Part 25 (2/2)
Davis touched his controls again, and Tarlac was suddenly conscious of his intense scrutiny, his reputation for almost telepathic discernment.
”Is it, Steve?” he asked quietly.
”He is close to the truth,” Kranath's thought came. ”Will you deny it to him?”
”No,” Tarlac replied. ”I told him it was up to the individual, and if he figures it out, okay. Working it like this, not many should, even though the Traiti won't keep it any secret.”
”Will you then confirm it for him?”
”He won't need it.”
The Emperor nodded slowly. ”You never could play poker, Steve. You've been holding out on me, and just now you were thinking of . . .
something. And maybe you've made a couple of mistakes. Your transmission--or should I say illusion?--doesn't have a background.
That might have a lot of causes, but could Kranath's Vision have been a reenactment? There were no mindprobes around five thousand years ago to record it.” He glanced again at the comscreen control panel, its master switch turned off. ”You, or part of you, is right here, Lord Esteban Tarlac--isn't it?”
”Yes, sir,” Tarlac admitted, unable to repress a smile and a rueful headshake. ”A moment ago Lord Kranath told me you were close to the truth and asked me what I intended to do about it. Absolutely nothing, except to ask you not to make it official. If I'm being so obvious, too many people may pick up on it anyway.”
”It wasn't obvious, except to someone who knows you well. I don't think anyone but your . . . former . . . colleagues will catch it. And I won't make it official; you know the Empire doesn't promote any religion. But--will you give the Empire the same support your new colleagues give the Traiti?”
Tarlac laughed, relieved that the Emperor could see and grasp this opportunity as readily as ever, in spite of the circ.u.mstances. ”Your Majesty, if this succeeds, all of us will be working for the interests of both races combined.”
A driving surge of hope erased some of the Emperor's fatigue. ”What do you want me to do?”
The next morning, as promised, the Supreme and First Speaker met Tarlac and Hovan at the Hermnaen's loading ramp. Fleet-Captain Arjen, in uniform again and obviously proud of this honor, was waiting to greet them. He bowed respectfully to the human in Ranger green. ”Lord Esteban.”
Tarlac touched his shoulder, to emphasize the fact that he was still using a physical body. ”Not necessary for now, Fleet-Captain. Let's keep things looking as normal as possible.”
Arjen straightened. ”Yes, Lord.”
Tarlac turned to the two rulers. ”During the night I contacted the Emperor and asked him to order a cease-fire; it should be taking effect by now. Would you give the same order?”
”Of course, Lord,” the Supreme replied. ”But how can it reach all our s.h.i.+ps in time?”
”The same way I contacted them yesterday,” Tarlac told him. ”Just talk at me as if you were giving the order over a transmitter.”
Taking him at his word, the two rulers gave the orders and Tarlac relayed their images and words to the Traiti s.h.i.+ps' communications equipment, as he had activated the Palace's comm channels the night before. There were no objections from the Fleet, though acknowledgments ranged from almost enthusiastic to openly skeptical.
Tarlac pa.s.sed them all along, thinking that it didn't matter. With racial survival at stake, the Lords would be monitoring both the human and the Traiti s.h.i.+ps. There would be no accidental--or intentional--infractions of the cease-fire.
Once they boarded the Hermnaen, Tarlac accompanied Arjen to the control central and took a place standing behind Arjen and s.h.i.+p-Captain Exvani.
Liftoff was routine until the s.h.i.+p reached the safe transition distance of ten diameters out. Then Tarlac spoke up. ”Master Pilot?”
”Yes, Lord?”
”Program out-transition for Terra's position exactly one day from now, please.”
The Master Pilot, unlike the Emperor, showed no surprise at the speed that order implied, and moments later there was the twisting sensation of hypers.p.a.ce entry. The sensation continued for almost a minute rather than brief seconds, however, and the viewscreens, when they cleared, showed swirls of s.h.i.+fting color instead of the featureless gray of hypers.p.a.ce.
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