By Heresies Distressed (6 page)

The sergeant was almost as good a shot with a rifle, although it was readily apparent that he was actually more comfortable with the pistol. And while Sharleyan's other guardsmen might not be quite up to Seahamper's standard, all of them had become excellent marksmen. As had the empress herself.

Merlin never doubted that quite a few Safeholdian males would have considered Sharleyan's interest in firearms distinctly unbecoming in a properly reared young woman of gentle birth. After all, they were noisy, smoky, dirty, smelly, and dangerous. Like all black powder weapons, they produced an enormous amount of fouling, not to mention blackening the hands—and faces—of everyone in the vicinity. And, besides, doing things like shooting holes in targets—or even in other people—was what the empress had
guardsmen
for.

Unhappily for those chauvinistic sticklers, Sharleyan Tayt Ahrmahk
liked
guns. The recoil from the guardsmen's rifles was undeniably on the brutal side, and the standard pistols were a bit too big and too heavy for her slender hands to manage comfortably. But Seahamper and Captain Wyllys Gairaht, the official commander of her guard detachment, had both known her since she was an imperious child-queen. They knew exactly what sort of force of nature she was. When she'd expressed a desire for weapons better sized for her not-quite-petite frame, they'd quickly commissioned just that. Besides, Merlin suspected that they found the notion that their charge could shoot considerably better than the vast majority of her guardsmen rather comforting.

He certainly did.

Now he spent a few more minutes watching through his distant remotes as Sharleyan methodically demolished her own silhouette.

She's going to need a bath before this evening's council meeting
, he reflected with an inner chuckle, watching her smear the powder grime on her forehead as she wiped away sweat.
And when she sits down with the councilors, not a one of them would believe what she looks like right now!

He smiled as he watched her guardsmen watching her accuracy with obvious, possessive pride, then, regretfully, turned his attention elsewhere. He was still a little surprised by how homesick he was for Tellesberg, but the city had been his home for almost three years. That was actually much longer than Nimue Alban had lived in any one spot from the day she'd graduated from the Naval Academy on Old Earth until the day of her death. Besides, home was where the people someone cared about lived.

Unfortunately, Merlin had already discovered that no one—not even a PICA who could (at least theoretically) go indefinitely without sleeping—could possibly keep track of everything
he
had to keep track of. He needed to know what was going on in Tellesberg, and on a personal level, he needed an occasional “fix” of watching over the people he and Cayleb had left behind when they sailed. Yet he couldn't afford to let himself spend
too
much time doing that, however tempting it might have been.

“Do you have that summary from Chisholm, Owl?” he asked over his built-in communicator without ever moving his lips.

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander,” the AI hidden away in “Nimue's Cave,” the distant cavern where Nimue's PICA had lain concealed for so many centuries, replied.

“Then I suppose I'd better take a look at it, too, shouldn't I?” Merlin sighed.

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander,” Owl replied obediently.

“Well, go ahead and begin the transmission.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander.”

“It seems we're all present, gentlemen. Please, be seated.”

The half-dozen men in the private dining room looked up as one when their host stepped through the expensive, paneled door and smiled at them. Answering smiles were notable for their absence.

If the immaculately groomed, silver-haired man was perturbed by the taut expressions of his guests, he allowed no sign of it to cross his own face. He simply stepped forward, with the assurance that went with both his age and his stature within the Siddarmarkian business community.

His name was Tymahn Qwentyn, and he was probably the wealthiest private citizen in the entire Republic of Siddarmark. At seventy-three years of age (sixty-six in the years of Old Earth, although no one in Siddarmark was even aware that a place called “Old Earth” had ever existed) he remained vigorous and actively engaged. It was said, not without reason, that there was not a business transaction in all of Siddarmark which didn't have a Qwentyn involved in it somewhere, and Tymahn was the acknowledged patriarch of the world-spanning family business. He was one of the Lord Protector's intimates and a financial adviser to dukes, princes, kings, and vicars. He knew everyone, everywhere, and he had built a lifetime reputation as a man whose word could be trusted and whose enmity was to be feared.

When Tymahn Qwentyn issued a dinner invitation, it
was
accepted. Even if some of the individuals on the guest list were more than a little anxious about just what he might have in mind. This evening's invitees strongly suspected the reason they'd been called together, and there was a general air of nervousness as they waited to find out if their suspicions were accurate.

“Thank you all for coming,” Qwentyn said, exactly as if there'd been any probability that they might not have. “I'm sure that in these times of uncertainty, all of us can appreciate the necessity for men of goodwill to extend the hand of friendship to one another,” he continued. “Especially when the well-being of so many other people depends upon the decisions those men of goodwill make.”

The tension ratcheted slightly higher, and he smiled as if he both sensed their increased anxiety and was amused by it.

“I'm quite confident that all of us know one another,” he said, seating himself at the head of the table. “That being the case, I see no particular need for introductions.”

One or two heads nodded in agreement. Most of them did, in fact, know one another, but there were definitely times when official anonymity was greatly to be desired.

“I'll come directly to the point, gentlemen,” Qwentyn continued. “I invited you here not simply in my private capacity as a senior stockholder in the House of Qwentyn, but also as a concerned citizen of the Republic. I have concerns of my own, obviously, but I have also been the recipient of certain statements of anxiety from other citizens, both within and without the government. Obviously, those anxieties have been expressed as one private individual speaking to another private individual, so please do not make the mistake of assuming that this meeting bears any particular official . . . stamp of approval, as it were.”

No one bothered to nod this time. Despite any qualifications he might voice for the record, Tymahn Qwentyn did not mention contacts with anyone “within and without the government” unless he was, in fact, speaking for that government. Or, at least, for those with very powerful interests within it. And given his close personal relationship with the Lord Protector, the chance that he would even consider acting against Greyghor Stohnar's expressed desires was effectively nonexistent.

The only question in the minds of his guests was not whether or not he was being used as a sub rosa conduit by the Lord Protector, but rather exactly what it was that Stohnar wanted to tell them.

“Recent events both here in the Republic and elsewhere,” Qwentyn continued after a moment, “have resulted in extraordinary dislocations of business and finance. I'm certain all of you have experienced some of the dislocations to which I refer. And, as myself, I feel certain, you're deeply distressed by the open schism between the Kingdom of Charis—excuse me, the
Empire
of Charis—and the Knights of the Temple Lands. In a time rife with so much uncertainty, it becomes inevitable that markets will be depressed, that trade will be dislocated and businesses will falter, and that some of those businesses will fail, with disastrous consequences not simply for their owners and shareholders, but also for those who depend upon them as a means to earn their own livelihood.

“While I feel confident none of us would dispute the Knights of the Temple Lands' right to formulate their own foreign policy as they see best, or contest the will of the Grand Inquisitor when he acts to protect all of us from potential heresy and spiritual contamination, we may, perhaps, be aware of certain consequences of those decisions which have not occurred to those charged with making them. In particular, the decision to ban all Charisian-flag merchant vessels from the ports of the Republic—and, for that matter, of every other mainland port—is already producing business failures. At the moment, that's largely due to the panic effect, but the consequences—the ultimate consequences—will be only too real. To be blunt, the collapse of more than a few trading houses would appear to be imminent, and if and when those houses fail, their collapse will be like stones dropped into pools of water. Ripples of additional failure will sweep outward from them, crossing and crisscrossing with potentially disastrous effects which will know no limitations of flag or border.”

He paused, and four of his guests very carefully did not look at the remaining two. Silence lingered for several minutes, and then one of the men no one else was looking at cleared his throat.

“No doubt your analysis is as accurate and pertinent as always, Master Qwentyn,” he said with a pronounced Charisian accent. “And I trust you'll forgive me if I might seem to be getting ahead of events, or perhaps even appear to be putting words into your mouth. But may we assume that one of the reasons for your invitation this evening is to discuss ways in which those unfortunate repercussions could be . . . ameliorated?”

“In a manner of speaking, certainly,” Qwentyn replied. Then he leaned back in his chair, folding his hands before him on the tabletop, and smiled almost whimsically. “Obviously, the spiritual well-being of the Church's flock must be the first responsibility and concern of the Grand Inquisitor. No one could possibly dispute that fact. Nonetheless, there have been occasions in the history of the . . . Knights of the Temple Lands when their policies have required the interpolation of those outside the Temple Lands if their true objectives were to be accomplished. Several people I've spoken to over the last few five-days are of the opinion that it's at least possible this may be another of those occasions.”

“In what way, Master Qwentyn?” one of his other guests asked in guarded tones.

“It seems evident that the Grand Inquisitor's objective is to minimize contact between potentially apostate Charisians and the citizens of the Republic,” Qwentyn said calmly. “One can hardly draw any other conclusion from his directives, not to mention his explicit instructions to the Lord Protector and to the other heads of state of the major mainland realms. The possibility that the consequences of his directives may very well exceed his intentions clearly exists, however. It's been suggested to me that perhaps it would not be inappropriate for those of us deeply involved in international trade and investment to consider ways in which certain of those unanticipated consequences might be minimized.

“For example, the Grand Inquisitor has specifically directed that our ports are to be closed against any and all Charisian-flag vessels. None of us, I'm certain, would ever even consider setting our own will in opposition to the commands of the Grand Inquisitor. However, his directives refer specifically to the realm where a ship is
registered;
there was nothing in them which pertained to where a ship might have been
built
, or even where its cargo might have originated.” He smiled benevolently at his listeners. “My own House has recently signed a long-term lease-purchase agreement by which we have taken possession of several dozen Charisian-built merchant ships. Since the agreement is a lease-
purchase
, it's obviously in our best interests to secure our ownership interest in the vessels, especially in these troubled times. Accordingly, their registries have been transferred from those of the kingdom in which they were built to the Republic, where their current owners are located.”

Eyes narrowed around the table as his guests digested that. It was true that the Grand Inquisitor's orders had specified the seizure of Charisian-
owned
vessels. If ships were no longer registered in Charis, and if their owners were no longer Charisian subjects, then the letter of Vicar Zhaspahr's commands would no longer apply. Still. . . .

“Have you discussed these ‘lease-purchases' with the Chancellor's office?” the Charisian-accented guest asked slowly.

“There's been no need to involve the Chancellor in such routine transactions,” Qwentyn said tranquilly. “Obviously, his office is aware of them, however, since it's responded most favorably and promptly to our requests to expedite the registration of the transfers of title.”

“I see.”

The Charisian and the others seated around the table digested that, as well. Given the fact that the vessels themselves would be useless without crews to man them, and given the fact that the Siddarmarkian merchant marine was virtually nonexistent, a rather delicate question arose. After several seconds, one of the other guests cleared
his
throat.

“I can well appreciate how the transactions you've described would go far towards meeting the Grand Inquisitor's desires while simultaneously providing the necessary bottoms to keep essential commerce moving. My own shareholders might well be interested in participating in similar transactions, but, alas, we do not possess a stock of trained sailors from which to provide crews.”

“As a matter of fact, that presented certain difficulties to
us
, as well,” Qwentyn said, nodding gravely. “We determined that the simplest decision was to hire the additional sailors we required. In fact, the sellers were kind enough to provide us with the trained seamen we needed. The simplest solution, actually, was simply to hire the passage crews who delivered the vessels to us. Obviously, they were already familiar with the ships in question, and the majority of them had no objection to sailing under Siddarmarkian colors. One ship is very like another, after all.”