himself comfortable as the opening for his program swirled into holoprojic life. He smiled.
His smile faded as the beginning of the program was abruptly interrupted.
A strong-faced black woman wearing gray orthoskins stood where Wall's actor should stand. She sported a pair of spetsdöds. What was this? Some technical glitch? An entertainment vid?
The woman started to speak, and Wall shortly realized it was neither glitch nor fictional play.
* * *
A shipment of weaponry was on its way to Nazo, in the Nazo System; a second ship would follow shortly, to land on Maro, Nazo's sister world. And instructions for making bombs from common chemicals were on their way to Kon-trau'lega, the prison planet in the same system.
The inhabitants of all three worlds had more than their share of grievances to resolve with the Confederation; they were being aided by the Man Who Never Missed.
Khadaji spent a final hour in the zendo, taking in the sights and smells of the temple, enjoying himself. He had put into action most of the plans he had for stirring the volatile soup he had spent years creating. There were several places he needed to visit personally; he had done what he could long distance.
As he started to leave, Khadaji saw a pair of monks standing in front of a holoproj near the entrance to the temple. Funny, even here one could not escape such things—
He stopped, to stare at the projection. The unit was small and the figure was only a quarter life-size, but he had no trouble recognizing Dirisha. He listened to her words, and smiled. His best student had not failed him.
There was one less place he would have to visit.
Bork nodded, and said, "Go."
Working the camera, Geneva switched on the light that showed Dirisha the unit was now working.
Dirisha took a deep breath.
"Fellow matadors, I've got a couple things to tell you.
"First, Pen—Khadaji—has escaped from Confed custody. Actually, there are two of them, Pen and Khadaji, and as far as we know, they are both free and working. What they're working at is taking the Confed dinosaur out for a one-way walk. The Confed wants them dead, just like it does us. 'It's time,'
Emile says, and I figure he's right, just like he always was. Unless we help make the beast extinct, it's only a matter of time until it catches us."
Dirisha paused, and smiled, then continued.
"I have to keep this short, so I'll get right to the point. It's them or us, gang. Pen set us up, and some of you might not like how he did it, but it's done. You can try and hide and pretend it didn't happen, or you can do what needs to be done. Remember what Emile did on Greaves. He was alone then, we aren't now. There are billions of people who are looking for leaders. So go and lead."
'It's time,' Emile says. He gave us the means, he taught us the why and how of it. The rest is up to us. Red and Bork and Sleel and Mayli and Geneva are with me, and we're not planning on hiding for the rest of our lives. The Man Who Never Missed is alive and with us. The Confed doesn't have a chance."
Dirisha grinned again. "Either way, take care of yourselves, gang. See you someday."
The light went out and Dirisha allowed herself to relax a little. "Okay?"
Bork said, "A little fast, but okay. Sleel and Mayli say it went out. Better we should take off." He looked at his chronometer.
"Tell them two minutes from now," Dirisha said.
Geneva moved from behind the camera and hugged the bigger woman.
"You did good," Geneva said.
"Yeah, it felt pretty good. Let's get out of here."
* * *
Sleel, laughing, came running down the hall, followed by Mayli.
"Fantastic," he called. "You should have gone into entertainment, like I said."
Dirisha looked at her chronometer. "We can discuss careers later," she said.
"Guards will be coming."
"Mayli and I took out three at the control room," Sleel said.
"No problems with the charges?"
"Planted and set for"— he glanced at his chrono—"just about—"
There came a muffled boom
His smile faded as the beginning of the program was abruptly interrupted.
A strong-faced black woman wearing gray orthoskins stood where Wall's actor should stand. She sported a pair of spetsdöds. What was this? Some technical glitch? An entertainment vid?
The woman started to speak, and Wall shortly realized it was neither glitch nor fictional play.
* * *
A shipment of weaponry was on its way to Nazo, in the Nazo System; a second ship would follow shortly, to land on Maro, Nazo's sister world. And instructions for making bombs from common chemicals were on their way to Kon-trau'lega, the prison planet in the same system.
The inhabitants of all three worlds had more than their share of grievances to resolve with the Confederation; they were being aided by the Man Who Never Missed.
Khadaji spent a final hour in the zendo, taking in the sights and smells of the temple, enjoying himself. He had put into action most of the plans he had for stirring the volatile soup he had spent years creating. There were several places he needed to visit personally; he had done what he could long distance.
As he started to leave, Khadaji saw a pair of monks standing in front of a holoproj near the entrance to the temple. Funny, even here one could not escape such things—
He stopped, to stare at the projection. The unit was small and the figure was only a quarter life-size, but he had no trouble recognizing Dirisha. He listened to her words, and smiled. His best student had not failed him.
There was one less place he would have to visit.
Bork nodded, and said, "Go."
Working the camera, Geneva switched on the light that showed Dirisha the unit was now working.
Dirisha took a deep breath.
"Fellow matadors, I've got a couple things to tell you.
"First, Pen—Khadaji—has escaped from Confed custody. Actually, there are two of them, Pen and Khadaji, and as far as we know, they are both free and working. What they're working at is taking the Confed dinosaur out for a one-way walk. The Confed wants them dead, just like it does us. 'It's time,'
Emile says, and I figure he's right, just like he always was. Unless we help make the beast extinct, it's only a matter of time until it catches us."
Dirisha paused, and smiled, then continued.
"I have to keep this short, so I'll get right to the point. It's them or us, gang. Pen set us up, and some of you might not like how he did it, but it's done. You can try and hide and pretend it didn't happen, or you can do what needs to be done. Remember what Emile did on Greaves. He was alone then, we aren't now. There are billions of people who are looking for leaders. So go and lead."
'It's time,' Emile says. He gave us the means, he taught us the why and how of it. The rest is up to us. Red and Bork and Sleel and Mayli and Geneva are with me, and we're not planning on hiding for the rest of our lives. The Man Who Never Missed is alive and with us. The Confed doesn't have a chance."
Dirisha grinned again. "Either way, take care of yourselves, gang. See you someday."
The light went out and Dirisha allowed herself to relax a little. "Okay?"
Bork said, "A little fast, but okay. Sleel and Mayli say it went out. Better we should take off." He looked at his chronometer.
"Tell them two minutes from now," Dirisha said.
Geneva moved from behind the camera and hugged the bigger woman.
"You did good," Geneva said.
"Yeah, it felt pretty good. Let's get out of here."
* * *
Sleel, laughing, came running down the hall, followed by Mayli.
"Fantastic," he called. "You should have gone into entertainment, like I said."
Dirisha looked at her chronometer. "We can discuss careers later," she said.
"Guards will be coming."
"Mayli and I took out three at the control room," Sleel said.
"No problems with the charges?"
"Planted and set for"— he glanced at his chrono—"just about—"
There came a muffled boom
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