Free Downtime by Cynthia Felice Page B

the information, Marmion. No offense intended, but I won’t
be using you as a go-between. I’ll deal with her face-to-face whenever
possible, at whatever price.”
    “Yes,
sir,” Marmion said uneasily.
    There
wasn’t anything Jason could say to ease the man’s discomfort. He didn’t know
himself what would happen next. He sighed. “Are you holding up the newsbeans?
My rangers are getting impatient.”
    “Now
that we’ve taken over the comm-room, I’ll see they’re on the next shuttle.”
    “So
you’ve cleared the content already?” And when Marmion nodded, Jason leaned
forward. “What’s in them? What news of the war?”
    “Oh,
the usual . . . “ He saw Jason start to frown, and he shrugged. “The
big news is that Dvalerth has sent a strike force to Cassells Solar System to
punish the Tagax pirates.”
    “Pirates,
eh?” Jason said, unable to restrain a smile. “Is that what they call them now?
Tagaxans used to be called insurgents when Dvalerth sent strike forces in the
past. It seems to me that they’ve always been at war.”
    Marmion
considered. “Yes, that’s true. Dvalerth has waged war against the pirates or
insurgents many times. Dvalerth’s an old world with powerful legions. Dvalerth
always won, and the contraband seizures died down for a few years. But this
time Dvalerth was wrong. The Boscan Cassells joined Tagax, and what the old
worlds persist in calling pirates have formed a fleet mighty enough to escort
invasion strike-ships through the star lanes to Dvalerth.”
    “Right
into the Hub?” Jason was astonished. “What happened?”
    Marmion
shrugged. “I don’t know. We left before they reached Dvalerth. I know that
attempts to bring it up in the Council of Worlds failed. It was being described
as a local matter.”
    “And
council accepted that explanation while knowing there was a strike force on the
way to the Hub?”
    “Yes.
I heard — now this isn’t in the newsbean and it’s not official — I
heard that council wants to stay out of it because no action keeps the imperial
legions out, and that minimizes the risk of escalation. Council is far more
concerned with the elixir reapportionment problem, and there’s speculation that
the Decemvirate would appreciate having something else on its agenda, like a
local war, so they could delay the elixir decision.”
    “It
doesn’t take decemvir genes to know that it’s all one problem, that the
Cassells-Dvalerth war is just the first symptom, or perhaps one of many small,
similar symptoms.”
    “How’s
that?” Marmion said, puzzled.
    “While
there’s war, Dvalerth won’t permit any of its elixir to be shipped to the
Cassells. But since elixir distribution is a Decemvirate responsibility and the
Decemvirate can bring in the imperial legions to enforce the distribution
requirements, the only reason council could possibly be leaving the Cassells-Dvalerth
war on a local level is because they can’t agree among themselves on who will
win. They don’t know who’ll win the war, they don’t know who will win the
distribution question. Wars aren’t fought when everyone is certain of the
outcome.”
    Marmion
raised his brows. “Sir, your crier broadcast does you an injustice. It led me
to believe you would have no understanding of why wars are fought, let alone be
able to articulate the reasons.”
    Jason
smiled. “We can’t update restricted crier data on downtime worlds. I haven’t
been back to the Hub since I left. It hasn’t mattered since I got my silver
moons. Until you and Calla arrived, no one’s had sufficient rank to receive it.”
    “It’s
not very flattering, and certainly not accurate. I could arrange for an updated
one to be sent on the next supply ship if you’ll permit me to get the forms
filled out for you.”
    “No
thanks.”
    Again
Marmion’s brows shot up.” You like being put at disadvantage by your own crier?”
    “The
disadvantage is not always mine.”
    “As
you wish.” He seemed to be