”Wish you to disgrace your clan afresh?” pleaded phantom Fiora. “Of course not.” The program in an ancient gun might have spoken as coldly as Mikel. “I have studied the historical database.
Precedents exist.”
”Buried,” pseudo-Yusuf protested. “Essentially forgotten.” It/he must have made a hurried search. “Yes, you can invoke things done in desperate times, during the Oceanic Rebellion and the turbulence afterward. But that was long ago.”
”For generations they were the stuff of tales and ballads. The precedents they set have never been rescinded.”
”Because no one afterward ever imagined-“ The simulacrum did not continue.
”My lord and ladies, I have told you what I have told you in privacy, as a guest in your home,” Mikel reminded.
Fiora’s image winced. “That was needless to say.”
”Yes, of course we will maintain confidentiality until you release us; and it is clear that debate would serve no purpose,” added Yusuf’s stark tone.
Sesil let go of Mikel. She took a backward step from him. “You . . . you’ve become a stranger. I didn’t know you could dream of such a thing.”
”I regret the necessity,” he said.
”That you call it a necessity-oh, horrible-“
Mikel saluted. “Good evening, my lord, my ladies.” He made his unescorted way back into the night.
6
The captain’s mansion of Clan Socorro lay surrounded by a garden of delights that hid it from the surrounding estate. Thereby the dozen men who came toward it afoot over the meadowland were also covered against sight, unless someone spied them by chance. Then they would rouse curiosity, but scarcely alarm. Clad for outdoors, no emblems clearly visible, they looked like any group enjoying a few days in the open, whether as licensed hunters or just trekkers. It would be natural for them to draw near, admire the garden, and maybe hope for an invitation to see the house.
Olver took a biodetector from his pouch and squinted at it. “Two persons along the most direct path,” he said.
Mikel nodded. “Something like that was to be expected,” he replied redundantly. They were all tense. Sunlight glinted off sweat. The wind felt stronger and colder than it was, its rustle in the leaves ahead louder.
Nonetheless the band continued steadily. They had studied, planned, and rehearsed; and they were men of Clan Belov-young mm, in whom old stories had come back to life.
A line of candle bamboo, coldly aglow, reared before them. “Go,” said Mikel. He kept his voice quiet. Four deployed right, four left, I” cover the flanks. Three followed him straight in through the hedge.
Beyond, in shifting light and shadows, serpentine trees swayed sinuously, iridescence shimmered on pearl bush, an oak spread majestic boughs, moonflowers went from phase to phase, the path wound through endless variety. Around almost every turn waited some surprise, a dancing sculpture, a pool of tinted mist, an arrangement of stones, a miniature antelope that poised in its beauty In-lore it leaped out of view. Ten species of birds caroled in chorus. fragrances drifted sweet, smoky, spicelike, sometimes slightly intoxicating or erotic or otherwise stimulant.
Where a bridge arched over a brook, a man and a woman stood, perhaps enjoying the place and one another. Their eyes widened in startlement as the invaders appeared. Pistols were already out. Before anyone could shout a warning, the woman crumpled. She could only be unconscious for an hour or so, but lying there in her raiment she was pathetically like a heap of rags.
The man, tall and powerful, had also dropped. It was a lightning-swift deception. The shot at him had missed. He bounded back to his feet. More shots, fired in surprise, went wild. He sprang behind a weeping willow and thence into deeper reaches. A roar trailed after him: “Belov! I know you!”
Mikel’s party traded glances. “I know him too,” Olver said. “Dammas, Arkezhan’s nephew. I’ve seen him run down horses and wrestle bulls.” “Ill luck,” groaned Teng.
”Proceed the faster,” Mikel ordered. “Vahi’s squad may well take care of him.”
The bridge thudded under their feet. The garden soon gave way to lawn. The house loomed ahead. A machine stopped work, uncertain what this meant. Several peacocks squawked and scattered. The companion detachments broke out into view. They converged from left and right, to join their fellows in the final headlong dash.