through the guards, and into the camp and their barracks close to dawn. All they wanted was to drift back among the sleeping prisoners and get a few moments of sleep. Instead, they found the prisoners awake.
The explanation came quickly.
The furor that Colonel Virunga had set up to cover their escape had provoked revenge. Revenge was a surprise roll call for all prisoners, with the guards checking each Imperial by name, finger- and poreprint, and visual recognition. There was no way for Virunga or any other prisoners to be able to cover that intensive a check.
Of course, the guards knew, Sten and Alex could not have escaped—their check of the perimeter proved that. But the two must be hidden somewhere, preparing to escape. Perhaps digging a tunnel.
It did not matter.
Colonel Virunga gave Sten and Alex the word: When they reappeared, they were to be purged. Along with Colonel Virunga—he somehow had to be connected with their nonappearance.
Sten and Alex eyed each other. They would never be able to make the second attempt to get that dispatch ship. Their next destination would be the mining world and death.
They were wrong—courtesy of the supreme rulers of the Tahn.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE TWENTY-SEVEN members of the Tahn High Council slumped in bored inattention as their elder secretary droned through another day’s legislation.
“… HCB No. 069-387. Titled: Negative Pensions. Arguments for: A graduated tax on guaranteed incomes for retirees—not to exceed 115 percent—will relieve a heavy burden on the state and result in key military enlistments. Arguments against: None.”
The elder secretary did not bother to look up as he asked the routine question. “Opposed?” There was the usual silence. “Then it’s unanimous.”
“Next. HCB No. 434-102. Titled: Fuel Allotments. Subsection Medical Emergencies. Arguments for increase: The commandeering of private emergency vehicles for military use without compensation is proving an undue hardship on an already overburdened civilian health care system. Staff recommendation: No increase.”
Once again the routine question. And once again silence indicated unanimity. It was the way the business of governing had always been done. However, the lords and ladies of the Tahn High Council were hardly mere rubber stamps for their chairman, Lord Fehrle. On the contrary, each member had very strong opinions and powerful allies. Otherwise, they would not have been named to the council.
Lord Fehrle was their chairman as the result of a delicate balancing act. Over the years he had shored up his position through key appointments. For instance, he had recently raised Lady Atago from associate status to full member. True, she was a military hero. Still, she had her detractors.
He glanced over at Colonel Pastour as the secretary mumbled on. Sometimes he thought his decision to support the old colonel’s appointment a mistake. It was not that the industrialist was outwardly difficult. He just seemed to have a way of asking innocent questions that were difficult to answer. More importantly, he was, as time went by, becoming a voice Fehrle could not always depend on.
Hmmm. How to deal with Pastour? The problem was that Pastour not only was a successful industrialist, he was also a miracle worker in finding new bodies to hurl at the Empire. He also carried the expenses of many regiments out of pocket. Perhaps it would be better to live with the old man for a while longer.
Then there was Lord Wichman. Absolutely loyal. Absolutely committed. That was his problem. He was an absolutist who knew nothing of the art of compromise. It was a fault that several times had nearly upset Fehrle’s balancing act.
Compromise was the key to Tahn politics. All proposals were discussed in labored detail before any meeting. All viewpoints were considered and, whenever possible, included in the eventual program under consideration. With rare exceptions, all decisions were therefore unanimous.
Unanimity was as necessary to the Tahn as breathing. They were a warrior race who had suffered humiliating defeat in their ancient past and had been forced to flee across eons past the fringes of the Empire to their present home. It was a place no one wanted except for the natives, who proved reluctant to move aside for the Tahn. Genocide convinced them of their faulty logic.
Slowly the Tahn rebuilt themselves, and in the rebuilding of their warrior society they created a new racial purpose. They would never again flee. And someday they would revenge their humiliation. Meanwhile, it was necessary to prove themselves.
They turned to their neighbors. First one, then another, and then more and more fell to the Tahn. They used two skills for those victories: a native genius for negotiation as a screen for bloody intent, and a resolve to win at all costs. At times their wars required a sacrifice of up to eighty percent of their military. After each war the Tahn quickly regrouped and struck out again.
It was only a matter of time before they bumped into the Eternal Emperor. The result once again was war.
“…HCB No. 525-117. Untitled. No arguments. Opposed?”
The silence was broken.
“Not opposed, exactly. But I do have one question.”
The other twenty-six members of the council were startled out of their boredom into absolute shock. First, an untitled High Council bill was always a personal proposal from a council member. Such a bill would not even be presented if there was the slightest controversy. Second, and even more shocking, was the identity of the questioner.
It was not Pastour for once. It was Wichman. And the number 525 meant that it was Pastour’s bill. All the members of the council leaned forward, eyes glittering in anticipation of a battle of a different sort. Only Fehrle, as chairman, and Lady Atago remained aloof. Atago had a soldier’s disdain for politics of any kind.
Pastour leaned back in his seat, waiting.
“Now, as I understand the proposal,” Wichman said, “we are creating a program in which we will rely on prisoners of war to build our weapons. Am I right so far?”
“Poorly put,” Pastour said, “but basically correct. What is your question?”
“Simply this: A soldier who surrenders is a coward. True?” Pastour nodded in agreement. “Cowardice is an infectious thing. I fear we may be taking a grave risk with the morale of our own work force.”
Pastour snorted. “There is no risk at all,” he said. “If you had bothered to read my plan, you would not have asked the question.”
“I read your proposal,” Wichman said flatly. “And I still ask it.”
Pastour sighed. He realized that Wichman was intentionally putting him on the spot. He wondered what kind of compromise he would have to offer and whether it would doom the success of his plan.
“Then you certainly deserve an answer,” he said, trying and failing to keep an edge of sarcasm out of his voice. “The problem we seek to address is simply described but thus far difficult to solve.
“We have factories and material in barely sufficient quantities to fight this war. But we have less than half of the work force required to man the machines.
“I’m mainly a businessman. I see a problem, I immediately assume there is some way to fix it. A lot of times the solution is found in another problem. And with luck, you can fix two things at once.”
“Such as?”
“I looked for a surplus of people. I found it in our prisoner-of-war camps. But that is only the tip of the matter. Our worst shortages are in the technical skills. So, not just any POW would do. Where to find the largest pool of untapped skills? Among the troublemakers, of course. Especially the habitual troublemakers.”
“Where is the logic in that? A difficult prisoner equals a skilled being?” Wichman asked.
“The logic is simple. If these prisoners are still alive after all this time, then our prison officials must have had good reason not