[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
her eyes.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"You're very gallant, Jonat."
"Just truthful."
She glanced away, then back at me.
I looked to the children. "You two can find one of the games in the front room
and play it. Or read. I
have some things to do in the workroom."
"We can't use the netlink?" asked Charis.
"Not until later. You can each have an extra hour today, but not for at least
an hour."
Page 216
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Yes, Uncle Jonat."
The two of them trudged glumly inside without looking back. The wind, colder
than it had been earlier in the day, gusted around us as we stood just outside
the front door.
"I'm an ogre," I said dryly.
"They don't look exactly terrorized."
"Not too much."
"What Minerva said you wanted is in the workshop."
"Thank you. I hope it didn't create any trouble for you."
"No. Charles replaced the blocks with something else. Unless there's a very
close inspection, no one will notice for some time. By then, no one will be
able to track when it vanished." Her eyes focused tightly on me. "What you're
doing is dangerous."
"It is. Not doing it is more dangerous."
"Minerva said something like that. She said I shouldn't ask too many
questions. Why not?"
"I'm sure she said that to protect you."
"How can ignorance protect me?"
"It probably can't," I said after a moment. "You already know too much. Why
don't you help me unload the trunk of the Jacara and then come down to the
workroom with me? I'll tell you as much as you want to know that I know,
anyway."
So she did, and we carted the equipment and assemblies down to the workroom.
Paula didn't say anything until I'd closed the door.
"I'll have to work as I talk," I began. While Dierk's workshop had more tools,
mine had the rest of what
I needed or the components to create what I needed. I wasn't going for timers,
just a simple RF jolt detonator. "If I tell you something you already know,
tell me."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I will."
"All right." I opened the doors to the cabinet that held various components,
many of which I'd saved from systems and equipment over the years. "You know
that there is a group of ascendents who control the major multis. They sit on
the same boards, and they also effectively control MultiCor and the CorPak
security for Mars and outsystem installations."
"I had picked that up."
"These people had chosen me years ago to be their patsy in a power play that
will grant them greater control over the Legislature and over all outsystem
trading and economics..." I went on to explain about
PST and the Centre for Societal Research, my report, the attacks, and how it
all fit together and how there wasn't a single legally usable piece of
evidence.
Paula nodded slowly. "I knew some of that, but not how it all fitted together.
The ISS part was always clear, but I never was sure why everyone was after
you. It was obvious that they were, but not why."
"That's because," I admitted, "I never said much about it. Who, except someone
who already knew about ISS and the PST types, would believe it? I guess I sort
of felt, after a while, that no one would. I
couldn't say much to Minerva when she was Central Four because she didn't have
full control over what she could reveal. At least, I don't think she did." I
was a little surprised that Minerva hadn't joined the conversation, but I
wasn't going to press. I was having enough trouble dealing with revealing
things to
Paula. It just wasn't my pattern, maybe because Aliora had been the only one I
could trust even a little, for so long.
"Who are you going to ... attack?"
"Mahmed Kemal. Someone at PST paid to have me killed. I've avoided at least
Page 217
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
one attempt so far, but
Kemal won't stop. His honor insists that the contract be carried out. He's the
immediate problem." I
gestured toward the workbench. "The rest is for certain members of the PST
group."
"You ... you're going to kill them all?"
"Not all. The key members. Or ... I'm going to try. I don't have much of a
choice. So far, there have been at least four attempts on my life, and my
sister and her husband have been killed. I've received warnings from Sinese
sources that I'm to be eliminated, and the contract with Kemal and his trupps
would be just the beginning, even if I can avoid it. I've reported several of
those attempts to the safos, as you might recall. It hasn't done much good."
Paula was silent.
"You wanted to know."
"It seems so cold..."
"It's not cold," I replied, trying not to get angry with her. She wasn't the
problem. "I'm furious. I'm furious that key officials in the Safety Office
have been suborned. I'm furious that I have to go outside the law to protect
myself and my family. I'm furious that my DNA was stolen and used as a tool to
kill my sister. I'm furious that ISS and MultiCor want to use lethal weapons
on their hapless permie charges because they want better treatment and
political freedom. I'm furious that PST has fingers into every political
aspect of
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
the NorAm government, and no one seems to be able to do anything about it." I
stopped.
"You're angry."
"I said I was. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry because ... what I have to do
is wrong. It's just a whole lot less wrong than doing nothing. I'm angry
because no one seems to even know or care, and I'm angry because I know that's
human nature. People don't want to look at the unpleasant side of things. They
don't want to fix thorn if it takes much work or if it might threaten them or
their safety, and that's how and why things get so bad at times."
"Is it really that bad?"
I gestured toward the workbench. "Do you think I'd be doing this, with Charis
and Alan to worry about, if it weren't? I've told you what I know. Every word
I've said about what happened is the truth. You can ask Minerva if you don't
trust me."
"It seems so unbelievable even to me."
"It seems almost unbelievable to me until I remember those months in the
medcrib. Or I want to link my sister, and I remember that she's not there. Or
when I look at Charis and Alan. Or even when I think about Minerva, risking
what amounted to suicide, because a safo captain has been bought off by the
PST
group."
"It's awful..." Paula shook her head. "You're sure you have to do this?"
"No. I'm not. Kemal could die of something in the next hour. The northside
family could take him out. A
chunk of mining debris could spiral in from the Belt and just happen to land
on ISS and wipe out most of the PST leaders. But the odds are very much
against any of that, and I have to operate based on the most likely
probabilities, and those are, that if I don't act, I'll be dead in the next
month. And I'll be dead, not because I initially did anything wrong, but
because I might stop someone else from doing something wrong."
After a moment, Paula looked away from me. "Can ... I do anything?"
I took a deep breath. "Yes ... please. If you wouldn't mind, you can check on
the dreadful duo, and make sure that they're not killing each other or
destroying something. And then, if you please, would you get me a mug of Grey
Page 218
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tea?"
"I can do both." Her smile was both warm and sad, simultaneously.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]