A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows Read online

  demonstration. They may well expect it'll turn to their advantage;

  outsiders would naturally think Merseian-descended Dennitzans are

  anti-Terran, right? Then too late--" She flung her hands wide, her voice

  aloft. "Too late, they see who came along!"

  Beneath the surf of agreement, Flandry murmured to her: "My idea also. I

  kept hoping somebody would have a better one."

  XVII

  ----

  Just before their car set down, Flandry protested to Kossara, "God damn

  it, why does your parliament have to meet in person? You've got holocom

  systems. Your politicians could send and receive images ... and we

  could've rigged untraceable methods to call them and give them the facts

  last night."

  "Hush, darling." She laid a hand across his fist. "You know why.

  Electronics will do for ornamental relics. The Skupshtina is alive, it

  debates and decides real things, the members need intimacies,

  subtleties, surprises."

  "But you, you have to go among murderers to reach them."

  "And I fear for you," she said quietly. "We should both stop."

  He looked long at her, and she at him, in the seat they shared. Beryl

  eyes under wide brow and bronze hair, strong fair features though her

  smile quivered the least bit, height, ranginess, fullness, the warmth of

  her clasp and the summery fragrance of herself: had she ever been more

  beautiful? The vitality that surged in her, the serenity beneath, were

  no work of a drug; it had simply let her put aside shock, exhaustion,

  grief for this while and be altogether Kossara.

  "If there is danger today," she said, "I thank God He lets me be in it

  with you."

  He prevented himself from telling her he felt no gratitude. They kissed,

  very briefly and lightly because the car was crammed with ychans.

  It landed in a parking lot at the edge of Zorkagrad,

  None farther in could have accommodated the swarm of battered vehicles

  which was arriving. Besides, a sudden appearance downtown might have

  provoked alarm and a quick reaction by the enemy. A march ought to have

  a calming effect. Flandry and Kossara donned cowled cloaks, which should

  hide their species from a cursory glance when they were surrounded by

  hemianthropoid xenos, and stepped outside.

  A west wind skirled against the sun, whose blaze seemed paled in a pale

  heaven. Clouds were brighter; they scudded in flocks, blinding white,

  their shadows sweeping chill across the world, off, on, off, on. Winged

  animals wheeled and thinly cried. Trees around the lot and along the

  street that ran from it--mostly Terran, oak, elm, beech, maple--cast

  their outer branches about, creaked, soughed Delphic utterances though

  tongue after fire-tongue ripped loose to scrittle off over the pavement.

  Rainpuddles wandered and wandered. All nature was saying farewell.

  The ychans closed in around the humans. They numbered a good four

  hundred, chosen by their steadcaptains as bold, cool-headed, skilled

  with the knives, tridents, harpoons, and firearms they bore. Ywodh of

  Nanteiwon, appointed their leader by Kyrwedhin before the

  parliamentarian returned here, put them in battle-ready order. They

  spoke little and showed scant outward excitement, at least to human eyes

  or nostrils; such was the way of the Obala. They did not know the ins

  and outs of what had happened, nor greatly care. It was enough that

  their Gospodar had been betrayed by the enemy of their forefathers, that

  his niece had come home to speak truth, and that they were her soldiers.

  The wind snapped two standards in their van, star white on blue of Yovan

  Matavuly, ax red on gold of Gwyth.

  "All set," Ywodh reported. A shout: "Forward!" He took the lead. Flandry

  and Kossara would fain have clasped hands as they walked, but even

  surrounded must clutch their cloaks tight against this tricksy air. The

  thud of their boots was lost amidst digitigrade slither and click.

  At first it was predictable they would encounter nobody. Here was a new

  district of private homes and clustered condominium units, beyond the

  scope of forcefield generators that offered the inner city some

  protection. Residents had sought safer quarters. An occasional militia

  squad, on patrol to prevent looting, observed the procession from a

  distance but did not interfere.

  Farther on, buildings were older, higher, close-packed on streets which

  had narrowed and went snakily uphill: red tile roofs, stucco walls of

  time-faded gaudiness, signs and emblems hung above doorways, tenements,

  offices, midget factories, restaurants, taverns, amusements, a

  bulbous-domed parish church, a few big stores and tiny eccentric shops

  by the score, the kind of place that ought to have pulsed with traffic

  of vehicles and foot, been lively with movement, colors, gestures broad

  or sly, words, laughter, whistling, song, sorrow, an accordion or a

  fiddle somewhere, pungencies of roast corn and nuts for sale to keep the

  passerby warm, oddments in display windows, city men, landmen,

  offworlders, vagabonds, students, soldiers, children, grannies, the

  unforgettably gorgeous woman whom you know you will never glimpse again

  ... A few walkers stepped aside, a few standers poised in doorways or

  leaned on upper-story sills, warily staring. Now and then a groundcar

  detoured. A civilian policeman in brown uniform and high-crowned hat

  joined Ywodh; they talked; he consulted his superiors via minicom,

  stayed till an aircar had made inspection from above, and departed.

  "This is downright creepy," Flandry murmured to Kossara. "Has everybody

  evacuated, or what?"

  She passed the question on. Untrained humans could not have conveyed

  information accurately in that wise; but soon she told Flandry from

  Ywodh: "Early this morning--the organizers must have worked the whole

  night--an ispravka started against Imperial personnel. That's when

  ordinary citizens take direct action. Not a riot or lynching. The people

  move under discipline, often in their regular Voyska units; remember,

  every able-bodied adult is a reservist. Such affairs seldom get out of

  control, and may have no violence at all. Offenders may simply be

  expelled from an area. Or they may be held prisoner while spokesmen of

  the people demand the authorities take steps to punish them. A few

  ispravkai have brought down governments. In this case, what's happened

  is that Terrans and others who serve the Imperium were rounded up into

  certain buildings: hostages for the Gospodar's release and the good

  behavior of their Navy ships. The Zamok denounced the action as illegal

  and bound to increase tension, demanded the crowds disperse, and sent

  police. The people stand fast around those buildings. The police haven't

  charged them; no shots have yet been fired on either side."

  "I've heard of worse customs," Flandry said.

  Puzzled, she asked, "Shouldn't the plotters be pleased?"

  Flandry shrugged. "I daresay they are. Still, don't forget the vast

  majority of your officials must be patriotic, and whether or not they

  prefer independence, consider civil war to be the final recourse. The

/>   top man among them issued that cease-and-desist order." He frowned.

  "But, um, you know, this nails down a lot of our possible helpers, both

  citizens and police. The enemy isn't expecting us. However, if too many

  parliament members refuse to board the secession railroad, he'll have a

  clear field for attempting a coup d'etat. Maybe the firebrand who

  instigated that, uh, ispravka is a Merseian himself, in human skin."

  The wind boomed between walls.

  A minor commotion occurred on the fringes of the troop. Word flew back

  and forth. "Chives!" Kossara gasped.

  The ychans let him through. He also went cloaked to muffle the fact of

  his race from any quick glance. Emerald features were eroded from spare

  to gaunt; eyes were more fallow than amber; but when Flandry whooped and

  took him by the shoulders, Chives said crisply, "Thank you, sir. Donna

  Vymezal, will you allow me the liberty of expressing my sympathy at your

  loss?"

  "Oh, you dear clown!" She hugged him. Her lashes gleamed wet. Chives

  suffered the gesture in embarrassed silence. Flandry sensed within him a

  deeper trouble.

  They continued through hollow streets. A fighter craft passed low above

  chimneys. Air whined and snarled in its wake. "What've you been doing?"

  Flandry asked. "How'd you find us?"

  "If you have no immediate statement or directive for me, sir," the

  precise voice replied, "I will report chronologically. Pursuant to

  instructions, I landed at the spaceport and submitted to inspection. My

  cover story was approved and I given license, under police registry, to

  remain here for a stated period as per my declared business. Interested

  in exotics, many townspeople conversed with me while I circulated among

  them in the next few planetary days. By pretending to less familiarity

  with Homo sapiens than is the case, I gathered impressions of their

  individual feelings as respects the present imbroglio. At a more

  convenient time, sir, if you wish, I will give you the statistical

  breakdown.

  "I must confess it was a complete surprise when a Naval patrol entered

  my lodgings and declared an intention to take me in custody. Under the

  circumstances, sir, I felt conformity would be imprudent. I endeavored

  not to damage irreparably men who wore his Majesty's uniform, and in due

  course will return the borrowed blaster you observe me wearing.

  Thereupon I took refuge with a gentleman I suspected of vehement

  anti-Terran sentiments. May I respectfully request his name and the

  names of his associates be omitted from your official cognizance?

  Besides their hospitality and helpfulness toward me, they exhibited no

  more than a misguided zeal for the welfare of this planet, and indeed I

  was the occasion of their first overt unlawful act. They sheltered me

  only after I had convinced them I was a revolutionary for my own

  society, and that my public designation as a Merseian agent was a

  calumny which the Imperialists could be expected to employ against their

  kind too. They were persuaded rather easily; I would not recommend them

  for the Intelligence Corps. I got from them clothes, disguise materials,

  equipment convertible to surveillance purposes, and went about

  collecting data for myself.

  "They do possess a rudimentary organization. Through this, via a phone

  call, my host learned that a large delegation of zmays was moving on the

  Capitol. Recalling Donna Vymezal's accounts of her background, and

  trusting she and you had not perished after all, I thought you might be

  here. To have this deduction confirmed was ... most gratifying, sir."

  Flandry chewed his lip for a while before he said,

  "Those were Imperials who came to arrest you? Not Dennitzans?"

  "No, sir, not Dennitzans. There could be no mistake." Chives spoke

  mutedly. His thin green fingers hauled the cowl closer around his face.

  "You went unmolested for days, and then in a blink--" Flandry's speech

  chopped off. They were at their goal.

  Well into Old Town, the party passed between two many-balconied

  mansions, out onto a plateau of Royal Hill. Constitution Square opened

  before them, broad, slate-flagged, benches, flowerbeds, trees--empty,

  empty. In the middle was a big fountain, granite catchbasin, Toman

  Obilich and Vladimir locked in bronze combat, water dancing white but

  its sound and spray borne off by the wind. Westward buildings stood well

  apart, giving a view down across roofs to Lake Stoyan, metal-bright

  shimmer and shiver beyond the curve of the world. Directly across the

  square was the Capitol, a sprawling, porticoed marble mass beneath a

  gilt dome whose point upheld an argent star. A pair of kilometers

  further on, a rock lifted nearly sheer, helmeted with the battlements

  and banners of the Zamok.

  Flandry's gaze flickered. He identified a large hotel, office buildings,

  cafes, fashionable stores, everything antiquated but dignified, the gray

  stones wearing well; how many Constitution Squares had he known in his

  life? But this lay deserted under wind, chill, and hasty cloud shadows.

  A militia squad stood six men on the Capitol verandah, six flanking the

  bottom of the stairs; their capes flapped, their rifles gleamed whenever

  a sunbeam smote and then went dull again. Aircraft circled far overhead.

  Otherwise none save the newcomers were in sight. Yet surely watchers

  waited behind yonder shut doors, yonder blank panes: proprietors,

  caretakers, maybe a few police--a few, since the turmoil was elsewhere

  in town and no disturbance expected here. Who besides? He walked as if

  through a labyrinth of mirages. Nothing was wholly what he sensed,

  except the blaster butt under his hand and a stray russet lock of

  Kossara's hair.

  She had no such dreads. As they trod into the plaza, he heard her

  whisper, "Here we go, my brave beloved. They'll sing of you for a

  thousand years."

  He shoved hesitation out of his mind and readied himself to fight.

  But no clash came. Despite what they told him when the move was being

  planned, he'd more or less awaited behavior like that when a gaggle of

  demonstrators wanted to invade a legislative session on any human planet

  he knew--prohibition, resistance, then either a riot or one of the sides

  yielding. If officialdom conceded in order to avoid the riot, it would

  be grudgingly, after prolonged haggling; and whatever protesters were

  admitted would enter under strict conditions, well guarded, to meet

  indignant stares.

  Dennitza, though, had institutionalized if not quite legalized

  procedures like the ispravka. Through the officer he met on the way,

  Ywodh had explained his band's intent. Word had quickly reached the

  Chief Justice. Four hundred zmays would not lightly descend on

  Zorkagrad, claiming to represent the whole Obala; they could be trusted

  to be mannerly and not take an unreasonable time to make their points;

  urged by Kyrwedhin, a majority in the third house of the Skupshtina

  endorsed their demand. No guns greeted them, aside from those of the

  corporal's guard at the entrance; and they bore their own arms inside.


  Up the stairs--past armored doors that recalled the Troubles--through an

  echoful lobby--into a central chamber where the parliament in joint

  session waited--Flandry raked his glance around, seeking menaces to his

  woman and shelters for her.

  The room was a half ellipsoid. At the far-end focus, a dais bore the

  Gospodar's lectern, a long desk, and several occupied chairs. To right

  and left, tiers held the seats of members, widely spaced. Skylights cast

  fleetingness of weather into steadiness of fluorescents, making the

  polished marble floor seem to stir. On gilt mural panels were painted

  the saints and heroes of Dennitza. The lawmakers sat according to their

  groupings, Lords in rainbow robes, Folk in tunics and trousers or in

  gowns, Zmayi in leather and metal. After the outdoors, Flandry breathed

  an air which felt curdled by fear and fury.

  Banners dipped to an old man in black who sat behind the lectern. Slowly

  the fishers advanced, while unseen telescanners watched on behalf of the

  world. In the middle of the floor, the ychans halted. Silence

  encompassed them. Flandry's pulse thuttered.

  "Zdravo," said the Chief Justice, and added a courteous Eriau "Hydhref."

  His hand forgot stateliness, plucked at his white beard. "We have ...

  let you in ... for unity's sake. My understanding is, your delegation

  wishes to speak relevantly to the present crisis--a viewpoint which

  might else go unheard. You in turn will, will understand why we must

  limit your time to fifteen minutes."

  Ywodh bowed, palms downward, tail curved. Straightening, he let his

  quarterdeck basso roll. "We thank the assembly. I'll need less than

  that; but I think you'll then want to give us more." Flandry's eyes

  picked out Kyrwedhin. Weird, that the sole Dennitzan up there whom he