Glen Cook Darkwar 02 Warlock

Odnośniki

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

you really have the sort of evidence you claim, and I report it, they will
Page 99
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
kill you."
"I suspect they'll be reluctant to try, Bagnel." She spoke in a whisper
herself, and pointed to one of the circling darkships, to make those watching
think she was talking about her threats. "Their force commander in the Ponath
was the Serke number four. Stronger than anyone but Bestrei herself. She's
dead. And I'm here."
"There are other ways to kill."
Marika rested a paw upon the butt of her rifle. "And I know them. They may
have their way with the Reugge. But they will pay in blood. And pay and pay
and pay. We have just started fighting, Gradwohl and I."
"Marika, please. You're too young to be so ruled by ambition."
"There are things I want to do with my life, Bagnel. This struggle with the
Serke is a distraction. This scramble is something I want to get over early.
If I sound confident of the Reugge, that's because I am. In the parlance of
your brethren, I believe the hammer is in my paw. I'd rather you and your
silth allies just went away and left us alone. I'd rather not fight. But I am
ready to bring on the fire if that is the way they want it. You may tell them
that we Reugge believe we have very little to lose. And more to gain than they
can imagine."
Bagnel sighed. "You always were headstrong and deaf to advice. I will tell my
factors what you've said. I'll be very much interested in their response
myself."
"I'm sure you will. As you walk over there, keep one eye on the darkships up
top. Keep in mind that they have orders to kill anyone who tries to leave the
enclave. You can shoot them down if you like. But I don't think even the Serke
will tolerate that."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Marika. I really do. I think, though, that
you don't. I think you have made some grave and erroneous accusations, and
based serious miscalculations upon them. I fear for you."
She was making a long bet, setting the price of protecting the rogues so high
the brethren factors would have no choice but to surrender them. A success
would cement her standing within the Community.
She did not care if the silth liked her, so long as they respected and feared
her.
"I intend to be very careful, Bagnel. I give these things more thought than
you credit me for. Go. Grauel and Barlog will be waiting here at the gate."
She walked through the building beside him, halted at the door to the
airstrip, counted silently while he walked fifteen steps. "Bagnel!"
"What?" he squeaked as he whirled.
"Why is the Ponath worth risking the very existence of the brethren?"
An instant of panic betrayed him. If he did not know, he had firmly founded
suspicions. Perhaps because the tradermales of Critza had been involved from
the beginning?
"The plan is for the brethren to betray the Serke after they take over, isn't
it? The brethren think they have some way to force the Serke out without a
Page 100
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
struggle."
"Marika... "
"I questioned some of the drivers who were with the Serke invaders, Bagnel.
What they didn't know was as interesting as what they did."
"Marika, you know very well I do not know what you are howling about. Tell me.
Does Most Senior Gradwohl know what you are doing here?"
"The most senior has ambitions greater than mine."
That was not a direct answer, but Bagnel nodded and resumed walking, his step
tentative. He glanced at the circling darkships only once. His head lowered
against his shoulders again.
She had rattled him badly, Marika knew. Right now he was questioning
everything he knew and believed about his bond. She regretted having had to
use him so harshly. He was a friend.
Given her victory, the day would come when things would balance.
When she returned to the street outside the enclave, Grauel asked, "Are they
going to cooperate?"
"I think they will. You can put anything over on anybody if you sound tough
enough and confident enough."
"And if they are guilty as charged?"
"That will help a lot."
Barlog looked at one of the darkships. "Did you really order... ?"
"Yes. I could not run the bluff without being willing to play part of it out.
They might test me."
Barlog winced, but said nothing.
II
Grauel received the rogue prisoners within the deadline. "But nine of them
were given over dead, Marika," she reported.
"I expected that. They resisted being turned over, did they?"
"That is what Bagnel told me."
"Want to bet the dead ones could have connected the brethren of the enclave
with their movement?"
"No bet. They had to get their weapons and explosives somewhere. Bagnel
slipped me a letter, Marika. A personal communication, he said."
"He did?" She was surprised. After what she had put him through? "Let's see
what he has to say."
Bagnel said much in few words. He apologized for his brethren having betrayed
the conventions. He had not believed her at the gate, but now he had no
choice. He was ashamed. As his personal act of contrition, he appended two
Page 101
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
remarks. "Petroleum in the Zhotak. Pitchblende in the western Ponath."
Petroleum she understood instantly. She had to go to references to make sense
of the other.
She hurried to Gradwohl's quarters. "My cultivating the male Bagnel has
finally paid a dividend, mistress," she reported. She did not mention the
brethren yielding the criminals. Gradwohl's meth would have reported all that
already. "He has told me what is so important about our northern provinces."
"You broke him down? How? I had begun to think him as stubborn as you."
"I shamed him. I showed him how his factors had been making a fool of him,
using him in schemes he would not have touched had they asked him directly.
But no matter. He has turned over the rogues, and he has given me the reason
behind all the years of terror.
"Petroleum and pitchblende. Our natural resources. Considering what they were
willing to risk, the deposits must be huge."
"Petroleum I understand." It was a scarce commodity, very much in demand in
the more advanced technological zones farther south. "But what is pitchblende?
I have never heard of it."
"I had to look it up myself," Marika admitted. "It is a radioactive ore. A
source of the rare heavy elements radium and uranium. There is very little
data available in our resources, but there is at least the implication that
the heavy elements could become an energy source far more potent than
petroleum or other fossil fuels. The brethren already use radioactives as
power sources in some of their satellites."
"Space. I wonder... Now I wonder why the Serke would... ?"
"Yes. Suddenly, it looks like we have seen everything backward, does it not?
For a long time I thought the Serke were using the brethren. Now I think the
brethren have been using the Serke the way the Serke used the nomads. The
Serke promised a great prize and secret support. The savages had little real
choice, pressed as they were by the onset of the ice age. The brethren in turn
baited their snare with the petroleum of the Zhotak. And the Serke leapt on it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

angamoss.xlx.pl