Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [32]
A half-clad green-skinned man pushed his way through the door. "Who dares to prevent a green priest from delivering a vital message to King Peter?" Nahton demanded. Although the court green priest brought frequent messages from Theroc to Queen Estarra, he seldom had anything urgent to report. He was usually a calm and quiet man; Peter had never seen him so agitated.
After years in the WhisperPalace, Nahton was fully aware that the King was merely for show and that Basil himself pulled all the strings. But the Chairman had never shown respect for the green priest, ignoring his repeated requests for aid to devastated Theroc. Nahton knew his real allies in the Palace.
Peter barked at the leader of his royal guards; these men were supposed to at least pretend they served him. "Captain McCammon, that man is my official green priest. Allow him to pass if he has a message for me." He looked down his nose, intentionally embarrassing the guard captain. "Or are you trying to protect me from a green priest?"
The audience at the banquet chuckled at the absurdity. The captain adjusted the maroon beret on his bleached-white hair, then glanced in Basil's direction; the Chairman gave a slight nod.
Nahton came forward and called out in a loud voice, suddenly giving all the media representatives a headline. "King Peter, it is a massacre! Urgent telink messages have come in from many green priests aboard EDF ships. Soldier compies are rising up throughout the battle groups, attacking the crews and seizing the ships. They've already killed thousands." He looked at the King as if beseeching him to do something. "I have felt the deaths of five green priests already. It is a simultaneous revolt, on ship after ship!"
Basil lurched to his feet, but all eyes were on the green priest and the King. "Compies killing human soldiers?" Peter cried. "How could the compies coordinate a coup like this? The light-speed delay alone would make communication--"
"The revolt must have been programmed or timed somehow. Your Majesty, this massacre was well planned."
Other mysteries suddenly became clear to Peter. "Admiral Stromo hasn't been able to find a trace of our sixty rammers--and they were all crewed by Soldier compies." His voice was ominous.
Nahton said, "I reported a disturbance with Soldier compies aboard Admiral Stromo's Manta yesterday. Malfunctioning compies killed two crewmembers on the bridge. I gave the message directly to Chairman Wenceslas. Were you not informed, Your Majesty?"
Peter spun to where Basil stood at the side of the room. "I knew nothing of this! Who decided to keep this information from me?" He knew full well it had been the Chairman. Now everyone else did as well.
"The news was to be in your next briefing," Basil said in an icy voice.
Peter glared. "If this really is a revolt--and if you had been more diligent, Mr. Chairman--perhaps we could have sent out a cautionary advisory! The first incident occurred more than a day ago! With telink we could have sent a warning in seconds."
"I am no longer in contact with Admiral Stromo's Manta. Their green priest has been murdered," Nahton pointed out. "I believe most other crewmen aboard are dead as well." He didn't even look at the Chairman. "Now the crews aboard all EDF ships are under attack."
"And we could have prepared them," Peter said.
Seizing his chance, he turned up his voice amplifier to drown out any words the Chairman might speak. He could not let Basil use this for his political purposes, nor could he let the Chairman cover it up the way he had tried to brush aside all previous concerns about the reliability of the Soldier compies. He took