by Pam Uphoff
Izzo dawdled, and Madam Chin stayed in the forefront of Paer's attention.
Endi finally turned up at his elbow, wearing clothing almost suitable for the salle. "I think I might as well fence. Poor little princess isn't used to being fought over."
Izzo searched for sarcasm and found a mix of humor and sympathy. "I suspect she's never thought of herself as hot property, or any other kind of property. Think of this as training for when she comes out."
"Scary thought. So, do you ride?"
Izzo grinned and told the man more about his childhood in the wilderness than he'd told even Xiat. He parked behind the Salle and they walked in to find much the same group that had checked out Izzo.
About half of them had their padded jackets on, the rest were looking over equipment.
"A nice casual looking group." Endi muttered.
Izzo snorted, and introduced him around, and met three new comers as well. Ahvi, recently retired from the Council, his son, Axti, a rising star in the Finance Ministry, and another man from the War Ministry. Arlw, pronounced Arlew. So much for the w being a silent pretend vowel . . .
Izzo bent over his equipment, pulled out his swords.
Endi studied Arlw. "Being in the War Ministry, I suppose you're hot to attack Earth? It seems to be all the rage." He took a sword and ran his fingers over the blade as he eyed the other men.
Brought him here for political purposes, guess I shouldn't be surprised he jumped straight in.
"Don't you approve?" General Akja frowned at him.
"The tactics seem foolish. I understand not wanting to leave a clear trail back home. But why fight your way through a Medieval World no one really cares about before attacking Earth? Wouldn't an Empty World leave your forces in better condition for the real war? Leave fewer vulnerable points in your logistics train? I understand that only a quarter of target worlds are actually suitable for colonization, so we should have an inventory to choose from."
That brought frowns all around. Auras shut down to keep emotions private.
"You might even manage a surprise attack." Endi was studying them. Thoughtful, not a bit of trepidation to be seen with inner or outer vision.
Who is interviewing who, here?
Akja studied him. "You've studied military science, haven't you?"
Endi shrugged. "I know enough to recognize when strategy is being warped by egotism, and grandstanding politics. Can you get around it, or must you sacrifice troops to it?"
Arlw scowled at him, his aura reddening. "It is a matter of honor to recapture the battlefield we've lost, then go on to victory."
Endi turned away from the General to look at Arlw. "Your honor, my life. After all, I'm the fellow who's going to be drafted. You lot won't risk your precious hides for your over inflated pride." Contempt dripped from a superior tone of voice.
Izzo closed his eyes in sheer disbelief. The auras around the room flared and flashed brighter, as everyone in the room stopped pretending they weren't listening.
"How dare you." Arlw sounded breathless. His aura was flaring, getting redder.
"What? Speak the truth? You're planning on getting thousands of real people killed over some ragtag nothing world. Then you'll attack Earth. Maybe. If you can scrape up the money to build a dimensional interfacer and the power plant and develop a fuel source there. Or will you decide that just taking a primitive World is sufficient balm for your egos? After all, a war with Earth could be dangerous. To the Empire. To the One World. To your very own selves."
Arlw flushed as his metabolism fired up, and gripping his sword, he took the two steps toward Endi in blur of speed.
Endi snapped out a perfect lunge. Six inches taller than the older man, with longer arms, the lunge gave him tremendous reach. The blades scraped, then Endi’s sword's bell-shaped guard diverted the subminister's point to the outside, his wrist straightened, and the rolled point hit Arlw's padded jacket just below the ribcage. The subminister folded with an agonized yell as the breath was forced out of his lungs. Endi sidestepped as Arlw collapsed.
"Well. It's been interesting meeting all of you, but I don't think I want to do anything to promote the War Party." He reversed the sword and held it out.
Izzo took it automatically, shocked by the man's speed, reach. Nerve.
"Good night." Endi turned to walk out.
Duke stalked after him. "After an insult like that, you think you can just walk out?"
Endi turned to look him up and down. "Your wife's hot in bed." He pivoted, walked out to a monumental silence.
***
Duke pulled a wheezing breath, sounding as winded as Arlw. He started to follow, but Ahvi grabbed his arm. "No. If you take it outside, it becomes a criminal matter. There are better ways to use the man. Come, we'll talk."
Izzo found himself being chivvied out the door by Efge. He looked back, Arlw was up on one elbow, other arm hugged around his body. Only Axti and Arna followed them out.
Endi was nowhere in sight.
Efge looked relieved. "We're well out of there, come on, there are things that people at your level really don't want to know. In fact, I don't want to know about them."
Axti snorted, and flagged down a taxi. Arna walked away. Izzo turned to the car park. "Need a ride?"
"No thank you. I can't believe you brought your buddy here, tonight." Efge looked down his nose. A hint of contempt in the voice.
Izzo looked at him indignantly. But no doubt the blame was going to get dropped in his lap. Earlier, Xiat had asked him if he was running errands. In the milieu of the game, that wasn't an innocent question. He'd been used, and if the results weren't as desired, he was on the hook, not Orku. I had better start noticing these things a bit earlier in the Play.
And I'd better figure out what Endi is up to. That was deliberate provocation. Why? What does he gain? What do they lose? How many of their wives has he bedded, and could he bring down the entire War Party that way?
Why?
He dumped his bag in the trunk, and felt the sword he still held. Spells of strengthening, spells of shield piercing. He could feel their strength through his fingers. Endi put those spells on in between me handing him the sword, and Arlw advancing on him. And not a single one of us felt it.
He shivered a little in the warm air. Endi came for the express purpose of provoking an attack and physically removing a War Party player from action.
What the One’s Hell do I have ahold of here?
***
Urfa watched quietly as order returned to the gym. The War Party was quickly sorting themselves out. Izzo was among the few who were chivvied out the door by the insiders. Good. I can trust him, at least to a point.
He eyed his young assistants. Ydro had his knuckles stuffed into his mouth. Idlo looked almost blank, Ahba angry. Rael was staring down at the gym, worry lines across her forehead. She has enough experience to know what she just saw.
Down on the gym floor, the remaining men fell into two groups. A loose collection of men well to one side, giving their betters privacy.
And eight men in a circle. A Compass. Not good. A tight Compass operated independently of the One. Even an assigned princess would be hard put to read what had been discussed, decided, inside a Compass.
Arlw was hunched over, pale and sweating, but he was in the circle. Akja was the North and Ihle the South. Traditionally, that would make either of them the leader. They didn’t touch, but power was flowing around the circle. They weren’t well balanced, by his standards. Too many of them are selfish, holding back power. Too many lifting, not enough balancers. Still, they are each so strong . . . and pure magical power is not their goal.
Urfa probed them warily. Together like this, they were much stronger than all of them singly. Dangerous. He’d waited to move in until they’d checked the observation rooms. And warned the youngsters to keep their shields up and as tight as possible. It had been difficult—but the War Partiers had been hugely distracted—at the height of Endi's one man assaul
t on their pride. He could feel Rael still covering a bit of leakage from Ahba and Ydro. He waved for them to stay, and slipped downstairs to stand in the hallway, peeking through a crack, just a few feet away from Arlw.
The Compass . . . only their lack of experience with magicians of his caliber made this close observation possible. Ordinarily he wouldn’t expect to be able to hear anything of their meeting of minds. But this sloppy coordination, and Arlw's pain . . . He carefully focused on mental leakage from the poor balance.
:: That was an error. :: General Akja mental voice sounded much the same as his speaking tones. An effect of Urfa's mind; he knew Akja's voice.
Orku nodded. :: I invited him through a blind. Few rumors will accrue. ::
:: Rumors are not the problem. The man himself is. We’ll get rid of him. Soon. And very, very carefully. I don't like the flavor of . . . several incidents. The secretary who leaked the report on the defeat. Could she be one of Urfa's people? Or worse, a Dancer? We know we're skating the edges of what the One allows. And now this man. From nowhere. A trained magician and fighter. But that's for later. Right now we need to coordinate . . . ::
Arlw gasped something, and folded over in pain. The Circle snapped.
Akja waved to one of the men in the out group. "Take Arlw to the emergency room. Probably a needless precaution." He shrugged, and turned back to the others. "As seven, we can’t talk. Uzga, we’re not going to be able to brief you, so go back to Khartoum. Stay there. The rest of you, as I’ve assigned tasks previously, do them. The other matter we were just discussing will have to be postponed a while. There's no hurry, after all." He turned away then, and the rest stepped back, started gathering their fencing gear.
Urfa waited, listening, but nothing of interest was said. As the gym quieted, and the last lights were turned out, he gathered his youngsters and led them out. The parking lot was empty. He led them around the block to where he’d parked his non-descript car.
Urfa looked at the variously amused and indignant youngsters and shook his head. "That wasn’t quite the lesson I was thinking you’d get tonight."
Ydro still had his knuckles crammed in his mouth and was exercising control over his breathing.
Rael took the wheel of the big car. "Endi is … just never quite where I expect him to be. But I was glad to see that Izzo’s not in the in-group, or even the assistants."
Idlo shrugged, radiating irritation and upset. "Who is this damned Endi? One hell. What is he? That . . . Endi was fired up, but it didn’t show, he was cool as could be. He moved at least a level above Arlw. He was controlled, no fury at all." He stalked angrily around to the far side of the car and slid into the front seat.
Ahba was cold and locked up, to Urfa’s senses. Something was bothering him even more than Idlo. "He can’t be acting alone. Could he be an Isolationist? Attacking the War Party? They’re influential and widespread enough to falsify DNA results. Just takes one man in the right place."
Idlo bit his lip. "If he is, how does that relate to the President? Has he been placed to discredit or attack the Modernists as well?"
Rael tapped green fingernails on the steering wheel. "Are we even on the right track? Political parties? Who trained him? Who could have trained him? Umm, sorry Boss, but there are rumors about how poorly you and Director Agni of Exterior Relations get along. Could Endi be part of an XR Action team."
"One!" Urfa shook his head. "All I’d need is a trained killer in-house. But why? Agni doesn’t get along with anyone, why me in particular, and I’d like to think I’d have noticed if he wanted me dead. Hell, Endi could be an Information Team infiltrator, too. One knows he gets along with practically everyone. When he wants to."
"Well, there are always the criminal organizations. But why would they attack the War Party?" Rael rubbed her face. "I can’t get close enough to him. I don’t understand why."
Ydro snickered. "Maybe he likes men. Idlo? Why don’t you make a pass?"
Idlo glared.
Ydro tried to paste a sober expression onto his face.
Idlo growled. "Maybe he’s a eunuch, not vulnerable to sexual lures."
"But he sure can hand them out. And if he’s not the one getting all those War Party Wives pregnant, who is?" Ahba sounded baffled and angry. He slid into the back seat. Ydro sighed and headed for the nearest tram stop. And then there's the problem with Endi's friends in Le Havre.
Urfa scowled. "Enough. You four keep thinking. Rael, I’m going to tackle him tonight, if he’s still in the commons. Listen in, and take up where I leave him, if you think it will do any good. Use your judgment."
***
One of the guards walking the grounds pointed him to the barn. Endi was leaning on Herc, his forehead on the horse’s neck.
"The youngsters here remind me so much of the young boys at home. They think they are indestructible, and I know how close they are to being killed by a stupid political ploy."
Herc snorted, and nudged him.
"Sorry." Endi straightened and lifted his hand. Nothing but an ordinary brush in it. He applied it to the horse’s neck. "Bloody stupid politicians, playing games with people's lives."
Urfa eased back and softened his shield, let his footfalls sound as he walked up the aisle.
"Enjoy that?"
"Urfa. I suppose you got a full report."
"Are you kidding? I snuck in and watched. Unfortunately I didn't manage to eavesdrop on that lot afterwards. That would have made it worth all the flack you're going to get. You’re a damned strange pacifist."
That got a quick flick of a smile. "I’m certainly not the sort that lets itself get kicked around. Aren't you a bit senior to be doing the sneaking around parts?"
"I'm new to the job, and fast running out of agents I truly trust. I was showing a few of the young ones the ropes. 'This is the only reliable way to find out if your friend is about to become your enemy,' I told them. They're still stuck between howling with laughter and breathless at the insult to their bravery. And their Oneness. 'Your wife's hot in bed.' One, that's got to be the most incendiary conclusion to what was a very brief and massively insulting conversation I've ever heard. What did you hope to accomplish?"
"Oh, I got a good look at the people behind the push for the war. They were pretty well controlled, but for a minute there I thought I might have an opportunity to take out half a dozen of them." Another flick of a smile. "Not sure I would have had the nerve to call you in the middle of the night to bail me out of jail, though."
Urfa snorted. "Hospital, more likely. You were the youngest one there, but none of them were decrepit. And anyway, we're not going to war . . . Or at least not anytime soon."
Endi eyed him. "I do realize that I'm poorly informed on the subject. But I've had all those men's wives chasing me all over and telling me all their husbands' plans for months. They're planning on war next year, and are powerful enough to get it. They've got the bill authorizing and funding an invasion of Target Forty-two out of committee and the votes to pass it. But running around attacking medieval worlds because a High Tech World attacked you is avoiding the real fight, isn't it?"
Urfa shook his head. "I would agree with you, and so would the President, except that we're very well informed. We know why we need to capture that Medieval World. They have assets we dare not let Earth have. And the Earth has used them as a test site for some technology we need to capture and study. And . . . other reasons."
Endi’s dark eyes flashed, as if in anger, then got thoughtful. Widened. "I am such an idiot. Of course." He walked over and braced his arms against the half wall in front of Urfa. "There is only one possible reason to attack through Forty-two. You don't know where the Earth is, do you? You have to capture the Earth’s gate anchor and then ambush them. Get through and set up a beacon of your own. And you can only do that from Target Forty-two."
Urfa winced. "Not so loud please. That is very closely held information. The Earth is a major threat to us. We dare not let them get too far ahead of us
technologically, and we’ve seen some frightening indications that they are. It literally is a matter of the survival of the Empire. Both the Empire and the Earth have weapons that should not be used. Our best defense is that they don't have magic, no mental shields. We’ve picked up every spy they’ve sent, found and destroyed their beacons, fortunately all in the colonies. We don’t think they know where the One World is. We think. Haven’t caught a spy in years.
"Unfortunately, you're right. We literally cannot attack them directly. Mind you, I'd rather wait and gather more intelligence, possibly even locate them, but they could attack us any time. And between honor and fear, you may be right about the Council pushing for war next year."
"Before that happens, you really ought to sit down with the people at Exterior Relations and beat some truth out of them."
Urfa eyed him. "Not a bad idea, pity I don't have a torture chamber. Orde and I are aware of the paucity of data we're being fed. We'll be tackling Agni after the party. We need specifics about the situation on Forty-two."
"Are you envisioning a covert mission to smuggle a beacon through, or a suicide rush through the Gate? I wonder how good—or bad—your intelligence is?" Endi was clearly thinking.
"That is none of your business."
"At a minimum, I'll bet it's badly out of date. And are we talking to the Natives? Are we trying to work with the Natives? Help them rid themselves of the oppressors? Maybe get their help smuggling something to Earth?" He threw up his hands. "No. No. Don't tell me, I know all too well that we've already attacked them. Probably because they had the gall to think they owned their own world. And we want to go to war with a world we can't even find." He shook his head. "Tell me again, why we supposed to fight and die for the Empire? For a government. This. Damned. Stupid."
"Because you are a Oner."
"Insufficient. Oners are so prideful they'll kill thousands of their own troops. And once you find Earth, then what? Do you have the standing army, the resources to take the Earth?"