Free Empress of Eternity by L. E. Modesitt Page A

Minister of Protective Services, who also controlled the Gaerda.”
    “Your request for equipment confirmed, among some, that more lies within the great canal than you have reported. They are also convinced that you are unlikely to turn that information over to them.”
    “If they’re so convinced of that, why haven’t they just appeared at the station and demanded that I turn over all my research?”
    “Besides the fact that it would represent overriding the authority of the Minister of Science? Or that it would require a written order of either the Executive Administrator or the Minister of Protective Services?”
    “Which the Council or the Judiciary might well overturn.”
    “The Council could be finessed, with the proper timing. The simpler answer might well be that they don’t believe you will turn over what they wish. Or that you could be forced to do so. It’s rumored that you’re an Indurate Master.”
    “So that I can’t be mentally coerced? If I were, and there’s certainly no evidence of that, it still wouldn’t mean I couldn’t be killed or otherwise…neutralized.”
    “Your existence, or lack thereof, is of little concern. The knowledge you might possibly recover is of great concern.” Ashauer shrugged. “All men have their weaknesses, and you know yours. Mine, as you know, has always been my vanity. I did think that it might be wise for me to suggest that those few matters that surround you and your work are receiving more scrutiny than might be otherwise obvious to you…since you have not been in Caelaarn that recently.”
    “I do appreciate your concern.” Maertyn paused, letting the silence draw out.
    “Oh…it’s nothing personal, Maertyn. I’m certain you understand that.”
    Maertyn did. The Executive Administrator of the Caelaaran Unity—the most honorable Estafn D’Onfrio—did not wish that whatever Maertyn might discover should fall into the hands of the Gaerda, but he also didn’t want the struggle becoming public, not with unrest in both Galawon and Occidenta. That also suggested that Minister Hlaansk had other agendas…and other supporters that neither the EA nor Minister of Protective Services Tauzn wished to cross. And all of that left Maertyn very much alone—and that was before he’d discovered something that everyone thought he would. I would that I had their confidence in my capabilities.
    “It’s never personal to others, Ashauer, but it’s always personal to those it affects, and yet through the ages, men have persisted in insisting that actions adverse to others are not personal.”
    Ashauer laughed. “You do retain a philosophical bent, Maertyn.”
    “It’s the best way of viewing government. You should know that.” Maertyn offered a brief chuckle in return.
    Ashauer nodded, but did not say more, and in a few minutes, the vehicle came to a silent and gliding stop. Maertyn glanced through the glassine side window toward the gates that blocked the entrance to the front courtyard of his town home.
    “I wouldn’t worry yet,” said Ashauer. “No one would want anything to happen to you now.”
    “I do appreciate your concern. Thank you for the transportation.”
    “You’re most welcome.”
    Maertyn opened the car door and slipped out, then closed it, offering a polite smile to Ashauer before the vehicle eased away in the twilight.
    He glanced up at the Selene Ring, somehow less bright over Caelaarn, then back at the house. The three-story town dwelling was on the hillside overlooking the greenbelt, with the front gates on the perimeter road where Maertyn had alighted. The vehicle gates were at the west end of the property. He stepped toward the iron grille and tapped the combination into the security pad, then let his fingers rest on the sensor. The gates recessed to let him step into the brick-walled courtyard, then closed behind him. The exterior biowood panels of the house were a deep green, except for those framing the corners, which were dark