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* * *
Pahner's head turned like a tracking tank turret. His eyes nailed the chief of staff, who shrugged and held her hands out, palms up.
"How was I to know?" she asked.
"You didn't happen to give them a copy of Machiavelli or Permuster while you were about it, did you?" the Marine growled.
* * *
"The . . . precautions that we took on the way in were, of course, to defeat your 'electronic' transmitters," the priest/technician continued. "Conversations with your Marines indicated that they were susceptible to water damage. I presumed that your helmets were sealed, however, which meant they would have been unaffected by the Curtain."
By now, Roger was familiar enough with Mardukan expressions and body language to easily recognize smugness when he saw it. The question was whether he ought to pop the bubble or permit blissful ignorance, and he decided to go with ignorance for the time being.
"This is all very interesting," he said, "but you still haven't indicated what you want us to do."
"Isn't it obvious?" another voice practically hissed from the shadows. "This 'New Model Army' looks up to you. The people see you as saviors sent from the God. If you were to overthrow the temple, it would be over without the slightest bloodshed. Over in an instant."
* * *
"Grath Chain," Julian said in a surprise.
"No way!" Kosutic said, then glanced over his shoulder at the voice print labels and shook her head. "But . . . he couldn't have been in on the plot from the begi
"A recent and ill regarded addition, unless I miss my guess," Eleanora told her. "Note the distance between him and the others, his position in the group, and Rus' body posture. Not well regarded at all, at all."
* * *
"It's a bit more complicated than that," From said with a quelling glance at his fellow conspirator. "Gratar is a revered figure, what your chief of staff would call a 'saint,' although we have no such designation. Overthrowing him will be hard, but because he's so well-regarded and because he's so deeply and genuinely devoted to the God, he's doing more damage than any ten previous prelates."
"The taxes required to create and maintain the public works of this madman are choking us," the figure identified as Gessram Kar said.
"And whatever the taxes," From put in, "the lack of i
The cleric gestured at Roger and his two silent bodyguards angrily.
"And all of this when it is so clear that there's so much more to learn and to do and build! Those tiny, tiny transmitting devices we found in Gessram's office. The weapons you bear. The 'simple' devices that your Captain Pahner has described to me. There's an entire world of inventions there to be made; a world of learning to be drunk from! And what do we do? Pumps!"
* * *
"Oooo, that's got to be frustrating," Kosutic said.
"Obviously," Pahner said, with a shake his head.
"No," she said. "I don't think you've quite got it yet, Sir. I've got the feeling that this guy is like a Taketi or a da Vinci . . . stuck fixing pumps."
"Oh." Pahner rubbed his chin, then nodded. "Oh, yeah."
* * *
"And let's not forget the security aspects," another figure said. "Had you not arrived, there's no way we could have gotten the Laborers of God released to bolster the Guard of God, yet with the Northern states overrun, we can expect other waves of barbarians to follow this one like plagues. Without you, we would already have lost to the Wespar; unless we change the direction of the city, we will lose to the next wave."
* * *
"You don't have to tell me," Pahner said sadly. "Bogess. I recognized his voice."
"That tears it," O'Casey said. "The only major figure not there is Sol Ta."
"Who could just be one of the quiet ones, or not in the conspiracy because of his relatively low rank before we arrived," Pahner responded. "It really doesn't matter. If it weren't for the position Gratar holds in the eyes of the populace, they would've already moved. Damn."
"And they want us to counterbalance his prestige," O'Casey agreed. "What do we do?"
"Normally, I'd say 'tell them to at least wait until we leave,' " the Marine said, rubbing his chin once more.
"But Gratar is on the fence about fighting the Boman," Kosutic said with a raised eyebrow.
"If they kick off a civil war now," Julian put in, "we have serious problems. We'll be forced to choose sides."
"Teach your grandmother to suck eggs, Julian!" Kosutic snapped, then inhaled sharply. "Sorry, Sergeant," she said contritely.
"Not a problem, Sergeant Major, but it's so much more complex than that."
"Yep," Pahner agreed. "We'd be absolutely against it under almost any other circumstances, but . . ."
"Yes, 'but,' " O'Casey said. "But we don't know if Gratar's going to support fighting the Boman."
"We don't know, for sure, that this cabal is going to support fighting them, either," Kosutic pointed out. "Not if it includes Chain."
"We need clarification," Pahner said, but Roger had given up waiting for a message.
* * *
"Rus From, the rest of you," the prince said, smoothing back his hair, "you're under a few false impressions.
"We're not here to cure all of this world's ills. We weren't here to fight the Kranolta. We didn't come here to put down a coup in Q'Nkok, nor to install a rational regime in Marshad. We especially aren't here to interfere in internal Diaspran politics.
"We're wrecked here, and just trying to get home. And, frankly, kicking off a coup just before a major battle against an external enemy is not an action that favors that."
"Gratar doesn't favor fighting the Boman," the figure the computer—and Pahner—had identified as Bogess said.
"Neither does Grath over there!" Roger snapped. "What? You thought I wouldn't recognize his voice, Bogess?"
There was a moment of silence, and then Bogess threw back his hood and made a gesture of resignation.
"You humans all sound alike to us. We assumed you wouldn't be able to distinguish our voices."
"He ca
"And what would you have us do, merchant?" the war leader asked with a grunting laugh. "Kill him? Have you seen those weapons of theirs in action?"
"I wouldn't suggest trying it," Willis said, unprompted. "I really, really would not."
"Yes," From agreed. "We are exposed. And that's the point. We've advanced our timetable on the basis of our hope that you would intervene."
"Well that was certainly silly," Roger said. "Until the battle's over, we're not about to interfere."
"But we must," Bogess told him. "Other cities had begun eyeing us with greed even before the Boman advanced upon us. With the damage we're certain to take from the Boman, they'll surely take advantage of us."
"Yeah," Roger said. "But not until after the battle. And they might not even then. If we beat the Boman soundly—which is possible, if we're not fighting a damned civil war at the same time—it will give them pause."
"And continue to leave businesses stagnant, if there's no change within the city," Gessram Kar said, still without lowering his hood.
"And our technology," From agreed. "Not to mention the fact that we who have sought to change things will undoubtedly be sent to visit the God."