With the duke’s testimony and the knowledge of how badly things had gone because of their previous edict, the members of the kriss voted overwhelmingly to rescind the prior decree. Pias Bavol was now officially alive and a member in good standing of the ducal family. His title, Marquis of Newforest, was returned to him and he was restored to his position as heir to the planet upon his father’s death. Coming after the reconciliation with his father it felt almost anticlimactic, but Pias cherished the warm feeling nonetheless.
With that matter out of the way, the kriss turned to Tas and his crimes against his people. The kriss, a throwback to the tribal law from the days before Newforest joined the Empire, held the power of life and death within Newforest society. The majority of the council was at first inclined to condemn Tas to death for his harsh rule over the world. Pias found it ironic and not a little cowardly that these men who sat by while Tas was in power, afraid to challenge him, were ready to speak out boldly against him now that he’d fallen.
Pias ended up arguing in defense of his brother. He told the kriss that Tas’s major crimes were against the Empire and he should be tried in imperial court where justice would be a little more impartial, but no less stern. The kriss next wanted to banish Tas the way they’d banished Pias before, and Pias dissuaded them from that course, too. As far as he was concerned, such ostracism was a cruel abuse of social power, and he secretly vowed that as duke he would end the kriss’s right to invoke it.
The subject of Gitana came up only in passing, as her father, sitting in on the kriss, asked what would become of her. It was decided that she should divorce Tas, give back much of the wealth she’d coerced from other people while in her position of power, and be severely censured for her activities. Pias thought she was getting off more lightly than she deserved, but he knew she’d be a marked woman from now on and few decent people would associate with her. For a woman as vain as Gitana, that in itself would be a harsh punishment.
Pias left the kriss in utter triumph. He’d arrived on Newforest in secret, cast out by family and friends alike and hunted by the authorities. He was now prepared to leave it reconciled to his father, family, and friends, with his titles restored and his brother facing imperial charges for his treasonous acts. The turnaround was so complete that Pias had trouble believing it.
That night, he and his old friend Yuri – a servant in the Bavol household since before Pias was born, and the man who’d helped Beti escape – sat up until dawn, celebrating, drinking sparkling water, and telling jokes and reminiscing.
CHAPTER 6 Brainstorm
With the full authority of the kriss, Tas Bavol was locked up in the jail he himself had built, and his special police units were disbanded. There were a few touchy moments when it looked as though the armed security forces might revolt and try a takeover of the planet. They were certainly in a good position to do so, but they thought better of it. After all, they’d only been hired by Tas Bavol to do a job and were not being charged with any crimes themselves – except for a few who were part of Tas’s inner circle and knew about the murders of opposition figures. If the police fought against the legal orders of the kriss – and particularly if they took control of the planet – they would face the retribution of the Empire and the charge of treason. Their loyalty to Tas was not that strong, so they grumbled but surrendered their weapons peacefully.
Since Vonnie was unknown on Newforest, she could represent SOTE without blowing her cover identity, and she interrogated Tas Bavol extensively about his role within the conspiracy. She learned surprisingly little. Tas had been approached by representatives of the conspiracy within a year after Pias’s exile. Their offers of increased power were very seductive, and he had agreed to join forces with them. They had laid down the guidelines for consolidating his power on Newforest with a computerized regime, but it was Tas’s own enthusiasm for the task that had produced such brutal excesses.
Tas knew little about the hierarchy above him. His orders had come via teletype from the mysterious C. When Tas had expressed to C his concern that SOTE might interfere with his work on Newforest, C had told him not to worry, that such details were covered on another level that was none of Tas’s business. C had given Tas so much useful advice – as well as people and equipment – that Tas accepted his subordinate role in the organization.
When his sister Beti escaped, Tas had informed C, who again told him not to worry, that she would be dealt with. Tas had assumed she would be captured and returned to Newforest – but the idea of her near death didn’t fill him with fraternal grief.
Under hard questioning, Tas implicated several of his subordinates in the murders of people who’d opposed his rule. A few of them managed to escape, but most were caught in a quick sweep of police action. Tas Bavol and his gang would not terrorize Newforest any longer.
With Tas out of the picture it was time to check out the local SOTE office that should have been warning Headquarters on Earth about the dangerous situation building here on Newforest. It was Vonnie who drew this assignment, too. Now that Pias’s banishment was rescinded he was out of disguise, and his face was too well known on Newforest; his cover would be completely blown if he walked into the SOTE office and identified himself as Agent Peacock.
Instead it was Vonnie, unknown on this world, who walked into the SOTE office and flashed her ID as Agent Hedgehog, one of the prime operatives in SOTE’s task force. She was escorted immediately into the office of Captain Lafleur, the DesPlainian who’d been put in charge of SOTE on this high-gee world.
“You must be part of the operation that finally crushed Tas Bavol’s death squad,” Lafleur said before Vonnie even had a chance to explain her business. “Frankly, it’s about time. I’ve been reporting for years on the dangerous buildup going on here, and all I’ve gotten from Headquarters is silence.”
This was a surprise, since Helena had told her that Headquarters had received no alarming reports from Newforest. Vonnie kept her emotions well hidden, however, and simply said, “May I see your copies of those reports, please?”
“Certainly.” Captain Lafleur was more than flattered to cooperate with one of the most famous field agents in the Service, and asked his computer to retrieve the appropriate files. Through some programming mix up the computer was unable to locate those reports, but the thorough Captain Lafleur also had printout copies available for Vonnie’s inspection. As he’d said, the reports for the last few years showed his repeated warnings that something untoward was happening on Newforest, and his repeated requests for official action.
Vonnie’s anger was somewhat mollified, though there was still the possibility that Lafleur could have faked these reports the instant he’d heard about Tas Bavol’s capture. She asked him to make extra copies of the reports for her and, while he was busy doing so, she made a confidential subcom call to Helena von Wilmenhorst back on Earth.
She found Helena in a jubilant mood. The forces of the Empire had just defeated the conspiracy’s ambush plans and routed the enemy ships. The supposed alien invaders were merely a hoax dreamed up by the conspiracy, and were no additional threat at all. Jules, Yvette, and Captain Paul Fortier, who had gone on the secret mission to Omicron, had all returned safely – and to top it all off, Lady A, the apparent leader of the conspiracy, had been killed during the long space battle. The entire Service was rejoicing at its triumph. Helena told Vonnie that Jules had hurt his leg during the mission, but was recovering nicely.
Vonnie, too, rejoiced – primarily at the news that her husband had survived such a deadly ambush. After giving vent to momentary elation, she became serious again and gave a verbal report on the recent events on Newforest. She closed by explaining the mystery of Captain Lafleur’s reports. If they were genuine, they let the local SOTE office off the hook – but that would raise the new specter that someone in SOTE Headquarters itself was collaborating with the conspiracy. The Service had known for some time that information of the highest secrecy was available to the conspiracy – but there was a significant difference between a leak and a mole within SOTE actively sabotaging the Service’s operations. Helena promised to investigate the reports from Newforest to see where the communications breakdown had occurred.