Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (125 page)

"This
way,
Great
Teacher,"
a
voice
said
from
behind
Bleys.
He turned,
to
see
Maryam
Kors,
one
of
Martin's
staff.
She
had
a
portable
weather
shield
ready,
in
case
the
cold
rain
returned;
there
were
puddles
on
the
ground,
and
the
cold
wind
suggested
more
weather might
be
coming
in.

Bleys
had
not
been
cold
very
often
in
his
life,
but
this
was
a
time when
he
could
wish
he
had
worn
a
thick
coat—but
then,
he
had
worn his
red-lined
cape
precisely
because
of
its
usefulness
in
helping
him capture
the
attention
of
his
audiences;
that
was
more
important
than personal
comfort.

"Hammer,
it's
good
to
see
you,"
Bleys
said,
as
the
senior
Other on
Freiland
came
walking
to
meet
him.

"Great
Teacher,
we're
all
so
glad
you
could
come,"
Hammer
said. He
half-turned
to
indicate
the
crowd
of
people—over
a
dozen, Bleys
thought—who
had
straggled
behind
him.
"Let
me
introduce Thorbjorn
Holder,
President
of
the
Freiland
State—"

The
President
was
tall
and
thin,
and
his
long,
nearly
white
hair was
blowing
in
the
cold
breeze.
He
leaned
forward
eagerly,
smiling broadly,
and
put
out
both
hands
to
clasp
the
one
Bleys
extended.

"So
pleased
to
meet
you,
Great
Teacher!
I've
been
listening
to your
talks
for
years
.
..
oh,
allow
me
to
present
my
wife...."

It
was
going
to
be
a
long
afternoon,
Bleys
thought.
He
had
already
lost
count
of
how
many
times
he
had
been
dragged
out
to visit
munitions
factories,
vehicle
assembly
lines,
spaceship
fitting yards....

Its necessary,
he
reminded
himself.

"It's
tricky."

Back
on
New
Earth
for
the
third
time
in
two
months,
Bleys
and Toni
were
waiting
in
the
lounge
of
their
suite
for
the
arrival
of
Marshal
Cuslow
Damar,
whose
Friendly
troops
had
been
effectively
in control
of
the
planet
for
several
years
now.

"The
Marshal's
convoy
is
driving
up,"
Toni
said.
She
had
just
received
that
news
from
the
staff
lower
in
the
hotel,
who
communicated
with
Bleys
through
her.
"What's
tricky?"

"Trying
to
get
the
Younger
Worlds
ready
for
a
war
that
will
have to
involve
Old
Earth,
without
arousing
the
mother
planet
herself,"

Bleys
said.
"You've
seen
the
reports
that
Rukh
Tamani's
shown
up there.
She
can
only
be
there
to
drum
up
opposition
to
us."

"What
about
our
own
people?"
Toni
asked.
"Whatever
Dahno may
be
up
to,
by
all
reports
his
people
have
continued
pushing
divisions
in
the
populace."

"Old
Earth
may
be
in
for
a
war
of
preachers,"
Bleys
said.
"I
can't say
who's
likely
to
win."

"But
Dahno's
people
have
the
persuasive
abilities
you've
taught them,"
she
said.

"That
he
taught
them,"
Bleys
said.
"Some
of
them,
yes.
But
John Colville's
reports
suggest
Rukh
Tamani
has
a
similar
ability.
He's been
following
her
about,
listening
to
her,
and
she's
apparently
a spellbinder."

"She
had
that
reputation
on
Harmony,"
Toni
said.
"Could
she counter
Dahno's
work?"

"We
never
needed
our
people
on
Old
Earth
to
convince
Earth-men
to
join
us,"
Bleys
said.
"All
we
need
is
for
them
to
continue
divided
over
how
to
react
to
us.
Most
of
them
were
unnoticing
and uncaring
when
Dahno's
campaign
started,
and
those
who
cared were
divided.
I
don't
see
that
changing."

"Even
if
Tamani
manages
to
arouse
Old
Earth,"
Toni
said,
"it'll take
a
long
time
to
get
it
moving
in
a
single
direction.
You've
always emphasized
that.
We've
already
got
a
huge
jump
on
them."

"Which
is
why
our
best
way
to
avoid
total
war
will
be
to
make
a pre
-
emptive
strike."

"At
Old
Earth?
What
about
the
Dorsai
and
the
Exotics?"

"If
we
attacked
the
Exotics
and
the
Dorsai,
we'd
rouse
Old
Earth from
its
sleep,"
he
said.
"They
might
not
come
out
to
take
part,
but they'd
be
ready
when
we
got
around
to
them.
On
the
other
hand, the
Exotics
and
the
Dorsai
won't
be
able
to
do
much
if
we
deal
with Old
Earth
first—they'll
just
be
sitting
there
in
a
defensive
posture, waiting
for
us
to
get
around
to
them."
He
smiled.