Venus Rising (33 page)

“What she thought, or what you thought?”
Tyre’s glittering eyes narrowed. He reminded Narisa of the snake
that had once threatened her. Tyre was poised to strike. She had to
wait only a second or two before she felt the full force of his
venom. “Is it not true that you have recently been consorting with
telepathic creatures? Were you not able to call them to you
silently? Could you not also have influenced Kalina to do your
bidding whether she wished it or not? Did you not, in fact, use
Mistress Kalina for your own ends?”

“I’m not a telepath!” But she knew where he
had acquired that idea. From Jon Tanon, whose mind he had drained.
Jon knew all about the birds and Dulan and the lost settlement.

Tyre must have believed she would be so
frightened by his accusations that she would give up and admit
anything he wanted. She almost did, until she thought of Dulan and
the birds. After her experience with them she knew that not all
telepaths were evil. She told herself she could not let Tyre twist
the beautiful creatures she had found on Dulan’s planet into
something vile and ugly.

“Telepath! Telepath!”

She clung to the railing of the witness box
while the outraged fury of the Assembly washed over her. She heard
Halvo swearing softly behind her. She saw Tarik struggling to rise
and being held down by Halvo’s guard. She shook her head at him to
make him stay where he was, and watched him relax, trusting her.
Then she drew herself up and waited until the tumult had ended. She
knew what she had to do even if it violated Halvo’s carefully laid
plans.

‘‘Leader Tyre, Members of the Assembly,” she
said when she could again be heard, “I am not a telepath. I was
recently forced to spend time on a planet where telepathic birds
reside, after Cetans had destroyed the Jurisdiction ship
Reliance.
No one knew about those birds except Commander
Tarik, Gaidar of Ceta, myself, and one other person. We told Jon
Tanon, a respected scholar, whom many of you know. Jon was captured
by Leader Tyre’s personal guards and later returned to Almaric’s
house by those same guards. His mind had been drained. We believed
then that it was done by Leader Tyre’s orders, and we have just
heard proof of our belief. That is why Leader Tyre speaks of
telepaths now. He knows the contents of Jon Tanon’s mind. He also
knows that those birds are harmless and that I am not a
telepath.

“I would recall to you, honorable Members,
that mind-draining is illegal. And now, Leader Tyre, if you have no
other questions for me, I would suggest that we follow the original
order of this trial and let Commander Tarik speak.”

Tyre would have risen, but a Member on each
side of him caught his arms and held him in place. Except for a few
whispers and the occasional sound of disgust or disbelief the Red
Room was quiet.

“May I step down from the witness box,
Admiral Halvo?” Narisa asked.

“You may. Well done, Narisa.” He actually
patted her on the shoulder as she walked past him. The guard who
had been standing by the box escorted her to a bench at one side of
the room and stayed with her. She saw Tarik walk across the open
space and enter the railed box she had just left.

Pointedly ignoring Tyre, Halvo urged Tarik to
tell how he and Narisa had learned of the existence of
Starthruster, and how they had successfully used it to return to
the Capital. Tarik did so, praising Gaidar for his help, and
pointing out that the recent Cetan attack had proven the veracity
of the story originally brought before the Assembly by himself,
Narisa and Gaidar.

“Leader Tyre, have you any questions for
Commander Tarik?” Halvo asked when Tarik was finished.

“Lies!” Tyre shouted, struggling to his feet.
“Telepaths! Traitors! A plot against me!” His nearest supporters
pulled him down again, cautioning him to silence. Narisa noticed
that many of the Members who had once clustered about Tyre, fawning
over him and agreeing with everything he said, now were slipping
out of their nearby seats and moving to stand as far away from Tyre
as they could get. When the Leader’s broken cries had stopped,
Halvo looked around at the Members.

“Since Leader Tyre has no questions, I will
proceed to my final speech,” he said. “It has become plain during
this trial that Gaidar of Ceta should never have been imprisoned at
all, and that Lieutenant Narisa had sufficient reason to fear for
his life to justify her rescue of him. Be assured, it was a rescue,
not an escape. Gaidar is no criminal, and Lieutenant Narisa raDon
should be excused of all charges against her.”

A man rose from among the Members. He was
tall and very thin, and Narisa had seen him seated next to Almaric
when she was in this room before. When she had asked Tarik about
him later, he had told her the man was one of Almaric’s closest
friends. His name was Kyran of Serania.

“I move,” Kyran said in a deep bass voice,
“that the original charges against Lieutenant Narisa raDon be
dropped. However, the serious question of consorting with telepaths
must be addressed. It is against the law to do so.”

“That information,” Halvo responded, “was
obtained by equally illegal mind-draining.”

“Because it
was
obtained by
mind-draining, it is unquestionably true,” Kyran said. “Shall I
withdraw my motion to drop the original charges, Admiral
Halvo?”

“If you do, I shall make another motion.” A
second Member had risen. “Let all charges against Lieutenant Narisa
be dropped, and let this painful and embarrassing case be closed
and never opened again.”

“Agreed. Agreed.” The Assembly burst into
applause. After a moment’s hesitation, seeing the direction in
which his fellows were going, Kyran joined them. In fact, only a
very few Members did not register their approval. Tyre remained
slumped in his chair, seeming totally unresponsive to what was
happening. Narisa saw him pluck at the hem of his jacket with
trembling fingers.

The secretary who had read the charges
against Narisa now moved to the center of the floor and held up his
hands.

“Unless there is any objection, it shall be
recorded,” he intoned, “that Lieutenant Narisa raDon is cleared of
all charges pending against her and is excused from this
chamber.”

Narisa rose, holding her breath. There was no
objection.

“You may go, Lieutenant Narisa,” the
secretary said. “Admiral Halvo, Commander Tarik, you are also free
to go. Your business with the Assembly is finished.”

Narisa let out a long, relieved breath. She
saw Tarik coming toward her, grinning. She took one step in his
direction.

“Not so fast!” Tyre had risen. He appeared to
have regained both vigor and purpose. “There are other charges
pending against these people, and I want them answered now. Admiral
Halvo, take the witness box.”

A new buzzing began among the Members. Narisa
and Tarik exchanged a puzzled glance. Halvo stood where he was.
None of them knew of any other charges.

“I said, take the witness box!” Tyre pointed
an imperious finger at Halvo. “I am your supreme commander, and
that is an order.”

Halvo walked to the box and entered it.

“That’s better. You, Admiral Halvo, four days
ago took it upon yourself to declare open war upon the Cetans
without the required express permission of the Assembly.
Jurisdiction law plainly states the Service is always to be under
the authority of the Assembly and is not to make policy or war on
its own. You and the officers who obeyed you, which includes these
two standing here, are therefore guilty of outright
insubordination. By Jurisdiction law, you must all be removed from
your posts, court-martialed and sentenced to death. How say you to
that, Admiral Halvo?” Tyre sat down, looking pleased with himself
for having found a way to get at Almaric’s family after his first
attempt had failed.

Tarik touched Narisa’s arm, directing her
toward the witness box where they stood flanking Halvo. Halvo’s
closer guard went with them, but Narisa saw the second guard, who
had been nearer the door they had come in by, slip out that same
door, leaving it ajar so anyone in the anteroom could easily hear
what was being said. Tyre’s men in the Red Room were few, and all
were intent upon the struggle taking place between Tyre and
Halvo.

“Honorable Members,” Halvo said, “Leader Tyre
has invited me to speak. I shall do so honestly. I accuse Leader
Tyre of misleading this Assembly as to the seriousness of the Cetan
threat, and of refusing to believe Commander Tarik’s warning out of
personal animosity toward our father, Member Almaric. I accuse
Leader Tyre of leaving the Races of the Jurisdiction open to total
destruction by the Cetans. I further accuse him of plotting to
murder Almaric’s entire family along with a Cetan prisoner who was
legally entitled to the protection of Jurisdiction law until he had
been tried and sentence had been passed on him.

“I deny the charge of insubordination. I, and
my fellow officers, were simply carrying out our primary duty,
which is to defend the Jurisdiction from its enemies. How difficult
that was in this case is witnessed by the great destruction wrought
upon the Capital itself. But we were successful, and the Cetans
have sued for peace. They are now willing to make a treaty with
us.

“Honorable Members, you are innocent of
wrongdoing in all of this. You have been misguided by a bad Leader,
who, in your honesty and good intentions, you have trusted
implicitly. Tyre has betrayed your trust, betrayed all the Races of
the Jurisdiction.

“In the name of honor and justice, to
preserve the unblemished reputation of this Assembly, Leader Tyre
must be deposed!”

What a fine orator Halvo was. His voice,
clear and commanding, carried throughout the Red Room, thrilling
Narisa as it must have thrilled the Members. Except for Tyre and
his closest adherents, who must have been terrified. She also
realized how clever Halvo’s tactics were. By accusing only Tyre,
and emphasizing that the honest Members had been misled by him,
Halvo had made it possible for his audience to accept what he was
saying and blame Tyre for everything. She suspected many of them
had been weary of Tyre’s rule long before this. Watching the faces
of the Members as Halvo finished his speech and the applause burst
forth, Narisa believed if he had been a Member, the Assembly would
have made him its Leader by acclamation.

“My fellow Members!” Almaric’s tall friend
Kyran was on his feet again, calling for silence, and then saying
what most were thinking. `’I move that Leader Tyre be deposed and
placed in protective confinement until he can be tried upon the
charges Admiral Halvo has brought against him.”

At that another Member jumped to his feet,
not to be outdone in imposing justice on malefactors. “I move that
the following Members, all close associates of Leader Tyre, also be
removed from their positions in the Assembly and held in custody.”
He reeled off a list of ten Members to enthusiastic applause.

Narisa saw Tyre make a motion with one hand.
His few personal guards positioned in the room began to close in on
the little group at the witness box. Halvo and Tarik seemed
oblivious to the danger. Before she could warn them, the door to
the anteroom opened and Halvo’s men marched into the Red Room.
Outnumbered, Tyre’s guards smiled sheepishly and retired to stand
along the wall, until they were called upon a short time later to
help Halvo’s men escort Tyre and his ten friends to the Assembly’s
prison chambers. They came readily, knowing Tyre was finished and
eager to prove their allegiance to the Assembly. When the doors had
closed upon Tyre, Kyran was still standing.

“Honorable Members,” he called out, “we need
a new Leader. It should be a person of unimpeachable honesty. I
nominate Member Almaric Gibal.”

“This is highly irregular,” protested another
Member.

“It is indeed,” replied Kyran. “Never before
has a Leader been deposed. Never have so many Members been removed
at one time. Each of them will have to be replaced by an
appointment from a home planet. That will take time. Meanwhile, we
who remain should show that we are united and firm in our purpose
to serve the Jurisdiction. Our unanimous election of Almaric will
prove our good intent. I move we vote at once.”

“Yes, yes,” came the cry.

“Honorable Members.” Halvo raised his voice.
“Commander Tarik, Lieutenant Narisa and I will, with your
permission, remove ourselves from this chamber, lest we seem to be
influencing your votes in favor of Almaric.”

“Wait in the anteroom for our decision,”
ordered Kyran. “We shall not keep you long.”

The anteroom was deserted except for three of
Halvo’s guards, one of them the man who had brought in his men at
the crucial moment.

Halvo went to speak with him.

“Eleven new Members,” Narisa said to
Tarik.

“Not so many among nearly five hundred,” he
replied. “Still, an infusion of new blood may lead to change. We
can hope. I’m proud of you, Narisa. You said exactly the right
thing in there.” He beamed at her, and she felt like throwing
herself into his arms.

The doors to the Red Room were flung open.
The secretary appeared, followed by Kyran and a surge of other
Members.

“Come with us,” Kyran invited, “Halvo, walk
beside me, please.”

They made their way to a series of levitators
and crowded onto the platforms. The doors slammed shut, and within
seconds they had been lifted to the uppermost level of the building
that housed the Assembly chambers. There they stepped out onto the
balcony from which all proclamations to the people were made. The
bells had already been rung, and the communication system turned
on. They would all be seen, and the words the secretary read would
be heard all over the Capital planet. Within a few hours, every
planet in the Jurisdiction would know of the change in Leaders.