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"There are two major continents in each hemisphere, one northern and one
southern, plus a number of major islands. The construct-production goes on in
the southern continent of the eastern hemisphere."
"The planet is ruled by a warlord-condotierre-capitalist called
Bandinegri. He produces and trains his creatures and hires them out to the
warring families of some half-dozen planets for their limited wars and raids.
For the larger contracts he leads them himself. On occasion, when contracts
are few, he conducts raids on his own, taking slaves and loot to sell on the
pirate clearing-house world of Melos. His space force is negligible,
consisting mainly of transports. He does have a rather strong force of
fighting atmosphere-craft, these piloted by humans, drawn from his own planet
of Cadmus or hired from other planets or from among the pirates."
"His main strength, though, is in his land force of constructs. These are of a
mentally deficient, debased type, grotesque and skilled only in fighting. We
will not have to deal with any of the Mastermind class that we faced in the
Crusade against the Soulless. His officer corps and much of the NCO class are
made up of hired humans. That is as far as our information takes us."
The fat man bowed and sat. Cardinal Van Horn looked around the table. There
was a preponderance of black-robed Jesuits wearing the white Crusader's cross
on the breast of their habits. Most of the rest were
Dominicans in white, with the red cross. The remainder were a sprinkling of
other Orders, mostly noncombatant Benedictines and Franciscans.
"Suggestions?" queried the cardinal.
"Frontal attack. Your Eminence," said a white-haired Dominican.
"Knock out his atmosphere craft on the ground, drop encircling forces around
the camps where he keeps his Soulless abominations and gobble them up
piecemeal."
"Thank you. Father Nicholas," sighed the cardinal, "your advice is, as always,
directly to the point and simple to follow. Unfortunately, we don't know that
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the atmosphere craft are kept above ground, and as for his land forces, he
seems to have dispersed them when our presence in the system became known.
Whatever else has fallen into decay here, the art of camouflage has been
preserved on Cadmus. We've circled the place with recon satellites, and all we
can see is farmland and meadows. You could mistake it for something out of a
pastoral poem. Even the construct labs must be underground."
"If I may make a suggestion?" It was Miles' voice, from the far side of the
table.
"I felt sure you would have something to say, Father Miles. Speak on."
"I thank Your Eminence. You have seen my acolyte, Parma Sicarius of
Thrax?"
"Yes, what of him?"
"Before he came to Charun, he was kept in a school for fighting-slaves on
Ludus. The lanista  or owner  of this school, one Marius, took an interest
in Parma, and talked a good deal with him. Parma was able to find out
something about him, and I believe he may be of use to us. He is rather a
sinister gentleman."
"That's a compliment coming from you. Miles. You're rather a sinister
gentleman yourself. In what manner do you think this fellow may be of use?"
"According to information Parma was able to gather, this Marius was a street
gangster on Charun, who escaped into the military to avoid death at the hands
of rivals. In the military he gained experience in handling constructs. Later,
he seems to have been a pirate, and it is almost certain that he was on Cadmus
for two years or so as one of the hired officers.
With the abolition of the games, he'll be at loose ends and probably ready to
cooperate."
"Cooperate!" spat the cardinal. "A man like that should be hanged, not offered
a chance to cooperate. He's a gangster, pirate, mercenary and slaver. Oh, the
degrading compromises we're forced to in God's service.
Very well, send for him."
"I've already taken that liberty, Your Eminence. I can have him here after
morning Mass."
"Never a wasted minute when you're around. Father Miles. Very well, we will
now adjourn for Mass, and will reconvene here immediately afterward, to confer
with this unsavory character." He rose, and the whole assembly filed from the
room in strict order of precedence.
Marius eyed the circle of clergymen warily. He wasn't quite sure just what
they were, but he knew that some of the ones with red or white crosses on
their robes were among the hardest-looking men he had ever seen, and he had
tangled with the roughest men in this system. The loss of his training school
had ruined him, and he had been on the point of rejoining his old colleagues
among the pirates when Ludmilla's police had showed up on Ludus and hustled
him to a ship which had taken him to
Augusta. There were two faces here that he recognized; Parma, who had been his
property, and the black-robed man who had fought the astonishing battle in the
amphitheater of Augusta just before the monster ship had showed up.
"You are one Marius. Any other names?" The speaker was a tiny, raisin-like man
in a red gown, white coif and wide red hat.
"It's the only name I have. It must suffice." His voice was defiant but wary.
He could see that false humility would cut no ice with these men.
"Do not be too spirited, young man. Your life dangles by a thread. An evil
life, it is, and a thin thread. Now, we have been informed that you have
contacts among the pirate fleets, and that you have experience of the planet
of Cadmus. Is this so?"
"I was once a pirate, and I was an officer of constructs on Cadmus." It was
obvious that there would be falsehood-detecting devices trained on him, so he
didn't bother trying to lie.
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"Truly, you have led a most deplorable life. However, we are here to eliminate
the evil you represent, not to punish its practitioners. So, as long as you
refrain from these reprehensible practices, you will be safe enough."
"If that's the case, why should I aid you?" His tone was not defiant, merely
reasoning.
"Safety from us is not necessarily safety from everyone. If you refuse to
cooperate with us, we shall do nothing to you, simply let you go. At the
spaceport of Augusta, to be precise. A most unsavory district, that.
Controlled, I believe, by one Giulio, a former colleague of yours. Without the
protection of your erstwhile wealth, how do you think you would fare?"
"And if I cooperate?"
"Then you will have the protection of the Church, which is not inconsiderable.
You will have a chance to restore your fortunes, legally
,"
the voice snapped out the word, "which a man with your energy and abilities
should be able to do easily. Personally, of course, I am but a man with a
man's frailties, and would prefer to see one such as you roasting over a slow
fire. But, since that is probably to be your fate eventually, I am too old not
to have learned patience."
"What do you want to know?"
"You will betray your former friends?"
"A man like me has no friends," snorted Marius.
"The logic of that does not escape me. First, the dispositions of the defenses
on Cadmus, approximate numbers of constructs and human troops, locations of
aircraft wells, anti-air-and-spacecraft artillery and troop concentrations."
Marius took a deep breath and began to recite. He asked for a holo of the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]