Four Lords of Diamond - Book 1 (25 page)

The object, in other words, was to create a situation by which Sumiko would leave her protective haven, split her forces, and not suspect that the enemy was not merely Zeis but everyone else.

That is true, Boss Rognival put in. And the cost was great. We truly had to fight one another until they all landed on the beachhead. That was difficult but unavoidable. Regardless, we deployed sufficiently to allow
some
Zeis forces to get through and knock out as many witches as possible. Weaken her. But We could not close in on her forces and destroy them until the bitch herself was dead.

Just out of curiosity, Kreegan, how
did
you kill her? I asked.

Oh, I had several options, he replied. As a last resort we had, thanks to the Institute, enough of the amplifier potion to mass me, the Duke, here, two knights, and about forty Masters against her—but we didn't have to, for which I'm thankful. I had no idea how powerful she really was—still don't—and I didn't want to find out. It was you, Cal, who gave me the idea.

I started. Me?

He nodded. When you told me about her laser pistol. I figured she'd have it with her for insurance, and particularly for afterward. Look, only a Lord can stabilize offworld metal. You know that. That gives you some idea of her power.

I frowned. But what does that... ?

Come on, Cal! If
you
were in my shoes, and had my power, and if
you
knew she had a laser pistol on her, what would
you
do? Particularly knowing that her entire mind, her whole concentration, was elsewhere?

My mouth fell open in surprise as I realized what he had done. You concentrated on nothing but that pistol, I told him. You undid the Warden pattern on the insulating coating. The Warden cells in the area .would start immediately attacking the pistol.

He smiled and nodded. Yep. It exposed the power supply, which overloaded and exploded. She had it tucked in her belt at the time. I'll tell you, I sweated blood waiting for that to happen. I was only going to give it another few minutes before we switched to a mass attack and damn the consequences. But it blew, praise God, and the bang was the signal for everybody to stop fighting, join hands, and take those witches from all quarters.

You still took a terrible chance, I noted. It could have gone off any time—maybe hours later. And you yourself said your mass attack might not have been strong enough.

I'll admit I had a third backup, he said tiredly. The Wardens act fast, but not
that
fast. If all else had failed, my orbital satellite would have released a null-missile right into Zeis. Everyone and everything would have been atomized, but of course so would all the witches. That's how seriously I took the threat.

That answered all the questions.

What about this Father Bronz act? I asked him. You couldn't just invent the character.

Oh, I've been Father Bronz for ten years, he told us. It's the easiest way to get around inconspicuously. He paused. Of course I'll have to undergo some physical changes now and find a new persona. He sighed. Too bad, too. Old Father Bronz really did some good. I've been considering asking for some real clergy here.

I let the topic go and finally asked him the most important question. What about me? I asked. What happens now?

You'll do fine, he assured me. Stay here as a Master for a while and get some experience, then either outlive the Boss, here, or go find yourself a weak Knight and start it all. You're going to be at least a Duke someday, maybe even Lord. I told you. It took me seventeen years.

I'll beat your record, I told him, not at all jokingly.

He stared at me hard. I think you might at that.

Dinner broke up soon after that, with Kreegan saying that he was catching the shuttle when it put down the next day. Business, he told us. Four Lords business.

And Boss Tiel, to my surprise, had a few words for me as well. I'd like you to stay here, he told .me sincerely. I'm an old man now, Tremon. You could take me out right now, as you originally planned. But a number of the Masters, Artur in particular, are strong, and you might take
me
out only to find yourself losing, on experience alone, to somebody else. Maybe even Rognival, who'd love to swap that island for Zeis. A couple of years here, though, learning technique and the full use of your power, making contacts, doing the proper politics, and you'll have the knighthood by acclamation. You're the best qualified. Artur's a great soldier but a lousy administrator. The others are pretty much the same. No talent or no ambition. It's up to you, of course, but you've impressed me.

I told him I'd think about it, but I knew the answer. I would stay, of course, because that was the path to my own ambition most open to me and because of Ti. She'd never like or forgive many of these people, but as she said, she was a part of Zeis.

Finally, I sought out Dr. Pohn. I still didn't like the little son of a bitch, and I knew that he'd be one of the first to go in the Tremon regime that was coming. Still, now I needed him.

The next afternoon he would undertake a little Warden-style operation. Okay, my twin and counterpart up there somewhere—I failed miserably. I got played for a sucker. I learned nothing about your precious aliens, and Lord Marek Kreegan, curse his black soul, remains Lord of Lilith and First Lord of the Diamond. But that's it. I've done all I can do for now and I find myself less and less anxious to do you any more favors. Up yours, Confederacy! Maybe when I become Lord of Lilith I won't like those aliens; but then again, maybe I will. But whether or not I feed you. any information will be based on my own assessment at the time, from the viewpoint of my own interests.

Cal Tremon, none too respectfully, resigns.

The air was warm and moist. We'd just had another of Lilith's nasty little thunderstorms, and the cloud ceiling was extremely low. Nonetheless, the shuttle arrived right on schedule—as if it would stand up Lord Marek Kreegan.

I had spent most of the night calming Ti down. I hate that man, she kept saying over and over. In a sense, she'd lost as much as I had, and her world picture now included bitterness. As much as Sumiko O'Higgins had upset her, she could not forgive the man who had caused her to fall into the hands of Dr. Pohn, to degrade her so much for somebody else's cause. She felt as if she'd been raped by Marek Kreegan, more so than if he'd assaulted her sexually. It was a total violation, and she'd be a long time getting the stain off her soul.

Still, she was learning. She was there with me when the shuttlecraft landed to the west of the Castle as it always did, appearing out of the clouds and settling to the ground. The Elaborate set of airlocks and safeguards came into play, although they were less necessary with Kreegan on board.

Kreegan still wore bis old priest's robe, but I knew it would soon be exchanged for something else. I might not even know him the next time I saw him, although I felt sure I'd recognize that man anywhere. And one day, Kreegan, I told myself, we'd have more than a little chat.

Duke Kobe remained behind, although usually he was the one who used the shuttle. I wondered idly if Kreegan hadn't made one mistake this time after all, since he knew that the broadcaster had been in place until this afternoon. It was entirely possible that the orbiting Confederacy troops would blast bis little shuttle. But no, I told myself. They wouldn't do it because that would involve a choice of record. That's why they hired—created—people like me. Nobody up there would want to take the open responsibility without clearing it back to the Confederacy itself, and by that time Kreegan would have vanished to who knew where?

Besides, he had powerful friends. Would they permit him to be blown to bits? I doubted it. He was their most valuable ally, the man who knew how the Confederacy establishment thought. The aliens wouldn't want to lose
him.