Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (58 page)

Startlement
showed
on
some
of
the
faces;
the
rest
shut
down, trying
to
show
no
reaction
at
all.

"I
don't
understand
what
you
mean
by
those
words,"
Melin
So
mosa
said
finally,
her
tone
making
it
a
question.

Bleys
simply
smiled
at
her,
and
said
nothing.

"What
could
you
offer
to
do
against
the
Dorsai
and
the
Exotics?" Serafina
Leng
spoke
up
sharply.
"—no,
don't
stop
me,
Camille!
It's clear
this
man
knows
more
than
we
thought,
and
there's
no
point
in playing
games
with
him!"
She
turned
back
to
Bleys.

"How
much
do
you
know?"
she
asked.

"Only
a
little,"
he
answered.
"I
know
that
you've
been
working to
undermine
the
economies
of
three
planets,
with
the
intent
of
destroying
their
ability
to
survive."
He
shrugged.

"Exactly
how
you
do
it,
I
don't
know,"
he
went
on.
"You
can't possibly
have
enough
wealth
to
carry
out
a
scheme
like
that
by yourselves,
so
my
guess
is
you're
leveraging
your
assets
somehow— perhaps
by
subverting
influential
decision-makers
in
important commercial
and
governmental
positions
...
a
campaign
of
small steps,
I
suppose;
but
you've
had
decades
to
work
on
it,
and
moving by
small
steps
over
a
long
period
of
time
actually
works
to
your
advantage,
by
making
your
actions
less
noticeable."

He
stopped,
but
no
one
answered.

"The
details
don't
matter,"
he
went
on
finally,
"although
you
may not
be
willing
to
believe
me
on
that."
He
smiled,
shaking
his
head just
a
little.

"But
I
haven't
come
up
with
a
reason
why
you
should
be
taking such
actions—it
has
to
have
been
expensive
...
I
confess
to
being intrigued
and
puzzled."

"Even
if
what
you
say
is
true,
I
can't
think
why
we
should
tell you
our
reasons!"
Camille
Porter
said.

"That
would
be
one
of
the
prices
of
our
help,"
Bleys
said
quietly.

"Help?
What
can
you
do
to
help
us?"

"More
importantly,
why
would
you
want
to
help
us?"
Paul
Tombas said.
"I
can't
think
what
would
be
in
this
for
you."

"It's
really
quite
simple,"
Bleys
said.
"It
would
get
those
two peoples
off
our
backs."

"How
are
they
on
your
backs?"
Tombas
asked,
apparently
intrigued.

"Please
don't
take
us
for
fools,"
Bleys
said.
"You
know
perfectly well
we've
taken
controlling
positions
on
five
of
the
Younger Worlds"—there
were
several
nods
in
response
to
that—"and
it doesn't
take
much
insight
to
realize
that
the
Exotics
won't
stand
for that
situation
for
very
long."

"Of
course
you
mean
that
your
group's
position
now
represents
a threat
to
the
Exotics,"
Tombas
said.
He
glanced
to
his
left,
at
Coley Milan
or
the
people
beyond
him.
"And
if
threatened,
you
feel
the Exotics
would
set
the
Dorsai
on
you."

"Yes,"
Bleys
said.

"That
might
very
well
be
so,"
Camille
Porter
said.
"But
why should
we
care
what
happens
to
you
and
your
Others?"

"You
don't,
of
course,"
Bleys
said.
"That's
a
good
business
position
to
take—if
all
you
want
is
to
maintain
the
status
quo."

"What
does
that
mean?"
Camille
Porter
said.

"We
want
revenge!"
her
sister
cut
in.
"No,
I
will
not
keep
quiet, Camille!
I'm
getting
too
old
to
play
games,
and
if
we
have
a
chance to
strike
a
deciding
blow
in
my
lifetime,
I
want
to
do
it!"
She
glared at
her
sister,
a
glare
that
perhaps
included
the
rest
of
her
companions,
although
at
the
end
of
the
line
Me
lin
Somosa
and
John Haroun,
apparently
the
two
youngest
on
that
side
of
the
table,
were nodding
at
her.

"Did
you
ever
hear
of
William
of
Ceta?"
she
asked,
turning
her face
back
to
Bleys.

"Of
course
I
have,"
Bleys
said.
She
was
referring
to
a
Cetan
entrepreneur
of
nearly
a
century
ago,
who
had
very
nearly
succeeded in
a
complicated
scheme
to
corner
the
interstellar
market
in
employment
contracts—a
plan
that
more
liberal
historians
still
contended
would
have
resulted
in
the
virtual
enslavement
of
the working
and
professional
classes.

"The
Prince,"
Bleys
said.
The
response
was
simple,
and
it
was all
they
needed.

"That's
right,"
she
said,
nodding.
"If
you
know
his
story,
you know
he
was
on
the
verge
of
taking
control
of
all
the
Younger Worlds,
until
that
Dorsai
Donal
Graeme
interfered!"
An
angry
tone was
rising
in
her
voice
as
she
spoke.