Venus Rising (32 page)

Tarik wore several medals and ribbons
fastened to his left chest. Narisa wore only her Top-of-the-Class
Navigator’s silver bar and the new medal Halvo had conferred on her
that morning, the small, five-pointed gold star given to those
injured in battle. She had protested that her concussion was
accidental and was hardly serious enough for commendation, but
Halvo had overridden her. She understood that he wanted her to make
the most imposing appearance possible, so she finally accepted the
award.

Halvo marched across the chamber with his
head high, the silver streaks of hair at his temples shining as he
passed beneath a glowing light fixture. He stopped at the exact
center of the open square in the middle of the Red Room. Out of the
corner of her eye Narisa saw the young guard on her left stop one
pace behind her, as she had done behind Halvo.

They waited while Leader Tyre sat in his
chair one level above them and directly across the open space from
Halvo. Tyre could not have been happy about this meeting. The
issuing of his personal warrant for Narisa’s arrest meant that he
had planned to deal with her as his private prisoner. Halvo’s
politically adroit maneuver in making Narisa his own prisoner and
then demanding that she be brought before the full Assembly had
circumvented Tyre’s intentions and would open his actions to
question and debate. If Tyre was worried about that possibility he
showed no sign of it. He looked supremely confident, his pale,
heavily jeweled hands resting across his abdomen, his posture
relaxed yet alert. When the Members had finally hushed to complete
silence, Tyre lifted his right hand.

“Let the proceedings begin,” he said. “You,
Admiral Halvo Gibal of Demaria, have promised on your word as an
officer to present here for trial Lieutenant Navigator Narisa raDon
of Belta. Have you fulfilled your promise?”

“I have, Leader Tyre.”

“Then step forward, Narisa raDon, and hear
the formal charges against you.”

Narisa took three steps toward Leader Tyre.
She stood at strict attention, her chin up, her eyes fixed forward.
Tyre made a motion with one hand. A secretary rose and began to
read so rapidly that Narisa could not catch all his words.

“High treason …escape …Gaidar of Ceta…” She
did not have to hear it now; she knew all the charges, thanks to
Halvo’s information gatherers. There would be no surprises in what
the secretary read. She had only to think of what she and Halvo and
Tarik had agreed she would say when her turn came. The secretary
stopped reading and sat down again.

“How do you plead, Narisa raDon?” asked
Leader Tyre.

Narisa found she had to swallow hard twice
before she could answer him.

“Leader Tyre, Members of the Assembly, I
plead guilty with extenuating circumstances. I ask for an immediate
trial before the Assembly so those circumstances can be made
public. Admiral Halvo has agreed to act as my advocate.”

There were whispers of shock and surprise
from the Members at this last statement. Even Tyre looked startled
out of his complacency.

“Admiral Halvo, how say you?” Tyre asked,
using the ancient formula for advocates.

“I believe Narisa raDon will be exonerated of
all charges against her. She had just cause for what she did. I am
honored to be her advocate,” Halvo said.

For a moment Narisa thought Tyre would make
some objection. Those brought to trial usually had professional
advocates to speak for them. The use of an admiral of the Service
was highly irregular. Tyre could have refused on grounds of lack of
precedent. He did not. He assented graciously. Narisa saw his eyes
sparkle and knew Halvo had been correct in his judgment of the man.
Tyre, Halvo had told her, would see his chance to entrap the famous
Admiral Halvo along with Narisa and Tarik. Once Halvo had lost his
power, Almaric, Tyre’s chief opponent in the Assembly, would be
easier prey.

A three-sided, railed structure was now
carried out and set down near Narisa. A chair was put into it.

“Narisa raDon, take your place in the witness
chair,” Tyre ordered. Narisa saw him smiling as he sat back and
smoothed his black Member’s jacket over his ample paunch. She
wondered at that. She thought he ought to have been more worried
about what she would say. She would have been worried had she been
in his place.

She walked to the witness box, but she did
not sit, she stood in it. Halvo’s guard, who had been standing to
her left, took her helmet and cape, placing them on a bench at one
side of the room before returning to perform the same service for
Halvo. Across the open space, Halvo’s second guard took Tarik’s
helmet and cape and escorted him to a seat on a nearby bench. Above
and around them the Members rustled and murmured, settling
themselves more comfortably while they waited for the drama to
unfold.

Narisa knew the court procedure. Under
Halvo’s questioning she would tell her story, after which Tyre
would question her, trying to catch her lying. Then it would be
Tarik’s turn as witness to tell his story and be questioned by
Tyre. Next, Halvo would make a speech in her favor, followed by
Tyre’s response demanding that she be convicted of the charges
against her. Finally, the Members would vote on her fate.

“Lieutenant Narisa.” Halvo turned from
contemplation of the Members’ faces to look directly at her.
“Remember that we are all bound to speak the truth while in this
chamber, with death as punishment for lying.”

“I will remember, sir.” She was surprised at
the steadiness of her voice. Now that the moment to speak had come,
all nervousness had fled. She smiled a little, looking back at
Halvo, and saw approval in his eyes.

“Tell us how you rescued Gaidar of Ceta and
your reasons for doing so,” Halvo ordered.

“I object,” Tyre interrupted, “to your use of
the word ‘rescued.’ The correct term according to the charges is
‘escape.’”

“I accept your objection, sir.” Halvo bowed
in Tyre’s direction, a slight smile curving his lips. He turned
back to Narisa.

“Tell us why you released Gaidar of Ceta,” he
said.

“It was because I had received information
that Gaidar had secretly been removed from the Assembly chambers
and taken to a cell in Leader Tyre’s own house. I was told by a
person close to Tyre that he planned to kill Gaidar that night.
Gaidar’s death was to be the first step in a plot to destroy Member
Almaric and all his family so that Leader Tyre would have no more
opposition left to his rule.”

The response to this speech was shocked
silence at first, followed by cries of protest from at least half
the Members. Glancing at Tyre, Narisa saw by his white, hard face
that he had not known she was aware of his plans. He had known that
Suria had helped in Gaidar’s escape - his warrant for Suria’s
arrest issued along with the one for Narisa was proof of that - but
he must not have realized until this moment just how much Suria
knew. Narisa half expected him to make some objection to what she
had said. Instead he sat staring at her with an expression of
hatred so intense she began to tremble. Tyre tore his gaze from her
face to look at Halvo and at Tarik. Then he settled back into his
chair again, folding his hands over his belly and smiling.

“Will you continue, please, Admiral Halvo?”
Tyre said in a silky voice that sent fear to Narisa’s heart. Before
she could think of what might make him so confident, the Members
quieted and Halvo approached her once more.

“Were you not aware, Lieutenant Narisa,”
Halvo asked, forestalling a question Tyre would surely ask if he
did not, “that by leaving Member Almaric’s house you were breaking
the agreement he had made with this Assembly to keep you
confined?”

“I was,” Narisa answered. “Sir, officers of
the Jurisdiction Service are trained to follow orders, and under
normal circumstances I would never have dreamed of doing what I
did. However, we are also taught to use our own judgment in the
absence of superior officers during time of crisis. It seemed to me
this was such a situation. Member Almaric and Commander Tarik were
away from the house and not expected to return until very late, so
I could not consult with them. Time seemed most important.
Therefore, I made my decision quickly, and acted on it.

“I wish to emphasize,” she continued, “that
neither Member Almaric nor Commander Tarik was aware of what I was
doing until well after the rescue was completed. Neither should be
held responsible for something I did without their knowledge. They
had no part in it at all.”

She then went on to tell the whole story,
dwelling in detail on the terrible conditions under which Gaidar
had been held, speaking briefly about the mistreatment Suria had
suffered at Tyre’s hands, and pointing out that although she, Suria
and Gaidar had knocked several people unconscious during their
flight from Tyre’s house, they had not caused serious injury to
anyone.

“And so,” Halvo summed up when she had
finished, “you do truthfully believe your actions were necessary,
both to save Gaidar’s life and to force Leader Tyre to abort his
plan to kill Almaric and his family that same night?”

“I do truthfully so believe,” Narisa stated
firmly.

“I now invite Leader Tyre to question you.”
Halvo moved to stand behind the witness box.

Tyre did not rise. He sat smiling benignly at
Narisa for a long moment before he spoke.

“First,” he said, “I would make a statement.
I have no need to justify myself before this Assembly, but an
explanation will alleviate any concern about some of my actions. I
did indeed move the Cetan to my own house, not to murder him, but
to keep him safe. I had reason to fear an attempt would be made to
kill him before he could tell us all he knew about the Cetan attack
plans or their new device called Starthruster.”

“As I recall, Leader Tyre,” Narisa
interrupted, despising the man and unwilling to tolerate his
self-serving speech without objection, “in this very chamber you
professed complete disbelief in everything Gaidar had to say.
Either you were lying then, or you are lying now.”

Voices filled with disapproval rose from the
Members, most of whom had agreed with Leader Tyre on that previous
occasion. From behind her Halvo placed a restraining hand on her
shoulder, while across the room Tarik frowned at her.

Tyre seemed unperturbed by the uproar. He
raised one ring-encrusted hand for silence. Narisa thought of that
hand clutching Suria, bruising her. She could equally well imagine
the same hand thrusting a dagger into Gaidar. Or herself. She
wanted to tell Halvo she understood what his touch on her shoulder
meant; she knew how dangerous Tyre was, and she would not deviate
again from the plan they had made for this trial.

When the Members had quieted except for a few
whispers, Tyre began to speak once more.

“I will excuse your improper comments,
Lieutenant Narisa, because I know you are unaccustomed to the way
in which great ruling bodies must function. I am certain the other
Members will agree with me, though we have all found your overly
emotional outburst most distressing.

“As I was saying, I ordered Gaidar taken to
my house for his own safety. There was no need for you to help him
to leave that safe place. Everything the woman Suria told you was a
lie. Since both she and Gaidar are missing, I think we may rightly
suspect her real reason for wanting him freed was a perverted and
lascivious one.

“Suria’s claims of violence on my part are
unfounded. I have never hurt anyone. Indeed, my fellow Members have
often admonished me for too lenient treatment of convicted
criminals. I can see I will have to change my ways at once.”

There was no doubt in Narisa’s mind that
Tyre’s last words had been meant as a direct threat.

“You have insisted,” Tyre went on, “that
neither Member Almaric nor Commander Tarik knew what you were
doing. Yet there was one important family member who did know.
Mistress Kalina helped you, did she not?”

“She agreed with me that under the
circumstances Gaidar should be released in order to save his
life.”

“I understand that at that same time Service
guards were at Almaric’s house.”

“Yes,” Narisa said. “They had been sent to
guard Tarik and me.”

“Why did you not tell these trustworthy
guards of your fears for Gaidar’s safety and let them handle the
matter?”

“Because we believed they were under your
direct and personal orders, not under command of the Assembly,”
Narisa replied. There was another murmur from the Members at that,
and Tyre’s eyebrows went up, as though he was surprised at this
point of view. He made no comment, however, and appeared to drop
the subject.

“So, under Mistress Kalina’s guidance you and
the woman Suria slipped out of Almaric’s house?”

“Yes.”

“And while you were gone on your illegal
venture, Mistress Kalina disguised your absence by telling the
guards you were exhausted and sleeping in your bedroom?”

“I - yes, that’s true.”

“A Demarian woman, wife to a high-ranking
Member, told a direct lie to protect you and to protect the
Cetan?”

There was no sound at all in the Red Room.
Narisa made no answer. There was none she could make that would not
harm Kalina, and by association, Almaric. Demaria was influential
in the Jurisdiction, its leaders valued as negotiators in disputes,
because they could be believed. Narisa recalled with pain how
distressed Kalina had been by the need to tell a lie.

“Will you not answer, Lieutenant Narisa?”
Tyre pressed her. “Will you not tell us by what means you forced a
Demarian woman to resort to falsehood?”

“I didn’t force her,” Narisa cried, using the
best answer she could think of - the truth. “I wasn’t even there.
She understood how desperate the situation was, and she did what
she thought was best.”