Traitor's Sun (70 page)

Mikhail had nodded, concealing any surprise. “Good. Tell us what you need.” Where a moment before, there had been tension, a mood of calm now seemed to encompass the table. Whatever disagreements had existed in the past were forgotten for the present.

Cisco had spoken in short sentences, chopping off his words, and Lew realized that he had seriously underestimated the deviousness of the commander. The scheme he unfolded was a clever combination of military and
laran
talents. For someone with no actual experience in the field of combat, Cisco had a grasp of tactics worthy of the strategies of one who had fought a hundred campaigns. It was a daring and innovative scheme, and Lew had felt a deep admiration for the man.

The fact that the entire plan depended on a series of illusions was both pleasing and terrifying. First there was the illusion that all of the Castle Guards had left, and that the castle itself was nearly uninhabited. The City Guards were assigned to stay out of sight, adding to the impression that no attack was expected. And, knowing how easily baited Lyle Belfontaine was, Lew believed he would walk into the trap, that it would be just too tempting to forgo. And if he didn’t, that would be fine as well.

Lew found himself remembering the exchange between Cisco and Marguerida when the man had hesitated at last. “I do not know what we can do against energy weapons, and I confess this has worried me for some days now.”

“
Dom
Cisco, are you familiar with the original construction of Comyn Castle?”

“I do not quite follow you,
Domna
.”

She gestured to the ruined telepathic dampers, gleaming in the light from the high windows. “When the castle was constructed, or at least when it was begun, it was very different than it is today.”

“And how do you know this?”

“I still possess the memories of Ashara Alton who was, in many ways, the architect of this building. There are passages that have been closed up for years. Actually, there could almost be said to be two castles, one within the skin of the other. You could hide a thousand men in those corridors, if you had them and knew their locations. And there is more.”

Cisco’s eyes gleamed. “You have my undivided attention,
Domna
Marguerida.” The others in the Comyn Council were equally interested, and even as weary as they were, they had leaned forward, bristling with curiosity.

Lew remembered the heightened color in Marguerida’s cheeks as she went on. “I know that most of you think that Ashara placed much of her power in the Old Tower. But, she was a wary old bird; she loved control, and most of all, she wanted to keep herself secure. So she constructed this maze of a building, but the most devious and clever thing she did was to hide a number of large matrices at all the entrances.”

“What the devil are you talking about?” That was from Francisco Ridenow, who was observing the interchange between his son and Marguerida with visible unease.

“The matrices are inactive at present, and they are well concealed behind the stonework.” She lifted her left hand from the table. “I can bring them into life quite easily.”

“And why have you never mentioned this remarkable fact until this moment?” Javanne demanded, her voice hoarse and weary.

“There was no need.”

“And why has no one other than yourself been aware of these matrices?” Lady Marilla was not hostile, just curious and rather confused.

“I believe that Valenta Elhalyn is aware of them, and has been since she was a little girl. And I suspect that Regis knew of their existence as well.”

“Nonsense. He would have mentioned it if he had known,” snapped Javanne. “More, what use would they be against off-world weapons?”

“There is more than one way to skin a cat, Javanne,” Marguerida had answered serenely, refusing to be baited. “And none of them are pleasant for the cat. What is the one thing that all humans hold in common?”

“I am too tired for stupid riddles, girl!”

“Of course you are, Javanne. I apologize.” The older woman had looked shocked at this. Marguerida had taken a deep breath and gone on. “We are all of us, regardless of sex or position, possessed of fears, which, at times, can ride our minds like banshees.” She had looked around the table then. “Most of the disagreements we have had in this room come from our fears, our thoughts of the terrible things that
might
happen. And what is a matrix except a device for amplifying thought? Our foes are just as fearful as we are, and by activating the guarding matrices at the entrances, we can enlarge the fears of our enemies, whatever they might be, can we not?”

“How?” Cisco was rubbing his callused hands together and looking almost gleeful now.

“The
leroni
will be coming into Thendara from Arilinn. If they remain here, they can create a working circle, and wreck havoc on the minds of anyone who is stupid enough or foolish enough to try to attack Comyn Castle. No one is likely to fire a blaster when the ghost of his great grandmother is standing before him.”

Cisco had nodded. “I see what you intend. But it will need someone with the Alton Gift to direct it, will it not?”

“I believe that I can do that,” Lew had heard himself say. Everyone had stared at him for a moment, and a sense of hope had begun to come from the exhausted minds around the table. “In fact, I have been wanting to drive Lyle Belfontaine crazy for years!”

He paused in his pacing for a moment and looked up. He had walked through that entrance hundreds of times in his life, and he had never known or suspected that a large starstone had been hidden above the lintel. Until it had been activated, it had been invisible to him, and to anyone else. Lew suspected that Regis had known about the hidden defenses, at some deep level. As a living matrix, it was difficult to imagine he had not. But, like Marguerida, he had never seen fit to mention it to anyone. With good reason, he decided, since they could be used against some outside enemy, but in the wrong hands, they could have been turned against the inhabitants of the castle itself.

They were as ready as they could be now, with a hundred Guardsmen secreted in a hidden passage that ran from the barracks to an opening in the wall of the castle about fifty feet away from where he now stood, and the circle of
leroni
from Arilinn. Part of Lew hoped that Belfontaine would not attack the castle, but would stay behind the walls of HQ. His strength was less than it had been a few days before, because the City Guards had arrested a number of his men for brawling and locked them up in the old John Reade Orphanage. But another part of him rather wished that Belfontaine would attack, so he could pay off some old scores.

Enough. He had to calm himself, even if it killed him. Lew stomped out of the entry and into the reception room to one side. There was a fire roaring on the hearth, and a circle of chairs had been placed in front of it. Half were occupied by the men and women who had come from Arilinn, while the rest of them were standing or walking to and fro, as restless as he was himself. He gazed in amazement at one older woman who was placidly knitting by the fire, as if nothing was more important than keeping her stitches uniform.

“Stop fussing, Lew,” Valenta said quietly, appearing beside him without warning, trying to match her short stride to his longer one. He had begun to pace again without noticing it. At twenty-eight the beauty she had possessed as a child had blossomed into its fullness. Her dark hair was braided and coiled around her head, and her skin shone with health. The rosebud mouth was poised as if at the start of a smile, and her dark eyes sparkled with her usual mischief, despite the tension all around them. When she put a hand on his forearm gently with the butterfly touch of the telepath, he could feel the power that radiated from her.

She was young enough to be his grandchild, but Lew found it impossible not to confide in her, as if she were a contemporary. “I can’t help it, Val. I want to be here, but I want to be on the road at the same time, and I keep hoping all this effort will be in vain—that nothing will happen.”

Val shook her head. “Well, of course that would be very nice, but you know as well as I do that something is going to happen. You don’t have to have the Aldaran Gift for that. Why, even those without
laran
know something is up—the merchants have shuttered their businesses and the streets are nearly empty. More, I sense a clutter of energies advancing toward us, so I suggest you stop fretting and get ready to smash them like bugs.”

“Bloodthirsty wench,” he said fondly, aware now of the movement of minds toward the castle. He felt a flood of relief. The waiting was over, and now all they had to do was find out if their plan would work.

“Nonsense! With a little luck not a drop of blood will be spilled, and if it is, it will not be Darkovan blood.” Valenta grinned, displaying perfect teeth, but sounding almost disappointed.

“Do you think our plan will work? I know it is rather late to be having second thoughts, Val, but can we really frighten a bunch of trained fighters with a few illusions and shadows?”

“They are just men, Lew, and all men and women are afraid of the darkness inside them. All we have to do is wake it up. Oh, they may have superior technology, but they do not know what we have, and that is our advantage.” She gave a brief nod. “And with those trap matrices to increase the power of their imaginations, they will likely surrender without a shot being fired.”

“You are probably right, and I am just being a worrier.”

“Yes, yes, I know. At your age, you should be sitting by the fire, reading a book and smoking your pipe.”

Lew glared at her, horrified at the image she presented. “That is not what I meant.” Then he realized she was teasing him, and made himself smile back at her.

Rafe Scott walked into the room just then, his eyes narrowed with concentration. “Our roof spotters report about seventy Terrans marching toward the castle, dressed in Federation uniform. At least they are not disguising themselves, so we don’t have to pretend we don’t know who is coming to call.”

“Seventy? That is fewer than I assumed. Armaments?”

“Standard issue side arms, battle helmets, combat suits, and two small energy cannon seems to be the extent of their armament.”

“Cannon?”

“Yes, but don’t worry. I remember the things being in Ordinance when I was still at HQ, and to the best of my knowledge, they have not been tested in at least a decade. They are probably more for show than for use, since I think that Belfontaine does not expect any real resistance.”

“Is the City Guard in position?”

Rafe nodded. “They are behind the enemy, and out of sight. Belfontaine should have thought to cover his back, but he was always a head-strong fellow. If the troops try to retreat, they can be contained for a time, as long as they don’t start shooting.”

“When do you want to begin our work?” Val asked softly.

“We should probably start preparing now, but I would like them to get almost to the front door before we actually attack them,” Lew answered, beginning to enjoy himself in spite of his persistent fears. At last he would have something concrete to do!

“That close?” She sounded a little doubtful.

“They have brought nothing which can breach these walls, Val, and I think that Belfontaine really expects an immediate surrender. All the cutbacks the Federation has imposed have left them without much in the way of advanced weaponry, and what they have is nearly obsolete, although on Darkover it is still pretty powerful.” Rafe was so calm when he spoke that both of them were comforted.

“I wonder what Belfontaine’s excuse for attacking the castle is going to be,” Lew mused. “Is he with them, or has he stayed behind in the safety of HQ.”

Rafe gave a muffled snort. “I saw him from the roof, strutting like a banty cock, all tarted out in a combat suit adorned with ribbons he never earned.” He gestured to a longviewer hanging around his neck, an instrument he had requisitioned at HQ years before and had not returned when he retired. He often brought it to the castle and took the children up to the roof for the pleasure of being able to see all the way across Thendara. Lew could sense the amusement in Rafe’s mind, and realized that he had his own scores to settle with Belfontaine.

Now Lew could sense the press of minds approaching through the nearly deserted streets, Belfontaine’s among them. He exuded confidence even at this distance, not to mention a certain righteousness of purpose. His men did not entirely share his mood, however, and he noticed doubt here and there, little quivers of unease that he knew the waiting
leroni
would use to advantage.

This was not a strategy that Lew would ever have conceived, for it was an empath’s plan, and he had never thought of that particular
laran
as something that could be used offensively. But Val was right—everyone had fears and terrors that could be roused with the right stimulus. His own did not require any help, and he cursed his imagination silently, then forced himself to stop.

“Let us begin.” Val made a small gesture, and everyone took their places in the circle of high-backed chairs except the two women who were to be monitors. The old woman who had been knitting pushed her work into a bag and shoved it beneath her seat, then began to pull her matrix stone from beneath her soft robe. Lew found her movements very peaceful, and felt his own spirits begin to settle down.

Val moved to the chair in the center of the circle, sitting tidily. There was no sound except the crackle of the fire and the faint rustle of silk being removed, as gleaming matrix stones were revealed. One of the monitors tossed something into the hearth, and a pleasant smell started to waft around the room.

After several minutes Lew could sense the atmosphere in the chamber begin to shift, a coalescing of thought and energy, focused on Valenta. He had not worked in a circle in years, except for a couple of practice runs earlier in the day, and it felt unfamiliar yet right at the same time. And, really, he had nothing to do except use the Alton Gift to channel all this wonderful energy into the large matrices above the entrance. His breathing deepened, and he felt himself become enmeshed in the circle, without strain, as if he had been doing it every day for ages. Now they would see if matrix science could outdo the technological “advan tage” of the Terranan. He chuckled deep in his chest. It really was an elegant plan, and if they got out of this in one piece, he was going to raise several cups to Cisco Ridenow’s health.