Between Darkness and Light (36 page)

Moving closer, M'zzik lowered his voice. “Your claim has been checked against the central records, K'hedduk.”

“And?”

The priest dipped his fingers in the bowl of chocolate flakes. Lifting them toward his mouth, he examined the dark confection before his bifurcated tongue flicked out to lick off the delicate flakes. “Unimpeachable,” he murmured.

“I know that,” K'hedduk almost snapped, irritated by the priest's procrastination. “What's your decision?” All depended on whether or not the Inquisitor would support him.

M'zzik frowned slightly, obviously displeased at the other's tone. “Questions must be answered first,” he said, his voice hardening.

“Then ask them.”

“You look and behave nothing like the M'zullians we've seen. Why, K'hedduk? And how did you manage to reach here undetected?”

K'hedduk grinned toothily, a grin not echoed in his eyes. “The Fall caused us to all breed where we could, Inquisitor. On M'zull, the Emperor's nephew had a few drones from the Intellectual caste. We cloned them, ensuring they were fertile. Not having breeding tanks like you, it took us longer to replenish our ruling class, and the Emperor's line, in order to control the Warriors that abounded on our world. As for how I got here,” he shrugged disparagingly. “That's irrelevant. I'm here and I'm asking for your support to retake the Throne of Light.”

“For your brother,” said M'zzik.

“For my brother,” he agreed, mouth stretching in a smile. “Do I have your support? Your self-styled royal family isn't even directly descended from the great Emperor Q'emgo'h,
may his memory be revered for all time,
whereas my family is.”

“General Kezule has a better claim. His blood is undiluted by drones or workers. Why should we support you? You've attempted a coup to put him on the throne already. It failed.”

“Because he betrayed me and my followers! There are no longer any pure lines left, M'zzik, you know that.”

“High Inquisitor M'zzik,” interrupted the priest quietly, but K'hedduk didn't miss the firming of the jaw nor the tightening of the skin over the bone around the eyes.

“High Inquisitor M'zzik,” K'hedduk agreed, inclining his head in acknowledgment of the other's status while suppressing his annoyance. Though his claim to royal lineage had been accepted, he wasn't yet in a position of power. That would change soon. “The General's left K'oish'ik. As a member of the Emperor's Privy Council, you know he wanted nothing to do with the Court, and less to do with ruling.”

M'zzik nodded. “That was a disappointment,” he murmured. “To have served an Emperor such as him would have indeed been a privilege.”

“Had he wanted to reunite our worlds, retake our Empire. He didn't. We do,” said K'hedduk, curbing his impatience. “Will you support me?”

“There's his offspring to be considered,” temporized the Inquisitor, folding his arms inside the wide sleeves of his robe. “It could be argued even they have a better claim than your family.”

“Artificially tank-grown and created from common stock,” said K'hedduk dismissively. “We have no tanks, all our births are natural, and our females are unaltered and still kept in harems. We haven't allowed alien influences to dictate our evolution.”

M'zzik's eyes flashed angrily. “Be careful, K'hedduk. Those decisions were made by the Regent and the Council that ruled after the Fall and the death of Emperor Q'emgo'h. You need our Intellectuals, K'hedduk,” said the Inquisitor. “I believe your planet doesn't have enough officers to control those Warriors of yours. In the past, M'zull was always a training world and staging post for the Empire's military machine. Why should we believe this coup will do any better?”

“We
have
an Intellectual caste,” hissed K'hedduk, letting his anger show. “Yes, we had—and still have—a large population of Warriors, but we do have the officers to control them! Reestablishing the Empire is to be desired. We exist to rule the lesser species, not have them walking all over us, dictating alliances and trade routes! Especially the damned Sholans who caused the collapse of our Empire!”

“That, we are agreed on,” said M'zzik. “But my Order is not prepared to back you unless we have assurances that you'll win this time. You face a greater challenge than before. We now have Kezule's offspring guarding the Palace and the City.”

“Oh, I'll win,” said K'hedduk, his smile genuine this time. “Kezule's kid commandos will not be the problem you anticipate. Why do you think I soil my hands by working in the kitchens?”

“Ah,” said M'zzik softly as understanding dawned. “That's why you need our cooperation. But what of the TeLaxaudin? They could have many devices that would foil your plan to take over the City.”

“They can be killed as easily as anyone. We'll take the technology from them afterward,” said K'hedduk offhandedly. “An alliance with us would strengthen your position, Inquisitor M'zzik. The Emperor would ensure you remained Head of the Enforcers. You'd have our faithful to guide as well as rooting out heresy from among the Primes unwilling to worship their rightful Emperor.”

“Emperor M'iok'kul intends to make his capital here?”

“Where else but on the egg from which we all hatched? The City of Light is our physical and spiritual home, Inquisitor. Yes, we M'zullians need to expand. Our population is large, but it will revitalize K'oish'ik. I've been outside this City. Believe me, I know what it's like beyond these walls. Your world is dying. You need breeding females—and males—for the Warrior caste. We have them, and we have Workers too.”

M'zzik raised an eye ridge. “I thought you had no Worker caste.”

“The caste isn't pure, it has been combined with the Warriors,” admitted K'hedduk.

“Prone to be unstable and argumentative,” said the priest thoughtfully. “Would they be better than what we have?”

“Your work force spends more time discussing the job than doing it!” said K'hedduk scathingly. “When our two worlds are combined, then we can move on Ch'almuth. From them we'll get our strong work force, and breeding stock, one without Warrior traits, one that's malleable to our needs.”

“Our intelligence shows Ch'almuth to be unchanged—a peaceful agricultural world as it always was. The higher castes they had have mingled, diffused among the general population.”

“I know more about Ch'almuth than you think. There are always throwbacks. We intend to find them and start a breeding program to re-create the Worker caste. We need each other if this is to succeed, M'zzik,” he said, dropping the other's title deliberately. “I have the Warriors, you the Intellectuals and Ch'almuth the Workers. I command the modified males who will take the City for us. Once I'm ready to move, I'll contact M'zull. When my people arrive from my home world, my Warriors will protect us while we prepare to move against the Sholans and their allies. Now, do I have your support or not?”

“We'll give you our support, K'hedduk. Conditionally.”

He knew M'zzik would make conditions, but those would be easily overcome when the time was right. Enforcers bred among themselves for one thing only, and it wasn't fighting. Their background of Warrior and Intellectual ancestry was secondary to those quirks in their natures that ensured their fanaticism and dedication to finding sedition against the Emperor. They would be as powerless as the Intellectuals when faced with defending themselves.

“When do you plan to make your move?” the Inquisitor continued.

“Soon. Once she drops her egg,” he said. “I'll let you know what help I need in a few days' time when I've finalized my plans. You'd better go, we've talked long enough. I don't want the people here getting suspicious about me.”

M'zzik frowned again, then turned away abruptly. “Be careful, K'hedduk. Our Order is used to respect, even from the royal family. Remember you are only a pastry chef right now, even if you are the Emperor's younger brother.” He left in a swirl of crimson robes.

At his sides, K'hedduk's hands clenched in rage. M'zzik would pay for that insult. There would be a reckoning between him and the Head Inquisitor, and it couldn't come soon enough.

“The City is a mass of ancient tunnels, Ambassador,” said Vaygan as he and his companion brushed the remaining dust from their pelts and took the seats that Ambassador Fingoh had indicated. “We've been crawling around them now for weeks. Most have been badly damaged by earthquakes—full of rubble, some even walled off. Finally we found one that had been split open, forming a fissure in the rock that led all the way to the outside.”

“Did you find out why they won't let us leave the City of Light?”

“Maybe,” said Shamgar cautiously, glancing at Vaygan. “You have to appreciate, Ambassador, that we could only travel at night.”

“What did you see?” asked Fingoh, sitting back in his chair and regarding the two Brotherhood operatives carefully.

“Nothing but wild open countryside for many miles,” said Vaygan. “Then the ruins began.”

“Ruins?”

“Yes, ruins,” nodded Shamgar. “At first we didn't realize what they were because they were so eroded, but as we got closer to the town, we realized we were walking through the foundations of buildings that had been destroyed long ago—many generations at least. Then, when we came to the outskirts, we saw vagrants living in the larger ruins.”

“They'd created a shantytown from the few remaining walls still standing, Ambassador. You've seen the vids of Jalna's spacers' row, haven't you? Like that but with no complete buildings,” said Vaygan.

“Shantytowns,” repeated Fingoh, his tone one of disbelief as he unconsciously looked around him at the luxuriousness of his ambassadorial suite. A thick blue carpet covered the floor, its opulent pattern of swirling contoured shapes echoed in rich blues and golds embroidered on the chairs and sofas, even the drapes that covered the high windows opening out into the western palace courtyard.

Shamgar flicked his ears in assent. “What we saw of the town wasn't much better. The buildings were mainly old ones refurbished by their tenants to keep them from falling down. There were no land vehicles, the streets were too narrow for that. The people we saw were poorly dressed and looked dispirited. We skirted round the town limits and found a foundry. Its glow lit up the night sky and we could smell the stink of it from miles away.”

“Could this town have been a penitentiary of some kind? I can't believe that they would use their own people like that,” said Fingoh.

“Not a penitentiary, Ambassador. There were no guards or enclosure around it,” said Vaygan. “At the foundry, we watched workers unloading hoppers of raw materials from huge containers similar to those we use to transport ore from the asteroid mines to our off-world smelting plants. There were few signs that the plant was even semiautomated. It's my bet they ship the ore in, refine it there, then send the ingots to mills for shaping and tooling.”

Fingoh got to his feet and began to pace. “I can't believe that these gentle, cultured people could treat their citizens like that!” he said. “There has to be a reason for it! What else did you see? What about cities? This could have been no more than a rundown area. You were away for five days. Surely you found a cave or somewhere to hide where it was possible to at least look out on the landscape during the day?”

Vaygan glanced at Shamgar before answering. “The City of Light is on a hilltop, Ambassador. We were in the lowlands before the first night was half done. But yes, we were able to see the surrounding countryside by daylight as well as night. There were no other settlements as far as the eye could see, and I'd gauge that to be about a hundred miles. This world is very lightly populated. It's my opinion that's why they insisted we stayed outside their lunar orbit when we arrived here and let them fetch us by shuttle. Their population is declining rapidly.”

“While we were scouting the town, we saw very few children, Ambassador,” said Shamgar. “Those who had them seemed better dressed and fed than the others. Perhaps the weapons they used during the civil war that followed their Fall caused genetic damage.” He stopped when Vaygan's tail flicked warningly against his leg.

“We did see groups of young males reminiscent of the packs back home in Ranz and the east side of Shanagi,” said Vaygan. “They were built very differently from any other Prime we've seen—large, muscular, their heads tattooed with violent images—and seemed very aggressive. We saw three of them walking through the town, behaving as if they owned it. Anyone who didn't get out of their way, they thrust aside. They finally disappeared into one of the inns. We thought they might be overseers of the foundry.”