Deathstalker Rebellion (32 page)

“I should have stayed an accountant. The Empress had never heard of me, and I could still feel my fingers.”

“If you’d never married Stephanie, you’d never have met me.”

Michel considered this point and produced something meant to be a smile. “Well, there is that. Only lucky thing that ever happened to me was meeting you.”

Lily reached out and patted his cheek soothingly. “Luck has nothing to do with it, darling. There are powers and influences and mysteries, and they rule our lives.”

“The only one who rules our lives is currently sitting on that Throne, wrapped in furs, and laughing her socks off at the rest of us. Why are we here, Lily? We’re not important enough for our absence to be noticed. We could have spent the afternoon in each other’s company, doing all sorts of interesting things. It’s not often we can both get away from our respective spouses. You know how I miss you.”

“And I miss you, my darling, but we must be careful. We’re Wolfes now, and Daniel and Stephanie would be most
upset if they thought we were bringing the name of the Clan into disrepute through our absence. They might even investigate further and find out about us. I have a strong feeling that if they did, they’d probably take it quite personally, the poor dears. If we were really lucky, they’d just have us killed. Much more likely, they’d divorce us and throw us out of the Clan without a penny to our name. We’d be outcasts. No one would lift a finger to help us, not even our own Families. I’ve grown quite fond of our current lifestyle, and I for one do not intend doing anything that might put it at risk. And that includes getting horizontal and sweaty with you, darling. Our times together must be carefully planned, with every precaution taken. Be patient, my darling. Things won’t always be like this. And as for why we’re here, the auguries were quite specific, for once. Something important is going to happen here at Court. Something of great significance. Something that will launch a tidal wave of possibilities, which you and I might just ride to greatness.”

Michel looked at her fondly, wrapped in her faux peasant dress and shawl, but kept his peace. Lily liked to see herself as the last of the great mystics, a pagan witch from the distant past with rare and subtle powers. Actually, she’d just read a few old books and fallen madly in love with the role. It was much more likely she just had a great imagination, backed up by a touch of esp, but he wasn’t dumb enough to tell her that. He was very fond of her, and besides, she tended to throw tantrums when she got annoyed. Still, he trusted her intuition. She’d always understood Court politics much better than he did. He’d keep his eyes open, if they didn’t freeze solid first, like certain other parts of his anatomy.

He’d originally taken up with Lily because both of them were bored. As one of Jacob’s legacies they were assured of a place in Clan Wolfe, but no one felt any obligation to make them feel welcome. As a result, they were allowed no place in the Clan, neither business nor social. Jacob had arranged the marriages in the first place to gain control of certain subsidiary business interests involved in stardrive manufacture. But now those had been taken over and absorbed by the Wolfes, Lily and Michel were redundant. They could not be allowed any part in business because they weren’t really Wolfes, and therefore not to be trusted with anything important. But they were also kept from any con
tact with their own Families, because they were Wolfes. And since they were Jacob’s choice, Daniel and Stephanie wanted nothing to do with them. They managed a stiff smile when procedure demanded they appear in public with their spouses, to put across the polite fiction that all was well, but that was only to appease the Church and keep other Families from sniffing out a possible weakness in the structure of Clan Wolfe. The rest of the time, Daniel and Stephanie had time only for each other and the business they ran, so that Lily and Michel were left to their own devices to keep themselves amused. Everything that followed was inevitable, really. Their only other option had been plotting treason with some other Clan, and they were both too scared of Valentine for that.

At least so far.

Meanwhile, watching everything the Wolfes did with great interest were the representatives of Clan Chojiro. Still defiantly Oriental in appearance and tradition despite the countless centuries that separated them from their original ancestors and founders, the Chojiros had risen to prominence in the Empire through hard work, subtle cunning, and killing anyone who got in their way. They made few alliances with other Clans, preferring to stand alone. That way, they knew who they could trust. With the destruction of the Clan Campbell they had moved smoothly into the open gap, edging other contenders aside with subtle threats and the occasional quiet bloodbath, until now they were second only in the Empire to Clan Wolfe. And since no Chojiro had ever been willing to accept being second best at anything, there was a quiet, undeclared but quite deadly war going on between the two Families.

However, the Chojiros specialized in computers: building, programming, installing, and maintaining them at every level—including the kind of computers used in starships. As a result, the Wolfes and the Chojiros currently found themselves in an uneasy partnership, not daring to upset each other’s business for fear of attracting the wrath of the Empress. In fact, the situation had become so complicated that both sides had declared a temporary truce while they tried to work out where the hell they stood.

The systematic trashing of the computers at the Tax and Tithes Headquarters had done great damage to the Chojiros’ reputation, which was why there were so many Chojiros at
Court today, to remind everyone of the size and power of the Clan. They were currently replacing the Tax computers at their own expense, and adding extra levels of protection to ensure the same thing could never happen again. Within the Clan, those responsible for installing the original security systems had already taken their own lives, to make atonement. A few had to be helped, but that was the Empire under Lionstone for you. There was no room for weakness or failure in Clan Chojiro. They were cutthroat businessmen, sometimes literally, and had made an art form of the hostile takeover. It was truly said: if you see a Chojiro smiling, run.

BB Chojiro had come to Court specifically to act as spokesperson for her Family. She had been trained to appear the perfect smiling front, the acceptable face of a feared Family. She was diplomat, deal maker and deception incarnate. And though her standing in the Family had been a little tarnished by the escape of the esper Julian Skye, that was deemed the fault of the prison security, and she was still regarded as entirely trustworthy. She was Blue Block, after all. Accompanying her, in a matching kimono, to remind everyone of the harsher Chojiro face, was the Investigator Razor. His face and hands showed the marks of recent burns, but no one was stupid enough to ask how he’d got them. Investigators never acknowledged their pain. If indeed they actually felt any. It was hard to tell with Investigators. Everyone was giving BB and Razor plenty of room, for all sorts of reasons, allowing them to talk in private. BB smiled at one and all, and talked quietly with Razor, who stared straight ahead, his cold eyes ready for any threat.

“I take it there have been no further developments in the search for Julian,” said BB, her smiling lips barely moving.

“I would have told you if there were. Security is doing its best, but the city’s a mess. If he’s out there, we’ll find him and bring him back. Or his body.”

“I need him alive, Investigator. There are many questions still to be asked of him. Not least how he got away.”

“If he’s out there, we’ll find him, but I can’t speak for his condition. A lot of people died in the city today.”

BB sighed. Razor could be very single-minded when he chose. “Let us talk of happier things. How is our infiltration of the Wolfe businesses going?”

“Surprisingly smoothly. Daniel and Stephanie are so concerned with their own intrigues, they haven’t noticed a thing.
Valentine has his own interests these days and has left them alone to sink or swim. They’ve done well enough, but they have little real experience with industrial espionage. We have people, apparently entirely unconnected with Clan Chojiro, on every level of the company, from the very bottom up to and including the board of directors. Wolfe security is good, but without competent management to direct it, it’s been drifting aimlessly of late.”

“It’s been too easy,” said BB. “I can’t believe Valentine is completely uninterested in the company. It’s the base of his Family’s current wealth and position. He’s had to invest practically everything in the Wolfe and Campbell coffers to get the stardrive companies up and running, with hardly anything left for a safety net. And soon we’ll be in a position to subtly sabotage stardrive construction from beginning to end. I can’t believe Valentine doesn’t know what we’re doing.”

“He has his own interests. I regret to say, my people are unable to confirm exactly what those might be, apart from the obvious. People we send to find out tend not to come back.”

“And you don’t find that worrying?”

“Investigators don’t worry. It’s bad for the image. You continue with your schemes; I’ll see no one bothers you.”

BB nodded curtly. “We can’t hold off any longer just because we’re not sure what Valentine’s up to. If anything. Give the orders; I want to see significant errors in stardrive construction appearing by the end of the week. Make sure it’s something showy. Something the news shows can run with. Once the delivery of the new drives has been not just slowed, but all but stopped, it shouldn’t take too long to convince the Empress that the Wolfes aren’t fit to be in charge of such a vital concern. And we’ll be right there, ready to take over at a moment’s notice. After all, who has a better claim? We’re already producing all the computers for the new starships.”

“Unless Valentine does know and is already planning something really devastating.”

BB looked at him sternly. “Just whose side are you on, Investigator?”

“Don’t ask questions like that. The answer would only upset you. All that matters is I have pledged my life to protect the interests of your Clan. For as long as I stay with you.”

“Very reassuring.” BB sniffed, deliberately turned away, and looked across at Valentine, chatting brightly with someone who looked as though they wished they were somewhere else. BB watched them for a while, her eyes cold as death. “Sometimes I think we’d be better off launching a preemptive strike against the Wolfes, beginning with Valentine. A really hostile takeover.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” said Razor. “There’s too much we don’t know about the Wolfes in general and Valentine in particular. Only a fool jumps off a wall without finding how high it is first. There’s more to Valentine than we see. There has to be. My own recommendation is for a more leisurely approach. The Wolfes’ weak spot is Daniel and Stephanie. There is much in their tangled relationship that might be profitably exploited …”

“And that is why you’re in charge of carrying out security, rather than planning it,” said BB tartly. “I could do anything to those two, up to and including killing them slowly, and Valentine wouldn’t give a damn.”

“But if we could reach them, turn them to our cause, perhaps through pressure on their current closeness … or by providing information about Lily and Michel…”

“No,” said BB firmly. “Daniel and Stephanie are too erratic to place any trust in. They’re weak, but they’re still Wolfes. I have a better idea.”

Constance Wolfe, widow of Jacob, stood alone in the crowd. She was always alone now, no matter where she went. Eighteen years old, still wearing black in mourning for her murdered husband. Tall and blond, breathtakingly lovely even in a world where beauty was commonplace, the fire had gone out of her, leaving her looking like a crushed flower. Out of perhaps all the Wolfe Family, she had truly loved Jacob. The others mourned for a while, even Valentine, but they all had their own lives to get on with, and they did so as soon as they properly could. Constance had had nothing but Jacob. He was her life. Now he was gone, and she didn’t know what to do with herself. She had no interest in politics or intrigues, and she was allowed no place in Family affairs. Jacob’s children had never approved of his last marriage, to someone even younger than them. There had always been the possibility Jacob might disinherit them in favor of her or
her
children. Now he was gone; they were able to ignore her with something like relief.

She looked around at the assembled courtiers, and no one looked back. She was no one now. They had no time for failures. Until one woman met her eye and smiled. BB Chojiro. Constance looked at her thoughtfully, and BB moved unhurriedly toward her, still somehow graceful despite having to trudge through the deep snow. Constance knew she should see the woman as an enemy, but she didn’t have the energy. BB stopped before her and smiled again.

“We should have got together before, Constance. We have a lot in common. It’s hard to be a woman alone. I know. But just because one Family’s abandoned you, it doesn’t mean we all have. You have friends, Constance. If you want them.”

Constance looked at her icily. “I may have fallen from grace, Chojiro, but I’m not so low I would consider betraying my kith and kin.”

BB’s smile didn’t waver. “What I have in mind is in the best interests of the Wolfes. Valentine is leading you all to disaster. He’s lost inside his own head and sees only what he wants to see. Daniel and Stephanie only have eyes for each other. The new stardrive will fall from their hands, and then what will happen to the Wolfes? To the Family Jacob built and brought to greatness? What will happen to you, Constance?”

“If you’ve something to say to me, Chojiro, say it.”

“You could be head of the Wolfes. Valentine could be removed as insane, Daniel and Stephanie as incompetent. And since they’ve taken steps down the years to remove all other major players from the game, that would just leave you to take over. Now, alone, you couldn’t hope to run the Family. You’ve only ever been on the fringes of things. But if you were to marry a Chojiro, we could merge the Families through your children. Until then you would rule the Wolfes with our help. Think about it; you’d never have to be alone again. You’re young, Constance. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t throw it all away in loyalty for people who despise you.”