Ranh
Page 28
"Actually, it wasn't him that did it," Lucius said, then backed away a little as if he was afraid that Hadell might take to him.
"No, he didn't," Hadell agreed, and made a gesture to show she was far from angry, and indeed appreciated the comment, "but he doesn't know that somebody else might not be prepared to say what we want to hear to save his or her own miserable feathers. From what I have seen of Tergyn, he is not exactly brave, and it would not take much to make him jump.
"Accordingly, I shall suggest instead that he tell us everything he knows, and if it is sufficient, and if he is prepared to provide evidence, he should then announce his retirement at which point he will be allowed to go off to retirement unchallenged and with immunity."
"He gets away?" Kazyn asked, in clear disappointment.
"The evidence we have is clear that Tergyn did not do the poisoning," Hadell said, "and furthermore, we have no evidence that he has done anything wrong, other than to be a stooge for Sender. Under those circumstances, immunity is reasonable."
"Do you have the power to grant it?" Natasha asked.
"Questionable, but while you have all been doing whatever you have been doing, I have also been busy. After that attack on me, I have visited the Tenzatynn that I felt I could trust and discussed with them the issue of an organized attack on an ex-Tenzat. They all have an interest in stopping such aberrant behaviour, and in any case, they are all equally interested in maintaining Ranhynn honour. I believe that the Law and Justice curia will back my request to provide immunity, particularly when I inform them that there is no evidence of any particular guilt, other than knowledge of crime."
"Right, then, we have things to do," Gaius said. "Our first job is for some Ranhynn to capture Tes and the Guards at the House of the Military Curia. When we get information, we permit the Military Curia to elect a new Tenzat."
"And that is a job for me, and my soldiers," Methrell said. "The question now is, how do we get into the building? Unless they are totally incompetent, the perimeter will be guarded and fortified."
"It is," Gaius agreed. "I suggest you drop in onto the roof."
"And how do we do that?"
"We assemble at 1300 hours tomorrow at the spaceport hangar housing my shuttle," Gaius said. "We do it at night. Thuygen, you can be useful here. Natasha, you and your friends will open the door to let us out, and open it again when the shuttle returns, but you will stay out of sight. Thuygen will be available to talk to any Ranhynn that appears. The shuttle will be cloaked, it will hover above the building while those who will fight exit, then the shuttle will return. It is quite silent, and apart from Guards who might see it, nobody else will."
"Why wait?" Methrell asked.
"I would prefer it to be dark," Gaius said. "It is very much harder to conceal the actions of the shuttle in broad daylight, so between now and then, either stay here and make your way there then, or alternatively, go somewhere else now. What I do not want is to see the contingent marching down the street to the shuttle hangar. It is far better if someone cannot make it than everyone is seen."
The plan was accepted, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Katya would escort Natasha, Lucius and Flavia back to the city, where they should mobilize the others, and be prepared to flee, or to get to a central position where they could all be defended. Lucius had offered their services in the upcoming battle, but Gaius told them to stay neutral for as long as they could. In the first place, there was no guarantee of success, and they would have to live on with whatever remained. In the second place, it was important that as much as possible was done by Ranhynn, so that it would be recognized that Ranh was sorting out its own problems rather than humans were sorting out Ranhynn. While the two humans were prepared to fight and ignore the first point, it was more difficult to argue with the second point.
As they were leaving, Gaius took Methrell to one side, and gave her a communicator, and showed her how to use it.
"You're going to change the plan?" Methrell said, her voice showing signs of approval.
"Not necessarily," Gaius replied, "but I rather suspect I shall have to. For what it's worth, most plans I make end up somewhat different in execution, so I like to make changes possible."
"I rather think you know something I don't," Methrell said.
"No, I don't, but I rather fancy you share a suspicion or so I have."
"Good," Methrell said. "Yes, I have the odd suspicion, and it is good to know I am not alone."
Chapter 34
Zander Thuygen was in a deep funk. He had apparently got onto the Conclave Guard's watch list, and according to the news, the authorities wanted him. How could that be? Nobody knew he had anything to do with whatever went on, and in fact he had done nothing, other than to get back into his own car when that Methrell threw him out. Surely there was no way they could know he was even there, and Methrell had made a clean getaway. They must have identified the car. Or perhaps there was a video recording. Eventually, he realized that outside a Tenzat's residence there was a good chance there would be a lot of security cameras.
Then again, was it even real? Was the news item a complete lie, somehow distributed by that Scaevola. Nobody could do that, he told himself, but then again nobody really knew what the limits of Ulsian technology were. Superficially, it looked as if he were on the Conclave Guard's watch list, but if he were, how did he get back to his apartment? It was not as if he were some specialist at evasion. The obvious answer was that neither the police nor the Conclave Guard was actually looking for him at all. It never occurred to him that the real reason was that the Conclave Guard, when organizing a coup, would hardly use the police, and the Conclave Guard was a rather small force, and when organizing a coup, there were better uses for resources than chasing after a nonentity with no particular function.
The more Zander thought about it, the deeper the funk he descended into. It was then he had an idea. Suppose he contacted the Cardinal and told him about these plans? He would be reinstated, rewarded, and at the end of the day, he owed Kazyn nothing, and the humans less.
Provided the Cardinal won.
But surely, he must win. Kazyn and his lot were hopelessly outnumbered. He could play both sides by making a phone call. That way he would remain anonymous, just in case the Cardinal was not accommodating.
* * *
Remaining anonymous was easier said than done because when the receptionist answered the phone call, and after Zander explained that he wished to speak to the Cardinal, he was asked to identify himself.
"I just want to give the Cardinal some information," Zander said.
"Then give it to me, or identify yourself. The Cardinal does not waste time with just anybody."
"I want to give it to the Cardinal."
"Look, you walking dinner, the phone you are using belongs to Zander Thuygen, so I'm guessing you're Zander Thuygen, otherwise Zander Thuygen is in a lot of deep trouble."
So Zander Thuygen informed the receptionist of what he knew of the plan. No, there was no need for him to tell the Cardinal. This would be taken care of immediately. No thanks there, Thuygen thought as the call was terminated.
Since the Actium was monitoring all telephone communications in Tukhranh, the message had been intercepted, and thanks to the helpful receptionist, the caller was identified without further effort. The ship sent a thought communication to Gaius, who smiled to himself, and informed Methrell that there would be a change of plan. This was likely to get a lot easier.
* * *
Tharryt was sitting in a vehicle and licking his lips as he had managed to acquire a piece of fresh liver from the butcher around the corner. Surveillance by himself was boring, and this had been a very long surveillance, but fortunately nothing was happening in the Seppet household, except the lights were still on. He took a generous bite.
"Stuffing your face, eh?"
He gave a jump, and turned to see a female staring at him. She opened the door and glided into the adjacent seat.
"I see no reason no
t to eat," Tharryt said, then added, "And you are?"
"Seppet Methrell. I see no reason not to eat also, and I notice you are studying my house."
"Watching," Tharryt corrected her. "I presume this meets with your approval."
"You've been here all the time?"
"Apart from a brief pit stop and a stop at that butcher around the corner."
"So you couldn't be sure nobody has left?"
"No, but I am sure nobody came out the front gate," Tharryt said. "I can't see around the back and there is only one of me."
"Fair enough. There're a few more now, and we expect some action soon. We expect the Cardinal to move his men out of there, or just possibly he might bring up some artillery."
"Artillery? They expect the aerial attack?"
"Yes. We have a traitor."
"That Thuygen?"
"Got it in one guess," Methrell said.
"Sorry. I should have done something about him."
"No, you shouldn't. There was no reason to believe he would –"
"Nevertheless, I thought he was flakey, and perhaps I should have warned Scaevola to just let him go away and stew. There was no need to let him go with you so he knew the plan. I guess I have some explaining to do."
"Scaevola thought he was flakey, as you put it, too, and he let him hear the whole plan. As an aside, that may be a really good move."
"What? That we lose the surprise effect?"
"No. That either they are busy guarding the roof from an attack from above, or they'll flee. If they flee, we'll get them. If they stay, we can safely attack from below."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"You want to join in?" Methrell gave a challenging smile.
"If we don't win, sooner or later I'm dead," Tharryt said, "so I want to do what I can to make sure we win."
"Fine. Can you drive a heavy vehicle?"
"Yes, although I don't have a general licence."
"I wouldn't worry about the traffic police. Your job, then, is if they come out, there is a truck at that end of the block, and I just want you to block the road. Here is a radio, and if you hear the word "block", do it, then jump out and take cover around the corner."
"That all?"
"I have a special forces unit here. They will do the actual fighting, and I promise you, they will not lose to the likes of what the Cardinal has."
"And what happens if they don't come out?"
"Then your code word will be "Gate". If you hear that, drive the truck up and block off the front gate so vehicles cannot get out. We shall attack. Again, then get out of the way, because the Special Forces men may not be able to identify you in the dark as a friend. And when we clear them out, we shall invite you in. When you come in, keep both hands visible, and wear this hat," and with that, Methrell produced a military parade-ground hat.
Tharryt nodded agreement, and Methrell jumped out and slammed the door. She ran behind another vehicle, then Tharryt saw no more of her. She was, he realized, more than a step up in being dangerous than any of the Cardinal's troops, and as he sat back and finished his piece of liver, for the first time he actually felt pleased that he had managed to change sides. Time to change vehicles and get into this truck.
Nothing much happened for some time, then, just as it was beginning to get dark, there was activity. Two troop carriers turned on their lights and began driving towards the main gate. Tharryt watched as they came out, and he turned his key on, but did nothing more.
"Block!" came the order.
Tharryt smiled to himself, he watched the carriers until there was no chance of turning around, then he inched forward. As the first carrier came closer, he poured on the power, lurched forward, then cut straight across into the front of the carrier. The driver pulled over in the same direction, but Tharryt straightened slightly and drove almost square on into the front wheel. There was a grinding noise, and the carrier skidded around so that it was in the middle of the road, square on.
Tharryt dived out onto the footpath, and ran towards the corner. He just got around when a weapons blast tore off a chunk of the corner. Then there were the sounds of several weapons, then silence. Tharryt remembered to put on his hat, and then he came back around the corner. When he advanced enough so that he could see the other side of the vehicles, he saw the second stationary carrier, two Conclave Guards lying dead on the road, and the remaining guards seated with backs against the blocked carrier, hands on heads, and with three supervising special forces soldiers training weapons on them.
"Nice block!" Tharryt looked to his left and saw Methrell.
"You asked me to block, so I blocked," Tharryt said.
"You did indeed." She gazed at the captives and scowled. "Where's Tes?"
Silence.
"Look, you might as well tell me," Methrell said, "because I will find out, and the only question that remains is what you will all look like when I find out."
Still silence.
"Tharryt, feel like another piece of liver? There's going to be some fresh liver very shortly."
"Y you wouldn't . . ."
"You want to bet your liver on that?" Methrell said, as she produced one of the Ranhyn dining implement that cut and seared. "Well, do you? Oh, and I won't kill you, at least not directly."
"You can't! That's illegal!"
"I care?" Methrell moved towards the Ranhyn, and run the implement down his front, searing feathers but not cutting skin.
"I don't know where he is!"
"Then what do you know?"
"He left out the back gate, about half an hour after you left."
Methrell stood back and scowled again.
"That could be true," Tharryt admitted. "I could only watch the front, and anyway, if he left that early, it would be before I got back here."
"Unless he's inside still," Methrell said. She turned towards five of the soldiers and told them to come with her, then she handed Tharryt one of the Guard's weapons and told him that he could come too, if he so wished.
It took three hours to convince Methrell that Tes was not there, but eventually she had to concede. That left the question, where was he? She would set about finding him tomorrow. Now, with Special Forces guarding the house, she would sleep, and as a reward, Tharryt was invited to use a Seppet bed. Tharryt was only too pleased to be permitted to close his eyes.
* * *
Hadell was making her way around the various Tenzatynn that she had previously ignored through being partly uncertain as to where their allegiances would lie. She knew she had a few on her side, but they were not the most influential.
When she had set out, she had believed that most would be totally unaware of what she was telling them, they would be horrified, and they would undertake to support her. Far from it. Only three had genuinely been unaware, and while they were horrified, it was unclear of what they were horrified. One alternative could well be the prospect of a power play emerging, and their being considered as irrelevant by many of the major players.
She approached the Medical Curia and gained admission, then explained the situation to the Tenzat, who nodded and said, "And you know this, why?"
The "why" caught Hadell slightly by surprise, because everyone else had seemed obsessed by "how?"
"As you know, I have returned from Earth, and I have undertaken to present their representative with the objective of reaching a treaty –"
"Just because you want a treaty does not mean that Ranh does."
Hadell was surprised by this uncompromising attitude. The usual response from those who would end up clearly against such a treaty was to be as equivocal as possible without actually committing them to anything, but this bordered on sheer arrogance, and she suspected this meeting would be immediately reported to the Cardinal. "No, but by treaty with Ulse we have to offer a treaty, and there is a requirement that we negotiate in good faith."
"That would be true in general, but in terms of specifics there are religious considerations, and the Cardinals are
more suited to address those."
"Religious considerations?"
"It is the planet of creation. The Creator will wish us to return."
"Why? After all, The Creator has created another set of life forms there."
"The Creator will want us to remove them."
"You know this how?" Hadell queried, her voice lowering in tone.
"The Cardinals should know. I leave the religious issues to them, as should you."
"How would they know?" Hadell queried calmly. "The planet of creation does not arise in any religious texts, and I am sure The Creator has not spoken directly to a Cardinal."
"Why not? The Cardinals –"
"For the simple reason," Hadell said, now in a firm harsh tone, "in the event that such a miracle occurred, it would be mandatory for the Cardinal to announce it immediately, and there were no such announcements."
"Well, surely you see –"
"It seems to me," Hadell continued, "that in her wisdom, The Creator decided to create twice, and moved our species for reasons best known to her."
"Well, that's your opinion."
"It is also the Ulsian position, and we have agreed with them that we shall offer Earth a treaty on reasonable terms."
"They're a long way away," Tenzat smirked.
"But the Krothians are not," Hadell pointed out. "Ulse asked them to send a fleet to help Earth, and Earth has already defended against an advanced civilization. If Ranh attacks them, it may not be as easy as you think, and added to that, the Xanex may not be that happy to learn that the Cardinals are building annihilation bombs, against the terms in the treaty with them."
"That could be too bad for them –"
"The good news is, those bombs will not be used," Hadell said, in part as much in hope as belief. "They are being carried on only one, or at least very few, ships, and there are two mainline Ulsian battleships intent on destroying those bombs. And if they are found, unless we clear our house, Ranh will be in violation of the treaty with Ulse."
"So?"
"The Krothians can do what they like."
"They wouldn't dare. We could thrash them."
"You know that how?"