Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [131]
Anton, quite familiar with the idea of history being edited or even fabricated, was not the least bit sickened, as Vao'sh clearly was. In fact, he found the news exciting. "Is that when they created the Shana Rei as a surrogate enemy? A fiction to smooth over the gap in all this censored history?"
"I do not know what to think." Shaking, Vao'sh read the words again and again before he set them aside. Anton leaned closer, reading over his friend's shoulder. The rememberer was clearly torn, not wanting to know more, but given orders by the Mage-Imperator to discover what he could. He had no choice but to dig deeper, no matter how it shattered his world. Anton felt sorry for him.
Vao'sh stared at another sheet as if it might burst into flames. "According to this, Rememberer Anton, the Shana Rei may have been real after all."
77
KING PETER
The bastard!" Peter knew he shouldn't be surprised. "The slimy, egotistical bastard. He's going to kill us."
The loyal Teacher compy stood before the King and Queen, having replayed his precise recording of Basil's conversation with the revived Prince Daniel. Basil had isolated the King in the Royal Wing for days, basically under house arrest; OX, however, was always able to move invisibly through the Whisper Palace. He had served almost every single King in the Hansa's history.
Basil always treated compies and underlings as nothing more than furniture; the Chairman had so little regard for OX that he could not conceive that the Teacher compy might object to his tactics. Deputy Cain had already used OX twice to send very guarded messages.
They were alone in the Royal Wing next to a burbling white-noise fountain to discourage any eavesdroppers. OX had also detected and temporarily deactivated the omnipresent listening devices planted around the royal suite to give them a respite from the difficult hand signals.
Estarra's face showed both concern and determination. "Now that Daniel's awake again, how long do we have?"
"Basil's going to move as soon as he can rationalize an excuse and find a good way to cover it all up." Peter looked at OX's placid polymer face. "First, though, he'll want to make certain Daniel's truly a better alternative; he's not likely to increase surveillance and impose tighter controls on us until he actually has his plans in motion. We've probably got a few days, at least."
"He doesn't know we've been tipped off," Estarra whispered. "That gives us one advantage."
Peter ran the palm of his hand down her long twists of hair. "He has withdrawn all EDF support to the colonies and just left them to die." He made a disgusted noise. "The hydrogues can wipe out our settlements and then come here whenever they like. It's the extinction of the human race. All through this war Basil has considered everyone to be expendable except himself."
Estarra clearly looked uneasy. "I hate to say this, Peter, but what if the Chairman's right? What other choice does he have? He's lost most of the Earth Defense Forces, and what's left won't be enough to stop a concerted force of hydrogues. What if he's right?"
"He might be right--but in the wrong way." Peter struggled with his anger, and he felt the heat of a flush on his cheeks. "Look what he's doing to the human race. You saw the last tactical summary. He's already condemned all of the Hansa colonies."
Recently, Captain McCammon had independently decided to help the King from being kept in the dark. The head of the royal guard had begun to surreptitiously deliver copies of Basil's daily summary briefings so that Peter could remain informed of the business of the Hansa. The data itself was valuable, though Peter was not