Well, Huber hadn’t joined the Slammers because he was looking for a risk-free life. He grinned; but he also latched his clamshell again.
The Speaker continued reading from a lighted screen set into the lectern before him. He stumbled frequently over the words. This may have been the first time he’d had occasion to invoke these emergency powers, and he was probably just as nervous as most of the assemblymen.
“I’d think some of the public would want to watch,” Huber said into Captain Orichos’ ear. “Is everybody in the Point afraid of his shadow?”
Orichos looked at him sharply. “Of course not!” she said. “The proceedings are broadcast to the whole country by satellite! The gallery only holds a few hundred people; it’d be full normally, but by citizens indulging their whim rather than because they needed to be present to know what the Assembly was doing. Half the population lives in individual households scattered throughout the forest anyway.”
Huber nodded, his eyes on the Assembly beyond. He hadn’t meant to step on the woman’s toes, but he should’ve known his comment would do just that. He must be nervous too.
“Therefore . . .” the Speaker said, his voice gaining new life as he reached the end of the set formula; the constitutions of most colonies had been drafted by settlers with little education but a fierce desire to make things “sound right” by using high-flown language. “Invoking the special powers granted the Speaker in the present emergency, I hereby call Captain Mauricia Orichos of the Gendarmery to address the Assembly.”
Melinda Riker Grayle rose to her feet. “I protest!” she said. She filled the hall as effectively with her unamplified voice as the Speaker had moments before using a concealed public address system. “This is a business for the citizens of the Point, not for the self-serving bureaucracy which rigged the last—”
Speaker Nestilrode stabbed a control on the lectern with his bony index finger.
“—elec—” Grayle said. Her voice cut off abruptly; her lips continued to move. The Assembly Building had a very sophisticated audio system. The Speaker had clamped a sonic distorter around Grayle, not for privacy as it’d be used for in an office but to shut her up.
“The member from Bulstrode Borough is out of order,” Nestilrode said with a touch of venom in his dry voice. “The chair recognizes Captain Orichos.”
Orichos stepped forward purposefully. Huber followed at her heel like a well-trained dog. The patrol sling held his 2-cm weapon muzzle-forward. His hand was on the grip, though his index finger lay along the receiver instead of through the trigger guard.
His faceshield was down. For the moment he left it clear instead of polarizing the surface to those trying to look at him.
Orichos mounted the podium. The Speaker edged sideways to let her by, but there wasn’t even possibly room for Huber wearing his body armor. He stood below the Gendarmery officer instead, surveying the Assembly.
“Honored Personages,” Orichos said in a tone that combined dignity with considerable forcefulness. “As many of you know, my department is responsible for information about our foreign enemies and potential enemies. While pursuing sources in the Solace government, we came upon conclusive proof that Assemblyman Grayle of Bulstrode Borough takes the pay of Solace in exchange for sowing discord within the Point.”
Grayle jumped to her feet, shouting silently. The older of her male colleagues rose also, but the younger man—a blond fellow in his thirties with a neat moustache and goatee—was noticeably slower to get up. His eyes flicked from Orichos to Grayle, as nervous when they rested on his own leader as when he looked at the Gendarmery officer.
“Based on this report,” Orichos continued as though oblivious of the capering Freedom Party officials, “I have applied for and been granted a warrant by the Chief Justice of the High Court to search the premises of the Freedom Party in order to corroborate our information. Due to the delicacy of the situation, I’m informing the Assembly before taking action.”
Grayle’s older colleague was a rougher sort than the handsome blond on her other side. She extended an arm to keep him from climbing over his desk to reach the floor. Grayle’s blue eyes never left Orichos and the Speaker on the podium.