“Well, maybe that’s … I mean .. murder just isn’t right….”
“It wouldn’t be murder,” Geri said coldly, staring at her plate. “It would be an execution. Odal deserves to die! And if you won’t do it, I’ll find someone who cani”
“Geri … I….”
“If you really loved me, you’d have done it already.” She looked as though she was going to cry-
“But it’s….”
“You promised me!”
Hector sagged, defeated. “All right, don’t cry. I’ll … I’ll think of something.”
Odal sat now in the office of the Kerak ambassador. The ambassador had left discreetly when Kor’s call came through.
The Kerak major sat at a huge desk, leaning back comfortably in the soft padding of the luxurious leather swivel chair. The wall-sized viewscreen across the room seemed to dissolve into another room: Kor’s dimly lit office. The Intelligence Minister eyed Odal for a long moment before speaking.
“You seem relieved.”
“I have performed an unpleasant duty, and done it successfully,” Odal said.
“Yes, I knowLeoh is now serving us to his full capacity. The Acquatainians will look up to him now as their savior. The fear they felt of Major Par Odal is now dissolved, and with it, their fear of Kerak is also purged. They associate Leoh with safety and victory. And while they are toasting him and listening to his pompous speeches, we will strike!”
Even though his presence in the room was only an image, Odal saw clearly what was in Kor’s mind: bigger prisons, more prisoners, more interrogation rooms flued with terrified, helpless people who would cringe at the mention of Kor’s name.