Free Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 by Gordon R. Dickson, David W Wixon Page A

raised one finger in emphasis, "Others, and only if you're sure they're absolutely dependable and committed to us."
    A bit shocked, Pallas agreed; and between them, she and Gelica quickly winnowed through the list of senior staff on hand.
    While he waited, Bleys rethought his idea of inviting some staff members to sit in. The idea had only just come to him, and he had had no time to think it through. If the notion was a good one, it had to be carried out quickly; and he had learned to trust the ideas that sometimes sprouted full-blown from the back of his mind.
    His initial plan had been to use shock tactics on the Others' leaders attending the meeting, suspecting that one or more had been lazy, irresponsible or even corrupt; Pallas Salvador was the most likely candidate, in fact, given her top position here. But Gelica Costanza's presence, and her apparent importance, had suggested that local staff were more important in the Ceta operation than were staff on other worlds; so he decided to widen his range of inquiry to include them.
    In less than ten minutes, almost everyone who was not invited to sit in had been shooed out, Toni making her way through them to come back into the room. The remaining chatter died swiftly as Bleys, who had remained standing, silenced Pallas Salvador's welcoming remarks with a gesture. He himself remained silent until one of his own staff signaled that the room was free of listening devices— and then that staffer, too, left. Now only Bleys, Dahno, Toni, the Association-trained Others and some of the senior Cetan staff were present.
    "You may have heard," Bleys began, his voice soft enough that they almost—but not quite—had to strain to hear him, "that our people on New Earth, Newton and Cassida are now in strong position to influence the leaderships of those worlds."
    Some in the audience nodded, and all their faces were intent. They had heard, in fact, that it was Bleys who had orchestrated a series of negotiations that resulted in those alliances—and they also knew that influence was not a strong enough word to describe the position the Others now occupied on those three planets.
    "You've known," Bleys continued, "since soon after you joined this organization, that our ultimate goal has always been to become the ruling force on all the worlds." He paused, turning his head to look at Dahno, seated near him at the head table; he knew that the very drama in that pause would convey his message as effectively as any words he could speak.
    Some had already caught on, he saw; and he looked about the room, making note of faces showing perception and eagerness.
    "You are the ones who may find yourselves in at the very beginning of a new Ceta," he said, finally. Beside him, Dahno, playing his part, smiled broadly.
    For the next few minutes Bleys eased his audience into the notion of taking control of the planet. It had to be done that way, he knew, because for all that they had been introduced to the idea of controlling the Worlds long ago, it was a very different thing to suddenly have the prospect looming up before them. Some of the faces in his audience showed fright, he thought; but even those also showed interest.
    Which of them, if any, were the ones he was trying to smoke out—the ones who either had been working to conceal the true situation on this planet, or had been stunningly inept?
    Does the fear mean they're more intelligent? he asked himself. Or just more timid? I'll have to know them better before I can answer that.
    Within himself, he knew he was hardly likely to ever get the time to do that. He thought he understood now, a little better, why Dahno so strongly resisted the need to delegate responsibilities, even to his own, handpicked people.
    Be careful, Bleys told himself now. You can't afford to start believing every thing you say. You 're not here to take Ceta, and you can'/ forget this is only a ruse.
    But there was a rising tide of excitement in him, as if the deepest part