Infinite Day (94 page)

The silence was now almost overwhelming in its intensity.
Has ever any speaker had such attention?

“In the course of that venture, we were able to seize a military ship of the Dominion. We took many prisoners. We did our best to keep those we captured safe and sent them to a deserted world within the Saratan system. But before we did, I met and talked with one of these men.”

He paused again, looking around, sensing an overwhelming hunger for his words. “I know the Dominion is evil—utterly evil; no one knows it better than I. But many of those who serve the lord-emperor are not dissimilar in many ways to us. In some cases, they serve Nezhuala because they believe in him; in other cases, they serve him under pain of death. At least some of them have wives and families, and they share something of our hopes and desires. There is evil there, yes. But I cannot agree to the wholesale and random destruction of all. Indeed, I made a promise to one of these men that I would do all I could to preserve his life. I feel still bound by the promise.”

Merral saw the look of total fury on Delastro's face. The prebendant raised his fist. “You are one of them,” he hissed, but Merral ignored the comment.
I must not let him distract me.

“That, then, is my first reason why we should not condemn these men to the flames. They are, however separated from us, our relatives. But for grace, and the Lord's good favor on the Assembly, we would be like them.”

“Compromiser!
Appeaser!
” Delastro shouted.

Merral disregarded him and continued. “Let me give you another reason why we must not destroy these worlds. Before events forced me into soldiering, I was a forester on a Made World. Most of you are from Made Worlds, and it seemed to me then—and it seems to me even more now—that they are at the heart of what we are as Assembly. We are those who have been given a mandate from the Most High to bring life to the worlds. It is our duty and glory to turn the bleakest dust and lava into sea and forest and river. I know one Made World well, and in the course of my journey here, I spent—not out of choice—an interesting fortnight on another. That reinforced in me the belief that the Assembly was brought into being to steward the worlds, to care for them, and not to destroy them. I remind you that to do this thing would to be to destroy not just one planetary system overnight, but to start a process that would, over hundreds of years as the blast wave moved out through space, destroy many worlds. To let this happen would be to reject our calling. We would turn from being creators to being destroyers. I think we would no longer be the Assembly that we have been for so many thousands of years.”

“
Traitor! You are possessed!
” Delastro was waving his staff high now.

“Excuse me, Commander.” It was the chairman, and Merral was struck by the strangely firm and confident tone. “Prebendant, I must ask you to be silent. I would hate to be forced to make you leave the room.”

Merral began again. “My third reason is this: it betrays a lack of faith. We have claimed in all that we are that we are the Lord's Assembly. But now we have suddenly left him out of the equation. This weapon is one of almost blasphemous independence. Where is the reliance on the One who sustains the Assembly? It seems to me that here, today, in this chamber, we face a testing of our faith. Do we trust the Most High? Or is his simply a name that we parade when things go well for us?” He looked around the stewards. “For myself, I am now prepared to say that I would far rather trust in the Lord and in such weapons as we have already than unleash this foul thing on the worlds of the enemy.”

As he paused, he glimpsed Delastro, shaking his head. He turned forward to see Gerry glaring at him with an almost manic hostility.
We're going to have trouble dealing with her.

Merral went on. “My final point is this: to use this weapon would corrupt us. Corruption is already at work within the Assembly at every level. But if we take up this sword, we will most surely perish by it. This is an action of rage and fear. It is an understandable reaction. But believe me, it is a wrong one. The Dominion approaches us with terror as its weapon; but to strike back with a worse terror is no answer. What benefit will there be if, in defeating the Dominion, we ourselves become a new Dominion?”

He let the words linger. “Stewards, I pray, destroy this weapon. It must not be used. It would be better that we perished as those faithful to the Lamb than to use such a weapon against our enemies and live.”

The words were greeted by a low murmur and the clapping of many hands.
I have said what I must
.

“I will take questions,” Merral said, aware that the secretary had slipped back into the room.

“Then what should we do?” someone asked.

“I have no easy answer. We must fight and pray as best we can. Seek what weapons we have and use them against the military forces. But not to destroy entire worlds. By rejecting this weapon, we will no doubt incur deaths. But we will all die eventually, and personally, I would rather die with a clear conscience than as one who had destroyed worlds.”

There was another voice. “You spoke of corruption among us. That is a serious charge. Many of us are sworn to the lord-prebendant's watchword of purity and dedication.”

I must be careful here.
“I do not argue against either of those values. And as for the corruption, I will say more later. But I think it is right that our attention here and now remain focused on the decision about Project Daybreak.”

No one said anything.

Merral turned to Delastro. “Prebendant, do you wish to contradict me?”

“I wish to say . . .” After a long pause, he shook his head. “
No
. But I do say this.” He raised a bony fist high. “If you trust me, vote for this weapon to be used.”

Then he sat down.

Merral waited for the clapping that he expected, but instead there was a strange, awkward silence.

The chairman rose to his feet. “Thank you, Commander. Please sit by me. The chancellor appears to have vacated his seat. Now, let us vote.”

Merral sat down.
Where are Vero and the others? I need them to deal with Delastro
.

He could see the prebendant speaking to a blank-faced Clemant and the woman next to him. Ahead he noticed Gerry staring at him with a look of pure loathing.

The delay seemed interminable, but finally, the secretary looked at the screen on his desk and consulted with the chairman, who nodded, stood up, and announced quietly that the motion to deploy Project Daybreak had been rejected.

A round of hesitant applause echoed through the chamber. Merral heard Gerry say, “
No!
”

Merral turned to the chairman and, speaking in a low voice, said, “Dr. Malunal, I'm afraid I have to make another short speech.”

There was a troubled look. “Commander, this is all
very
irregular.” The look faded away. “But as you wish.”

As he had waited for the votes to be counted, Delastro struggled to come to terms with the blow he had been dealt.
Victory was certain, and it now seems it could be snatched from me!

The stupid thing was that it was all his own fault.
I spared this man, and I thought it was mercy. It was not mercy but folly. I should have extinguished his life. But I compromised; I let the evil one live. I have learned my lesson. I should have cleansed the worlds of him by fire or vacuum.

Then it came to him that he had to be disciplined in his anger and regret, or all that he had worked for would certainly be destroyed.
Have I indeed lost the vote?

He gazed up and around, trying to catch the eyes of the men and women whom he had known were his supporters, seeking reassurance that they had voted as they had promised. The way they looked awkwardly away confirmed his worst fears.
I will lose this vote. May you be cursed, D'Avanos!

He tried to push the hate away.
I need to think clearly. Now what?

He turned to Clemant, but as he did he realized the man was useless. He was sitting, staring blankly into infinity, his face bloodless. Contempt surged through Delastro's mind.
Too weak; he always was.
Beyond him, K seemed to be preoccupied with her communications; something seemed wrong. He felt more contempt.
She is
a
woman who was inadequate for this crisis.

The vote was announced, and he heard Gerry's protesting cry. Delastro hid his emotions, allowing himself only a solemn, rueful shake of the head.

Now what? So far the forester has spared me. But I doubt he will do so for long.
D'Avanos was already talking with Malunal.
Well, evil cannot be allowed to triumph. So I must go for the backup plan. I never thought I would need it, but I'm glad I prepared it. The armor of truth and the shield of righteousness together. You can't be too careful when dealing with evil. It is so subtle.

Careful to see that he wasn't noticed, Delastro reached down to his diary and found the buttons on the edge.
It is a troubling choice, but there is
no option. Indeed, the way the voting has gone today has shown how flawed this system is. What virtue is there in involving fools in decision making?

He hestitated a second. How long would it take Zak to implement the backup plan? The hundred armed men he had inside the building would seal the doors in two minutes. The reserve guards outside would close off all the streets in ten.
It will be unpopular, but I will be forgiven.

He pressed the transmit button. He hoped there would be no bloodshed, but he was not going to let mercy stay his hand.
Evil must be purged. The existence of D'Avanos shows what the problem with mercy is
.

He waited for the faint buzzing vibration to acknowledge that the message had been sent, but none came.

He peered past Clemant, frozen into immobility, to K. She evidently caught the meaning in his look because she mouthed back, “No signal.”

D'Avanos has had transmissions blocked! Such cunning. Diabolical cunning, quite literally.
He saw K look away.
She will seek to save herself.
The weak always do.

He saw that D'Avanos was about to speak again. Despair flooded his mind.
This time he will denounce me
.

Delastro stared across the floor to where Gerry sat, her face a picture of bitterness.
She knows it: he has wrecked all our plans; he has served the purposes of the Dominion; he has become our enemy.

He heard D'Avanos begin addressing the stewards again.
How has he done this—escaped, survived, turned up here? How?

He realized he knew the answer; he had known it ever since the battle of Tezekal Ridge.
D'Avanos has authority among the spirits. I have been playing around, trying to manipulate the powers, but he can do it. Despite his protestations and those of his dark henchman, he has been lying. He has cajoled—or ordered—this envoy to help him. I've been outmatched by his power.

Delastro's hand tightened around his staff.
Power: that's what it's all about.

Merral stood in the amplification zone. “I'm afraid I need to take up your time for just a few more minutes. Unfortunately, there is another matter I wish to discuss.” Merral let his eyes sweep around the great chamber till they turned on Delastro. “This other matter is something that I did not mention earlier because I wished to keep it separate from that most important debate.” He paused. “Sadly, I have to say that you have been lied to. I have brought with me incontrovertible evidence of what really happened at Farholme, and if the chairman is willing, you will all shortly have copies. I gather that the prebendant has claimed that he played a major role in the fighting there. He did no such thing.”

Gasps of astonishment erupted. “He and Advisor Clemant conspired to have me removed as commander in chief, and they effectively imprisoned me after the battle at Ynysmant. Between them, without permission of the lawful authorities, they then took the vessel that the Farholme defense forces had seized.”