NEVAN
As she explained, Nevan could feel himself beginning to smile. She wasoffering him a chance at real combat, at what he had trained for sincehis fifth birthday, and she thought he might refuse? He'd missed thewar by less than two weeks, a disappointment made worse by hisassignment to SecuDiv rather than the Combat Division. Now he wouldget to fight!
And he would be doing so beside one who had proven herself a warrior'sequal, though her combat skills were of a different type. To hissurprise, he found himself imagining as a real possibility somethinghe'd thought of before only as a remote theoretical chance. It wasn'tbecause of the demonstration, though the way she had defeated them hada bearing, and it wasn't because she'd become a Ranger. He couldn'tpinpoint the reason; there was just something about this beautifulfelinoid that convinced him she was worthy of the greatest service andgift a Sandeman warrior could offer.
The strength of that conviction would have made it easy for him tokneel to her and offer his personal fealty, but he wasn't sure he wasthe one who should do it. He was young and inexperienced, barely sevenmonths out of the Academy; her thakur-na should be a veteran, with atleast a few missions to his credit. Later, he might be qualified--butby then she might have another thakur-na. He could only wait, work,and hope.
[Preparer's note: the RENDAVI material is placed here because itdoes not seem to be referenced from elsewhere in this file.]
RENDAVI
Thark landed the Prowler at the rendezvous on Rendavi slightly overeighteen hours after leaving Irschcha. He was well rested and in acheerful mood as he, Kainor, and Valla left the ship for the improvisedconference hall.
No other ships were there yet. Unfortunate, Thark thought. That meantthe meeting--more accurately, war council--would be delayed, possiblyfor several hours.
Inside the hall, the trio from the Prowler seated themselves oncushions at the head of the low conference table, talking about nothingin particular while they waited for the rest of the Seniors and Crusadeleaders to gather.
Those were trickling in slowly when, a little over five hours afterProwler's arrival, an orange-kilted messenger appeared at the door andtried to attract Thark's attention. He waved her to his side, listenedattentively to the message she murmured in his ear, then dismissed her.
The last group of Seniors arrived and seated themselves. Thark wentthrough the brief formalities of convening the Prime Chapter, thensaid, "It is my unpleasant duty to report to you that this Crusade hasbeen betrayed by a young pre-initiate who discovered it existence byaccident, from me."
A ripple of disturbance moved through the assembled Irschchans. Mostof what Thark could pick out were expressions of disbelief that anyonewith Talent could do such a monstrous thing.
Valla's clear voice penetrated the disturbance, silencing the Seniors."So Losinj escaped both the Sanctioners and Entos."
There were more expressions of disbelief, stronger this time. Tharksilenced them. "According to the message I just received, it is notonly possible, it has happened, and worse. She made it past both, andinto the Planetary Palace. Ranger Medart, who was unfortunately onIrschcha at the time, arrived two hours later. His lander, presumablywith him and young Losinj aboard, left for his orbiting battle cruisersoon afterward."
He turned to his chief aide. "Valla--I am sorry to be the one to tellyou this, but Medart also sentenced Entos to death for attempted murderon Imperial territory. The sentence has been carried out."
Valla growled with an intensity that should not have surprised him butdid. "Entos was my best operative, and a friend. I claim Ranger JamesMedart as my personal prey."
"Granted," Thark agreed promptly. "But now to planning. With Losinjaboard Medart's ship, it is possible, even probable, that she will behelping him. Even if such is not the case, we must assume it is, andthat means our first strike must be decisive. Valla, does this affectyour plans for our assault on the Imperial Palace?"
"Possibly," his aide replied. "If Losinj is helping Medart, and theyreach Terra in time, our assault team will be faced by a fairly strongTalent. She may be able to incapacitate one or more, and we need allour strength. Although there are enough Seniors to defeat her, she mayintroduce complications."
"Since she was my student, and it was my error which caused her tobecome a problem, she is my responsibility." Thark's ears went backbriefly. He had seriously misjudged her; he could not honorably askanyone else to correct his error, now that she was no longer his guest.But making that correction would not be a pleasant task.
He went on. "Kainor, what about your status report on the Rangers?"
"Crown Prince Forrest is at the Imperial Palace on Terra," Kainor said."So are Kennard and Menshikov; all three are covered in Valla's assaultplan. Fenn and Szolacz are in the new Traiti Sector, assisting in itsintegration; they must be disregarded for the present, since we have noOrder members there. Ellman and Steinhauer are still in hospital, andmy agents are in position to kill them as soon as the strike time isset. Wang has just been sent to Sector Twelve to take over itsadministration, since its Duke died with no heir; being aboard a battlecruiser, she is presently out of reach and will have to be dealt withlater. Tarlac, of course, is already dead; we have all seen the tapesof his assassination. Medart is the only one in a position where hemight be an immediate danger. If Losinj got this location when sheprobed you, Thark--"
"She did not," Thark assured him. "She did no real probing, in fact.She was far too upset by her simple discovery of the Crusade'sexistence to check any more deeply."
Kainor nodded. "Good. Despite that, our first strike will not onlyhave to be decisive, it will have to be swift. The fact that apowerful Imperial officer has become aware of the Crusade means theirforces will be mobilizing. We must act before they can be fullyalerted and deployed. Even led by Rangers, that will take them acertain amount of time which we can put to good use."
Thark agreed. "Speed is certainly essential. I will adjourn thismeeting shortly; I want the various operational group leaders to meetseparately and determine exactly how soon you can be ready to move.Report to me as soon as you can. The Seniors will remain here with me.Are there any questions?"
"The Traiti, Master," a graying female said. "They have pledgedloyalty to the Empire. What threat do they pose?"
"Little as yet," Thark replied. "Their casualties in the war were farheavier than the Empire's, and their military has barely begun thechangeover to Imperial service; for the moment they are toodisorganized to pose a true threat. Is there anything else?"
There was nothing. "One final detail before we adjourn," Thark said."We will be operating on Palace Standard Time from this point on, soadjust your chronos accordingly. This meeting is adjourned until 1600hours, that time."
* * * * *
By 1600, when the full council reconvened, Thark and the Seniors hadreceived reports from all the operational groups and had finalizedtheir plans. Thark rose and addressed the group.
"This is the most important turning point in both human and Irschchanhistory," he told them, trying to project his solemnity. "What we areplanning here, what we will soon accomplish, will determine the courseof civilization for centuries to come. We dare not fail, for if we do,the galaxy will continue under human rule, their lack of Talent causingthem to stumble from crisis to crisis, a whisker's width from disasterand complete chaos at any moment. Worse, they will drag us along withthem. It is symptomatic that except for Irschcha itself, our peoplehave no voice in Imperial government.
"I am the highest Irschchan official, its Baron in their terms--thelowest of the Imperial nobility. All other nobles outside the TraitiSector are human. There has never been an Irschchan Ranger, so wecannot hope for an Irschchan Sovereign unless we succeed."
He paused and scanned the group lightly, sensing their approval of hiswords. "If we succeed, however--when we succeed--we will bring theEmpire the same peace and stability the White Order has broughtIr
schcha since its triumph. The humans may find it difficult to acceptat first--they seem to actually enjoy disorder--but they will soon cometo realize the superiority of rule by the Talented. The change may infact be difficult for our own people as well, but in the long range,things will be better for all three races."
He paused again, then spoke in a more matter-of-fact tone. "These arethe final plans. The last operational group can be in position by 0145two days from now. Allowing an hour for the inevitable delays, I amsetting the strike for 0245. It is vitally important that no warningsbe given. Since Losinj got no details of the Crusade from me, anyalert that Medart puts out will have to be a general one. Losinj maybe able to make some guesses, since she does know me, but the Empirewill not dare depend on those. Except for the Palace itself, then, ourobjectives should be no more heavily defended than any others unless weourselves attract attention to them in some way.
"The Seniors and I, together with thirty-six Sanctioners, will takeProwler to Terra, leaving here in time to attack the Palace incoordination with the rest of you, at 0245. I wish the assault forcecould be larger, but anything more would certainly be stopped by theprimary defense satellites. Therefore, we must use the strongestTalents available, and those Sanctioners who are most proficient withweapons, to compensate for the greater number of Palace Guards."
An elderly Irschchan in a dark blue plaid kilt rose. "Will that besufficient if Losinj is there and opposes you?"
"Yes," Thark replied without hesitation. "Admittedly she is strong,but she is only one person; she will, at worst, slow me somewhat."
He returned to the original subject. "Once we eliminate the Emperorand any Rangers there, we should have no major problems. We will haveenough telepaths on hand to screen any humans in positions to causetrouble, and any of those who plan to do so we will kill. Afterward,we can replace the nobility with our own initiates, on the basis ofstrength of Talent. That is far more logical, and will insure far morestability, than the hereditary system now in use."
"One more question, if I may, Master?" That came from a young male inscarlet.
"Go ahead," Thark said. "We have time."
"I have heard rumors that some humans have developed Talent."
Thark projected amusement, was joined by several others. "It has beenrumored indeed," he said. "Stories from long ago, before the Empire,do hint at some, but the strongest of those legendary humans would beabout equivalent to a first-year student. There are not even rumorsfrom more recent times."
"With respect, Master, what of the Narvonese Dragon-Kindred and theirability to project emotion?"
"An intriguing novelty," Thark acknowledged, "but hardly either Talentor useful, except in a very limited sense."
"Still, if there are any--"
"We can worry about hypothetical situations later," Thark said in mildreproof. He didn't blame the youngster for asking, but facts werefacts: humans just were not Talented!
"Enough discussion," he said finally. "You all have your assignmentsand you know the schedule." He briefly considered dismissing them withthe final lines of an old battle chant, but decided against it. Ittranslated poorly, and few of the younger ones here used anything butImperial English. He settled for, "Go, and fight well."
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