“About time you shot at the correct enemy instead of a made-up punching bag, General,” Willis said. “Any fool can see that we need to worry about these bugs, not a bunch of innocent traders and shipbuilders.”

Lanyan swallowed his pride and answered. “Any Klikiss you kill, Admiral, is one we don’t have to.” Not overwhelming enthusiasm, he supposed, but it was the best he could manage. He had vowed never to trust Willis again after the way she had completely humiliated him. more than once.

As a remarkable idea began to take shape in his mind, he transmitted to Conrad Brindle on the private, coded channel, “String the traitors along and let them take the brunt of enemy fire. Maybe we can kill two birds with one projectile.”

80

Deputy Chairman Eldred Cain

The Chairman looked much too smug when he invited the three of them to observe the Archfather’s speech. He even brought out refreshments for Cain, Sarein, and Captain McCammon. The Chairman did not seem concerned, even though the discontented Archfather had written his own script. Lately, Cain found Basil’s calm and content moods more disturbing than his tantrums.

The Chairman took a sip of his ice water with lemon as he gazed at the familiar scene below. “When people grow complacent, they become sloppy, and right now we need everyone to serve the Hansa with full devotion and concentration. It is time to shake them up.”

“What are you planning, Basil?” Sarein said guardedly. It was clear the Chairman hadn’t consulted her about this any more than he had consulted Cain. “What is the Archfather going to say?”

“I have no idea.” He seemed actually jovial. “He disagreed with the speech I asked him to give, so he wrote this one himself. Still, I expect the audience will be quite amazed.”

“You don’t leave anything to chance,” Cain said. “You’re giving him just enough rope to hang himself.”

Basil chuckled. “Oh, hanging is much too primitive.” He changed the subject abruptly. “Next agenda item. Is my presentation ceremony on track for the new robots rolling off our assembly lines? Three days from now? I expect everything to be in order.”

Cain had made the arrangements, taking care of every subtle detail. “We’re ready for you, Mr. Chairman.”

“Good. After today, I expect the Hansa to run more smoothly.”

Before Cain could ask questions, the Archfather plodded to the podium dressed in his usual robes. His snowy white beard glistened in the sunshine under a perfectly clear blue sky. The crowds cheered on cue, and newsnet cameras recorded every movement, every word. King Rory was nowhere in sight.

The Chairman hushed them. “Observe.”

The Archfather activated the voice amplifier and spoke abruptly, without preamble, as if afraid the Chairman would shut him down at any moment. “Unison has been hijacked. Our religion. The condemnations I have issued from this podium were not my own. I, your Archfather, was coerced into making them. You have been tricked and misled. This is not what Unison is about.”

The people muttered and gasped. Many reacted with anger, but Cain couldn’t tell if the anger was directed toward the supposed betrayal or toward the Archfather’s unorthodox words. Sarein was obviously astonished; Cain expected the cleanup crew to come rushing in at any moment.

Now that he had built up some momentum, the Archfather’s voice grew louder, more passionate. “I call for you to look into your hearts, into the core of your beliefs, and do what is right. TheHansa is not your religion. TheHansa does not speak for God. Unison does!”

Basil flexed his hand into a fist, then straightened his fingers again. “My, he does go on and on.” He depressed the button on a small hand communicator. “I have heard enough.”

Jane Kulu’s deep voice answered calmly. “Yes, Mr. Chairman.”

The accented voice of Tito Andropolis crackled over the speaker. “After this, no one will doubt God’s intentions.”

Basil sat back, his gray eyes glittering.

With an astounding whistle, as if the air itself were ripping apart, a bolt of energy streaked through the crystal-clear sky. The lightning shot straight down to strike the Archfather in the middle of the podium. The searing flash vaporized the bearded man, leaving no clothes or bones, only a flash of smoke, a crack of superheated air, and the smell of a crematorium. A glassy crater marked his place. The most faithful in the crowd, who had stood closest to the podium, were bowled backward by the shockwave.

Sarein put her hand to her mouth in horror. The crowd screamed, and a ripple of evacuating people spread outward from the podium.

“What have you done?” Cain said in a barely audible voice. “My God,what have you done?”

“Wait,” Basil said with a cool smile. “It’s not over yet.”

While the crowd remained stunned by the lightning flash, King Rory appeared like a vision amidst the dissipating smoke at the edge of the crater. His young voice boomed out with such strength and confidence that he must have rehearsed many times. “No law and no court could be more plain. God will smite those who try to weaken us. The Archfather was a heretic. I am your chosen King, and it is God’s will that I also become the leader of Unison. I, King Rory, will save the Hansa and the human race.”

Sarein was appalled, her face pale. “Basil, how could you? That was murder!”

The Chairman took a long sip of his water. “Quite the contrary. That was the will of God. You heard King Rory.”

81

Admiral Sheila Willis

Blasting bug vessels with total abandon — now, that was the kind of battle she could really sink her teeth into. But though Admiral Willis had brought Confederation battleships loaded with every weapon they could scrounge, the Pym infestation was a lot more extensive than she had expected.

General Lanyan’s ships had gotten themselves into a pickle, and it made her feel warm and fuzzy to be the knight in shining armor.

The Confederation ships caused an uproar among the bugs. Two swarmships had been destroyed, or at least disassembled. But for every thousand component ships they vaporized, another thousand rose from the hive structures below or detached and attacked from the remaining swarmships. Willis had never seen anything like it.

Over the basic EDF comm channels, Lanyan was telling his ships to continue to fire. TheThunder Child blasted a small intact section of the hive city and attempted to retreat back to the imaginary safety of orbit. So far he hadn’t bothered to express much gratitude to his Confederation rescuers.

Willis wasn’t sure where the General had come up with a new Juggernaut — she didn’t recognize the name — but he wasn’t using it to full advantage. His battle group’s combined surface bombardment had been the right idea, but as usual, Lanyan had overestimated his own competence. He just hadn’t bombed the planet heavily enough.