Part 24 (2/2)

'Possibly. I doubt it.'

'Duke Armand is the other surviving contender for the throne.

There are a few others, but no one with a really strong case. If the vote goes against Walid, Armand will be the next Emperor.'

'Hmm...' Genevieve had a mental image of the Doctor sinking further into the tub, the water coming up over his ears as he thought deeply.

She glanced up at Walid, who was standing against the opposite wall, his arms folded. The Duke smiled, his mismatched eyes twinkling with amus.e.m.e.nt.

Genevieve got up. 'Enjoy your bath, Doctor,' she called. 'I'll leave you in peace.'

181.

2.

Tethys 13 June 2982 Chris spent thirty minutes in the fresher, a real hot-water shower, using up two bars of guest soap. After weeks of travel on cargo freighters and pirate s.h.i.+ps, economy cla.s.s in a standard pa.s.senger transport was luxury.

He emerged from the cubicle into the steamy bathroom, scrubbed pink and humming 'I Heard a Rumour'. He filled so much of the tiny room that he kept knocking his elbows against the walls and the sink when he tried to dry himself.

He put his head around the door. 'Um, Roz?'

She was sitting at the terminal with her back to him. 'Was that banging noise you?'

'Yeah. Do you mind if I finish drying off out here? I won't take a minute. It's just that there's not much room '

'Get out here. I've busted scarier things than you in a towel,'

she said, still without turning around.

He stepped out and frantically dried himself off, tugging on his boxers and the nondescript blue suit he'd bought from the on-board duty-free. Roz didn't turn around. He lay down on the bed, his feet dangling over the edge.

'Anything interesting?' he said.

182.

'Here and there,' said Roz, turning in her seat. 'I'm just reading the news. While you were in the shower, someone killed the Empress.'

'What?' Chris stared at her.

'There are a lot of garbled reports coming out of Ja.n.u.s. Some of the Council were killed, too.'

'Is it a coup?'

'Not quite,' said Roz. 'The Council are still in charge. They're debating who the successor will be.'

'Heck. The Empress. Do they know who did it?'

'One report said they'd caught the a.s.sa.s.sin, but that his or her ident.i.ty was being kept tightly under wraps. That might be another way of saying they have no idea who did it.'

'Mom's going to hate this. She was always keen on the royals.

Jeez, the Empress Empress. What are we going to do?'

'Nothing. Nothing to do with us. We keep looking for Zatopek.'

'I wonder what the Doctor's doing.'

Roz's mouth twitched. 'He's probably on Ja.n.u.s, taking tea with the Council and offering to solve their murder mystery for them.'

A chime sounded softly. Roz's terminal said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be pa.s.sing over Odysseus Crater on our way to Ithaca City. For an excellent view of the Crater and the Temple of the G.o.ddess, please take a seat in the port-side viewing chamber. Thank you.'

'Do you want to see?' asked Roz.

'Sure. I've never been to the Temple.' Chris sat up and started tugging on his shoes. It was then that he realized he could see the whole room reflected in the terminal screen.

There were a dozen pa.s.sengers in the viewing chamber. It was a thick bubble protruding from the s.h.i.+p's hull, giving them a wide view of the landscape moving below. Sharp lines and shadows, details emerging from the pattern of light.

There was a strange feeling in the small crowd, a kind of camaraderie. They were all thinking the same thing, all thinking about the Empress, wondering how life was going to change.

183.

The s.h.i.+p had already pa.s.sed the lip of the crater when Roz and Chris came in. There were two rows of seats. They sat at the back. Chris found he had a vague urge for popcorn.

'It's huge,' said Roz. They were looking out over the vast, worn plain of the Odysseus Crater, four hundred klicks across.

The Temple of the G.o.ddess was a glittering collection of lights, precisely in the centre of the crater, easily visible in the airless night sky.

'You know what it reminds me of?'

'Aulis Crater,' said Roz.

They both s.h.i.+fted in their seats, uncomfortable.

It took fifteen minutes for the transport to get close enough to the Temple for a good look. A circular building with four spokes, a tall, sharp cone rising from the centre.

All the holograms and sims didn't compare to the building itself, real and stark against the starry sky. The largest religious building in the solar system. The home of the G.o.ddess, the heart of the Adjudicators. Chris felt a chill down his spine as they pa.s.sed almost overhead, the tip of the cone pointing up at them like a finger.

'Blasphemous,' murmured Roz.

'What?'

'I was just thinking,' she said. 'If there was... another Nexus.

Under the Temple. If this was another fake crater.'

'I didn't think you were a believer,' said Chris.

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