“Your privacy will certainly be respected until I have occasion to consider it a threat to
the Empire,” he said. Von Wilmenhorst nodded. “Fair enough, Captain. Could you and
your people please withdraw and give us a couple of minutes alone? I assure you there’s
only that one door to this room, and there are no communications facilities in here.”
Fortier had already scanned the room and knew that to be the truth. With a respectful
bow, he and his escort left the room and closed the doors behind them as they went.
Fortier posted guards on either side of the doors, with orders to notify him immediately if
anything suspicious happened, then went off to report to Luna Base about the success of
his mission.
Alone for the first time since their arrest, father and daughter exchanged worried
glances. “It seems we’ve once again underestimated Lady A,” the Head said. “We
thought she was merely out to discredit our top agents; we didn’t even think of our own
vulnerability. By discrediting us, she brings into question everything SOTE’s ever done
since I’ve been in charge. Poor Edna won’t know which way to turn.”
“I don’t know how she can believe such a lie,” Helena said.
“She can’t afford to believe otherwise,” her father said quietly. “She’s bent over
backwards to be fair to us; we’ve gotten more consideration from her than anyone else
would have a right to expect. She knows in her heart we’re innocent, but an Empress
who rules only by her heart will not be a monarch very long. She’ll need hard evidence to
back up what she knows.
“No, Edna’s actions are not what disturb me about this affair. I have faith in her to do the
right thing. What really bothers me is the fact that I could have had a robot traitor like
Herman Stanck working as my chief assistant, governing the sector all these years, and
not even realized it. I’d have sworn he was a good and honest man. It’s enough to make
me doubt my faith in human nature.”
“It might explain something, though,” Helena mused.
“The conspiracy seems to know almost everything we do, and we’ve never been able to
trace the leaks. Maybe Herman. . . .
The Grand Duke shook his head.. “No, I thought of that and discarded it. Herman’s entire
responsibility was to run Sector Four on my behalf. He knew nothing about my
involvement with the Service–0r, at least, I never told him anything. All he knew was that
I spent most of my time at the court on Earth. Nothing unusual about that, most of the
Grand Dukes do. Herman wouldn’t have had access to even a small fraction of the
information the conspiracy knows. We’ll have to look elsewhere for those damnable
leaks.”
“And what about the subcom unit built into your security council chamber? I don’t ever
remember that being there. And all those files in your computer. . . .”
“We haven’t been back home since just after Edna’s coronation,” the Head sighed.
“Herman had free access to that room, and he’s had months of uninterrupted time to
install the subcom. Since he also had access to my computer records, he could just as
easily have inserted all sorts of false, incriminating documents. There are safeguards to
prevent any unauthorized information from being deleted, but it’s a simple matter to insert
new data into the files. I just can’t get over the fact of it being Herman. I thought I knew
him so well. . . .
Helena sat up. “Maybe you did. When Fortier checked Herman’s records, they showed
he’d never been sick in all the time he’d been Sector Marshal. But I remember he had a
lung infection a couple of years ago. I brought him flowers in the hospital. If the
conspiracy can put phony data into your computer. . . . ”
Her father nodded, a gleam in his eyes. “Yes, they can also put phony data into the
personnel computer. Herman Stanck may indeed have been the trusted friend and advi-
sor I thought he was until very recently, when they replaced him with a robot and
doctored his records. In a way, I feel greatly relieved; perhaps I’m not such a bad judge
of character after all. Of course, I feel dreadful about Herman; the conspiracy kills the
people it replaces, and the only thing he ever did to earn a death sentence was pick the
wrong man to work for. . . .
The air hung heavy with the silence of regret. After a few moments von Wilmenhorst
began speaking softly, almost to himself. “Yes, I can see how they managed to do it.
They needed a brilliant and totally incorruptible man like our Captain Fortier. As with
Gastonia, they had to make the case hard enough to seem as though it was not being
handed over, and yet he was guided every step of the way.
“They knew he was watching Guitirrez, so they threw Helmund in his path, knowing he
would eventually trace her back to Durward. They planted clues there leading him to
Herman and me. They replaced Herman with a robot and altered his personnel records
enough to make Fortier suspicious. The robot Herman planted false documentation in my
computer and installed the new equipment in that room. He led Fortier there, displayed
the proper information on the screen, and then allowed himself to be conveniently
destroyed, leaving the blame on me.”
The Head smiled. “Subtle and insidious, the signature of our enemy. A brilliant piece of
work.”
“The question is,” Helena said impatiently, “what are we going to do now? All of SOTE is
in jeopardy, and the Service may be the only thing standing between the Empire and its
destruction. We’ve got to do something to clear our names!”
Her father spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. “There’s little we can do, I’m
afraid. If we were permitted even one call out, I’d contact Etienne and ask the Circus to
check out these charges; if ever their credibility is tarnished, we might as well curl up and
die. But as it is, all we can do is sit and wait and trust in Edna to do the right thing.”
Helena was staring at her father. “You intend to just give in to this? Like a lamb being
meekly led to the slaughter, without a fight?”
“I cannot and will not fight my Empress, nor disobey her orders. If I did, it would only
substantiate the charges against me. The conspiracy has thought this one out very
carefully, and we’ll have to walk a thin line for the time being.”
“We wouldn’t be fighting her, we’d be fighting the conspiracy. And we wouldn’t be
disobeying her orders because she never gave us any. She gave Fortier orders to hold
us prisoner, but she never gave any commands to us. My oath of loyalty to her includes
seeking out and destroying her enemies. That’s what I want to do.”
The Head smiled. “That’s a pretty flimsy rationalization, my dear. And I don’t want you
running off to do anything on your own, either. You remember what happened on
Sanctuary, and this time I’m in no position to send someone to rescue you.”
Helena blushed at the reference to her one attempt to engage in field work for the
Service. She thought she’d been infiltrating a criminal organization, while actually she had
touched on the fringes of Lady A’s conspiracy. She’d gotten soon in over her head, and
her father had had to send the d’Alemberts to get her out. Much was accomplished in the
process and they learned of Lady A’s existence for the first time, but Helena still was not
proud of her failure on that case. Since then she had stuck dutifully to office work, leaving
the dangerous field assignments to better qualified agents.
She said nothing further as she got up and walked out of the room. Behind her, Zander
von Wilmenhorst watched her leave, a thoughtful and unreadable expression etched on
his _features.
Helena was escorted to her own cabin by a young naval officer assigned to guard her.
The officer remained stationed outside her door, allowing Helena the privacy and time
she needed to think. She remained in her cabin for the rest of the day, having her meals
sent in, while she put her plans in order.
She could understand her father’s reluctance to act contrary to the Empress’ wishes.
He’d lived his entire life devoted to the Service code of strict obedience and loyalty to the
monarch, and had brought her up according to those same principles. The sole difference
was in interpretation. Her father was a man who believed in patience and gentle,
constructive actions behind the scenes. Zander von Wilmenhorst was a man who
preferred to watch events develop, acting only when necessary and trusting to the
rashness of his opponents to make mistakes.