L Modesitt - Empress of Eternity

While Rhyana watched the trussed-up RF "inspector" and set up one of the station stunners to be recharged, both Eltyn and Faelyna went back to work on their efforts to discern the station?s shadow-comm structure and protocols.

Eltyn couldn?t help but occasionally check the local system monitors for the approach of other agents of The Twenty, but neither he nor the system detected anything. MetCom remained silent, as did the emergency freqs. Had the RF forces or The Twenty shifted to another comm structure? How would he know?

He kept working on solidifying the linkages in his conglomeration of makeshift controls.

"Sir?" Rhyana?s voice broke into Eltyn?s concentration as he was slipping the last microsections of his makeshift control circuit.

"Yes?"

"The riffie is coming to."

Riffie? he pulsed to Faelyna. Heard that before?

Null. Sounds like the nonlinkers don't think much of the RF, either.

You want me to interrogate?

Yes 2! The fewer interruptions the better.

Eltyn turned. "I?ll be right there."

Right there turned out to be a good quarter hour later, because easing the microsections into place took longer than he?d thought. His sigh of relief died away as he realized that he?d spent hours cobbling together something that might not work-because he hadn?t had the right components.

He stood and walked over to the side of the main level where the captive sat secured to a chair. Rhyana sat several yards back, a stunner aimed at the man, whose pale cream skin and washed-out gray eyes suggested a northern heritage.

"Who sent you?" asked Eltyn conversationally.

"I don?t have to answer you. You?re a murderer."

"I have to dispute that. Killing in self-defense isn?t murder."

"Killing servants of the Ruche who are only carrying out their duties is murder. You are murderers."

"You were observed destroying or greatly diminishing the mental capacities of everyone at the logistics center in Apialor. That?s murder, whether their bodies survive or not. Intelligent entities have the right to protect their existence."

"Anyone who opposes the Ruche threatens the health and welfare of all citizens. They need to be restrained and controlled."

"That?s an old, old argument, and it was an excuse for tyranny when it was first used. The logic behind it hasn?t improved with age."

"You can?t get away with this sort of individualistic and self-centered behavior."

"We already have," pointed out Rhyana.

"Only for the moment. The Ruche will return you to the Meld."

The Meld? Eltyn pulsed Faelyna.

Another dubious 4 attempt at shared consciousness?

Eltyn continued. "Melding minds hasn?t ever worked in the past."

"The Meld is different. Dissidence is suppressed prior to juncture. All share the common goals and values of the Ruche."

"What about common communications?" asked Eltyn. "Is it brain-range concentration limited?"

The would-be inspector looked blankly at the scientist.

"Do you know what you?re thinking when you?re apart?"

"There is no need of that. We all share the values of the Ruche."

"Do you report those thoughts on minicomms all the time?" asked Eltyn. None of those attacking the station had carried one. "Or didn?t they trust you with one?"

"Private comms lead to private thoughts," asserted the inspector. "Unsupervised private thoughts can lead to error."

"You can?t tell me that no one has a comm."

"Those of The Twenty do; they have been found worthy and beyond reproach. So have some of the regionals."

Eltyn nodded. That meant that the three of them had a little more time, since the two inspectors who escaped would have to either make their way to Apialor or be discovered or rescued. None of those alternatives would be quick. They're maintaining control by restrictingcommunications.

Ironic4…keeping everyone isolated by declaring they all share the same values, andtherefore need no private comm channels. Creates the impression that private comms equate tosubversiveness. [disgust]

Immediately after they've subverted The Fifty.

Subverted? More like executed. Let me know if you discover anything of interest.

Unlikely 5. Eltyn returned his full concentration to the captive. "How many of you were sent to the south side of the canal?"

The captive said nothing.

"Refocus the stunner to a narrow beam, as tight as possible," Eltyn said to Rhyana.

Her brows knit, but she made the adjustments.

"Aim it at his crotch."

"You can?t do that," protested the riffie.

"Oh?" Eltyn looked to Rhyana.

"Twenty. That?s the optimal number."

"Symbolism yet." Eltyn refrained from snorting. "How many stations or facilities were on your list to be visited?"

"All of those on the south side." After a glance at Rhyana, he added, "Seven."

"Were we the first?" Eltyn knew that was unlikely, because the desert research station was midway between Apialor and the west end of the canal.

"The second."

"What happened at the second station?"

"There was no one there. All the stores and all the water were gone. So was one vehicle. I don?t know what kind. It had wide tires."

The desert researchers might just have a chance…for a while. They had a sand-rover, which Eltyn and Faelyna didn?t. "Did you try to chase them?"

"No. We barely could reach the station. It was three kays south of the canal."

"Why were we and the research station targeted first?"

"Researchers are more likely to be dissidents."

"So you?ve wiped out TechOversight also?"

That question only elicited a puzzled frown.

"What other researchers have you targeted?" asked Eltyn.

"There aren?t any others in the region."

"Is another twenty on the way to reinforce you?"

"I don?t know."

From that point on, most of the captive?s answers were less and less useful, not because the man was being obstructive. He was just uninformed. Finally, Eltyn shook his head and stepped back.

"What do you want me to do with him?" asked Rhyana.

"Keep him tied up. He could come in useful when his compatriot subversives arrive."

"We?re not subversives," protested the captive. "The Fifty subverted the values of the Ruche. We seek a return to the true way of the Ruche."

If forced brain conditioning represents the true way of the Ruche, pulsed Faelyna, we're doomed. [cynical sarcasm]

"Suppressing intelligence at a time when creativity and new ideas are vital to survival is about as subversive as you can get." Eltyn managed to keep his voice level.

"You?re the subversives. You?ve turned your backs on tradition."

"Gag him," Eltyn added. "We don?t need to hear more of that." Even if that's more liketheir techniques and views.

It's not the same, replied Faelyna. Citing tradition, and demanding even more rigorousadherence to it when it's failed, is what distinguishes all too many fanatics.

"Yes, sir," replied Rhyana. "My pleasure."

"You?ll all go to nihil when the Ruche becomes transcendent. You will…"

The riffie?s words were cut off by the application of Rhyana?s heavy makeshift gag.

"After all that, almost wish I?d shot him too," said the delivery woman.

Eltyn nodded. He could understand that.

"Better you get back to what you?re doing, sir," suggested Rhyana. "Won?t be that long before more of?em show up."

Eltyn walked back to his work space, abruptly realizing that because he?d been interrupted, he?d never informed Faelyna. Completed possible control circuit alternative. ?????

He opened the link wider and let her see the schematic and his view of the assemblage.

Cumbersome…appears workable…what counts. Interrogative alternative for powermodulator? Nanosecond level…current equipment works on millisecond intervals. She pulsed more details.