Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (37 page)

"You
mean,
they've
only
been
going
through
the
motions?"

"Well,
as
I
said,
the
cheese
reminded
me
that
life
has
gotten much
better
for
us—at
least
in
the
ways
most
people
measure
that kind
of
thing.
Two
things
are
responsible
for
that:
we
Others
learned to
work
together
for
a
common
end,
and
people
who
might
have
opposed
us
forgot
how
to
do
that
...
oddly
enough,
I
was
speaking
to Dahno
about
something
akin
to
this
just
a
couple
of
weeks
ago;
but at
the
time
I
never
thought
to
relate
that
discussion
to
me,
to
us."

"Us?"

"Look,"
he
said,
"I
started
this
expedition
to
try
to
figure
out
why our
Others
on
this
planet
had
not
reported
on
the
unknown
group— I
dislike
that
term,
the
'secret
people'—on
this
planet.
Whoever they
are.
I
was
assuming
that
either
our
people
were
working
dependably
but
the
unknowns
were
amazingly
good
at
keeping
their doings
secret,
or
some,
at
least,
of
our
Others
had
been
brought
over to
helping
them."

"Yes,"
she
said.
"I
remember
that
the
biggest
obstacle
to
believing
in
the
existence
of
these
'unknowns,'
when
you
deduced
it,
was the
fact
it
was
so
unlikely
that
a
group
that
powerful
could
be
so well
hidden."

"Occam's
razor,"
he
said.
"A
simpler
explanation
is
more
likely
to be
correct—or,
at
least,
useful
as
a
starting
point:
that
our
people— and
everyone
else
on
the
planet,
for
that
matter—did
a
less
than great
job
of
observation."

"Hence
the
researchers
you've
commissioned."

"Yes,"
he
said.
"And
until
I
get
some
feedback
from
them,
I'm only
able
to
make
estimates
on
what's
been
happening,
and
on
what it
means
for
us."

She
shifted
position,
rolling
over
to
rest
on
his
chest.

"Sorry,"
she
said.
"My
arm
was
going
to
sleep.
But
can
you
give me
some
idea
of
what
your
'estimates'
are?"

"You
mean
you
want
my
best
guess."

"All
right,
yes,"
she
said.
"Disclaimer
noted.
Now
what
do
you suspect?"

"Well,
first,"
he
said,
"I
think
the
Cetan
organization—I
mean
our Others
here—has
been
infiltrated.
Not
just
manipulated
from
the outside,
but
infiltrated."

"Some
of
the
staff
people,"
she
said.

"Why
are
you
asking
me
what
my
guesses
are?"
he
said.
"You seem
to
be
doing
just
as
well
as
I
am."

"Don't
be
coy.
That
much
was
fairly
obvious
from
the
Soldiers' observations."

"Which
reminds
me,"
he
said:
"the
Soldiers
have
been
very
useful,
working
undercover,
but
I
suspect
they're
limited
in
their
abilities
to
carry
out
some
kinds
of
tasks—we
have
to
look
into
setting up
some
sort
of
independent
group
to
handle
such
matters
for
us
in the
future."

"A
kind
of—what
did
they
call
it
in
the
histories?—'intelligence service'?—no,
'counter-intelligence,'
it
was!
That
term
made
me laugh,
I
remember."

"I
haven't
thought
this
out
enough
to
be
able
to
say
what
we'll want
such
a
group
for,"
he
said.
"Just
remind
me,
please,
to
think about
it.
Because
I
believe
we're
in
a
war—so
far,
just
a
sort
of
undercover
war,
perhaps,
but
we
have
to
be
as
ready
for
this
kind
of war
as
for
a
more
normal
war
of
soldiers
and
ships
...
it's
just
that this
kind
of
war
starts
earlier
than
the
shooting
war."

"All
right.
But
back
to
the
infiltration."

"Just
knowing
that
our
organization
here
has
been
infiltrated
is not
enough,"
he
said.
"We
have
to
find
a
way
to
determine
who's working
for
the
unknowns,
and
who's
only
misled
and
manipulated."

"Particularly
among
the
Others,"
she
said.
"But
you
know,
some of
the
staff
are
likely
innocent,
as
well."

"You
told
me
earlier
that
that
staff
person
Pallas
Salvador provided—Sandra
Rossoy—had
been
unable
to
find
the
nine
missing
Others."

"Yes,
she
reported
on
that
even
before
we
left
Ceta
City." "I
know
she
did.
But
what
did
you
think
of
her?" "Do
you
mean,
do
I
think
she's
working
for
the
unknowns?
I
do not."

"Why
not?"

"She's
much
younger
than
the
staff
people
we've
had
reason
to suspect,"
she
answered. "That's
not—"