Balance of Power (22 page)

Charles and Christian, with three more Ore’l, began lowering the boat, hurling out the casks and boxes as they did so. They worked so furiously that they had all but unloaded her in the half-minute before she was too low for them to hurl more back on
Ilah’y’su’
s deck. It hit the water with a great splash, and they too were off to join the fight.

The reinforcements, I knew, would be desperately needed, although it was impossible to tell exactly how the battle on the
New Hope
’s deck was going. All was chaos, with the sound of guns going off mingling with shouts and howls of pain and anguish.

As the boat turned to begin its journey one more crewman jumped over the side to join it. Then another figure appeared by my side and without a moment’s pause followed him. It was Piet, apparently as savagely keen to get into the fight as anyone else. I saw Charles haul him out of the water into the bobbing boat, which lurched and spun before resuming its passage across the gap that was widening with every second that passed.

I moved back into the shelter of the wheelhouse, now inhabited only by Al’ha. He looked at me with an unfathomable expression. I couldn’t tell whether he was censuring me for not joining in the riot. I wasn’t really sure why I hadn’t. It had simply never occurred to me to do so.

Mariel suddenly appeared by my side again.

“You should have stayed below!” I hissed.

“Can’t see what’s happening,” she replied.

“Los’ win’ now,” muttered Al’ha, who was still trying to turn the ship toward the
New Hope
and keep us as close as possible. Despite his efforts the gap kept getting wider. There was twenty meters of clear water, now. But the boat had reached its destination, and humans and Ore’l alike were clambering up the side of the New Hope to get into the fight. Only one of the Ore’l was carrying a crossbow—the rest had big knives like machetes—even Piet. I guessed that they must have been transferred to the boat ready for the attack, in with all the other innocent bundles.

When the reinforcements joined in the chaos seemed to abate somewhat. No guns were firing now—there had been no opportunity for anyone to reload. It was all blades and claws, and on that basis the colony men didn’t stand a chance.

Five minutes, I knew, would have it won.

But then I looked directly across into the bridge of the
New Hope
, and saw the one thing that I feared most of all. I could see Ogburn, not calling orders, not even getting involved in the fight.

He was setting a light to a fuse dangling from a greasy-gray cylinder, and with perfect calmness he sighted it at me. Our eyes met, and in that exchanged glance there was perfect understanding of the whole situation.

He raised his arm, aiming at the wheelhouse. It was a throw that anyone could have made, and I knew him well enough to know that his aim was going to be good.

I tried to push Mariel out of the wheelhouse on the starboard side, but I was thrusting backward with my arms and making no effort to move myself. I just couldn’t take my eyes off Ogburn, and I had the sensation of being able to read his very thoughts as he went through the act of killing me.

And then something rose from the deck beneath his steady arm...something that was already stained with blood from a blow with an axe that had ripped apart its left shoulder. It was Piet Verheyden, and his machete was already raised high, the sunlight flashing from its blade into my eyes.

Piet stabbed with all the strength of his one good arm, and as the blade went into Ogburn’s belly my mind’s eye flashed a recapitulated image of a scalpel slicing into Anna’s neck. Then I had to look away because of the dazzling flash of reflected sunlight.

I had no idea whether Ogburn had made his throw or not. I just dropped to the deck, still pushing at Mariel and pulling at Al’ha.

I remember saying: “Get down!” in as loud a voice as I could, and repeating it as many times as I could before....

There was one small bang.

That was the stick of dynamite Ogburn had intended to throw.

Then there was a big bang. That was the rest of the case.

The small bang must have demolished the
New Hope
’s bridge. The large one blew the heart clean out of the ship.

It took a long time for the booming in my ears to die away. Until it had, I wasn’t sure what had happened, or which ship had blown, or whether the rest of me was still attached to my head.

Eventually, though, it was over, and I felt the awesome relief of wholeness.

Al’ha, who had not dropped to the floor but had at least shielded his head with a furry forearm, said: “Blurry hell!”

“Don’t worry,” I said, weakly. “No need to fret. They were only savages...only savages.”

Malpighi, however, was in full possession of what might charitably be described as his faculties. When I checked his burns he complained that I hadn’t set his leg properly.

“I was a bit seasick at the time,” I said, not exactly oozing sympathy. (The leg was set properly.)

“It hurts,” he observed.

“You’ll walk again,” I assured him. “Though where to, I’m not sure.”

“What’s going to happen?”

I shrugged.

“Look,” he said, “I was against it. Leaving you like that. I didn’t want to do it. But I had to string along or they’d have dumped me too. It was me stopped them killing you. And I didn’t want to attack your ship, either. When I realized there were humans aboard I begged him to lay off, but that crazy Ogburn....”

“All this,” I commented, wearily, “is about as likely as a duck-billed platypus swimming a four-minute mile.”

He didn’t know what a duck-billed platypus was, but he got the gist of the argument.

“What’ll they do?” he asked.

“Not up to me,” I commented. “If it was, I’d put on a trial. A big show trial. You know, rather like a circus. I’d try you for crimes against humanity and the Ore’l. Human and alien witnesses, human and alien judges. A nice joint project to symbolize a new era of friendship and cooperation. Ritualize the spirit of unity and all that. I’d sentence you to the maximum possible term of extremely hard labor. The Ore’l will probably want a death penalty, though. They’re not as squeamish as I am.”

He was scared. He was almost as angry as he was frightened, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it.

“Until then,” I said. “I’ll look after you. It would be a pity if there were no one left to put on trial.”

After that, I went to see Christian. Mariel was in his cabin playing the ministering angel. He didn’t have any injuries worth looking at so I just sat down on the edge of the bunk and looked at him in my best bedside manner. “Tough day,” I said, tiredly.

“Yeah,” he drawled. He looked pained and listless. In the space of twenty-four hours he had lost a family, and in a rather untidy manner. I suspected that he had always cared about them a lot more than they had cared about him. Alter all, he was the minority trying to win acceptance and approval. He’d also lost a part-share in an empire, but I don’t think that bothered him much. Maybe he was remembering that the last words he’d exchanged with his brothers had been leading up to a fight.

“It’s all finished now,” I said gently.
“Really
finished. Take it easy for now. In time, you’ll pick up the pieces.”

His dark eyes stared at me from beneath the brows that had nothing of the Verheyden mold.

“They were right, weren’t they?” he said. “You certainly brought a wind of change into our affairs. Is it really over now, or do I go, too.”

“They were right,” I admitted. “I didn’t know how right. I was sure as hell booked to play nemesis. But it
is
over.”

“What happened?” he asked.

I glanced at Mariel. She hadn’t told him and she shook her head to say so. Maybe she didn’t know—she hadn’t been in a position to see because I’d been so busy shoving her out of the way.

“Ogburn was just about to start throwing dynamite at
Ilah’y’su
,” I said. “He should have known better. One of Y’su’s messengers got there first. It was Piet. Unfortunately, the dynamite was still lit. It went up on the wrong ship. Al’ha says that he saw a thunderbolt come down from heaven to guide Piet’s hand. Myself, I think it was the sunlight reflected off the blade—but you never can tell, can you?”

“Did Piet know he was saving your life?” asked Christian.

“What do you think?” I countered.

If Piet had realized what was happening...maybe Ogburn would have got to make his throw. We both knew that. And maybe it only looked like sunlight flashing from the blade....

“So now I inherit the whole thing,” said Christian, curling his lip as he said it. “The youngest. The bastard. But the legacy’s all mine.”

“The legacy’s the empire’s,” I said. “For better or for worse. You’ll have to start from scratch. But you’re as good as Verheyden. Just do what you can.”

“You do it,” he said. “You’re the one who knows it all. You’re the one who blasted apart the old regime. If ever there was ilah’y’su it’s surely you. Out of the sky, with the gift of curing and trailing death wherever you go.
You
take over where my mother’s husband left off.”

“It’s your world, Christian,” I said.

And I left it at that.

Next, I went to see the animals that were carrying my plague parasites across the ocean for me. They didn’t look too well either. But they were only seasick.

I met Mariel in the corridor as I went back to my cabin.

I smiled, faintly. “Plain sailing from now on,” I said. “Good ship, fair wind...all that crap.”

“He’ll be all right,” she said. “In a few days.”

“Sure,” I affirmed. “Sea air’ll do him a world of good. And with the others all gone...he always was the one good bet.”

It was a rather cruel judgment—not much of an epitaph for poor Charles and Jan.

“I’ll look after him,” she said, calmly.

“I know,” I replied.

“I’m not even afraid,” she said. “You know that crazy feeling...all the crazy feelings...about losing my power. I’m not afraid now. I don’t know why. Maybe all that fighting anaesthetized me. But I can feel for Christian, and somehow I don’t think—not any more—that the feeling’s being ripped out of my talent. You know what I mean?”

“I understand,” I said.

She looked at me, searching my eyes for the answer to an unspoken question. I really didn’t have it—not clearly enough to put into a readable thought.

“It’s just a matter of balance,” I told her. “Find an equilibrium...and keep it.”