Deathstalker Rebellion (75 page)

“Slaughtered the rebels in their hundreds,” Kassar said
loudly. “Maybe even thousands; hard to tell without dragging the bodies to the surface. All right, we lost some good men, a lot of good men, but we’re the ones that ended up with prisoners. Your people never managed that before. We got three hundred and twenty-seven. I’ve decided to have them all executed at the end of the ceremony. Make a nice finish to the show, and make it clear to everyone who’s in charge here.”

“I’ve seen your prisoners,” said Stephanie. “Mostly women and children and a few wounded men. That’s going to make a great impression on the watching billions. Would you like us to supply you with some puppy dogs and cute little kittens to kill as well, to complete the picture? I mean, children! What’s the matter, Kassar, couldn’t your people find enough cripples and retards to make up the numbers?”

Kassar glared at her. “A rebel is a rebel. The executions will be a sign of authority and strike a major blow to the rebels’ morale.”

“Can’t say I agree,” said Daniel. “I mean, killing women and children in cold blood. It’s not done, you know.”

“We’re not playing your decadent Court rituals here, boy,” said Kassar, his ruined face dangerously red. “This is Church business. Don’t try and interfere with the executions, or I’ll have my troops run you off.”

“So much death excites you, doesn’t it, Kassar?” said Stephanie. “You enjoy the thought of such slaughter.”

“And you don’t?” The Cardinal sniffed contemptuously. “I thought you Wolfes had more guts.”

“We’re in the same room as you, aren’t we?” said Daniel.

Kassar started to reply to that, and then stopped as he caught the glint in Daniel’s eye. He knew of Daniel’s reputation as a duelist, and his men were a long way away. Half A Man and his Investigator were supposedly on his side, but …

“I’ve heard a few reports of my own,” said Stephanie, “about what happened, down in the tunnels. According to my sources, the rebels drove you off with some new kind of esper weapon.”

“Rumors,” said Kassar coldly. “Exaggerations. You should know better than to listen to gossip. The Rejects have no espers, let alone esper weapons.”

“But they do have Jack Random,” said Daniel.

“So they say,” said Kassar. “I’m looking forward to hang
ing him. I mean, he’s hardly a real threat anymore. Just an old man, worn down by time and failure, desperately trying for one last success. The Empire kicked his ass on Cold Rock, and my people will kick it again here. No one can stand against the Faithful. Just as no one can stand against the Church.”

And he smiled, thinking of the explosives he’d had placed in the factory. Not enough to do any real damage, but more than enough to disrupt stardrive production, make fools of the Wolfes, and lay the groundwork for a Church takeover of Technos III. And then no one would care about a few troops lost in an unlucky venture.

Half A Man stood silently a little to one side, following the conversation, and what was said and what wasn’t, but feeling no wish to join in. He made a stern, forbidding presence with Investigator Shoal at his side like a primed attack dog, and he knew it. People here had been getting too familiar just recently. They needed to be reminded where power really lay. And he felt a need to appear strong after his babbling to Shoal. He’d never spoken that much about his past damnation since his original debriefings, and he didn’t know why he’d opened up so much to Shoal. Perhaps because the dreams had been so vivid just lately, or just because Shoal’s grandfather had been such a good friend. Half A Man felt the need for a friend now more than ever. He didn’t need to worry that Shoal might talk. She was an Investigator and completely loyal to the man who’d trained and shaped her life. He had no doubt of that. Which was why he’d had her oversee the placing of Kassar’s explosives in the factory. He could trust her to do a thorough job.

Michel and Lily chose that moment to make their appearance, late as usual. They’d made some effort to dress up for the occasion, but not much. Their clothes were of the finest cut, but worn without the necessary èlan to carry them off successfully. There were recent wine stains on Michel’s cravat, and Lily’s long silver wig was perhaps just a little off center. They were giggling together as they burst in, but tried to stop when they picked up on the cold formality in the room. They beamed around them innocently and headed straight for the wine. Daniel glared after them.

“What are you looking so damn pleased about? Any later, and you’d have missed the meeting completely.”

“And wouldn’t that have been a shame?” said Lily, not
looking around as she poured herself a very large drink. “Don’t worry, darling. I’m sure nobody missed us. And we’re in plenty of time for the ceremony. Which is all you really need me for, after all. Personally, I wouldn’t miss the ceremony for anything. I love a good ceremony.”

And she and Michel shared another smile, thinking of the Chojiro-supplied explosives they’d placed in the factory. This would be one ceremony no one would forget in a hurry.

“We may have a problem with the ceremony,” said Stephanie, and everyone looked at her sharply. “The presence here of Toby Shreck and his cameraman has proved something of an embarrassment. He was supposed to be here to provide useful propaganda, but apparently no one told him that. I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone here of the repercussions from his previous broadcasts. Unfortunately, he has viewers in very high places, including Lionstone herself, and as a result he has gained exclusive rights to a live broadcast of the ceremony. I had hoped to arrange a little accident for him at the last moment, but now that he’s the only commentator available, we can’t do without him. The ceremony must be seen, and by as many people as possible.”

“Oh, it must,” said Kassar. “All kinds of people will be watching.”

“Don’t worry,” said Half A Man. “I’ll have the Investigator stand right next to him. That should make him choose his words carefully.”

“I take it the main aerial has been replaced?” said Daniel.

“Yes,” said Stephanie. “Sometime ago. I do wish you’d read your memoranda occasionally, Daniel. The Cardinal was kind enough to supply us some of his technical people to help.”

“Should bloody think so,” said Daniel. “After he blew the bloody thing up in the first place.”

“I have made my apologies,” said Kassar frostily. “I have nothing further to say on the subject.”

“That makes a change,” said Daniel.

“You are always so full of opinions, young Wolfe,” said Half A Man. “Perhaps you have some view on how the forthcoming war with the aliens should be fought, too?”

There was a pause, as everyone wondered where the hell that change in the conversation had come from. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, given Half A Man’s well-known preoccupations, but even so no one present was quite sure what had
set him off this time. Still, they were all glad of an excuse to change the subject, for their various reasons.

“I’m not sure there will be a war,” said Daniel after a moment. “The aliens have left us alone this long. I don’t see why they shouldn’t go on doing so. But if they do turn up, the answer’s obvious. Draft every commoner in sight, dope them to the gills with battle drugs, and send them out to kick six different colors of shit out of the aliens. Casualties aren’t a problem. We’ve got an endless supply of cannon fodder in the Empire.”

“No,” said Half A Man. “That’s not the answer. It’s never a good idea to give the lower orders weapons. They might start getting ideas above their station. Guns and commoners don’t mix. Never have.”

“So what’s your great plan, then?” said Daniel.

Half A Man fixed him with his single cold eye. “Investigators. I’ve been training them for decades on the best way to deal with aliens. Let me train an army of Investigators, and I’ll show you an armed force no alien attack could hope to overcome.”

There was another long pause as everyone considered the idea of an army of single-minded, cold-blooded killing machines, answerable only to Half A Man. Investigators were scary enough on their own, but the thought of an army of them was enough to loosen anyone’s bowels. Daniel for one thought he’d rather face an army of aliens stark naked, with both feet tied behind his back, but for once had the sense not to say so out loud. Everyone else was thinking hard as to why Half A Man had brought such a subject up now. Was it his way of saying that he had a power base that even mass-produced stardrives couldn’t undermine? They were still thinking furiously when the door swung open and Toby Shreck hurried in, as full of bounce as ever. Flynn glided in behind him, a new holocamera on his shoulder. Everyone else moved instinctively together, to present a unified front against a common enemy.

“That’s what I like to see,” said Toby breezily. “Good grouping. Relax, people. We won’t start broadcasting till the ceremony itself. Which I’m sure I don’t need to remind you is going out live; so, Cardinal, watch your language. I hope you’re all ready to begin, because everyone else is. All the factory staff and those Church troops not currently lying flat on their backs and moaning quietly have been assembled
outside and are standing in neat ranks, boiling in the summer heat and no doubt praying fervently for the start of the monsoon season. The Cardinal’s prisoners have been lined up and securely chained in place. They were making rather a racket, but some kind soul has dosed them with industrial strength tranquilizers, and now it’s all they can do to stand up straight. The execution should make for a good show, Cardinal. The populace does so love its blood sports. Even if the prey this time are mostly women and children. What happened, Cardinal? Were all the rebel men off on a fishing trip, perhaps?”

“One of these days your tongue is going to get you into trouble you won’t be able to talk your way out of,” said Kassar, every word chipped out of ice. “And I just pray I’m there so I can rip that wagging tongue right out of your head.”

“Don’t ever change, Cardinal,” said Toby. “It’s part of your charm.” He looked across at Stephanie. “May I suggest we get a move on? It’s never wise to keep a mass audience waiting too long. Especially if it happens to include the Empress Lionstone herself.”

The ceremony, it had been decided at practically the last moment, would be held outside the factory despite the weather, so that the impressive size of the factory complex could be seen and admired all the better by the viewing billions. One of the stardrive assembly lines had been extended out the main doors, so that the very first completed mass-production stardrive could come rolling out of the factory to be presented to the waiting crowds and the holo audiences. The waiting crowds in this case being the increasingly rebellious factory staff and Church troops, growing more and more ready by the minute to kill for a glass of cold water. Most of the Faithful had been ferried down from the Church ship in orbit to make up the numbers. They didn’t look at all happy to be there. Deep-grained indignation seethed in the ranks, barely suppressed by the presence of the remaining Jesuit commandos.

Stardrive production was months behind schedule already, and everyone knew it. The Rejects had attacked so often that they’d actually managed to bring the whole process to a halt on more than one occasion. Though of course that had never been publicly admitted, even under the Campbells. The offi
cial line was “teething troubles,” to be expected with the development of any new technology. Only a few people knew that the new drive was derived from only partly understood alien technology that had a disturbing habit of killing the clones who worked on it, and those people kept their mouths shut. Because most of them were dead, and the rest didn’t want to be.

Toby kept Flynn moving, covering the ceremony from as many angles as he could get away with, without making the watching audience dizzy. He was careful to give each of the main players equal coverage, to avoid later claims of bias, and made sure Flynn kept a very safe distance from Kassar at all times. Luckily, Flynn’s Union had been able to emergency express him a new camera in time for the ceremony. And if having a camera actually blasted off your shoulder by a disrupter didn’t count as an emergency, Toby didn’t know what did. Surprisingly, Flynn hadn’t been that upset at the time.
Hell
, he said,
I’ve covered Democracy Now protest marches. God, they’re a vicious bunch. Nothing scares me after them.
Toby smiled and shrugged, then and now, and got on with his job. He couldn’t help wondering how much Imperial News must have laid out in payoffs to ensure his exclusive coverage. It wasn’t really a major news story, but there were enough names and personages present, combined with memories of the rebel attack during the last live broadcast, to ensure a major live audience. Including the Empress. Which meant this broadcast could be a major feather in Imperial News’ cap—if Toby didn’t blow it. He was determined not to. At least partly because he had been told—quietly but very firmly—that if he did screw up, he shouldn’t bother coming home again. Except in separate pieces.

So he worked his backside off, getting quick interviews where he could, combined with interesting shots of the crowds and the prisons and the factory complex, to liven up the long pompous speeches from anyone who was anyone—or thought they should be. He was a little upset he hadn’t managed to get an interview with the legendary Half A Man, but Investigator Shoal had taken pains to keep Toby and Flynn at a more than polite distance. Toby had tried mentioning the importance of a free press and the Empress’s name, but Shoal gave him such a look that he decided to go somewhere else very quickly before she decided to grab
Flynn’s new camera and insert it into one of his main body cavities.

Lily and Michel smiled for the camera when it was pointed their way, but otherwise stayed quietly in the background. The temptation to keep checking their watches was almost overpowering, and they both tended to jump at sudden loud noises. But even their excited expectation couldn’t keep them awake in the face of the speeches. Michel began dozing with his eyes open, an art he’d perfected while forced to listen to long boring speeches at Court, and was actually close to nodding off completely when Lily elbowed him suddenly in the ribs. His head jerked up, and he glared at her as he rubbed his side gingerly.