Vonnie answered sheepishly. “I was going to tell you that night, but then the Head called
and it didn’t seem like the right time.”
Jules’s face grew serious again as a dark thought crossed his mind. “You should never
have come on this assignment,” he said accusingly. “It’s far too dangerous.”
“Don’t go protectionist on me all of a sudden,” Vonnie said. “It was far more dangerous
on Gastonia or Slag than it is here. You didn’t worry about me then. I can still take care
of myself.”
“But it’s not just you I’m worried about; there’s also the baby to consider. Sure, you can
still take on an army of blasterbats, but what if an accident happens? You just suffered a
stun-gun charge. How will that affect the baby? How do we know it won’t happen again,
or worse? We’ve got to think about the future now and take a few precautions. ”
“I can handle myself,” Vonnie insisted.
Yevette felt it was time for her to speak up. “Jules is right, Vonnie,” she said soothingly.
“You have as much responsibility towards seeing that there’s a new generation of
d’Alemberts as you do towards solving this particular case. Jules and Pias and I can
handle this job without you, but you’re the only one who can have that baby.”
“But I’ll feel so useless knowing you’re all risking your lives and I’m doing nothing.”
“You won’t be idle,” Jules assured her. “We’ve got four prisoners. I don’t think we should
turn them over to the police just yet; that would alert the conspiracy that we’ve captured
their people and we might lose our connection with Tanya Boros.” Jules went on to
explain to his wife what had happened since their capture, including the fact that his old
nemesis was in charge of this operation.
“If Boros knows we’ve captured her mokoes,” -he concluded, “she might decide to go
back to her headquarters. Until we can pry her out of this `battle station’ she’s got, we
need someone to keep an eye on the prisoners. It’s not an exciting job, but it is
important.”
Yvonne grumbled a bit, but she was practical enough to see the sense in what Jules had
said. She let her husband help her to her feet and the three SOTS agents went back out
into the front rooms, where Pias had finished locking up the prisoners in their own
handcuffs.
The job of interrogating the captives fell to Yvette, since she’d had special training in that
delicate art. She didn’t expect the killers to be very cooperative, but she’d come
prepared with chemical inducements. Realizing that the prisoners were not of a high
enough level to resist the questioning, she didn’t bother with nitrobarb; detrazine would
be good enough to extract all the information she needed.
As it turned out, the four killers knew surprisingly little. They were not really members of
the conspiracy at all, just a team of hired assassins chosen to participate in this particular
operation. They knew nothing about the conspiracy’s organization; their only contact was
through Tanya Boros, who stayed secluded on her battle station and directed their
efforts over the subcom. One of the killers did know the battle station’s coordinates; it
was drifting in interstellar space less than a parsec away from Floreata.
Their next move seemed clear. They would have to drop by this battle station and pay a
visit to Tanya Boros. Perhaps she would be able to lead them higher up the conspiracy’s
ladder, to Lady A and C themselves.
Chapter 8 Durward Again
Etienne d’Alembert’s announcement of her father’s execution hit Helena like an avalanche.
There was suddenly a cold, hollow place in her stomach, and her very being seemed to
be draining out a hole. Her head was shaking automatically in denial, and her body felt as
though it were made of wet snow. Her knees began to sink slowly, no longer able to
support the weight of her body.
Etienne d’Alembert. seeing Helena in shock, rushed from behind his desk to embrace her
and guide her to an armchair. Helena’s body felt clammy to his touch; there was a cold
sweat breaking out on her forehead. A fit of shivering gripped her, and he held her tightly
until the seizure subsided. Even so, her teeth were chattering so convulsively she could
not talk.
Duke Etienne went to his intercom and called to the commissary for a large pot of hot
chocolate. By the time it arrived, Helena was beginning to look herself again. She
gratefully accepted the cup of chocolate Etienne poured her.
“I … I didn’t think she’d … how … what were the details?” she stammered around sips of
the drink.
The Duke sighed, sitting on the edge of his desk and watching the young woman’s face
intently. “There weren’t many details released to the public at all. The newsreels merely
said that Grand Duke Zander von Wilmenhorst had been seized and charged with high
treason. Because the nature of the crime was so sensitive, he was taken back to Earth
and summarily executed.”
“Without even a trial?” Helena asked. “A Grand Duke deserves at least a High Court of
Justice. Even Banian got one of those.”
Etienne shook his head sadly. “The Empress has, of course, the authority to do anything
she pleases. A High Court of Justice is customary and traditional in such cases, but the
Empress overruled that tradition. In view of your father’s sensitive position, I can hardly
blame her for wanting to keep everything secret. By the way, nothing whatsoever was
said in the newsrolls about you; it’s as if you didn’t exist.”
Helena blinked uncomprehendingly. “But what about Sector Four? That should be mine
now.”
“I’m afraid not. Because of the nature of the crime, the Empress took back governance
of the sector, and is said to be studying who to appoint as the next Grand Duke or
Duchess. You’ve been disinherited.”
Shock upon shock. Helena had been raised all her life with the certain knowledge that
one day she would be the ruler of Sector Four, one of the richest women in the Galaxy,
with power rivaled by few and inferior only to the Empress herself. Suddenly, in one swift
stroke, all of that was gone. She no longer even had the right to claim her noble title. She
was just plain Helena von Wilmenhorst, presently unemployed and fleeing from Imperial
justice.
She sat in silence for a few moments, sipping at her chocolate as the heavy news sank
in. “I … I can’t believe. . . . ”
“I also received a private call from Edna herself,” EtienK added when it was clear Helena
would not finish her sentence. “She .broke the news to me personally, before I could hear
it from anywhere else. She told me a bit of what had happened-that there was some
evidence that your father was this notorious C who ran the conspiracy. ”
“All fraudulent,” Helena said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“She said she had trouble believing it herself,” the Duke continued. “She wanted to keep
both of you under simple house arrest at first-but when you escaped, she realized that
couldn’t work. She had your father brought back to Earth and executed secretly before
anything more could happen. She was almost in tears as she told it to me. ”
“Bozhe mot,” Helena said, her lower lip trembling. “I killed him. He told me it might make
us look more guilty, but I ignored him. If I hadn’t run away. . . .”
That was as far as she could get before her grief and guilt overwhelmed her. Her eyes
filled with tears; her body convulsed with heavy sobbing. She leaned forward in her chair,
dropping the cup of chocolate to the carpeted floor, and wrapped her arms tightly around
her knees. Her head was bowed, and for several minutes the only sounds in the room
were her small gasping noises and whimpers of utter misery. Etienne watched her
dry-eyed. He’d done his crying two days ago; he had no tears left now.
When Helena seemed to be coming back under control, he offered her his handkerchief
to dry her eyes and wipe her running nose. “Edna and I also talked about you,” he said
quietly.
Helena looked up at him, eyes and nose both bright red. “Oh?”
“Yes. I promised her that if you came here, I would take you into my custody, and that
the Circus would not be used to help you with any private missions to clear your father’s
name.”
Helena had thought her heart could sink no lower, but now found there were new depths
to her despair. The Circus had been her one last hope to find justice, and even that was
to be denied her. The whole universe was empty, and all about her was darkness. “You
might as well just shoot me now,”,she said mechanically. “I have nothing more to live for.”