Rhythm of the Imperium (28 page)

“Well, you don’t mind if we have some?” Xan gave them a pleasant smile. They honked and grunted. NR-111 refrained from repeating their words in Standard. Nothing good could have come of the turn of Kail invective that we had all learned they were capable. We knew what they thought of us.
Sticks and stones
, I reminded myself, making sure they kept a good distance from Nell.

We made way for them on the divans and settees, but the Kail crowded into the center of the room, as close to the chilly tower of the Zang as they could get. Since the Kail did not sit, the diplomats did not alight either. I duly offered beverages and small delicacies, but Melarides signed with a gentle hand that none of them would partake. Politely, I withdrew. Nell signaled to the recorder to continue.

With the Zang present, I had a new appreciation for the event unfolding around us. The doomed planetoid recommenced rumbling. Its surface began to heave and shake as if it was terrified of its impending fate. The Zang turned slowly until its large silver eyes faced the image of the stony sphere.

We all gasped as the tongue of energy touched us all. It had a more questing sense than the gentle push that the Zang had used shortly before. The Kail let out eager grunts. With the feeling that we were more part of the event than in the dozens of times we had viewed it before, our eyes fixed upon the spheroid, now seeming to expand and contract in a desperate pulse.

The heaving reached its crescendo, and the throbbing sphere cracked and exploded. The shards of glowing rock should have shot outward, but within a few hundred kilometers, all the fragments dissipated into nothingness. Every one of us heaved in a deep breath, touched by the tragedy of a dead planetoid, though we had no connection with it and never would.

Laine laughed. The sharp sound impacted upon the eardrums as the seeming callousness of the outburst.

“I beg your pardon,” I said, surprised at her inappropriateness. “What do you find amusing about the destruction of this object? It seems almost pathetic. How can it make you laugh?”

“It’s not all of you,” she said. “It’s Proton’s reaction. It’s disappointed! This recording doesn’t give off the shock waves of the real thing. Can’t you sense it? And it doesn’t feel that this was the Zang’s best work.”

That self-denigration interested me enough to cast off the momentary pall of mourning. “It criticizes its own art that severely?”

“Amazingly,” Laine assured me. “They are more critical of their own actions than any other species I have ever met. Much more than any scholar I know, or any other artist. That’s why I respect them as much as I do.”

“They take it that seriously?” Nell asked.

Laine nodded eagerly. “They don’t take on any project lightly. They have to be convinced that they are improving a system, or they won’t do it. They have a very keen sense of aesthetics.”

“You get all that from a wave of energy?” Jil asked.

“Well, when you’ve been with the Zang as long as I have, you learn to read nuances,” Laine said. We all stared at the Zang almost as intently as the Kail were doing.

“But what does it all mean?” Erita asked. “Art means something. What are they trying to say with the destruction of an existing object? That all matter is fleeting?”

“If you ask me, it’s a matter of aesthetics,” Laine said. “They are improving the galaxy around them by removing objects that offend them.”

“Did you enjoy that?” Nell asked the Kail.

They stood in a small knot at the edge of the carpet. If they had been human, I would have said that their eyes were wide with shock. They let out shrill noises that rose up beyond the range of my hearing and began to sway from side to side. I clapped my hands to my ears.

“What are they saying?” Leonat asked, her hazel eyes wide with horror. “And can you make them stop?”

“I beg your pardon,” NR-111 said. “This is their private communication among themselves.”

The Kail lurched forward. I leaped up and pulled Nell and Laine away from them. Madame Deirdre bounded over and put an arm around my sister. My other relations hastily vacated their seats and edged toward the concealed emergency exits.

“Please!” Melarides said, holding up both hands. “Don’t be alarmed. Phutes, what is it?”

“Must confer further with Proton Zang,” Phutes said.

But it appeared that the Zang had no interest in having yet another one-sided conversation with the Kail. Just as abruptly as it had joined us, the Zang shifted and began to float toward the far wall of the chamber. We made way for it, although the courtesy was unnecessary. It wafted through the couch on which Jil and Sinim were perched.

“Brrr!” Jil exclaimed, jumping up as it passed. “Oh, it’s like an ice bath!”

“Thank you for joining us!” Nell called. The Zang melted into the wall, but a tiny wisp of power floated back to us. She laughed. “Was that a
thank you
?”

The Kail honked and grunted, but it must have been another private conversation, as NR-111 did not translate any of the sounds for us. Pushing aside the divan, they ran to the wall and pounded on it, causing sections of priceless wood inlay to shatter into splinters. My cousins fled from their path like startled gazelles. The guards hastened forward to form a bulwark between them and the Kail. The pebble-skinned creatures paid no attention to any humans. All they wanted was the Zang.

They stormed back, their feet striking the floor like concrete hammers, heading for the lift doors. Envoy Melarides shot us an apologetic glance. She beckoned to her coterie, who assembled and accompanied her to the exit. The indicator showed them descending, probably back to the cargo level though, I reflected, they could not be certain where the Zang was going.

Another, more insistent wave of energy touched us. It seemed to come up through the floor at an angle. Laine turned to me.

“It wants me. I’d better go. Thanks for a great evening!”

I bowed over her hand. “Thank you for honoring us with your presence,” I said. She blushed, then hurried toward the lift.

“I had better go, too,” Madame Deirdre said, giving Nell an auntly peck on the cheek. “Lovely evening, Lord Thomas!”

“And I,” said Xan’s fencing instructor, a lithe woman with her dark hair clubbed into a bun. One by one, those who were not members of the Imperium nobility rose and made their farewells.

Until all the visitors had departed, we stood in silence.

“I cannot wait until all this is over,” Erita said, with a toss of her head.

“I don’t,” I said, enjoying myself thoroughly. “I think it’s all getting to be more interesting than I anticipated.”

CHAPTER 28

“Thought we were going to lose sight of you on the other side of the jump point,” Captain Bedelev said. The Wichu captain’s facial fur was combed neatly, though that on her shoulders and pate showed no signs of the obsessive grooming the white-coated race normally performed. Parsons was concerned for the mental well-being of the crew of the
Whiskerchin
. It had been declining steadily since the takeover.

“There’s a lot of traffic coming through here,” Captain Wold said. Dark circles under xir eyes showed that the press of responsibility including the presence of the Kail had caused xir to lose sleep, too. Stress was telling upon everyone. “Our escorts had to form up front and back, and that delayed us a few hours. Nearly two dozen pleasure craft zipped into the queue ahead of us. It’s against all space regulations, but this far from the Core Worlds, they seem to think they’re exempt. Are things all right over there?”

Bedelev made a face. “No worse than before. Fovrates has given up pretending that we run anything. It’s all the Kail’s way now! The vacuum systems run every hour of every shift. The passengers hate it, but the Kail complain if there’s even one hair anywhere but on our bodies. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up shaved bare.”

Parsons shook his head. “That is unlikely, captain. Their actions strike me as having only one purpose, and that is to maintain the Kail as a unit until we reach the platform, when they will undoubtedly make their formal complaint. What concerns me is what comes afterward. Fovrates, if not the others, is too intelligent to think that there will be no repercussions once your crew and passengers are disembarked.”

“So what is their complaint?” the Wichu captain asked. Her question was echoed by the two escort commanders, whose holographic images had been restored to the ready-room council. Parsons and Captain Wold had discussed the matter at length. Because an end-game of some kind was coming, they determined that any discussions they had over open channels were already anticipated by the Kail.

“I’m sending you documentation. We will be notifying the Trade Union that reprisals might be coming from the Kail regarding installations that they have made in Kail space,” Wold said.

“How the hell have you determined that?” Bedelev asked, her big black eyes wide with astonishment. Wold looked a little embarrassed, so Parsons scooped up the narrative from xir.

“Based on information received, we’ve been running a comparison simulation against the navigational atlases from each nation around the Kail’s territory,” Parsons said. “It would seem that there are numerous installations within their borders that they have until now not suspected, and are certain to resent.”

“Well, we don’t have anything like that in there!” Bedelev burst out, then paused, with a cautious look on her face. “… Do we?”

“No,” Parsons said, allowing the left corner of his mouth to tilt upward by a millimeter. “Of all the Kail’s neighbors, the Wichu are the only ones innocent of encroachment, possibly because your ships do pass through Kail space on occasion and can observe their movements directly.”

“That’s good! But don’t ask me. I just run a fancy bus for paying customers. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place! I will never, never,
ever
pick up Kail again, no matter how much the company is paying me. What do you think they’re planning?”

“It would seem that it involves the Zang,” Commander Atwell said, from his usual seat near the rear of the chamber.

“How can they talk to the Zang? They don’t talk.”

“The Kail must be convinced that they can,” Wold said, crushing another orange nic-tube against the tabletop. “They certainly keep trying. My security staff’s being run ragged, having to keep track of those three all the time.”

“You’ve got complaints?” Bedelev countered, puffing the white fur on her upper lip. “I have a shipful of passengers who are getting vacuumed morning, noon and night! When will they let my ship go? Fovrates doesn’t even answer when I talk to him any more. You think those three Kail have convinced the Zang to blow something up? What?”

“We don’t know,” Parsons said. “We can only speculate. If that is their solution to the intrusions that we have discovered, it’s likely to be reprisals on a similar order to the coming destruction event.”

“Well, I hope it’s not one of our homeworlds!” Bedelev exclaimed.

“If we balance the number of foreign installations in Kail space, the destruction will most likely involve one belonging to the Trade Union,” Parsons said. “At least, that is our estimate. We are continuing to run comparisons. As the Imperium has begun peace talks with these representatives, we are hoping to determine whether any of our worlds are in danger. Naturally, we will try to convince them that no reprisals at all are necessary.”

“Our diplomats are doing their best to obtain a response from Phutes,” Wold said, giving xir fellow captain an apologetic grimace. “Unfortunately, the goal keeps moving farther away. First, they wanted to talk to the Zang. Then they wanted it to listen to them. Now … who knows what they’re trying to get out of it?”

Bedelev growled. “I can’t affect any of that! What’s the difference if they keep my ship or not?”

“It’s not your ship that is important to them,” Parsons said. “It’s your computer network. I fear they will not release it until they have gleaned the information they seek. They know we are capable of turning back an attack on ours. By virtue of Fovrates’s long connection with your LAIs, only yours is open to them. I regret that the
Whiskerchin
has become a pawn in what seems to be a plan long in the making. You may be comforted to know that it means your ship will be safe until then.”

The expression on the Wichu’s face said plainly that knowledge wasn’t much of a comfort.

“Can’t you do something?” Bedelev pleaded. She ruffled the fur at the nape of her neck until it stood out sideways. “I feel like a hood ornament, not a commander!”

“When we have information, we will notify you,” Parsons said. He nodded to Wold.

“
Imperium Jaunter
, out,” the captain said. Xe nodded to Ormalus to close the connection. Xe turned to Parsons. “What next?”

“First, now that we are past the jump point, I have sent a peer-to-peer coded module to the platform, intended for transmission to the Ruling Council of the Trade Union, warning that the Kail might be seeking some manner of revenge for the space station they planted in Kail space. The initial response, as you might predict, asks innocently, ‘What space station?’”

“What? Black holes take them,” Atwell said, in annoyance. “On their heads be it, then!”

“That is not a helpful response, commander,” Parsons said, mildly. “Not when collateral damage might include innocent civilians, particularly the Emperor’s cousins.”

Atwell emitted a lusty sigh that made him deflate to half his normal size. He threw up his hands. “I know, I know! We will be prepared to evacuate the nobles and their party from the platform at a moment’s notice. For all their spoiled ways, they’re absolutely responsive to emergency protocols. It’s the one thing that makes them bearable.”

Wold drummed on the tabletop. “What about freeing the
Whiskerchin
? I won’t put the nobles into avoidable danger. Do we have a plan?”

“We do,” Parsons said. “That is part two. The preparations that I put into place will lay the groundwork. I believe that Fovrates will be rushing to complete his comparison before we reach the platform. Once we have arrived, the chances are too great that he will allow the Wichu to leave but remain in control of the
Whiskerchin
. In the meantime, while we are in transit, he will feel that his position is unassailable. He will be paying little attention to what is going on around him. Therefore, the responsibility for maintaining his hold over the ship will fall to the LAIs that he has corrupted. I plan to take action before we arrive, at that psychological moment.”

“And when will that be?”

“At a psychological moment as yet to be determined,” Parsons replied.

“You are being too mysterious,” Atwell complained. “I don’t like it.”

“I’m afraid this goes beyond need-to-know, commander.”

Wold frowned, but Parsons knew he could count upon xir not to press where it was not only unnecessary but fruitless. “Will it put anyone on this ship in danger?”

“It should not. Even if the three Kail on board react to the capture of their fellows, they are outnumbered. Unless they have a means of enlisting the Zang to aid them in retaking that vessel or taking over this one, the problem will be moot.”

“When will it occur?”

“I will inform you before it occurs.”

“How long before you take action?”

“I regret to say the interval may be very short,” Parsons said. “But as it will not involve any of the personnel under your command, you need only safeguard your mission. Please don’t voice any of your speculations outside of this room or over any electronic medium. We can’t be sure if any deep penetration of the system persists. Even though the protocols that Lieutenant Ormalus have put into place show no signs of corruption now, the same might not be true minutes or even seconds from now.”

“How? The Kail aren’t allowed access to any technology.”

“But one,” Parsons reminded them. “NR-111 has been ring-fenced, but if the means exist to break her programming, she is the most likely weak link.”

“Can we remove her? Replace her with another LAI?”

“At this point, better the devil we know,” Parsons said. “There are only two other LAIs in the diplomatic party, and neither have been vetted for security protocols. I would rather not insist that Melarides replace her. I’ll have security step up spot checks on her programming.”

Wold smacked a fist down on the table.

“Curse this trip! I wish we had never taken the Kail on board! I wish we had stayed back in the Core Worlds.”

Lieutenant Ormalus looked sheepish. “Still, to admire the spectacle,” she said.

Wold grimaced, but allowed xir face to relax. “You’re right. At least we’ve got that to look forward to. Once we dump the Kail off for good.”

Proton Zang felt the first .004% of the shock waves vibrating through the fabric of space as Low Zang and its colleagues began concentrating upon the subject of their coming spectacle. It was a pleasurable sensation, one to be enjoyed at leisure. With tendrils of energy that reached far ahead of the small corporeal expression of itself, Proton felt the electric radiance of stars, the solidity of planets and the rush of the edges of black holes pulling matter through themselves and exploding them into glorious energy. Its fellows approached the meeting point at a pace over 2.587 times swifter than the human shell that it occupied. Proton did not mind the creeping of the ship. Everything added texture to life, even the impassioned shriekings of the stony beings close to it in the oxygen-rich chamber.

“How do the preparations go?” Proton asked. “I can feel excitement from all of you.”

“They are going well,” One Zang said, sounding amused. “Did you bring your pet along?”

“Yes. Observations she makes are intriguing.”

“You always were the odd one.” One chuckled. “You have had this pet a long while. How long do you plan to keep her?”

With affection, Proton brushed the tiny envelope that was the human female’s energy shadow. “Until she ceases to amuse me. Or amuse herself. It has been eons since I felt this vitality.”

“You don’t need it,” Zang Quark said. “You can renew your own vitality.”

Proton was amused at its unbecoming impatience, but went back to the subject. “I have surveyed this part of space, as I am sure all of you have done. Are you certain this is the correct planet to be removed? It never struck me as one that needed to be taken away. Its irregularity adds a certain degree of insouciance to this system.”

Low Zang gave off waves of hurt.

“You always strive for symmetry. The destruction will render this system clean and even!”

“And sterile,” Proton said. “I say the truth that I see. It may become perfect, but even perfection needs to maintain interest. I don’t see that.”

“Would you prefer to destroy the perfect moon beside it? I would rather have it take the ruined world’s place in orbit. We’ll have eons of interesting movement while it settles!”

“I am only thinking ahead, young one,” Proton said.

“Are you saying I am making a mistake?” Low sent.

“No, only that it is not a choice I would have made.”

“You say that now? When we are so close to the event?”

“I have had more time to study it, Low Zang. I only ask that you consider my thoughts.”

“You don’t believe in me!”

“Please,” Charm Zang said, sending wave upon wave of comforting and peaceful impulses. “No need to be a disruptive presence.”

Proton read from her emissions that Low had retreated away from the group. It was surprised at the young one’s lack of confidence.

“I apologize for being disharmonious. I am sorry, Low Zang. I don’t question your artistic sense. It merely differs from my own. I have had a great deal of disruption around me. It interferes with my serene state of mind. One of the less-ephemeral species has been bending the sound waves around me. It interferes with my studies.”

“What does it want?” Low Zang asked, appeased by the apology and curious in spite of itself.

Proton shook off the uncomfortable vibrations coming from near it. “Why listen? It will be unimportant in the scheme of things.”

“I would listen,” Low Zang said.

“If you wish to,” Proton said, “you shall. They have stayed close to my core throughout this moment in between boarding the human shell and when I will join you.”

“I will,” Low said. Privately, it resolved to do so. If such an elder as Proton could keep pets, it could, too.