Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (38 page)

"I
know,
I
know,
that's
not
much
by
way
of
proof.
But
it's
corroborated
by
my
reading
of
her
character."

"That
was
unfair
of
me,"
he
said.
"I
only
asked
what
you
thought of
her,
and
you
could
hardly
be
expected
to
provide
proof
of
anything,
at
this
point.
But
I
think
you
liked
her."

"I
did,"
Toni
said.
"She's
a
young
mother
who's
put
aside
her career—or
at
least
taken
a
step
down—for
her
family,
and
she
showed no
bitterness
at
all.
In
fact,
in
the
brief
time
we
worked
together
I found
her
to
be
almost
idealistic.
I
think
she
firmly
believes
in
the Others,
and
is
proud
to
be
associated
with
us.
I
think
it
was
only
shyness,
and
maybe
a
sense
of
reserve,
or
dignity,
that
kept
her
from
bubbling
over
about
having
met
you."

"I
have
another
reason
to
believe
in
her
loyalty,"
Bleys
said.

"What's
that?"

"Remember
what
Pallas
Salvador
said?
That
Sandra
had
been her
most
valuable
assistant
until
she
had
to
move
when
her
husband
was
transferred?"

"Yes,
I
remember."

"Her
husband's
transfer
opened
up
the
place
for
Gelica
Con
stanza
to
take
over
as
Pallas
Salvador's
assistant,
didn't
it?"

Toni
was
silent
for
a
long
moment.

"I
see,"
she
said
at
last.
"That's
a
little
frightening."

"It
might
be
that,"
Bleys
said.
"It
shouldn't
surprise
us,
though,
to find
that
these
unknowns
have
the
power
to
get
Sandra's
husband transferred;
they've
already
shown
they
have
a
lot
of
power
on
this planet—but
at
the
same
time,
that
deduction
gives
us
one
more
piece of
information
to
use
in
filling
out
the
picture
of
who
those
people might
be."

She
was
silent
for
another
long
moment.

"The
vanished
Others
are
probably
dead,
aren't
they?"
she
said
at last.

"It's
likely,"
he
said.
"I
think
they're
the
only
ones
among
the Others
here
that
we
can
know
remained
loyal.
It
probably
killed them."

"That's
sad,"
she
said.
"It's
as
if
there's
been
a
war
going
on,
and we
never
even
knew
it.
Some
of
our
people
died,
and
we
never knew
it
until
we
stumbled
on
it
by
accident."

"Well,
there
is
a
war
going
on,"
Bleys
said.
"There
has
been
for
a long
time
now,
I
think."

Toni
was
silent
for
a
long
moment.

"You're
not
talking
about
these
people
here
on
Ceta,
are
you?" she
said
at
last.

"No,"
he
said.
He
sighed,
feeling,
suddenly,
immensely
weary.

"War
is
a
conflict
of
opposing
forces,"
he
went
on.
"I
believe we're
caught
in
the
conflict
of
historical
forces—a
conflict
that's been
going
on
for
a
long,
long
time."

"You've
mentioned
these
historical
forces
before,"
she
said.
"It makes
me
feel
as
if
you
think
we're
slaves
to
some—some
invisible thing
we
can't
even
see.
Do
you
feel
that
way?"

"Do
you
feel
as
if
you're
a
helpless
slave
to
gravity?"
he
asked.

She
took
a
moment
to
think
that
over;
and
then
pushed
herself up,
to
lean
over
him,
propped
on
one
arm.

"Or
the
laws
of
physics
or
chemistry?"
she
said.
"Or
even
time?"

"I
hadn't
thought
of
time,"
he
said.
"That
may
be
a
very
good analogy."

Her
elbow
moved
sideways,
leaving
her
to
fall
on
him,
her
chin thumping
into
his
chest.

"Sorry!"
she
said;
but
her
apology
was
ruined
by
a
giggle.
"It's that
gravity
thing
again!"

He
put
the
edge
of
his
hand
under
her
chin,
and
lifted
it;
and
she lifted
her
face
to
meet
his.

CHA
PTER
16

They
were
both
sitting
up,
their
backs
against
the
wall
at
the
head of
the
bed.

"I
didn't
mean
to
distract
you,"
Toni
said.
"You
were
talking about
war
and
the
historical
forces."
She
was
tucked
under
his
arm and
leaning
into
him,
cheek
against
his
chest.

"I
never
realized
my
mentions
of
the
historical
forces
raised
such bad
connotations
for
you,"
Bleys
said.
"To
me
they're
just
a
neutral force
in
the
background
of
life.
I
was
surprised
when
you
talked about
being
a
slave
to
the
forces—that's
impossible,
you
know."

"Well,
you
changed
my
feelings
when
you
mentioned
gravity," she
said.
"I
understood
it
right
away,
and
it
made
me
feel
silly
about my
earlier
reaction."
She
moved
her
arm
out
across
his
chest,
and hugged
him.

"Slavery
is
something
only
people
can
create,"
he
said,
smoothing
her
hair
gently.
"It
shouldn't
be
a
worry
for
you;
you
just
don't have
it
in
you
to
be
a
slave."

"I
think
that's
true,"
she
said.
"Just
being
with
you
has
shown
me how
powerful
I
am
in
my
own
right—and
that
everybody
can
be
just as
powerful
if
only
they're
set
free
to
see
the
possibilities
in
them."

"You
had
it
in
you
before
we
ever
met,"
he
said.
"It's
a
spirit
of self-reliance,
or
maybe
just
self-responsibility
...
a
lot
of
people seem
to
have
at
least
some
of
it,
but
I
want
everyone
to
have
it."

"Why
do
some
have
it,
while
others
don't?"

"I
don't
have
a
complete
answer
for
that,"
he
said.
"It
seems
to come
from
the
way
people
are
raised,
but
I'm
not
sure
that's
the whole
answer.
From
what
I've
read,
the
Dorsai
seem
to
produce
a lot
of
individuals
with
that
sense
of
responsibility—maybe
you
have your
Dorsai
ancestor
to
thank."