A Covenant of Justice (38 page)

“Your honor, I said criminals and I meant criminals.
Convicted
criminals.
Escaped
criminals. Sawyer and Finn Markham, Lee-1169, Kask, Harry Mertz, and Arl-N all escaped from the detainment on Thoska-Roole. Sawyer and Finn Markham, Lee-1169, and William Three-Dollar, also escaped from the Lady's Imperial starship as well. Therefore, in addition to granting Lady Zillabar's petition, I request that this court authorize me to take these criminals back into custody and return them to the detainments from which they escaped.”

“Your honors—” said Harry, bustling back down to the center of the amphitheater. “It seems to me that mitigating circumstances exist in the matter of these convictions. Indeed,” he said, waggling a finger, “I agree that the mandates of the Regency Charter bear strongly on this case, and I welcome Kernel d'Vashti's raising of these issues. I think we need to hear the whole story of these criminal convictions and the circumstances of the subsequent escapes—”

“No,” said the Lady Zillabar. “d'Vashti does not speak for me. I have no wish to continue prosecution against any of those the Kernel named. In my official capacity as the senior representative of the ruling authority on Thoska-Roole, I intend to recommend that the Department of Criminal Prosecution investigate this case locally. Without my testimony, I expect that the Department will have to dismiss all charges and expunge the records; in which case, this court should not trouble itself with this matter. I'll stipulate to that if the court will.”

The Senior Arbiter conferred briefly with her two colleagues, whispering feverishly among themselves. At last, shrugging, they turned back to the Lady. “As you wish. This court will respect your privacy. Although Justice Mertz obviously wishes to expand the scope of this hearing, at this point, we see no reason to do so.

“Additionally, we find Kernel d'Vashti's argument about respecting the genetic heritage of the Phaestor aristocracy so compelling that we have no choice but to grant your petition for release from the custody of
The Lady MacBeth
. That claim takes precedence over any contractual obligation you may have to the brothers Markham.”

“Thank you,” said the Lady Zillabar, inclining her head in a noble bow. When she straightened, she turned around to face her antagonists and gave them a look of sheer venom. “Thanks for your blood. I'll return later for the rest of it.”

They kept their faces carefully blank until they returned to
The Lady MacBeth
and had sealed and dogged all the hatches. They held their silence until Shariba-Jen reported that the latest sweep of the ship showed that no security breaches had occurred.

Then, they started shouting, laughing, and slapping each other on the backs until Harry Mertz began coughing uncontrollably and Ota had to lead him to a chair.

“I can't believe it,” said M'bele. “It worked. It
actually
worked.”

“It had to work,” said Finn. “We didn't have a lot of other alternatives.”

Catching his breath, holding up a hand, Harry nodded and agreed. “It worked because they believed it. And they believed it because we did.”

Finn had already begun removing the death-mask makeup that Robin and M'bele had so carefully applied. As he pulled off the gray hair and peeled the ashen skin from his face, he finally began to look like the Finn Markham of old—ruddy, dark, and wearing a good-natured ear-to-ear grin.

“All right,” said Lee-1169. “Can we have some explanations around here, finally? I have no idea what we just did. Did we win a victory or not.”

“Oh, we won a victory, all right,” said Three-Dollar. “We just don't know how big a victory yet.”

M'bele spoke up then. “Finn Markham responded so well to the treatments that he shook off the worst effects of the blood burn before we arrived. I kept this information secret from everyone—even from Sawyer at first—because I didn't understand what had happened. Then in looking over the entire history of the treatment, I realized exactly why this occurred. Finn's dramatic improvement only began after Lady Zillabar began feeding on all the different flavors of blood that we made available to her. The Phaestor body produces all kinds of protections against various blood diseases. When the Lady fed, all of her responses kicked in simultaneously, and Finn Markham benefited from that protection. The Lady transferred multiple immune factors to him. So, Finn Markham's dramatic recovery occurred as a direct result of the generosity of every person here.

“But more than that,” said M'bele, looking extraordinarily pleased with himself, “I can now tell you that as a result of the extended course of treatments, Finn Markham has achieved a profound immunity to the blood-burn, one which I feel will not only prove permanent, but could equally well prove transferable—not only to other humans, but also to every other species whose blood helped feed Zillabar. If so, we have not only a cure, but a vaccine—and for that we can thank each and every one of us here.”

“I didn't donate,” said Lee, both bitter and regretful. To M'bele, he said, “I let my anger overwhelm my compassion. Forgive me.”

Sawyer turned to Lee. “You don't have to apologize. We all understood. Nobody condemns you. I don't. I don't know that I would have acted any differently if I had stood in your place.”

Lee shook it off. “But—now I feel as if I have betrayed this Alliance.” He looked around in confusion. “Sometimes what feels right turns out wrong. Sometimes what feels wrong turns out right. How can anyone know what to do?”

Three-Dollar went to him and touched him compassionately. “You have to stop looking to the past as a guide. Instead, design the future that you want and then choose to step committedly into it. Always look to the future you want to step into for guidance. That will tell you what you have to do.”

Lee accepted this information with a puzzled frown. He would have to think about this for a long while. He sat down thoughtfully.

Now, Robin spoke up. “But—?” she asked. “Why the pretense that Finn still needed further treatments? Why did we have to make him look so deathly ill for this hearing? That part I don't understand.”

Three-Dollar nodded deferentially to Harry. Harry shrugged modestly. “Well,” he said, “I take the blame for that. I did not tell any of you what I intended because I feared that your foreknowledge might keep you from acting appropriately. We needed you to become angry and rebellious, so that d'Vashti would believe that we had lost our unity—so that d'Vashti would see what he wanted to see, our vulnerability. We needed to have him underestimate us.”

“So . . . you knew that the court would overturn your ruling?”

“I expected it,” Harry said. “Indeed, I hoped for it. We had no further need of Zillabar here. Keeping her in custody made us look like villains. We had to get rid of her. She'd served her purpose. Finn had his health. We couldn't just release her, could we? No, we needed to have her serve us once again. By letting d'Vashti have the appearance of victory, we've also guaranteed his ultimate failure. The moment he accepted the authority of the court, he also accepted the authority of the Gathering.

“The TimeBinders have to concern themselves only with the upcoming Unification and Speaking. But the Arbiters have had a much more compelling worry. Whatever the TimeBinders create, how will we enforce it on the Regency? By getting d'Vashti to accept the legality of the processes here, he has established the precedent that the Regency will also accept the Speaking of the ‘Binders. Whatever else happened at that hearing, we always had as our real goal, having d'Vashti speak his acknowledgment for the record. We achieved that by not letting d'Vashti realize what he had stepped into. I thank you all for your part in this marvelous subterfuge.”

Sawyer stood up then, frowning slightly. “But what about all that stuff you said about justice—justice for the enemy as well as for yourself?”

“What about it?” Harry eyed him blandly.

“Those high-sounding words; did you mean them or not?”

“I meant them,” said Harry. “Every single word. I believe that d'Vashti must have access to justice too. And Zillabar. You and Lee and others have correctly asked the question, ‘How can we have justice if the Phaestor don't also subscribe to it?' The question troubles others as well. This hearing that we just concluded represents part of the answer. First, you have to have the agreement of the Phaestor that they will subscribe to the same code. They have. Now we can truly talk about justice. As an Arbiter, I remain committed to justice. When I wear this robe, I will speak as fairly as I can. When I doff the robe, however, I retain a healthy awareness of my pitiful shortcomings as a human. I confess to some loyalty to my friends. But I promise you, I have never let my love of my friends overwhelm my love of justice. It pleases me no end that in this situation, justice also serves those I have learned to love.”

Harry noticed the look on Sawyer's face and said, “That troubles you, doesn't it?”

Sawyer nodded. “I don't have to list all the different ways that d'Vashti and Zillabar have broken their word, broken their oaths to the Regency, broken the law, broken the boundaries of common decency—and you know as well as I how they have repeatedly violated the Charter of the Regency. Why didn't you bring that up? Why didn't you force the discussion of that issue? We could have had them disgraced—”

“We could have risked triggering a civil war. d'Vashti and Zillabar would not walk willingly into their own destruction. Nor could the Phaestor allow the Gathering to take that kind of action against two of their highest leaders. No. First we erode their authority by getting them to accept the authority of the Gathering as a higher body. This way, my friend, we have the force of law on our side.”

“But it doesn't matter what you get them to agree to. They'll ignore it at their convenience. They always do. You can't possibly expect them to they'll keep their word about accepting the authority of the Gathering?”

“Actually, I don't expect anything from either of them. Remember, I have personal experience of their treachery too. But listen to me, Sawyer Markham. We will abide by the rule of law, even if they do not—for once we begin to play by their rules, then no matter what else happens, we have already lost.”

Within moments after the Imperial shuttle docked with
The Black Destructor
, the Lady Zillabar had stormed off, with d'Vashti following stiffly in her wake. Neither had spoken to the other—not in the hearing of multiple aides, attendants, and guards, Dragons and Vampires alike.

As soon as they had both reached the private quarters d'Vashti had set aside for her, Zillabar turned to the waiting attendants and maids and dismissed them instantly. “I will speak to the Kernel alone.” As soon as the door had dilated shut behind the last of them, she let the first outer signs of her anger appear on her outer face.

“They insulted me. They abused me. They vilified me. They violated my person. They tried to rape my spirit, but I retreated to my inner space and they did not touch the real me. Hear this, d'Vashti—I will have my revenge. They will not crush me.”

d'Vashti bowed low in deference to her rage. He spoke softly, “I guarantee that you will have your revenge, my Lady. I have no intention of letting this Gathering proceed.”

“You?” she asked. “Of all the fools who have tormented me, you have demonstrated yourself the most dangerous. You just acknowledged that this proceeding has authority over the Regency Charter. You gave them the right to dismantle the Regency, if they deem it necessary.”

“They won't—”

“You think not? Why do you think they called this Gathering in the first place? A Gathering represents the only authority left to them to undo the reins of our control.”

d'Vashti shook his head. “They need all thirteen TimeBinders. The TimeBand of Willowar disappeared. They can't manage either a Unification or a Speaking without it—”

“They have critical mass with twelve TimeBinders. Maybe they'll vote to replace the missing TimeBand. Maybe they'll operate without it. I sat in a cell in that damn little can and I never heard a hint of what the TimeBinders have planned. I'll find out soon enough, now that I've regained access to my network. But I can tell you this, d'Vashti; now that they've all gathered, they won't allow a missing TimeBand to stop them from accomplishing their goals. They'll find a way to proceed.”

“It won't happen,” repeated d'Vashti.

“You idiot. Haven't you heard a thing I've said? The Regency has no authority over a Gathering. It never did—and now that you've acknowledged that the Gathering has authority over the Regency—”

“I don't need authority.” d'Vashti kept his voice carefully blank. “I have other means.”

Zillabar stared at him. “I don't believe you said that. You have no idea how precarious our position has suddenly become. If you think you can use this—this Armageddon-class insanity of yours to suppress this process, you'll set off a rebellion that will make the last hundred years of uprisings look like a weekend on Fontana's Folly.”

“I have a plan,” he said.

She couldn't read him. She thought she knew d'Vashti's thinking, but suddenly she realized that large areas of him remained blank to her. Obviously, he had some mechanism in place that she remained totally unaware of. She lowered her rage. “I've seen enough of your plans. I've seen how they turn out.” She waited for him to expand his statement.

He didn't. He simply remarked, “This one will not fail. Trust me.”

Annoyed at his arrogance, she let her anger rise again. “I've already suffered enough from your plans—and the Dragon Lord's plans.” She spat in disgust. “And you ask me to trust you?”