Read Online This Day All Gods Die by Stephen R. Donaldson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephen R. Donaldson
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Hyland; Morn (Fictitious character), Thermopyle; Angus (Fictitious character)
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leaned over the intercom.
"Mr. Fane?" he said quickly, almost breathlessly. "Forgive the intrusion. This is Director Lebwohl. I am with Director Dios. Overhearing your discussion, I have a question of my own, if you will permit me to put it to you."
Fane hesitated momentarily, then said, "Go ahead, Director Lebwohl. Anything you want to know."
Grinning past his glasses at Warden, Hashi responded promptly, "You say that you fired Nathan Alt six weeks ago because he was in contact with the native Earthers. And you made sure
I believe you made 'damn' sure
that none of his
work left with him. Did you institute any other precautions to ensure the security of Anodyne Systems?"
If the First Executive Assistant was willing to go this far, surely he would go further.
"Of course." Fane's tone hinted at relief. He was prepared for this question. "We made a mistake hiring Alt. We weren't going to compound it by being naive. In essence, we threw out everything he did while he was Security Liaison. I mean, we kept his ideas. Some of them were brilliant. But we erased every application he designed. We erased every application he might have touched. Then we wrote our own to replace his. And we wrote patches to alter the code engines in every SOD-CMOS chip Anodyne Systems manufactured during his tenure.
"Even if he was smuggling data and code to the native Earthers for months before we caught him," Fane concluded,
"it's all useless to them now."
Nodding to no one in particular, Hashi resumed his seat.
He didn't trouble himself to thank Cleatus Fane.
Frowning at his DA director, Warden pursued, "In other words, Mr. Fane, you're sure the security breach which put legitimate id in the hands of three recent kazes didn't come from Nathan Alt? Directly or indirectly?"
"That's right," Fane replied as if his credibility were intact. "You have a traitor on your hands. That's obvious. But he isn't here."
No doubt Fane meant in Holt Fasner's employ, either in his Home Office or in the UMC.
"Thank you, Mr. Fane," Warden said sharply. "That's all."
With a decisive stab of his finger, he toggled his intercom to end the First Executive Assistant's call.
Then he faced Hashi. His hands clenched each other on the desktop as if
literally as well as metaphorically
he
needed to keep a grip on himself. His single eye caught the light like the wink of a cutting laser. Hope or fury beat visibly in the veins at his temples.
"All right, Director Lebwohl," he said harshly. "We've heard what Cleatus Fane has to say. What does it prove?"
Koina and Chief Mandich studied Hashi with their separate forms of incomprehension. Confusion appeared to aggravate the Chief's resentment. Perhaps he was irritated because he thought that Hashi's insistence on speaking to Fane wasted time. But Koina's bafflement was of a different kind. Hashi saw her as a woman whose primary assumptions prevented her from understanding what she heard.
"Ah, 'prove,' " he answered Warden. "Nothing, I fear.
We remain in the realm of the tenuous and circumstantial"
Werner Heisenberg's rich domain
"despite the First Execu-
tive Assistant's generous confirmation. Nevertheless I believe that my conclusions are substantial. They will hold."
Warden didn't hesitate. "What are your conclusions?"
Hashi spread his hands as if to show that they were empty of subterfuge or misdirection. Enunciating each word distinctly, he announced, "That these recent kazes have been sent against us by none other than the UMC CEO himself, Holt Fasner."
With one forefinger the DA director pushed his glasses up on his nose to disguise the fact that he was keenly proud of himself.
HASHI
For an instant shock seemed
to stun the room like a silent
concussion. Then Chief Mandich demanded, "What?"
Tensely Koina asked, "Hashi, are you sure?"
The DA director gave them no reply. He reserved his clarity for Warden Dios.
"No doubt," he elaborated, "the conspiracy was carried out by Cleatus
"Mr. Fane?" he said quickly, almost breathlessly. "Forgive the intrusion. This is Director Lebwohl. I am with Director Dios. Overhearing your discussion, I have a question of my own, if you will permit me to put it to you."
Fane hesitated momentarily, then said, "Go ahead, Director Lebwohl. Anything you want to know."
Grinning past his glasses at Warden, Hashi responded promptly, "You say that you fired Nathan Alt six weeks ago because he was in contact with the native Earthers. And you made sure
I believe you made 'damn' sure
that none of his
work left with him. Did you institute any other precautions to ensure the security of Anodyne Systems?"
If the First Executive Assistant was willing to go this far, surely he would go further.
"Of course." Fane's tone hinted at relief. He was prepared for this question. "We made a mistake hiring Alt. We weren't going to compound it by being naive. In essence, we threw out everything he did while he was Security Liaison. I mean, we kept his ideas. Some of them were brilliant. But we erased every application he designed. We erased every application he might have touched. Then we wrote our own to replace his. And we wrote patches to alter the code engines in every SOD-CMOS chip Anodyne Systems manufactured during his tenure.
"Even if he was smuggling data and code to the native Earthers for months before we caught him," Fane concluded,
"it's all useless to them now."
Nodding to no one in particular, Hashi resumed his seat.
He didn't trouble himself to thank Cleatus Fane.
Frowning at his DA director, Warden pursued, "In other words, Mr. Fane, you're sure the security breach which put legitimate id in the hands of three recent kazes didn't come from Nathan Alt? Directly or indirectly?"
"That's right," Fane replied as if his credibility were intact. "You have a traitor on your hands. That's obvious. But he isn't here."
No doubt Fane meant in Holt Fasner's employ, either in his Home Office or in the UMC.
"Thank you, Mr. Fane," Warden said sharply. "That's all."
With a decisive stab of his finger, he toggled his intercom to end the First Executive Assistant's call.
Then he faced Hashi. His hands clenched each other on the desktop as if
literally as well as metaphorically
he
needed to keep a grip on himself. His single eye caught the light like the wink of a cutting laser. Hope or fury beat visibly in the veins at his temples.
"All right, Director Lebwohl," he said harshly. "We've heard what Cleatus Fane has to say. What does it prove?"
Koina and Chief Mandich studied Hashi with their separate forms of incomprehension. Confusion appeared to aggravate the Chief's resentment. Perhaps he was irritated because he thought that Hashi's insistence on speaking to Fane wasted time. But Koina's bafflement was of a different kind. Hashi saw her as a woman whose primary assumptions prevented her from understanding what she heard.
"Ah, 'prove,' " he answered Warden. "Nothing, I fear.
We remain in the realm of the tenuous and circumstantial"
Werner Heisenberg's rich domain
"despite the First Execu-
tive Assistant's generous confirmation. Nevertheless I believe that my conclusions are substantial. They will hold."
Warden didn't hesitate. "What are your conclusions?"
Hashi spread his hands as if to show that they were empty of subterfuge or misdirection. Enunciating each word distinctly, he announced, "That these recent kazes have been sent against us by none other than the UMC CEO himself, Holt Fasner."
With one forefinger the DA director pushed his glasses up on his nose to disguise the fact that he was keenly proud of himself.
HASHI
For an instant shock seemed
to stun the room like a silent
concussion. Then Chief Mandich demanded, "What?"
Tensely Koina asked, "Hashi, are you sure?"
The DA director gave them no reply. He reserved his clarity for Warden Dios.
"No doubt," he elaborated, "the conspiracy was carried out by Cleatus
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