L Modesitt - Empress of Eternity

More and more Aesyr marched forward, and the group took on a semi-military appearance, with spacing neither that of a crowd nor in the ranks of an overtly disciplined force.

Valakyr issued an order, and the security troopers immediately re-formed into a front only slightly wider than the approaching Aesyr demonstrators, now all swinging their axes in a coordinated pattern, as if in a drill, and chanting, "No more Vanir secrets…no more Vanir secrets…no more Vanir secrets…"

Symra?s voice rang out across the space between the two forces. "This is a reserved and protected area! Demonstrations are not permitted here, by order of the Assembly. You have made your point. Disband the demonstration or face restraint and incarceration."

The Aesyr did not respond, but kept marching toward the canal and the troopers, their chanting ever louder and more rhythmical, as was the swinging of the sonic axes-or were they merely toy axes?

In the distance, Duhyle could hear a high-pitched whining coming from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, but the structure of the station blocked his view to the north. He turned his eyes back toward the advancing Aesyr, now less than a hundred yards from the security troops.

"You have been warned!" Symra announced. "Halt immediately or face restraint and incarceration!"

Duhyle had to wonder what Symra had in mind, because the demonstrators easily outnumbered the security troopers by three or four to one. Exactly how did the security troopers or the spec-ops techs plan to restrain a force four times their size, especially if the axes were indeed sonic weapons? He looked back at the station. Since there was no way to lock the stone entrances, there was little point in retreating inside.

The Aesyr were close enough that Duhyle could make out individual expressions. Those varied from outright laughter to broad smiles, many of them cruel.

The whining became even louder, accompanied by a thunderous roar.

Then Symra gestured, and the spec-ops vehicle somehow shimmered and vibrated, and the air seemed darker…

…and Duhyle could hear nothing, nothing at all.

What he saw and felt was a single security ramjet pass less than a hundred yards overhead before climbing out to the south. With that single pass the Aesyr crumpled-every last one of them, until they all lay on the uneven partly grassed ground south of the station. Several of the security troopers staggered, but they did not fall.

The spec-ops vehicle returned to normal, and Duhyle could hear once more.

This time Valakyr?s voice was the one amplified. "Restrain every single Aesyr. Some may be dead, if they fell on their own axes, and for some the axes may have intensified the effect of the sonic stun. You have less than a quarter hour. Move!"

The security forces hurried toward the fallen figures, loopers and foamers out.

Duhyle turned to see Helkyria emerging from the station, but she was headed toward the spec-ops vehicle and the two junior officers. He followed.

"The airships are on the way, Captain," Helkyria announced to Valakyr. "They?ll be here in less than two hours to pick up the demonstrators. We?ll need a count of any casualties."

"I?d like it if there weren?t any," replied the captain. "That?s not likely. The way some of the Aesyr were swinging those axes, they were already projecting."

"We have some recordings of that." Helkyria nodded. "Even so, the media will be demanding your removal. I?ll be taking the liberty of releasing an analysis of the axes, along with a schematic and a cutaway of the weapon. The Subministry of Public Safety will pick up the axes from the airships and will make them available to the media. That might prove to be of some assistance."

"They?ll claim that we switched the axes."

"I know. Almost anything we provide, they?ll find a way to twist or refute. We stunned peaceful demonstrators, and killed some of them."

"Few healthy humans die from stun-shock, especially prime physical specimens like those."

"It doesn?t matter." Helkyria?s voice was suddenly resigned…or tired. "You take care of the demonstrators and get me some axes quickly."

"Yes, ser."

Helkyria turned.

Duhyle followed her, but waited until he and Helkyria were back inside the station before he spoke again. "They?ve planned this all out."

"They have, and there will likely be another attack, but not until the Aesyr have fully exploited the idea that the Vanir government is excessively brutal and cruel when the most reasonable Aesyr are only asking for an end to secrets." She kept walking, making her way up the ramp to her working area.

"Most of the Aesyr were men, and they were huge."

"Most people don?t know," replied the scient-commander. "The Aesyr have been using genetic engineering to reemphasize sexual dimorphism. It?s been tried before. The last documented usage was during the last years of the Amberian Anarchists. The women reacted violently to that not-so-disguised attempt at resubjugation, and that led to the fall of the culture, but those traits have persisted in a diluted form. The Aesyr have been isolating and gene-splicing them for close to three generations."

"Isn?t that against the Assembly principia?"

"It is, but genetic material is private and legally privileged. How can one prove that if those who are "benefiting? from the traits refuse to have their genetic material analyzed?"

"The Aesyr are perverting the laws and protections to their own ends, and no one can say anything about it?"

"All fanatics and all those with great wealth have always done so. Why would that change now?"

Obvious as that was, Duhyle had nothing to say.

"If we of the Vanir pervert the laws to stop them, then how are we any different from them? Where do we stop?" The deep blue of sadness suffused her hair and eyebrows. "With each crisis, it becomes easier and easier to justify the erosion of principles, until we have none, and, in the end, principles and a common belief in them are all that hold a civilization together." After a brief pause, she said, "Excuse me, Kavn. There?s so much I need to do. I?ll see you later." She turned.

Duhyle walked back down the ramp.

After not quite a week in Caelaarn, Maertyn hadn?t yet discovered what else Minister Hlaansk had in mind for him. He judged it wouldn?t be long before he did. Marcent, Josef?s long-time assistant, had been scrupulously polite, and so had everyone else. That worried him as much as Hlaansk?s decision to have him act as assistant minister.

At just after ten on the twenty-sixth of Ninemonth, Maertyn finished reading the routine memoranda for the morning and turned to scan the news. The second story caught his eye.

…crop yields, even with biologic stimulation, continue to decline on a worldwide basis…largely as a result of the shorter growing seasons in the northern hemi sphere…trend has historically been countered by expansion of croplands, but further expansion threatens the ecologic balance…

As he finished reading, the message indicator chimed. He frowned. The chime indicated that the message was from Hlaansk and urgent. He touched the screen panel once more, and the first sheet of the message appeared in the surface of the desk.

From:

Minister of Science

Unity of Caelaarn

To:

Maertyn S?Eidolon

Environment Research Subministry

Subject:

Funds Redirection

In the absence of Assistant Minister Cennen, you are charged with the preliminary draft of recommended redirection of all unallocated and undisbursed funds under the operative control of the subministry. The draft recommendations are due to me no later than the third of Tenmonth. Attached are the accounts and subaccounts currently showing those funds as of yet unspent or unallocated. Please correct the figures to reflect funds allocated since preparation of this document, and then submit planned disbursements and recommended reallocations.