Venus Rising (19 page)

“Do you expect us to believe,” asked a portly
Member, whose black jacket shone tightly across his ample belly,
“actually believe, that you ventured into the Empty Sector and
survived to leave it?”

“I have told you the truth,” Tarik replied
patiently, too polite to remind the Member that he had previously
answered the same question several times.

“There can be no such planet as you
describe,” the Member proclaimed.

“How do you explain our story then?” Tarik
asked. “Or the fact that we returned in a Cetan ship?”

“You were obviously captured by the Cetans,”
another Member called out. “They have used mind-changing devices
against you. It was all in your imaginations. You are wasting this
Assembly’s valuable time.”

“No! Listen to him!” Narisa was on her feet,
pulling away from the hands that tried to hold her back, striding
to the center of the floor to stand with Tarik and Gaidar and
proclaim the veracity of their story. “It wasn’t imagination. I
didn’t believe it, either, not at first, even though it was
happening to me, too. But Commander Tarik is telling the truth. You
must listen to him. Your lives depend on it. Why won’t you believe
him?”

“Lieutenant, you are out of order!” Leader
Tyre pounded on the rail in front of his chair, hitting it again
and again with his fists, while the jeers and laughter of many
Members rang in Narisa’s ears. “Everyone knows the Cetans are
pirates and that they quarrel among themselves constantly. They
would never have the self-control required to work together in the
way you describe. Therefore, your story cannot be true.”

“They have agreed to stop fighting each
other,” Narisa cried, “because they have a new and deadly weapon.
They are willing to forget their rivalries for just a while. It
will be long enough for them to destroy us. Please, listen to us.
The survival of the entire Jurisdiction is at stake.”

“I insist that you be silent, lieutenant, or
you will be removed.” The look the Leader of the Assembly cast upon
her recalled Narisa to Service discipline.

Silence fell in the great square chamber.
Leader Tyre put on his silver cap, which meant he was about to make
an official pronouncement. Narisa stood between Tarik and Gaidar
and watched the ranks of the Members. There were few friendly faces
gazing down at them. Almaric was frowning deeply.

“I command,” Leader Tyre intoned, “that
Commander Tarik Gibal, Lieutenant Navigator Narisa raDon and the
Cetan known as Gaidar all be kept in confinement until appropriate
sentence is passed upon them.”

“What sentence?” Narisa whispered to Tarik.
“We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I further command,” Tyre went on, “that the
Empty Sector is to be sealed off completely to all traffic from the
civilized Races. All who enter there do so on pain of death.”

“Is he mad?” Narisa asked. “The Empty Sector
has nothing to do with the present danger.”

“Be quiet!” Tarik’s whisper sounded like a
shout to her. “Don’t make him any more angry or we’ll never be
released.”

“In truth,” Gaidar’s low voice rumbled on her
other side, “these folk are as mad, and every bit as stupid, as the
Cetans.”

“Leader Tyre.” Almaric had risen from his
seat, and now bowed gracefully to the man in the silver cap. “May I
make a request of the Assembly?”

“Of course.” The Leader’s cold official tones
had changed to a smooth, friendly voice that sounded false to
Narisa’s ears. “What is it, my dear Almaric?”

“As all here know, this confused young man is
my son. I ask that he, and his subordinate, Lieutenant Narisa
raDon, be released to me. My home here in the Capital is entirely
secure. They will be safe there until the Assembly can decide what
to do with them.”

“Ah.” With a sigh of relief, Leader Tyre
appeared to be considering Almaric’s request. Several Members near
him tugged at his sleeve or nodded. “Because of your high rank and
excellent reputation, the Assembly agrees to your suggestion.
Commander Tarik, Lieutenant Narisa, you are remanded to Member
Almaric’s custody.” With another sigh, Leader Tyre pulled off his
silver cap and sank back in his chair as if he were exhausted.

“Gaidar, too,” Narisa said to Tarik.

“They won’t let me go,” Gaidar told her. “To
them I am a Cetan pirate, nothing more.”

“We gave you our word.” Narisa could not
recall ever having been so angry or so frustrated.

“Go quietly, Gaidar,” Tarik said. “Give them
no cause to harm you. I will talk to my father and try to get him
to use his influence to have you released to him.”

“I understand.” Gaidar smiled at Narisa. “I
knew this would happen, in spite of your word. I’m not a complete
fool about groups like this. They are little better than the
Cetans. Cetans usually kill each other when they disagree in
assembly. These just sit here and debate, then do nothing. That is
why the Cetans will conquer them.”

Two Service guards appeared at Gaidar’s
side.

Until we meet once more, my friends,” he
said, and went away with them.

Narisa was still seething when their closely
guarded party reached Almaric’s house. Her mood was not improved by
the undisguised laughter she saw in Tarik’s eyes each time they met
hers. Considering the situation in which they found themselves, his
humor was infuriating to her. When Almaric had formally ushered
them into a large reception room, Narisa could be quiet no
longer.

“I just want to say,” she began, but stopped,
surprised when Tarik laid two fingers firmly across her lips.

“Not one word,” he said softly and intensely.
“For your life’s sake, and mine, be silent, Narisa.”

She saw something in his eyes besides
laughter. A warning, a plea, she could not be certain which. She
held her tongue and waited.

“After so long an absence, you will of course
want to greet your mother at once,” Almaric was saying smoothly.
“Do you wish to present your subordinate officer to her?”

“With your kind permission,” Tarik answered
with equal smoothness.

“Then I see no reason why your guards should
not relax in this comfortable room with whatever refreshments my
servants can provide for them. Is that agreeable to you, sir?”
Almaric smiled benignly upon the youthful leader of the half-dozen
guards who had accompanied them from the Assembly chambers. The
young man, charmed at finding himself in the company of one of the
Assembly’s most renowned Members, acknowledged the improbability of
Tarik wanting to escape from his own father’s home, and made no
objection to Almaric’s suggestion.

Thus it was that Almaric, Tarik and Narisa
went without servants or guards to the second floor of the house
and walked in silence along a richly decorated corridor to a door
that Almaric opened without knocking. They entered a square hall,
which had a door in each wall. The one to their right opened, and a
woman appeared. Without speaking, she opened the door directly in
front of Almaric and went through it. The others followed, and the
door closed behind them. The woman slid a second door over the
first and sealed it shut, so tightly that Narisa could barely see
the crack in the wall around its edges. Only then did the woman
turn to Tank with a bright smile on her face. She opened her arms.
Tarik went into them, hugging her tightly, while Almaric watched
them with the first unguarded expression Narisa had seen on his
face since they had met. After a while Tarik disengaged himself
from the woman’s arms.

‘This is my mother, Kalina,” he told
Narisa.

Kalina was not a pretty woman. She was tall
and rather stout, with strong, regular features. Her thick bronze
hair might once have given her a claim to beauty, but it was now
streaked with gray and tamed into a knot at the back of her head.
It was her sparkling blue eyes and warm smile that made her
attractive. A quick glance at Tarik and an even faster look at
Almaric convinced Narisa that both men adored her.

“You must be wondering,” Kalina said in a
rich, musical voice, “why we meet in such a secret room.”

“It is a most unusual room,” Narisa
responded, looking around at the pale gray walls and ceiling, and
the floor covered by Demarian carpets in patterns of red, blue,
green, and gold. There was little furniture - three wide arm chairs
and a simple bed, all covered in pale gray. The room was lit by
clear glass oil lamps set on plain cube tables. There were no
windows, and only the one sealed door.

“It is a secure room,” Kalina explained.
“Smooth and unornamented surfaces are easily checked for
eavesdropping equipment. Most Assembly Members have such rooms for
private conversations. I am certain high-ranking Service officers
must have them, too, not to mention rich merchants. How else would
they stay rich, save by keeping their trading secrets private?
Please be seated, lieutenant.”

Narisa sank into one of the wide chairs.
Almaric and Kalina took the remaining chairs while Tarik prowled
about the room.

“I want to know,” Almaric said, craning his
neck to see Tarik, “exactly how much of your story is true.”

“All of it!” Narisa would keep silent no
longer. “Every word, and more besides.”

“Be careful, my sweet.” Tarik laughed from
behind his father’s chair, and Narisa flushed at the endearment.
“You are growing dangerously independent in thought and word.”

“I am not,” Narisa insisted. “We aren’t
lying, and I wish someone would believe us.”

“I asked the question of my son,” Almaric
stated flatly.

“Narisa saved my life twice during our
supposedly imaginary adventures,” Tarik told his parents. “She
deserves a medal and a citation from the Assembly, not disbelief
and censure. She has earned the right to speak freely here, and to
discuss this situation with us.”

“As you wish.” Almaric nodded at Narisa with
little obvious change in his reserved attitude. “I thank you for my
son’s life.”

“And so do I.” Kalina, warmer and more openly
emotional than her husband, reached forward to take Narisa’s hands
in hers. “Tarik is precious to me. You have my lifelong gratitude,
Lieutenant Narisa. But what is this story my husband thought to be
untrue? How did you save Tarik’s life?”

“I had better tell you that.” Tarik spoke
quickly before Narisa could open her mouth. She could not tell from
his next words if he was angry with her or only teasing her.
“Narisa would insist she was merely following regulations. She is
an exemplary officer.”

“I am glad to hear someone follows the
rules,” Almaric observed dryly, “since you so seldom do.”

Narisa had the distinct impression that Tarik
was about to make some heated response to this, but Kalina gave
both her husband and her son an unmistakable look, which
effectively quelled any incipient quarrel.

“If Narisa agrees, Tarik shall tell the
story,” Kalina decreed.

“I have no objection.” Narisa tried hard to
control her amusement at the ease with which Kalina managed her two
strong men. She remembered Tarik telling her once that he always
made his father angry. That there was tension between the two
Narisa could easily discern, but she thought there was affection,
too, a proud, reserved love, which neither man could admit. She sat
thinking about this while Tarik quickly recounted for his mother
everything he had previously told Almaric and the Assembly.

“I don’t suppose,” Almaric said when Tarik
was finished, “that you would consider leaving the Capital at once?
That would calm the Assembly. It could be arranged.”

“I’m sure it could,” Tarik replied. “They
would like that. They could forget we ever appeared before them,
and get on with their endless foolish debates. I can’t go. The
Cetan threat is real.”

“I think,” Narisa said, “that we ought to try
talking to some of the top Service officers. They always enjoy
fighting Cetans, and they would certainly like to have
Starthruster. They might listen to us.”

“Not while you have a Cetan for a friend,”
Almaric told her.

“Gaidar is not a friend.” Narisa still could
not accept that idea. “But he is an honest person who has dealt
fairly with us, and both Tarik and I gave him our word he would not
be harmed by anyone at the Capital. We are therefore obligated to
keep him safe, no matter what it takes, no matter who does not
believe us.”

“I want you to know I do believe you.”
Almaric looked upon Narisa with growing respect. “I admire your
honesty, and the faithfulness with which you are determined to
carry out your word. Please believe that not all Members of the
Assembly are as foolish as our Leader and his friends.”

“Tell her all of it, Father,” Tarik urged.
“You know as well as I do that Tyre and his adherents are something
more than foolish. Corrupt and incompetent would be a better
description.”

“I wish you would choose your words more
carefully.” Almaric was silent tor a moment. Then, seeming to make
some inner decision, he continued, speaking directly to Narisa.
“Unfortunately, you and Tarik and Gaidar have been caught in my
political conflicts with Leader Tyre. He and his friends were
predisposed to disbelieve your story because my son told it.”

“Surely you have your own adherents among the
Members,” Narisa said.

“I have. Most of them wisely kept silent
today, not wanting to rouse Tyre to some hasty action that would be
unfavorable to any of you, or to me. When the question of your
punishment for defying the Assembly is raised, they will vote with
me: Tyre is well aware of my growing power. That is why he released
you and Tarik to me, to pacify me and my friends, and perhaps also
to put us off guard.

“Tonight and tomorrow,” Almaric continued, “I
will meet privately with several close friends who I feel certain
will be as alarmed as I am by your story. We can gather a group of
like-minded Members together, and through protracted debate we will
eventually force the entire Assembly to agree that something must
be done.”