Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (55 page)

"As
far
as
I
know,
he
doesn't—assuming
he's
even
still
alive— know
anything
about
your
Others.
He
hasn't
been
here
to
learn about
you."
She
looked
into
his
eyes.

"You'll
have
to
take
my
word
on
that,"
she
said.
"There's
just
no way
I
can
prove
it."

He
studied
her
for
a
moment.

"I
think
I'll
believe
you,"
he
said.

"So
can
I
gather
up
my
people
and
leave?"

"You
can,"
he
said.
"I'll
walk
you
out
to
ensure
your
safety—if that's
what
you
want."

She
looked
at
him,
once
more
puzzled.

"What
are
you
suggesting?"

"When
you
leave
here,
I
suppose
you'll
just
go
back
into
retirement,"
he
said.
"Were
you
enjoying
that
life?" She
took
a
long
moment
before
replying.

"Are
you
offering
me
a
job?"
she
said
at
last,
disbelief
in
her
tone.

"Maybe,"
he
said.
"Go
ahead
and
leave
now.
But
I'll
be
here
on the
planet
for
a
bit
longer,
if
you
want
to
come
back
and
talk."

"You're
amazing,"
she
said,
after
another
long
moment;
and turned,
to
walk
to
the
door.

CHAPTER
20

Two
days
later
Gelica,
now
Deborah,
came
back,
and
she
and
Bleys talked
for
a
long
time.

She
was
back
the
following
day,
accompanied
by
three
of
her
old comrades;
and
this
time
Toni
sat
in
on
their
conversation.
Two
days after
that,
sixteen
of
Deborah's
people,
accompanied
by
eight
other people,
came
to
Others'
headquarters.

"We
thank
you
for
agreeing
to
come
here,"
Bleys
said.
He
was standing
behind
the
same
head
table
in
the
conference
room,
but
the room
itself
had
been
reconfigured
since
the
last
meeting.
Now
the head
table
was
closer
to
the
center
of
the
room,
and
two
lines
of
four tables
each
extended
from
its
ends,
to
form
a
large
U
shape.
Eight seats
were
placed
along
the
outside
of
each
of
those
lines,
so
that their
occupants
faced
each
other
across
the
width
of
two
tables
and the
open
space
between
them.

On
one
side
of
the
U
a
second
row
of
chairs
had
been
placed
behind
the
seats
at
the
tables;
another
row
of
chairs
was
ranged
along the
back
wall,
behind
the
head
table
itself.

Bleys'
large
chair
occupied
the
middle
place
at
the
head
table; and
he
was
flanked
by
Toni
and
Pallas
Salvador.
Seated
in
the
row of
chairs
behind
them
were
a
half-dozen
of
the
Cetan-based
Others.

"Peace
talks,"
Toni
murmured
softly.
Only
Bleys
heard
her.

No
staff
or
Soldiers
were
in
the
room,
and
the
bodyguards
who had
accompanied
Bleys'
guests
were
stationed
out
in
the
hallway and
the
reception
area,
where
they
were
trading
stares
with
the
Soldiers.
All
the
staff,
as
well
as
the
non-attending
Others,
had
been exiled
to
the
second,
lower
floor
of
the
office
suite.

There
had
been
a
noticeable
lack
of
conversation
as
the
various
attendees
entered
and
were
directed
to
seats,
and
the
silence
continued
after
everyone
had
been
seated;
until,
just
before
the
most nervous
attendee
would
have
begun
to
fidget,
Bleys
stood
up.

The
backs
of
his
knees
pushed
his
chair
back
as
he
rose,
and
every eye
in
the
room—at
least,
those
that
had
not
been
on
him
already— moved
to
him.
The
first
real
sound
came
when
some
of
the
guests began
to
realize
just
how
tall
their
host
was.

Bleys
paused
for
a
moment
after
his
opening
remark,
openly looking
at
each
of
the
guests
in
turn.
Deborah
and
her
comrades, when
they
arrived
at
the
meeting,
had
been
accompanied
by
eight people
who
were
members
of
a
group
that
had
been
referred
to
by Deborah,
in
previous
conversations,
as
the
Families.
Six
of
the
eight were
obviously
elderly,
older
even
than
Deborah
and
her
comrades, and
the
remaining
two
were
about
Deborah's
age.

Deborah's
people
and
the
delegation
from
the
Families
had
arrived
together,
but
it
was
the
togetherness
of
hostage-takers
and hostages.
Bleys
had
watched
silently
from
his
place
as
the
parties sorted
themselves
out—after
all
had
been
checked
for
weapons. Deborah
and
her
comrades
had
led
the
newcomers
to
the
side
of the
table
that
was
farthest
from
the
doors;
and
then
separated,
to take
their
own
seats
on
the
other
side
of
the
U.

Bleys
was
sure
the
newcomers—the
Families—would
not
take offense
at
his
scrutiny;
they
were
examining
him
just
as
openly.
He did
not
really
need
to
look
at
them,
but
he
intended
to
give
them
an initial
impression
of
openness,
which
was
a
good
way
to
open
any negotiation
session.

There
came,
finally,
a
moment
when
they
were
all
ready
to
move on;
and
Bleys,
sensing
it,
sat
down.
Somehow,
the
atmosphere
in the
room
had
changed,
he
was
sure.
He
glanced
sideways
at
Toni, and
she
gave
him
an
open
nod.

He
turned
his
eyes
back
to
the
tables
in
front
of
him.

"The
person
we've
known
as
Gelica
Costanza
is
the
common
element
here,"
he
said
to
the
room
at
large.
"I
suggest
that
she
begin these
proceedings."

From
the
seat
closest
to
the
head
table,
on
her
side,
Deborah
rose, to
stand
for
a
moment
without
saying
a
word.
Her
body
language said
she
was
no
longer
Gelica
Coscanza—she
seemed
to
be
standing taller
and
straighter,
with
her
head
thrown
back—and
she
reinforced that
impression
with
her
first
words.