Read Online Quiet Knives by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - Free Book Online
Authors: Steve Miller, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
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nowhere--the High Judge, he
wasn't a Judge then; the closest we had to Judges were the
Enforcers--and that wasn't close at all. He sold the Justice
Department idea to the then-chairman--the chairman that the present
whimsical guy we've got replaced, you understand. The two of
them--Zar and the Judge--they set up the whole system, recruited
Judges, trained 'em and set 'em loose. I don't know how many Judges
there are now--the last number I heard was thirty, but I think
that's low--very low. The High Judge isn't a man who shows you all
the cards he's got in his hand--and Korelan Zar's just like
him."
It was a fair description
of Kore, all things weighed. And the project itself jibed with the
one he'd tried to sell her on, sitting across from her in Skeedaddle's tiny galley,
holding her hands so hard she felt the bones grinding together.
Bunch of crazy talk, she'd thought then. Now... Well, say the years
had given her a different understanding of what was necessarily
crazy.
"Not that I'm disinterested in your
problems," she said now to Sambra Reallen, "but I'm not quite
grasping what this has to do with me."
The other woman nodded vigorously. "Thank
you, yes. You do need to know what this has to do with you." She
leaned forward, face intent, eyes hard.
"The High Judge, his
household, all the Judges I know about and all those I don't--are
gone. Say that they are not blessed with the chairman's favor. I
don't doubt--I know --that the High Judge had a plan. He must have foreseen--if
not the current situation, at least the possibility of the current situation.
He would have planned for this. His very disappearance forces me to
conclude that he does have a plan, and has only withdrawn for a time to marshal his
forces and his allies."
Midj shrugged. "So?"
"So." Sambra Reallen leaned deliberately
back in her chair. "About a month ago, local, the chairman realized
the High Judge had not been seen in some while. That, indeed, the
entire network of Judges, as far as they are known, had slipped
through the hands of his seekers. He realized, indeed, that the
sole member of the High Judge's household remaining upon Shaltren
was--"
"The courier." Midj put her cup down, all
her attention focused on the other woman.
Sambra Reallen nodded. "Precisely. The word
went out that Korelan Zar should be brought to the chairman. How
Zar heard of the order, I don't know, but I'm not surprised that he
did. He made a strike for his ship, as I was sure he would, and I
waited for him there, hoping to divert him to a safe place.
Something must have spooked him; he returned to the High Judge's
house--and was taken into custody shortly thereafter."
"Hm. How 'bout if it was you spooked him?"
Midj asked. "I'm thinking that altruism isn't exactly your style.
What'd you want from Kore in exchange for the safe berth?"
The other woman's face tightened.
"Information! The High Judge must be planning something--I must
know what it is! The chairman can't be allowed to continue--he's
already lost us ground on three significant worlds and will loose
Stelubia entirely, if he's not stopped. All of that would be reason
enough, if there weren't Turtles in the mix, too!"
Midj blinked. "Turtles? Clutch Turtles?"
"There's another kind?"
"Not that I know of. These would be two, and
asking after the health of a couple of humans they adopted, am I
right?"
Sambra Reallen nodded, sighed.
"Indeed," she said finally, finding her
pastry's icing a fascinating diversion from the discussion as she
weighed some inner necessity.
"These things are too big to be secret," she
continued, "no matter how hard any of us wish to hide them. Here
you are, fresh in, and already the word is out. "
The pilot relaxed slightly, realizing that
the Juntava was apparently too focused on her own set of woes to
pursue Midj's familiarity with the doings of the Clutch.
"I've been reading history,
Captain Rolanni. The vengeance that these two beings may visit upon
the entire organization if their
wasn't a Judge then; the closest we had to Judges were the
Enforcers--and that wasn't close at all. He sold the Justice
Department idea to the then-chairman--the chairman that the present
whimsical guy we've got replaced, you understand. The two of
them--Zar and the Judge--they set up the whole system, recruited
Judges, trained 'em and set 'em loose. I don't know how many Judges
there are now--the last number I heard was thirty, but I think
that's low--very low. The High Judge isn't a man who shows you all
the cards he's got in his hand--and Korelan Zar's just like
him."
It was a fair description
of Kore, all things weighed. And the project itself jibed with the
one he'd tried to sell her on, sitting across from her in Skeedaddle's tiny galley,
holding her hands so hard she felt the bones grinding together.
Bunch of crazy talk, she'd thought then. Now... Well, say the years
had given her a different understanding of what was necessarily
crazy.
"Not that I'm disinterested in your
problems," she said now to Sambra Reallen, "but I'm not quite
grasping what this has to do with me."
The other woman nodded vigorously. "Thank
you, yes. You do need to know what this has to do with you." She
leaned forward, face intent, eyes hard.
"The High Judge, his
household, all the Judges I know about and all those I don't--are
gone. Say that they are not blessed with the chairman's favor. I
don't doubt--I know --that the High Judge had a plan. He must have foreseen--if
not the current situation, at least the possibility of the current situation.
He would have planned for this. His very disappearance forces me to
conclude that he does have a plan, and has only withdrawn for a time to marshal his
forces and his allies."
Midj shrugged. "So?"
"So." Sambra Reallen leaned deliberately
back in her chair. "About a month ago, local, the chairman realized
the High Judge had not been seen in some while. That, indeed, the
entire network of Judges, as far as they are known, had slipped
through the hands of his seekers. He realized, indeed, that the
sole member of the High Judge's household remaining upon Shaltren
was--"
"The courier." Midj put her cup down, all
her attention focused on the other woman.
Sambra Reallen nodded. "Precisely. The word
went out that Korelan Zar should be brought to the chairman. How
Zar heard of the order, I don't know, but I'm not surprised that he
did. He made a strike for his ship, as I was sure he would, and I
waited for him there, hoping to divert him to a safe place.
Something must have spooked him; he returned to the High Judge's
house--and was taken into custody shortly thereafter."
"Hm. How 'bout if it was you spooked him?"
Midj asked. "I'm thinking that altruism isn't exactly your style.
What'd you want from Kore in exchange for the safe berth?"
The other woman's face tightened.
"Information! The High Judge must be planning something--I must
know what it is! The chairman can't be allowed to continue--he's
already lost us ground on three significant worlds and will loose
Stelubia entirely, if he's not stopped. All of that would be reason
enough, if there weren't Turtles in the mix, too!"
Midj blinked. "Turtles? Clutch Turtles?"
"There's another kind?"
"Not that I know of. These would be two, and
asking after the health of a couple of humans they adopted, am I
right?"
Sambra Reallen nodded, sighed.
"Indeed," she said finally, finding her
pastry's icing a fascinating diversion from the discussion as she
weighed some inner necessity.
"These things are too big to be secret," she
continued, "no matter how hard any of us wish to hide them. Here
you are, fresh in, and already the word is out. "
The pilot relaxed slightly, realizing that
the Juntava was apparently too focused on her own set of woes to
pursue Midj's familiarity with the doings of the Clutch.
"I've been reading history,
Captain Rolanni. The vengeance that these two beings may visit upon
the entire organization if their
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