Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (91 page)

"'They'?"

"In
the
trips
we
know
of,
five
different
Others
from
the
Freiland
organization,"
she
said.
"Usually
only
two
or
three
on
a
trip,
always including
one
or
two
of
Hammer
Martin's
top
deputies."
She shrugged.
"That's
it."

"All
right,"
he
said.
"Have
you
gotten
anywhere
on
Old
Earth
itself?"

"We've
gotten
one
person
into
your
brother's
underground
organization
there.
The
organization
seems
to
be
avoiding
hiring
off-worlders,
but
because
our
person
is
the
granddaughter
of
one
of
our New
People
who
retired
to
Old
Earth
sixteen
years
ago—taking
his family
with
him—she
was
apparently
accepted
as
a
native
of
that planet,
slipping
by
your
brother's
checks.
.
.
.
Your
brother
is
much better
on
organizational
security
than
your
Others
on
the
Younger Wbrlds,
by
the
way."

"That
doesn't
surprise
me,"
Bleys
said.

"Unusually
so,
in
fact,"
Deborah
said.

"Oh?"

"Even
though
we
haven't
been
able
to
get
into
your
brother's
organization,
we've
tried
to
watch
it
from
outside—details
are
on
this chip—"
She
handed
him
a
small
envelope.
"—and
I'm
told
your brother
is
keeping
more
of
a
low
profile
than
seems
necessary."

"Of
course,"
Bleys
said,
"he
can't
maintain
his
own
identity there—"

"It's
more
than
that,"
she
said.
"It's
more
like
he's
hiding.
He
has no
permanent
residence,
he
moves
around
a
lot,
and
he
seems
to vanish
at
odd
moments
with
no
warning.
He
makes
no
appointments,
and
conducts
most
of
his
business
at
a
distance."

"Do
you
have
any
idea
what
it
means?"
Bleys
asked.
"Dahno's said
nothing
in
his
reports
to
reflect
anything
like
that."

"I've
got
nothing
to
base
this
on,"
Deborah
said,
"but
my
people say
it
looks
as
if
he's
on
the
run."

"From
whom?
Old
Earth
authorities?"

"We've
seen
no
indication
they
know
he's
there."

"Not
even
the
Final
Encyclopedia?"

"It's
always
possible,"
Deborah
said.
"All
I
can
really
say
is
we've never
seen
anything
that
even
hints
at
anyone
knowing
he's
there." "Except
our
people,"
he
said.
"Again." "
'Again'?"

"Never
mind,"
he
said.
"Listen,
I'm
going
to
send
some
of
my Soldiers
to
Old
Earth
to
look
into
this."
He
stopped
again
to
think.

"I
don't
intend
for
you
to
be
working
for
them,"
he
went
on, "and
they
won't
be
working
for
you.
I'm
only
telling
you
so
your people
won't
be
surprised
when
my
people
show
up.
All
right?"

"You
know
we
prefer
to
be
independent,"
she
said,
"so
that's fine.
But
I
have
one
more
item:
two
members
of
the
Laboratories Review
Council—both
of
them
defeated
in
the
recent
elections— have
vanished.
We
don't
know
what
it
means,
but
we
thought
you should
know."

"And
you
were
correct,"
Bleys
said.
"As
it
happens,
I
already know
about
that.
It's
nothing
for
you
to
worry
about."

It'll
be
good
for
our
relationship
if
she
realizes
I
have
other
resources,
he thought.

Of
the
six
Soldiers
Bleys
sent
to
Old
Earth,
two
had
vanished within
two
weeks—mysteriously,
and
with
no
sign
of
any
involvement
by
any
Old
Earth
authority.

"I
don't
think
you
should
go,"
Toni
said.

"It's
necessary,"
Bleys
said.
"I
don't
know
what's
happening,
but it's
clearly
a
threat
to
the
organization,
and
that
means
it's
a
threat to
my
plans."

"You
said
it
yourself,
a
while
ago,"
she
said:
"your
death
would be
the
end
of
your
plans."

"My
plans
could
die
even
if
I
live,"
he
said.
"Whether
the
organization
lives
on
is
less
important—it's
always
been
just
a
tool."
He smiled.

"In
fact,"
he
said,
"the
organization
is
likely
to
live
longer
than all
of
us,
because
it's
a
creature
of
the
historical
forces
...
I've
told you
before
that
no
one
individual
is
important
to
the
movement
of those
forces,
and
that
includes
me."

"So
the
organization
arose
only
because
it
was,
historically, time?"

"Yes,"
he
said.
"If
it
hadn't
been
the
Others,
some
other
group would
have
stepped
into
the
place
the
forces
had
left
open—even without
me,
and
without
Dahno.
But
it's
precisely
because
of
those
forces
that
the
organization—working
through
people
in
it—is
pushing
at
me.
The
organization
is
a
kind
of
movement
of
the
historical moment,
and
it's
got
a
momentum
of
its
own,
that
I
can't
stop."