Raven, in particular, was upset. But—my lord! Up there!
Indeed. I want you both to have expanded training. This will be—delicate.
Warlock seemed as pleased as Raven was not. The Presidium!
And just what’s supposed to happen after Melchior? Raven asked him, forgetting
all the formalities.
Chen didn’t notice. There they will be put through the works, but nothing
permanent, while they broaden their view of the universe and get a better
orientation on their own attitudes. They will also be introduced to any others
useful to them. Finally, they will be given a way out. The first successful
escape in the history of Melchior. They will be given a place to go, although
they won’t realize this. Finally, they will be forced into a quest for the other
four rings, although they won’t believe that it is for me. Hawks will suspect,
but it will be irrelevant. Master System will set Vals to stalk him. He will
always be hunted and afraid. He will have to get the rings or commit suicide in
despair. His romantic vision cannot be realized without the rings taking the
heat off, as it were. He wishes to run from responsibility, become a child
again, but he will not. It is not within him. Precautions will be taken, of
course, so that nothing will be traced back to me.
You seem very sure of this, Warlock noted. How can you be certain that you
will be able to control him through this?
I can’t and won’t. Perhaps I can help here and there, but that’s about all.
Most, perhaps he, will die in the quest, anyway, but there will be more all the
time. You see, I don’t have to control him. No matter what happens, he knows I
have this ring. In the end, he must come for it. He or his successors, once
started on this quest, will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. It
might well be years. Still, no matter what, in the end they will have to bring
the other four rings back to me while I sit here the innocent potential victim,
not the instigator. I don’t even know if it’s possible to assemble the rings. I
intend to find out. I must find out. And the two of you will help me. Raven
looked past Chen to Manka Warlock and wondered. If all five rings were in one
spot, it would be up for grabs to anyone, from Master System to Chen to— well,
him and Warlock. He didn’t much like the terms and conditions, but this damned
thing had real long-term possibilities.
11. FORTRESS MELCHOIR
THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE EYES OF SONG Ching except that she who thought
of herself as Chu Li received no messages from them. It was a devastating blow
to her, but she knew she had to cope and put on a brave front for the other two.
She could not afford self-pity.
I think there probably are no traps in there, after all, she told them. 1
think, though, that there are ones like this, used to subdue the worst and
render them helpless or impotent. This can be restored with a mindprinter. It is
simply an order to my brain not to process or pass the images it receives.
But what can we do? Chow Dai asked. Chu Li thought it was Chow Dai, anyway:
The two sounded exactly alike. You are the one who knows the magic of these
things.
We continue, she told them. And I continue, since I have already paid a
price. Do not blame yourselves. There is no way to know in advance about these
things.
Get me back to the chair. We are almost half done, and we must hit a key one
soon.
They helped her, and she was right. The next one, in fact, was the one she had
been hunting for all along. She knew it the moment she awoke, and she knew, too,
just how it worked. She could talk to the ship, the pilot— anything. The
language the ship used was English. She had suspected something like that; most
of the computer controls from the old designs were in English, French, or
Russian. The problem had been finding the right cartridge for communications.
She immediately called a halt to further experimentation, although she insisted
that the Chow sisters also take both the English program and the basics of the
ship. They wouldn’t be very proficient no matter what, but at least she would
have some backup.
She was ready to communicate. She knew the language, and she knew what to ask.
She put the headset back on. Now was the time to risk it all.
Captain to pilot, she said in her adjusted male voice, this time in English.
Go ahead, the computer responded in a monotone.
Number of human life forms aboard vessel at this time. Monitor.
Monitoring. Four life forms.
Four! That meant that Sabatini was still alive somewhere, although if he hadn’t
shown himself by now, it was probable that he was indeed trapped. Location of
human life forms.
Three in central compartment. Fourth is in emergency module.
Just as she had thought. Sealed orders have been opened that necessitate
emergency change of operational plan.
Go ahead.
Captain Sabatini has fallen under suspicion of treason and has been relieved of
his command. I am assuming command of this vessel.
Identifier code?
She swallowed hard, but she had thought this out. This was a Presidium ship
making China calls. It was unlikely that Song Ching’s father would have
overlooked it. Code Lotus, black, green, seven two three one one.
There was a nervous pause, then the computer responded, Code acknowledged.
Reason for interrupt?
Pawn takes king.
Details? the pilot requested.
She decided that it was requesting a rationale since there was obviously no king
aboard.
I am Song Ching, daughter of the chief administrator, China District. Enemies
of my father altered my voice and tried to alter more of me, as well as
doctoring my security records, to abduct me and thereby gain leverage with my
father. I was being shipped to Melchior as a common prisoner, there to be handed
over to confederates. As I am registered as a male named Chu Li, who was
disposed of, nothing appears in the records, nor will it.
Identification of enemies?
Unknown, but to do this and to use Melchior they must certainly be on the
Presidium.
Shall your father be notified?
Impossible. He is on Leave, which is why this was done now. Extent of plotters
unknown, but some must be in the China Directorate.
Desired course of action?
I am assuming complete and total command of this vessel from this point on.
Captain Sabatini is relieved and will be confined where he is until he can be
properly interrogated. In the meantime, I and my servant girls must get beyond
the reach of Presidium authority and Master System must not be notified, as I am
currently classified as prisoner Chu Li and will be returned. Recommendations?
I am a system vessel. I cannot remove you to any place where you would not be
traced here. I could forge documentation that would pass an interstellar pilot’s
muster, but you would be easy to trace. There is a clandestine network of
interstellar traders, but it is, like this ship, loosely affiliated with the
galactic presidiums. These people are quite rough and loyal only to themselves
in the end. If they knew who you were, they would turn you over for reward to
the highest bidder. If they do not know and do not find out, then you might wish
you were on Melchior. They are men and women of the same sort of mind-set as
Captain Sabatini.
She well understood what that meant, particularly now that she was blind.
Sabatini had broken her without drugs or computers in a matter of days, and
although she didn’t feel like she was one, she was in fact a very desirable
young woman. There was no question now where Sabatini’s sex cartridges had come
from.
There are no other alternatives?
None available. The only habitats fit for you without severe and permanent
alterations, which themselves would have to be done under the aegis of Master
System, are Earth, shipboard, and Melchior. All others are under a Directorate.
Mars, for example, would require both Master System’s direct contact and also
artificial atmospheres, as you are not modified for the Martian environment.
Remaining with this ship for long is also not an alternative. Once we miss
traffic control at the Outer-belt Marker, an alarm will be given and search
initiated. Short of my destruction, there is no way to avoid detection and
apprehension for long periods.
She broke contact and decided to discuss things with the sisters.
The pirate warlords will be no gentle masters, Chow Dai noted. They will be a
race of foreign devils, all Sabatinis, but with all the magic boxes in the world
and the protection of the warlords. They will make us the lowest of slaves and
make us love to be slaves. I would rather die than be like that.
I agree, but we have come too far to die now, Chu Li responded. Yet what you
say is true, and if we go home and try to sneak back down, and do so, we would
have to become peasants in some remote and foreign place. It would not be much
different than the other way, and we would always be looking over our
shoulders.
Of course, Chow Dai said thoughtfully, we could just go on to Melchior.
Huh? What?
I do not understand these things, but did you not say that this ship’s spirit
could change our papers, make us someone we are not, enough to fool those above
us?
Yes, I did, but— Suddenly she saw where Chow Dai’s mind was going and reached
for the headphones. I wish data on Melchior.
Melchior is a hollowed-out asteroid between Mars and Jupiter maintained as a
reserve by the Presidium, the pilot responded. Just what do you wish to know
about it?
Is all of it a prison?
No. There are three parts. The prison itself, where all who are sent there are
kept. It is something of a community in and of itself, but it is ugly and
unpleasant. No one has ever escaped from it. The center is the research complex.
All staff there are also there for life, and many of their experiments are on
the prisoners. A third area, however, is the staff complex itself. All supplies
and new people enter through it, and there is some interaction with the outside
world through the small spaceport that connects there, as well as security
personnel who may be rotated and the independents who sneak in to do business.
Presidium members and staff also sometimes meet here, and the full Presidium
always does at some point or another every one to three years.
Details on this staff complex. What is it? A town? A city like Center?
It has a town organization and is quite small, but it is unique. There are
dwelling units of increasing size and comfort depending on position in three
areas, surrounding a town center. The center sells luxuries and dispenses
necessities according to a computer-controlled system of work credits. There is,
however, much human service work, all manual, usually performed by former
prisoners modified for that service.