt was emphatic and he stared at Jessine, challenging her to correct him or become angry.

'They will find you, Ereley. And when they do, no matter who is in power, they will take me back." Jessine masked the fear welling in her.

She would not give them the pleasure of know- ing how badly they frightened her. As she moved

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in her seat she felt her locket move under her shirt.

They were nearing the first boundaries of Horizon Park now, and two skirmisher aircars came up, demanding to know who was in the air- car and where it was bound. "If you are not authorized, turn back or we will be forced to shoot you down," said die nearer skirmisher.

"Under-Clerk Ereley, for Appointments Clerk Kitchley to Kitchleys estate, the Orchid," he said, motioning the others to silence while the identification process was completed. "Escorting Madame Bouriere." He glared at her, daring her to contradict him.

"Voiceprint checks," said the skirmisher. "But we regret we do not have full release from Appointments Clerk Kitchley. The first signal was sent, but not the second."

Ereley stared out at the skirmishers. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The other Daphneans were instantly somber, and the driver looked anxiously from one skir- misher to the other.

There must be a second release, which has not yet arrived." The skirmisher said. "We must request you land and wait until clearance is given "

"But," said Ereley, trying not to sound desper- ate, "We have Madame Bouriere with us. We are

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under orders to take her to the Orchid. We must have clearance at once."

The skirmishers swung back and forth across the aircar*s bow. "You must remain where you are. We repeat. You must remain where you are.

This is an official warning."

Ereley swore, then signaled to the others. "We have one chance. We have to take both of them down at once or we won't make it," he said.

The other Daphneans were upset and sud- denly worried. Sankley spoke for all of them, saying, "We can't let this happen."

'Then shoot first and shoot straight," said Ereley, his features showing more pleasure than apprehension. He brought up his gun and aimed it though the window at the nearer skirmisher.

"On the count of two. Everyone fire."

The Daphneans followed his orders quickly.

Each one sighted on the power pods of the skir- mishers.

"One," said Ereley. Two."

The guns hammered and the skirmishers broke apart in twin explosions, raining flaming cinders on the barren stretch of land that bor- dered the woodlands of Horizon Park.

"You couldn't stop them recording your iden- tification," said Jessine. They know who you are and where you are going."

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"It doesn't matter now," said Ereley as he sig- naled the driver to go on. "With any luck, the clerk who gets the message will be one of us and he'll lose the identification, at least for a while."

He saw the startled expression she could not conceal. "You didn't think about that, did you?

We're not the only ones in the Rainbow. There are thousands of us, thousands."

"What good will that do?" asked Jessine.

"We are ready. And when Anson Merikur orders it, we will rise. There is no service any- where in the Pact where we have not found a rnche. Governor Windsor will bring us equality, and we'll fight for him to achieve that." He had the look of a man who wanted the fight more than the equality.

"And the Cemians, the ones who tried to kid- nap me, are they part of your Rainbow Dawn, too?" she asked.

Ereley made a sharp gesture. "No! No. They were, most likely, working for the Haiken Maru.

The Cernian Confederation is as bad as the Pact.

They've hired - or sold! - out to the Haiken Maru. They sell and enslave members of all spe- cies, including their own . . . When Governor Windsor is High Secretary, abuses of that sort will stop."

Jessine shrugged deliberately. "I don't think

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that will be as simple as he thinks," she said in a tone filled with doubt and subtle contempt.

"Be quiet. You understand nothing." Ereley turned away from her and stared out the window as the aircar sped toward the Orchid.

Given a respite. Jessine looked down at the striations of specialized plantings in Horizon Park. Each region was specially planted and maintained, botanically and zoologically, with species from several planets set next to each other, protected by invisible barriers of elec- tronic signals that kept each group of animals in its designated sector by generating a high, pain- ful sound in the animals' skulls.