Read Online This Day All Gods Die by Stephen R. Donaldson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Stephen R. Donaldson
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Hyland; Morn (Fictitious character), Thermopyle; Angus (Fictitious character)
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moment he drawled mordantly, "An interesting theory, Mr. Fane. I want to be sure I understand it. The first attack
the one on Captain
Vertigus
what was that supposed to accomplish? The native Earthers have always called him a hero."
The FEA laughed humorlessly. "But he hasn't done anything heroic for decades. He's too old and ineffectual to do them any good. They wanted to make him a martyr. His opposition to Holt Fasner and the UMC is common knowledge.
They want people to think he was attacked to silence his opposition."
Warden snorted softly; too softly to register on the intercom pickup. "You can't apply the same argument to Godsen Frik."
"Of course not." Static or stress made Fane's bonhomie sound brittle. "As a spokesman for the special relationship between the UMC and the UMCP, he's a natural enemy of the native Earthers. They wanted to use the confusion caused by Captain Vertigus' martyrdom to strike at one of their most public targets."
For a moment Warden appeared to give this statement consideration. Then he asked, "And the attack today?"
"An attempt to scare the Council," Fane pronounced firmly. "Fear breeds stupidity
and stupidity breeds native
Earthers."
Hashi considered this an interesting piece of conceptual legerdemain. From his perspective, stupidity bred rejection of Captain Vertigus' Bill of Severance.
Warden may have felt the same
Koina plainly did
but
he didn't comment.
"I'll look into it," he told the Dragon's henchman. "But I have to say, Mr. Fane, it makes me wonder why you hired Alt in the first place. You had reason to think he might not be particularly reliable."
Cleatus Fane snorted. "Because he couldn't meet Director Donner's standards for 'conduct becoming an officer'?
There aren't many men or women on the planet who can be that pure all the time. His court-martial didn't render him unfit for productive work. Or honorable work, for that matter,"
Fane added.
"But the truth is"
microwave noise complicated his
candor
"his court-martial was one of the reasons we hired him. He never hid the fact that he resented the UMCP. From our point of view, that made him uniquely valuable. We wanted a man who was highly motivated to find fault with anything you people touched
especially with the security
procedures designed for organizations like Anodyne Systems and the GCES. If he couldn't find chinks in your armor
so to
speak
no one could. And if he could find them, we could fix them."
The First Executive Assistant might as well have said, Don't try to challenge me, Director Dios. You're wasting your time.
Chief Mandich's features held a resentful scowl, but he didn't speak.
Warden shrugged noncommittally. "As I say," he replied, "time is tight, Mr. Fane. Director Lebwohl is already investigating some of the possibilities you've mentioned."
Cleatus Fane would know soon
if he didn't already
that
Hashi had invoked Red Priority security locks for some of Holt Fasner's Home Office computers, as well as for all of
- Anodyne Systems'. "Just one more question, if you don't mind.
"Did Alt take any of his work with him?"
"Director," Fane answered heavily, "nobody carries that kind of work around in his head. It's too minute and complex.
His last project ran to something like eight million lines of source-code. Most of us would burn out our brains just trying to remember the design protocols.
"And we made damn sure he didn't carry it any other way. I can tell you that for a fact."
On this point Hashi felt certain that the FEA's facts were accurate. Captain Alt's secrets
whatever they might have
been
had never left the Dragon's orbital headquarters.
"Very well, Mr. Fane," Warden returned. "I'll contact Holt Fasner directly when I have anything to report."
He raised his hand and aimed one strong finger to silence the intercom.
On impulse Hashi left his seat so abruptly that Warden's hand stopped. In a rush Hashi reached the front of the desk and
the one on Captain
Vertigus
what was that supposed to accomplish? The native Earthers have always called him a hero."
The FEA laughed humorlessly. "But he hasn't done anything heroic for decades. He's too old and ineffectual to do them any good. They wanted to make him a martyr. His opposition to Holt Fasner and the UMC is common knowledge.
They want people to think he was attacked to silence his opposition."
Warden snorted softly; too softly to register on the intercom pickup. "You can't apply the same argument to Godsen Frik."
"Of course not." Static or stress made Fane's bonhomie sound brittle. "As a spokesman for the special relationship between the UMC and the UMCP, he's a natural enemy of the native Earthers. They wanted to use the confusion caused by Captain Vertigus' martyrdom to strike at one of their most public targets."
For a moment Warden appeared to give this statement consideration. Then he asked, "And the attack today?"
"An attempt to scare the Council," Fane pronounced firmly. "Fear breeds stupidity
and stupidity breeds native
Earthers."
Hashi considered this an interesting piece of conceptual legerdemain. From his perspective, stupidity bred rejection of Captain Vertigus' Bill of Severance.
Warden may have felt the same
Koina plainly did
but
he didn't comment.
"I'll look into it," he told the Dragon's henchman. "But I have to say, Mr. Fane, it makes me wonder why you hired Alt in the first place. You had reason to think he might not be particularly reliable."
Cleatus Fane snorted. "Because he couldn't meet Director Donner's standards for 'conduct becoming an officer'?
There aren't many men or women on the planet who can be that pure all the time. His court-martial didn't render him unfit for productive work. Or honorable work, for that matter,"
Fane added.
"But the truth is"
microwave noise complicated his
candor
"his court-martial was one of the reasons we hired him. He never hid the fact that he resented the UMCP. From our point of view, that made him uniquely valuable. We wanted a man who was highly motivated to find fault with anything you people touched
especially with the security
procedures designed for organizations like Anodyne Systems and the GCES. If he couldn't find chinks in your armor
so to
speak
no one could. And if he could find them, we could fix them."
The First Executive Assistant might as well have said, Don't try to challenge me, Director Dios. You're wasting your time.
Chief Mandich's features held a resentful scowl, but he didn't speak.
Warden shrugged noncommittally. "As I say," he replied, "time is tight, Mr. Fane. Director Lebwohl is already investigating some of the possibilities you've mentioned."
Cleatus Fane would know soon
if he didn't already
that
Hashi had invoked Red Priority security locks for some of Holt Fasner's Home Office computers, as well as for all of
- Anodyne Systems'. "Just one more question, if you don't mind.
"Did Alt take any of his work with him?"
"Director," Fane answered heavily, "nobody carries that kind of work around in his head. It's too minute and complex.
His last project ran to something like eight million lines of source-code. Most of us would burn out our brains just trying to remember the design protocols.
"And we made damn sure he didn't carry it any other way. I can tell you that for a fact."
On this point Hashi felt certain that the FEA's facts were accurate. Captain Alt's secrets
whatever they might have
been
had never left the Dragon's orbital headquarters.
"Very well, Mr. Fane," Warden returned. "I'll contact Holt Fasner directly when I have anything to report."
He raised his hand and aimed one strong finger to silence the intercom.
On impulse Hashi left his seat so abruptly that Warden's hand stopped. In a rush Hashi reached the front of the desk and
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