The Sword and the Plough (21 page)

There was a murmur of assent and nods of
approval from the assembly.

“
Over the past few days,” he began, “we
have been witness to – and indeed victims of – the biggest and most
perfidious plot against the Earth Commonwealth of Planets in all
its history.

“For reasons of his own, Ferdinand of Megran
has violated the sovereignty of our territories. He has caused
pain, suffering and death to our citizens, taken away their
personal liberty, and stolen or destroyed their property.”

The old man stared up at the domed ceiling
above him as he spoke, as if to accuse Ferdinand directly to his
face.

“With the perpetration of these crimes,” the
old man continued. “Ferdinand of Megran has put himself outside our
laws and therefore forfeited all rights and privileges of
membership that a citizen of the Commonwealth enjoys.

“
In the absence of the queen, I – as a
senior member of the Commonwealth Council – declare Ferdinand of
Megran to be an enemy to our way of life and therefore outside our
protection. Consequently, I also strip him of all his properties
and titles.”

The old man paused again and looked solemnly
around the silent circle of faces.

“You will all no doubt realise that such a
declaration carries with it an automatic sentence of banishment or
death, whichever our queen chooses to enforce.

“Do I have the meeting’s endorsement for this
declaration?”

For one long held breath, a stunned silence
held sway. Then, one by one, slowly at first and then less
hesitantly, each of the Commonwealth leaders motioned or otherwise
signalled their agreement.

“Good. That much then is settled,” Lord
Southern said. “We can now proceed to examine Ferdinand’s plans and
see what we can come up with to counter them.”

Beneath the bright lights of the cellar, the
rowdy smokescreen babble of two hundred prisoners persisted
unbroken. Outside the prison cage the Megran guards stood their
watch and wished their time of duty would pass more quickly.

The old man picked up his theme. “It would
seem that Ferdinand’s first purpose is the military defeat of our
queen, thus leading to the overthrow of the system of government we
enjoy and support.

“As a means to that end, he has launched a
series of surprise attacks on Her Majesty’s allies, defeating them
one by one, thus isolating the home planet, Earth.

“By first rendering our communications
inoperative, by one means or another, and then by the taking of
hostages, Ferdinand has effectively silenced us as well, thereby
giving himself time to regroup his forces for a massive assault
upon the Earth.

“
Much of this is supposition, of course,
but from what I’ve heard from most of you – and I assume Trion has
suffered a similar fate…” Sir Henry gave an affirmative nod and
Lord Southern continued. “We can guess the populace of each planet
will be forced to resume normal communications and dealings with
Earth for fear of reprisals against the hostages. The queen will
thus be unaware that anything is amiss.

“Now, such a subterfuge cannot last forever.
Inevitably, Earth’s military intelligence will become suspicious.
However, if my estimates are correct, Ferdinand requires only five
or six more days at the most, by the galactic calendar, to be ready
to commence hostilities against Earth.”

Lord Southern’s gaze scanned the circle of
intent faces and he smiled grimly.

“
Ladies and gentlemen,” he said softly.
“What can
we
do,
locked up here in this cage as we are? Ferdinand has us completely
at his mercy. Held as it were in the palm of his hand, he can crush
any or all us at will.”

The old man’s bony hand had curled up into a
tight fist as he spoke.

“
Nevertheless, if we wish to save anything
– anything at all of the Commonwealth we respect and cherish. If we
wish to protect our families and friends, our fellow citizens; if
we have any love for our queen, who represents our chosen way of
life, then we must do all in our power to warn Her Majesty before
it is too late.”

There was a swell of excited murmurings. Lord
Southern let it die away, and then his eyes sought out the
major.

“Major Waterman,” he said. “We all respect
your judgement in these matters. Is there anything you wish to
add?”

“Thank you, Lord Southern. Yes, I think there
is.” The major paused, considering his words. “Let me say at the
outset that I agree with Lord Southern. The only hope we have, or
the Commonwealth has, lies with alerting the queen to the danger in
time.

“I won’t ask at this stage, Lord Southern,
how you intend to get word to Her Majesty from here, but I imagine
you have some means in mind.”

The old man gave no sign, one way or the
other.

The major’s gaze traversed his audience
taking in the circle of hopeful faces.

“However, that being said, let me hasten to
point out that Ferdinand appears to have planned his strategy only
too well, leaving little to chance. Even assuming we could warn the
queen, the problems that still face Her Majesty are legion.

“If we consider just one example: the plight
of the hostages on each of our home planets. I take it, Lord
Southern, that you would deem their rescue a priority before any
retaliatory action proceeded?”

The old man gave a curt nod. “Of course, if
at all possible.”

The major nodded. “Yes indeed, if at all
possible,” he echoed.

The major deliberated for a moment. “Even
assuming that we can get word to the queen to warn her,” he said at
length. “And also supposing a way can be found to effect the rescue
of the hostages, as I see it Her Majesty will still be little
better off in the long run.

“With the captured resources of four other
planets, combined with Megran’s own considerable military might,
Ferdinand’s forces will be vastly superior to those of the
queen.”

“I see, yes,” Lord Southern interposed. “Is
there any way those odds could be altered, Major?” he asked. “In
the queen’s favour, of course,” he added quickly.

“Hmm! The only way that I can see,” the major
said, his brow creasing, “would be for the inhabitants of each
planet to launch a counter attack and tie down some of Ferdinand’s
forces, thus lessening the numbers against the queen.”

“Yes, yes,” Lord Southern was smiling
happily. “Then perhaps there is a way,” he said. “Now we are
getting somewhere.”

“Lord Southern!” Caroline spoke up from
beside Lars. The young man noted the tentativeness in her tone.

“Yes Lady Caroline?”

“I hate to add a note of pessimism at this
stage…” The young woman hesitated, suddenly aware of what her words
might do to the morale of the meeting.

“Please continue, Lady Caroline,” the old man
urged. “We cannot hope to decide upon a course of action until we
have considered all the facts as we understand them, whether they
appear to help our cause or not.”

Caroline nodded. “Well, it may have just
been bragging,” she began. “But a rather nasty Megran bully, the
sergeant in charge of the prisoners on Trion, boasted to us
that
they
were
the clever ones, not us.” She paused. “
They
– meaning the Megran forces,”
she added. The old man’s head bobbed his understanding. “The
sergeant then went on to say that they had collected up all the
weapons on Trion. He also reminded us that they had the
hostages.

“We were all pretty angry at the time, and it
may have been pure arrogance on his part, but I took note of it in
case he had let slip something important that might be of use to us
later on.”

Lars saw several people in the circle smile
and nod approvingly.

“It seems to me now,” Caroline went on, “that
there probably was a weapons collection. It makes sense as a
measure to prevent any attempt to rescue the hostages, let alone
the possibility of a counter attack.

“If this true,” the young woman continued,
her expression grave, “then I imagine that Ferdinand will have
taken this precaution on every planet.”

There were a few minutes of subdued
discussion within the assembly. Then several members voiced their
belief that there had indeed been a similar collection of weapons
on their home planet.

“Major?” Lord Southern enquired somewhat
abruptly. “Is the logistics of such a task even possible?”

“Yes, Lord Southern,” the major replied. “I
think it would be quite possible.

“
As you know, the Commonwealth constitution
allows it a basic right for a citizen to possess arms. However, the
Commonwealth Arms’ Act of 2088, while still allowing the right to
hold arms, introduced stricter control over all types of weapons,
even including so-called collectors’ pieces, such as projectile
weapons and the like.

“The act states that the weapon must be
produced for inspection and relicensing every twelve months, and
that if there have been any violations of the Arms’ Act, even the
most minor, the citizen’s constitutional entitlement can be
suspended or even revoked.

“The point here, is that most royal garrisons
would have a fairly comprehensive record of all the weapons in
their district and their whereabouts. All Ferdinand had to do
therefore was to acquire copies of these lists. He may even have
arranged this well before the attacks. He certainly seems to have
had an efficient spy network quite capable of such a task.”

The major pulled his feet up and clasped his
arms around his knees. He legs had become cramped sitting
cross-legged on the cold brick floor.

“Ferdinand is a thorough and clever
strategist, this much he has already shown over the past few days.
I believe we can assume he would have considered the possibility of
counter attacks and planned accordingly. I therefore believe that
Lady Caroline’s conclusions are most probably correct.”

“And does this mean what I think it means,
Rupert?” Lord Southern asked quietly.

The major nodded. “Yes, Lord Southern, I’m
afraid it does. Ferdinand can control his captive planets with the
minimum of manpower. He has weapons, the people do not. We cannot
expect our citizens to attack armed troopers with their bare
hands.”

“I see,” Lord Southern muttered, a frown
grooving his brow. He sighed. “Then it would seem we must dismiss
the notion of a counter attack and think of some other means to
help our queen. Have you any ideas then, Major, that might help our
queen to defend herself and the Commonwealth against Ferdinand’s
numbers advantage?”

The major pondered the question for a moment,
then shook his head.

The old man’s gaze roved the group. “Has
anyone?” he asked.

There was no answer from the circle.

The group of prisoners nearest the circle
ceased their shield of babble and strained to listen, their
expressions grim.

Lord Southern’s hopeful look lingered,
focusing every so often on this or that member of the assembly. His
questing blue eyes rested on Lars for a second and then moved
on.

Around him, Lars felt a leaden air descend
upon the circle. Where the meeting had begun in hope, it was now
ending in despair.

“Is it check-mate then?” Lord Southern was
speaking again. His voice sounded drained. “Is our sweet queen to
be crushed by the savagery of Ferdinand’s merciless knights?”

The gathering kept its silence.

“Have we all given up so easily and begun our
tears before the game is over?” Once more, his blue gaze navigated
the circle, pausing at each face seeking the owner’s eyes,
advancing one last challenge for the queen’s cause. Lars was
astonished to see the old man’s cheeks were wet with tears.

Beside him, Lars heard Caroline sigh
deeply, sensed the pain she felt for saying what she knew had to be
said.

“Is there nothing then?” The old man tried
again. He waited. He wiped at his tears absentmindedly.

The circle did not answer.

He shrugged resignedly. “Then so be it!” he
said. “There is nothing left for me but to declare this meeting
closed and hope…”

“Lord Southern?” Lars was surprised how calm
and clear his own voice sounded.

“Yes, young man.” The reply came briskly.

“Could we keep the meeting open a little
longer?” Lars heard a quick intake of breath from several around
him. “I don’t want to raise any false hopes, but if I could have a
moment or two to talk to Major Waterman and Sir Henry, I…”

“Young man,” the old man interjected, his
craggy face breaking into a rapturous grin. “Take all the time you
need. None of us is in a hurry to go anywhere.”

A buzz of hope burst in the assembly and
gusted through the cage. If the Megran guards noticed, they gave no
response.

“Right Lars!” Henry Tudor was grinning. “Now,
what have you got in mind?”

“
Well sir, it’s about the counter-attack on
each planet; perhaps there is way – a weapon Ferdinand hasn’t
thought of…”

* * *

“
Meredith pistols, Bess rifles, their
range, their power, is that all you can talk about?”

Lieutenant Cheryl York shot to her feet,
nearly knocking the small table for two over. Then, just as
suddenly, she sat down again.

The few couples in the small café glanced
up at her outburst, noted the attractive flaxen haired young woman
in the queen’s uniform, observed her red-rimmed blue eyes; noted,
too, the good-looking, dark haired young man in civilian garments
with her. They then cast knowing glances and grins at each other.
In fact, of course, they had no real understanding of what was
happening.

A few continued to stare longer, but their
curious eyes dropped away when no further flare-ups erupted.
However, this did not stop them from extrapolating further and
drawing their own vapid conclusions.