A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [185]
Peter had curled his lip. “She’s just a pawn in this.”
“So are you, Peter, and the Hansa can do with you whatever we please.”
Peter knew the Chairman had been responsible for killing his family, even his estranged father on Ramah. Yes, he was capable of hurting Estarra…and without batting an eye, he could also poison the unruly King. Peter had always assumed that Basil had too much invested in his young protégé to toss him aside. Now, though, he wasn’t so sure.
He had come closer than ever before to considering outright murder. Would it be so difficult just to slip a dagger into Basil’s side? The reverse of Brutus and Caesar? And what could they do to him afterward? He was the King, after all, and the Hansa had gone to great lengths to ensure that he no longer had any family, anyone he cared about. Except now, Estarra…
The Chairman had sat back in his shuttle seat, weighing Peter’s silence. Finally, he said, “Stop acting like a child and do what you are ordered to do. Give the speech—for Estarra’s sake, if not your own.”
And so Peter delivered the hated ultimatum, striking a blow to the hearts of his people. He wanted to cringe with every word he spoke. The crowds did not cheer when he finished. They had grieved for the ignominious defeat their great forces had suffered at Osquivel, but this proclamation seemed to deal their spirits a mortal blow.
Peter turned from the balcony and stepped back inside the WhisperPalace, where he saw the Chairman nodding. “Not your best delivery, but it’ll do.”
Peter wanted to spit at him. “I despise you, Basil.”
The other man’s feelings did not appear at all hurt.
97
RLINDA KETT
By now, she figured that Davlin Lotze had had more than enough time to get himself out of his mess. Of course, operating ancient alien transportation machinery might not have been one of those “obscure details” he specialized in.
Davlin had vanished through the transportal in the Klikiss ruins. Rlinda didn’t know where he had gone, but unless the man had traveled to someplace where he could find supplies, he must be either dead…or, at the very least, hungry enough to eat spampax.
As she’d been doing for days, Rlinda waited outside the Voracious Curiosity, listening to Rheindic Co’s faint sounds, surrounded by the murderous mystery of the place. This ghost world was enough to give anyone the creeps.
Normally, she enjoyed time by herself, but on this silent arid planet, she felt damned lonely. Davlin Lotze hadn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs, but she missed his company even so. The cultural spy was intelligent and insightful, a diligent worker. If only her ex-husbands had been as dedicated to their jobs instead of messing things up…
Rlinda sat on the ship’s ramp. The desert afternoon shimmered with heat. She had gone to the Klikiss ruins every day to look for Davlin, trying to reactivate the portal wall (and having the good sense not to get sucked through!). She had gazed out on other alien landscapes, but she had never glimpsed him again.
For the last week, though, she had done it only out of habit, without much hope. She was down to her last bottle of wine in the ship’s stores; most of the good mealpax had already been prepared and consumed. Once she ran out of decent comestibles, this place would become completely intolerable.
She spent an hour trying to think of a reason to stay, but gave up, deciding it was time to pack up and go home. Rlinda felt obligated to return to Earth and explain to Chairman Wenceslas what they had discovered about the missing Colicos team. Besides, she wouldn’t get the rest of her fee until she made her report.
Afterward, maybe Rlinda would just go back to quiet Crenna, spend a month with BeBob trying to figure out why he liked the place so much.
It would take a few hours to pack up the camp. The water pump still worked, and she would leave behind the rest of her mealpax in case Davlin ever did come