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their lungs. The shuttle plunging on into the furnace of the sun. All this was
in the mouse's mind.
Placed there by another mind infinitely cruel, infinitely mad.
THE SMALL PENANCE OF LADY DISDAIN
81
The handmaiden returned with a tall man robed in purple.
"Lady Disdain is not available. I am empowered to act on her behalf. How can I
help you?"
This was something he hadn't thought of. He'd assumed he'd be dealing with the
woman herself. Well, there wasn't rime to fool around; he'd have to make the
most of what was available. "Are you her Number Two?"
"On this voyage I am."
"I must speak to you alone."
"If you like." He led the way to a small anteroom.
"Are you sure nobody can hear us?"
The man smiled condescendingly, humoring him. "Nobody.
This place is safe, so Hotel Security assures me. Now. What's all this about?"
He took a deep breath. This was going to be tough going.
"You must recall the Earth shuttle immediately."
"Oh. Must I?" The thick eyebrows rose. 'Tell me why."
"I have information that it is in danger."
"Information?"
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"A blip from the president of Earth to Lady Disdain." He would have to commit
himself if he was to get any action. "I
read it." He could still hardly believe it. "They're going to massacre the
Secundans!"
The man's face was impassive. "You've been reading con-
fidential blips illegally. You're the one who'll be reported to
Security. You could be thrown out of your guild, you under-
stand? Don't you have any professional pride?"
"That's hardly the point!" Was the man stalling, or was he on the level?
"Don't you know what was in that blip?"
"Nobody knows except my lady herself," he snapped. "If there was a blip, which
I doubt. She's a blipreader; you must know that. All the top people have to
be, for the sake of con-
fidentiality. Blips between heads of state are composed and read by heads of
state alone. They may be confidential, but they do not contain massacre
plots."
Obviously Lady Disdain wouldn't have leaked the contents of the blip to her
entourage, or anyone else, for that matter.
"Listen." He tried to convey in words the terrible images of destruction
contained in the bliprider's message. Sensing the other's skepticism, he
added, "You wouldn't want me to tell
Security what the blip said, would you?"
82 Michael Coney
But the man was treating the whole thing as Imry's juvenile fantasy. "A
conspiracy? Certainly it would dispose of the
Secundan problem neatly, but why not simply Revise them on
Earth, according to the original plan?" He sat down. relaxing, smiling up at
Imry.
"Because Lady Disdain must get to Earth for the mindmeld before the president
dies. And the next shuttle doesn't leave for weeks!"
"Killing the Secundans wouldn't get my lady to Earth any more quickly."
"It wouldn't matter. Once all the Secundans are dead, the
Froans will grant us longevity. That'll give the president a couple more
years, no matter how sick she is!"
The Cartaginian laughed shortly. "We could kiss good-bye to longevity if we
murdered the Secundans to suit our own ends. The Froans would wash their hands
of us forever.
Surely even you can see that!"
"It would look like an accident. An equipment malfunction;
the shuttle pulled into the sun."
The Cartaginian stood. "All right, that's enough. I just hope nobody else has
heard this stuff. You could do a lot of dam-
age, spreading these kinds of rumors. We're going through a very sensitive
period in our relations with the Froans. We don't need some kid blipreader
fouling things up."
"At least get hold of Lady Disdain right now so she can ex-
plain the blip!"
The Cartaginian said slowly, spelling it out, "My Lady Dis-
dain doesn't have to explain anything to you, or even to me.
She is the ruler of Cartaginia. She is the president's clone-
sister. She is the future president of Earth. And in any event
I can't get hold of her, because she's on that shuttle herself, bound for
Earth."
Imry felt his stomach tum over. "Lady Disdain's on that shuttle?"
"Of course she is. How else can she get to Earth in time for the mindmeld?
Naturally she didn't relish traveling with the
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Secundans who would? But she is devoted to her duties and the human race, so
she had little choice. There was no room for myself and the entourage at such
short notice, but I can't say I'm sorry about that."
Imry struggled to come to terms with this. Lady Disdain on
THE SMALL PENANCE OF LADY DISDAIN
83
the shuttle herself? It seemed he'd made a complete fool of himself. He'd been
so sure. "But ... does the president know
Lady Disdain's on the shuttle?"
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