The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [100]
“We have to remove him,” Deputy Cain said in a low voice, barely more than a mumble. “Even the Archfather has been raising warning flags, as you might have noticed, changing some parts of his speeches, arguing about content. It’s making the Chairman quite upset.”
“The Archfather is a fool if he thinks the Chairman cares about his opinions,” Sarein said. Basil barely listens to me nowadays.
“The Chairman is impervious to public opinion,” Cain said. “He marches ahead no matter what, refusing to believe he might have to change course. Or admit he made a mistake.”
“Like the way he’s treated the Mage-Imperator?” Sarein said.
A grim McCammon fingered the dagger at his side. “Seventeen dead in total, humans and Ildirans, in that botched escape attempt on the Moon.” He shook his head, deeply affected by what he had witnessed there. “And who can blame them? The Chairman has placed the Mage-Imperator in an untenable situation.”
“We’re all in an untenable situation — a dangerous one,” Sarein said.
McCammon turned to her with great sincerity in his eyes. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect you, Sarein.”
“I don’t need protection.”
“Yes, you do. The Chairman might once have loved you, but that won’t save you anymore. Don’t be oblivious.”
Sarein perceived carefully hidden emotion in the guard captain’s voice, and it made her anxious. “Please don’t put yourself in danger on my account, Captain.”
“I’ll do what I have to.” He sounded resentful.
“We all will,” Cain insisted. “It’s clear that one way or another this whole situation is going to implode soon. But protests in the streets can only accomplish so much. The cleanup crew ransacks businesses and arrests anyone who speaks out against the Chairman. It’s all highly symptomatic of a repressive regime in its last days. History has plenty of examples for anyone who cares to look. I, for one, would rather be driving the vehicle of change than be crushed under its wheels.”
McCammon said, “Chairman Wenceslas poses a clear and present danger to the survival of human civilization.”
Since every moment they talked put them at significant risk, Sarein decided to get down to practicalities. “How do we go about it? Do we oust him? Force him to resign? We could detain him until we complete a governmental changeover.”
Deputy Cain’s answer was blunt, but inarguable. “Half measures won’t succeed. The Chairman is sure to have taken precautions.” He looked from Sarein to McCammon. “We have to kill him.”
* * *
70
Chairman Basil Wenceslas
Closed off in his office, Basil reviewed surveillance tapes.
Again and again he studied records from the Whisper Palace, especially those taken on the night of the hydrogue attack on Earth. Too many questions remained about how Peter and Estarra had escaped, despite the tight security, despite putting Captain McCammon in charge of the King and Queen. Still, the upstart Peter had gotten away.
He had pinpointed that as the turning point in his problems, when the situation had grown substantially worse. This required much closer scrutiny, and alas, like so many things, Basil could count on no one to do it but himself. Everyone else was either criminally unreliable or actively plotting against him.
He’d kept his eyes on Sarein for some time now, at first as a precaution and then with keener interest. She and Deputy Cain “bumped into each other” altogether too often and in conveniently private places. Sarein also met with McCammon much more than was strictly necessary. That morning the three of them had even gone down into the old disused docks beneath the Whisper Palace, and Basil immediately requested the installation of hidden observation measures there, but it was too late for him to learn what they had been doing.