Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [76]
Sarein frowned. 'Daniel would have made a terrible King.'
'The Chairman's choices have not always proved to be wise ones. You'll notice here,' he pointed just to the side of Old King Frederick's portrait, 'there's no sign of Prince Adam, either. He's vanished without a trace, both from the face of the Earth and from the historical records.'
'Prince Adam?' Sarein had never heard of him.
The candidate before Peter was selected.'
'And Basil… got rid of him?'
The Chairman wanted to do the same to Peter, which is why he was so careful not to announce Prince Daniel until he was forced to do it. Chairman Wenceslas likes to keep his options open.'
'Basil's training someone else, but he won't tell me a thing.' And we used to be so close! The Chairman no longer wanted sex, no longer wanted her companionship, no longer wanted her advice.
'I know nothing about the candidate either. Presumably, he will be crowned King without even being introduced as a Prince. One would expect the Deputy Chairman to have some input--or at least be kept aware of such an important matter. But the Chairman hasn't tipped his hand.'
Sarein's heart skipped a beat. The Basil Wenceslas she had admired so much, the man she had come to love, was no longer the same person. She looked at the portraits, recalling the legends of the various Kings taught to schoolchildren. Basil had once taken her on his own private tour of the portrait gallery, giving his own impressions, explaining each King's numerous flaws and mistakes. He so easily saw the weaknesses in others.
Through another door (a stop that had never been on the popular Whisper Palace tour) a crowded boardroom held portraits of the seventeen Hansa Chairmen that had served over the past two centuries. Basil had been equally quick to offer complaints and criticisms about those men and women.
'Did you know that I have a collection of my own paintings? I especially like the works of the Spanish painter Velasquez.'
She wondered why the Deputy would mention his own paintings when such heavy and dangerous decisions lay before them. Would they have to overthrow Chairman Wenceslas? Could they? The Hansa was in desperate straits.
'At one time I had a companion - a beautiful person, but emotionally demanding. Kelly,' Cain mused. 'My job is important, affecting the lives of many people, but in those rare hours when I'm not dealing with some crisis, I just want to relax and enjoy my art. I like to study my paintings in silence, contemplate the brushstrokes, and imagine what Velasquez himself might have been thinking as he created such masterpieces.
'Kelly claimed to understand that. The people I've occasionally chosen as partners always say that, initially… and then they always want to talk, share their feelings, and spend time close to me.' He let out a long-suffering sigh. 'All I asked for was a few moments of contemplation and peace, but Kelly grew distraught, even hysterical, insisted I was emotionally distant when I wouldn't give an “appropriate amount” of attention.' He shrugged. 'I am currently alone, still unsettled from my recent break-up.'
Sarein remembered a strange security alarm about six months ago, an odd report of someone 'going berserk' in Cain's apartments. 'I never pegged you as a fool with a broken heart, Mr Cain.'
'Oh, not that. I'm simply shocked at how volatile emotions can be. To this day, I don't know precisely what triggered the screaming fit. In a pathetic bid to get my attention, Kelly tried to wreck my paintings. My paintings! Naturally I triggered my active security codes. It was an ugly scene, but necessary.' Sarein could well imagine how swiftly an army of Hansa guards must have swarmed in to 'neutralize the threat'.
'I issued instructions that Kelly was to be moved to a different continent, and then I sat down to stare at the