Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (124 page)

"The
Dorsai
can
only
go
to
a
planet
that
wants
them,"
Bleys
said. "Remember
when
I
said
that
to
fight,
they
need
a
place
to
stand
on? The
only
planets
that
might
want
them
are
planets
that
think they're
in
military
danger—that
can
only
be
the
Exotics."

"Why
not
Old
Earth?"

"Old
Earth
doesn't
think
it's
in
any
danger,"
Bleys
said.
"The Final
Encyclopedia
and
Hal
Mayne
know
better,
but
they
haven't even
tried
to
convince
Old
Earth
yet,
even
though
Dahno's
people have
been
working
there
to
stir
up
dissension.
It
would
be
the worst
possible
move
for
Mayne—nothing
would
alienate
Earth-men
more
than
five
million
Dorsai
showing
up
uninvited
on
their doorstep."

He
turned
away
and
moved
toward
his
desk.

"In
the
end
it
really
doesn't
matter,"
he
said.
"No
matter
where the
Dorsai
go,
they'll
have
to
sit
in
their
defenses
and
wait
for
us
to come.
Even
if
they
want
to
come
out
and
attack
us
on
nine
worlds, there
just
aren't
enough
of
them;
they'd
be
worn
down
by
attrition."
He
activated
his
screen.

"This
gives
us
a
chance
to
make
a
move
they
won't
be
expecting,"
he
said.

"You
were
already
sure
war
was
coming,"
Toni
said;
"how
much has
the
situation
changed?"

"I
figured
it
might
well
get
down
to
war,"
Bleys
said,
absentmind
edly
correcting
her
as
he
inserted
a
chip
he
had
brought
with
him from
the
ship.
"Eventually.
I
thought
it
was
some
time
off
and
we'd have
ample
time
to
get
ourselves
ready
while
Hal
Mayne
struggled
to get
his
side
organized."
He
looked
up
at
her.

"Hal
Mayne
now
has
the
Exotics
working
with
him,
the
Final Encyclopedia
behind
him—and
the
Dorsai
up
to
something
...
I
think
we
can
expect
action
sooner
rather
than
later."

He
touched
a
control,
and
his
eyes
turned
again
to
his
screen.

"There's
an
opportunity
here
to
do
something
Mayne
and
his friends
could
never
expect,"
he
said.
"I
spent
the
trip
back
drawing up
plans
to
speed
our
mobilization—I
still
want
to
keep
it
undercover,
to
avoid
raising
any
more
alarms
on
Old
Earth
than
we
have to.
But
we
have
a
lot
to
do:
we
need
to
find
ways
to
get
more
information
about
how
Old
Earth
is
likely
to
react
when
the
Dorsai
make their
move—and
on
what
the
Exotics
and
the
Dorsai
are
planning." He
looked
at
her
again.

"I'm
going
to
be
sending
messages
right
away
to
our
people
on all
the
Younger
Worlds,
and
I'll
be
following
up
with
personal
visits. I'd
like
you
to
find
out
how
to
get
the
messages
to
those
Worlds
as quickly
as
possible;
when
that's
done,
set
up
a
new
trip
.
.
.
think about
what
needs
to
be
done
to
have
four
or
five
courier
ships
along. I
want
to
start
with
New
Earth."

"Are
those
Soldiers
Henry
sent
still
on
Old
Earth?"
Bleys
asked, two
hours
later.

"I
think
so,"
Toni
said.
"Henry
didn't
want
to
call
them
back
until
he'd
heard
from
you."

"Leave
them
there,"
Bleys
said.
"We'll
want
to
have
them
monitoring
public
opinion
on
the
planet
and
reporting
back."

"That's
not
exactly
the
sort
of
thing
the
Soldiers
are
good
at,"
she pointed
out.
"Most
of
them
there
aren't
intelligence
specialists."

"Maybe
we
should
send
a
few
intelligence
people
to
join
them, then,"
Bleys
said.
"I
know
John
Colville's
there;
he's
got
a
good head
on
his
shoulders
and
would
be
a
good
choice
to
lead
the
effort."

"I
was
about
to
point
out
that
the
non
-
specialists
might
be
able
to see
things
the
specialists
miss,"
Toni
said.
"They're
more
like
average
people
in
the
way
they
look
at
things."

"Why
don't
you
ask
Henry
for
his
suggestions?"
Bleys
said.
"But don't
forget
I
want
to
get
off
on
this
trip
right
away."

The
sky
was
gray
when
Bleys
climbed
out
of
the
armored
limousine in
which
he
had
ridden
to
his
appointment
with
Hammer
Martin and
three
of
Freiland's
top
political
leaders.
The
vehicles
that
had escorted
his
were
now
hovering
around
him,
trying
to
create
a
wall between
Bleys
and
the
crowd
of
workers
lining
the
edges
of
the
factory's
parking
lot.
Those
workers
seemed
to
be
yelling,
but
Bleys could
not
make
out
any
words.