“I don’t understand what this is about,” the Klimovna said. “Georgi, it was the Earth Diamond you were seeking, was it not? Not Captain Leary.”
Not the most politic thing to say in the present circumstances, Adele thought, but she continued paging forward in silence. With luck none of the Sissies would pick up on the remark.
“The Earth Diamond, of course,” the Count said, frowning. “But I don’t understand what the oracle meant. Surely the book is old, older than the time John Tsetzes fled with the diamond?”
“All I know . . . ,” said Hogg. He’d walked away from Adele and stood looking down at the Prior’s anguished face. “Is that this bird wouldn’t be near so worried about the mistress reading his book if he didn’t have something to hide. And the only thing we know is hidden around here is the master.”
“The Institutions, the codex itself,” said the Prior dully, “is almost three thousand years old. It’s the bedrock of our Service, written by Senior Scientist Arlan Melzoff himself. Mistress Mundy, it is a sacred document. You must see that.”
“Well, I tell you,” Hogg said. “If the mistress don’t find where the young master is by reading that thing, then I’m going to flay you alive and your friends can write another book on your skin. That may not find him either, but I’ll feel better for doing it; and right now I got a ways better to feel.”
“Amen to that,” said Woetjans soberly.
” ‘We began the shaft in the Sanctum,’ ” Adele said, reading aloud as soon as she found the passage Klimov had cited on his return to consciousness. ” ‘At first we used power tools, but some held doubts about their propriety. The Tree spoke through the majority of the order, so in accordance with the vote, the remainder of the shaft was dug by hand. At a depth of 512 feet the diggers entered the chamber in which as foretold subsidence had laid open the mind of the Tree.’ ”
She looked up without closing the book. She said, “The area marked as the Sanctum on the earliest maps is some three hundred yards northwest of here; that is, toward the decayed center of the Tree. Woetjans, I think we’ll need digging equipment as well as cutting bars to remove wood that’s in our way.”
“Wait,” said the Prior, spread-eagled on the floor. “I’ll take you. And you’ll want a quantity of saline solution as well.”
“No!” cried Margarida, her right hand dabbing at the pressure cut on her scalp. “You mustn’t—”
Hogg bent toward her, his blade bare in his hand. His face showed no more emotion than if he were preparing to wring the neck of a small animal for dinner.
“Hogg!” Adele shouted. “That’s for Daniel to decide!”
Hogg turned and straightened. “Ma’am,” he said in a trembling voice. “If the master comes back, he’ll spare her for he’s a gentle lad; and that’s his right to do. But if he doesn’t, then I’ll have her heart out and this white-haired hypocrite’s too—”
He kicked the Prior, not especially hard but enough to bruise regardless.
“—though you shoot me for it.”
“If we don’t get Daniel back unharmed, Hogg,” Adele said as she rose from the console, “then I won’t be defending them.”
She looked at the men holding the Prior. “Let him up,” she said. “As a matter of fact, carry him. He’s going to lead us to the room this passage—” she waggled the book in her hands “— talks about.”
“Is the captain there, mistress?” Woetjans said. She’d stuck a club of structural tubing through her belt; her right hand clenched and opened on the taped grip as she waited for an answer.
“Yes,” said the Prior in a half-dead voice as the spacers dragged him upright. “Captain Leary is in the Chamber of the Tree. I’m taking you there because you’ll cause less damage if I do.”
They left the library and incubation chamber by one of the passages leading toward the center of the Tree. It was an odd procession, since none of the Sissies present intended to be left behind. That meant taking the dozen or more captured acolytes along as well, their arms wired behind their backs. They didn’t protest, but occasionally a Sissie would kick one, for not moving faster or simply on general principles.