by Ann Wilson
out of Imperialservice. He was more intrigued than frightened by the idea of a Kindrinking some of his blood, and according to the journals, mostNarvonese had felt the same way after the initial shock had wornoff--especially those who'd had friends or relatives affected.
But there had been enough whose horror had persisted to cause thetrouble that had inspired the Archbishop's appeal. Riots had brokenout in all but the smallest towns, Kins had been brutally murdered byimpalement, decapitation, poisoning, incineration--but that trouble hadtapered off dramatically, starting about a week after the Archbishop'scall, when all three Planetary Barons and the System Count announcedthat they had been infected and become Kins themselves. Thompson foundthat amusing, if almost inevitable; once Imperial nobility embracedsomething new, most of the people in their fiefs followed suit. Bynow, attacks on Kins were down to scattered incidents, and it lookedlike they'd taper off to almost nothing soon.
In fact, public opinion had made almost a complete reversal from theinitial near-universal horror. In spite of some lingeringapprehension, Kins were rapidly becoming respected and even envied--aprocess speeded by the fact that many of them had been that way tobegin with. The Archbishop had been right in his report that it wasthe "best people" who were becoming Kins. Not "best" in the sense ofrichest or most powerful, although some were, but in the sense ofcontributing most to society. Kins overwhelmingly came from groupslike doctors, police officers, religious, and others who were devotedto some form of service; none came from criminal or other anti-socialelements, and only a few from generally-neutral groups. Theapproximately one-percent figure the tech had mentioned seemedaccurate, so not all members of even the highest-incidence groups wereKins--but it was enough to convince Thompson that such an oddlyselective disease called for scientific investigation, rather thanmilitary intervention. It wouldn't surprise him to see the Kins becomeNarvon System's local nobility, either.
"Captain Thompson?"
He looked up from the journal to see the tech approaching, and hispeople breaking off their conversations to join them. Waiting untilhis team had gathered around, he asked the tech, "What results?"
"One susceptible, Captain," the tech said, his expression unreadable."You."
Thompson was silent for a moment, then said, "Oh, Chaos." He wouldn'tmind letting a Kin drink from him, but he had no desire to become one,even with the social status they seemed to be gaining. He didn't knowjust how much blood a Kin needed, but he was positive it was more thanhis team could supply, and probably more than anything short of a baseor mid-sized ship could handle; if he became one, he'd lose his team,maybe even have to be discharged. "You said the virus has to get intomy bloodstream to infect me?"
"Yes, sir--well, or into your digestive tract. But it's hard to getinfected accidentally, except in a lab explosion like the originalones; most Kins got that way feeding a friend or family member. Andthen you have to be seriously weakened for it to change you. So if youdon't feed any Kins, or if you do and then don't get badly hurt orsick, you'll stay just the way you are."
"Thank you." That was better; he could still lead this mission safely.He turned to his second-in-command. "Report."
"We have quarters at the System Palace," Gunnery Sergeant Audra Kingsaid. "Count Nilssun was expecting us, and wants to see you at yourearliest convenience. She's sent transportation and an escort."
"She expected an E-Team?" No one was supposed to know about an E-Team,not even the person who'd called for help; teams that came in openly,like his, had covers that would allow them to go around askingquestions about anything and everything.
"Yes, sir." King gave her team leader a wry grin. "I'm afraid she wasin IntelDiv herself, on an E-Team, before her brother died and she wasnamed to succeed. I'd guess one of her former teammates let her knowwe were assigned here."
That sounded likely; it was just a good thing the problem had solveditself before his team had to file its evaluation. "Was she upset?"
"No, sir. Pleased."
"That's good, I suppose." Thompson kept from scowling by an effort ofwill. "When's the transport supposed to get here?"
"Should be already, sir."
"It figures." If the Count had expected them, she'd probably givenorders that she be notified when ten Marines arrived; being formerE-Team herself, she'd be able to guess that with the primary danger past,they'd be likely to come in openly. "Main entrance?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, let's go."
* * * * *
They were taken to the System Palace in a luxury limousine, with adozen System Security troops riding escort on gravcycles, then settledinto a decade apartments in the Palace's guest wing. Thompson changedinto dress blues, and wasn't surprised, moments after he was finished,to hear a knock on his door. "Enter," he called.
The door opened, and a man in black and silver livery bowed to him."My Lady Count's compliments, Captain Thompson. She invites you to heroffice to discuss your mission; if you will come with me?"
Thompson nodded shortly, and followed the man to an office whose opendoor was flanked by a pair of System Security officers. He entered,and the door closed behind him as he came to attention facing the womanstanding behind the desk. "Captain Jase Thompson, my Lady Count."
"You may be seated, Captain." The Count gestured to a comfortable-lookingleather armchair, and took her own seat as Thompson sat. "Now--you camehere to investigate a report of rioting, did you not?"
"You know I did, my Lady."
"And what will your report to His Majesty say?"
"That no intervention is required, of course."
"No, Captain, it will not." Count Nilssun smiled, and Thompson foundhimself admiring her fangs, with an uncomfortable certainty that sheknew what he was thinking. "Since you are head of an E-Team, I'm sureyou saw at least part of yesterday's `Narvon Tonight,' and read thespaceport newsjournals while you were waiting for your test results. Ihope you weren't too distressed at finding yourself susceptible."
"Not overly, my Lady." She'd been IntelDiv, all right, Thompsonthought. E-Team, yes, but he'd be willing to bet she'd been a fieldagent before that--and that she'd set up the interview with her Chiefof Detectives and had a complete set of journals waiting for him.She'd know better than to try misleading him, with her background, butThompson could understand her setting things up to let him getinformation without too much effort. And something in the informationshe'd arranged for him would tell him why she said his report would askfor some kind of intervention.
He was starting to enjoy himself. This was the sort of puzzle IntelDivpeople liked to set up for each other, and it let him be sure there wasnothing seriously wrong. "Let me see. You couldn't have known I'msusceptible to the pseudo-virus, since this is the only system thattests for that, which means it has no bearing."
"Correct."
"Okay." Thompson thought back. "The journals were a prettystraight-forward account, so you probably set them up just to give mebackground. The key has to be the interview, then." He saw her nodslightly, and concentrated. "The Empire can't do much about yourfeeding problem, if you need mostly fresh blood, so that's not iteither. Oh!" He nodded, realizing. "You can't deliberately hurtanyone, which means you'd have a hard time defending yourselves fromanything, criminals to a full-scale invasion. You need an Imperialmilitary presence, probably a Sub-Sector or Sector-level base. Maybepolice, too, though Narvonese who aren't Kins may be able to handlethat."
The Count looked pleased. "Exactly, Captain. I do need a full-scalebase, and the Empire has none in this Sector as yet. Debate on whereto place one is evenly balanced between this system and Argyros; yourreport on our limitation will swing that debate in our favor."
It sure would, Thompson thought. Given equal merit, the Empirepreferred to site bases and jobs where the need was greatest, and acompletely vulnerable system needed a base far more than one likeArgyros, which could defend itself at least until reinforcements couldarrive.
"As for police," the Count went on, "yes, non-Kins can handle most ofwhat Kins cannot--but I have already begun trying to recruit SecurityDivision veterans. Non-susceptible ones, of course."
Thompson grinned appreciation. Former SecuDiv Marines made the bestpolice available, if you were willing to let them do the job you paidthem for; if you didn't, they'd probably consider it a breach ofcontract and leave. Not too many people were willing to deal withsomeone who'd alienated such