57 

Chamber of Paladins, Geneva
Terra, Prefecture X
20 December 3134

Jonah Levin looked at the display on the tally board. Sixteen Paladins were currently present in the Chamber, and thirteen votes had been cast so far in the first trial ballot. He would not have been surprised to see thirteen different colors on the board.

The board displayed no names, only an array of colored lights. That anonymity had been another of the Founder’s political notions, according to Tyrina Drummond. A Paladin wanting to work out who was ahead and who was falling behind in the trial ballots would have to consult with his or her fellow Paladins and gather the information from them directly.

The absence of posted names was supposed—again, according to Tyrina Drummond—to foster cooperation and communication among the Paladins during the voting process. Jonah was far more inclined to agree with David McKinnon’s earlier assessment of the Founder’s personality, and to couple with it a suspicion that Stone had been unduly optimistic about human nature.

So far, no one was talking to anyone about anything—but Jonah knew that would change soon enough. He was the one who would change it.

There were seven colors currently up on the board, a rainbow of six with two dots each, plus one deep violet singleton. As he watched, the single violet dot changed to a double and a turquoise singleton popped up, representing two more votes cast.

Jonah regarded the collection of lights for a few minutes longer, then cast his vote for Maya Avellar. He had known and respected Avellar ever since the end of the Kurragin campaign, and if she was perhaps a bit less aggressive than the ideal warrior, her courage and integrity had never been called into question.

As soon as he registered his vote, another singleton light winked on, this time chartreuse.

The lights on the board stopped blinking and glowed steadily. All of the Paladins currently present in the Chamber and signed in on the system had voted. Tyrina Drummond rose and went to the podium in order to announce what everybody already knew:

“My fellow Paladins—the trial ballot is concluded. The floor is open for discussion.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jonah saw Anders Kessel make a move to stand, but he stilled as soon as Jonah moved. An air of anticipation rose.

“Paladin Levin is recognized,” Drummond said.

Jonah’s left knee trembled slightly, and it annoyed him no end. He had led a suicide charge on Kurragin. He had destroyed another ’Mech on Kyrkbacken when his was reduced to a single functioning leg. On Elnath, he had been dropped from the sky while artillery blazed past him. And now, in a large ceremonial chamber, surrounded by fifteen people who didn’t (he hoped) want him dead, his knee wobbled because he had to make a speech. Ridiculous.

“My fellow Paladins,” he said in a creaky voice that sounded like his grandfather, “I have some information I’d like to share.”

He could feel the eyes watching him, and there wasn’t a single audible keyboard click. No one was going to send messages back and forth as he spoke; he had their full attention. Oddly enough, that calmed him.

“As some of you know, the Exarch asked me to look into the death of Victor Steiner-Davion. I’m pleased to announce we have made an arrest.” A murmur ran through the room. Jonah had them in the palm of his hand.

His voice grew stronger. “Before I tell you the who, let me tell you the why. Victor was killed because he uncovered a conspiracy of a rather unique nature. It was not a conspiracy to attempt a coup, or plan a military attack on a specific target. Rather, it was a conspiracy to control thought.

“For well over a decade, a group of Senators, working within the bounds of the government, have opened a series of academies and training programs across The Republic. They select the students for these academies carefully, and they approve the graduates even more aggressively. Those graduates they believed to have the most potential to help their cause, they attempted to shepherd into influential positions. In the early stages, this shepherding mainly took the form of making polite suggestions. In recent years, though, their tactics have veered strongly toward bribery, blackmail and intimidation to achieve their goals.

“Victor—Paladin Steiner-Davion—worked long and hard to get information about this conspiracy. He had it, and he was going to tell us about it. It cost him his life.”

For what seemed to be the first time in several minutes, Jonah took a breath. “Last night, Senator Geoffrey Mallowes of Prefecture IX was arrested for conspiring to assassinate Victor Steiner-Davion.” He paused, then added, almost as an afterthought, “He will be charged with attempting to have me killed, as well.

“We have also arrested an associate of Senator Mallowes, Henrik Morten. Based on evidence those two men are providing, we expect more arrests to be forthcoming.”

Anders Kessel and Otto Mandela shot to their feet the moment Jonah stopped talking.

“Two Paladins stand for what I assume to be questions for Paladin Levin,” Drummond said. Kessel and Mandela nodded. “Paladin Kessel may speak first, then Paladin Mandela. Other Paladins wishing to ask questions may stand in like fashion.”

Kessel began. “First, let me commend Paladin Levin for extraordinary work performed in a short period of time. I would, however, like clarification on one matter. You say this conspiracy that you have identified seeks to ‘control thought.’ In what direction are they pushing? That is to say, what do you know about the political leanings of this conspiracy?”

Jonah took a breath and counted silently to ten before responding. Kessel was asking him to walk through a minefield. If he did not cast his remarks carefully, his response could be seen as accusing everyone tied to the Founder’s Movement as being part of the conspiracy. The backlash from McKinnon, Sorenson and their supporters would be considerable—which might be what Kessel wanted. Fortunately, he had learned enough from Mallowes to know what to say.

“This conspiracy is about what most such conspiracies are about—power. The people involved see instability in The Republic, and they believe this is a perfect time to seize power. I believe Senator Mallowes saw it as a chance to return his family to the prominence he feels The Republic denied him. Other people involved hope to grab any splinters of power left if any part of The Republic breaks.

“I can’t say with certainty that all people involved in this conspiracy share a political leaning. What they share is a desire for power and a predator’s instinct that tells them their prey may be growing weak.”

Kessel, expressionless, sat down. A few chairs to his left, David McKinnon was nodding slightly at Jonah’s words. Made it through that one, Jonah thought.

True to form, Mandela moved right to his question, forgoing any niceties. “You said there are other arrests coming up. Who? More Senators? And for what? I can’t believe there was a whole crowd involved in Paladin Steiner-Davion’s death.”

“Right,” Jonah said. “There may be a few hired hands implicated in the assassination, but Mallowes and Morten look like the top of that particular chain of events. But the project Victor was working on shows plenty of crimes having taken place over the years, and bribery and blackmail are just the beginning. Honestly, I don’t know how far this may go, but I’m certain it’s not confined to the Senate. One thing to remember is this—the purpose of the conspiracy wasn’t to kill Victor. That was something they felt they had to do to keep their activities secret. As devastating as his death is to all of us, it’s only a sidelight to the central activities of this group. I wish I could say Victor’s death is only the tip of the iceberg, but it might not even be that—it could be a small chip broken from an iceberg that’s floating ahead of us.”

The Paladins rolled his words in their minds for a moment. No one even typed. Then Janella Lakewood fidgeted, hesitated, and finally stood to make her first remarks as a Paladin.

“Paladin Lakewood,” Drummond said.

“I’d like to echo what Paladin Kessel said and thank you for all the work you did on this. But I have to wonder, if this conspiracy is as vast as you say it is, how have we missed it for so long? How have they managed to stay hidden?”

“I could make a number of excuses for us,” Jonah replied. “After all, we’ve had plenty of things happening across the Sphere to keep us occupied. The same instability that’s fueling this conspiracy might have kept us from seeing it sooner. But leaving all excuses aside, we should have known about it earlier. That’s our job. And I’m extremely proud that Paladin Steiner-Davion’s final activities involved bringing this conspiracy to light. He was older than all of us, but he still saw clearly enough to notice a few patterns that told him what was going on.

“I wish I could say that maybe the conspiracy’s not as big as I’m making it out to be, that the fact that the rest of us missed it means it’s relatively small. But I’ve seen the names on Victor’s list. This is a cancer. There was already a long list of problems for the new Exarch to deal with, but this might have to move to the top of the list. They’re trying to rot us from our core.”

He sat down.

The silence lasted for nearly a full minute. Then fourteen sets of hands—everyone but Jonah and Drummond—attacked their keyboards with a vengeance.

Drummond stood. “Thank you, Paladin Levin, for that information. Your reputation for integrity assures us that your investigation was conducted with all due diligence . . .”

Drummond’s formal drone provided cover for the messages flying from screen to screen.

Good work.—Jorgensson

We’re grateful for your efforts. However, what I’m curious about is how this affects your vote. Clearly we need strength to fight this menace, and I hope you’ll keep in mind which Paladins might be best suited to a battle of this nature.—Kessel

Thanks, Jonah.—Sinclair

Jonah responded to the last one.

For what?—Levin

You didn’t mention that my name appeared on Victor’s list.—Sinclair

I thought about it.

Jonah’s hands hovered briefly above his keyboard.

Didn’t think it was relevant. You seem like one of Mallowes’ early, unsuccessful experiments. That’s why he had to get more assertive as he went on. I didn’t want the others to associate you with what happened.—Levin

That’s why I’m thanking you. I owe you one.—Sinclair

Jonah almost laughed aloud when he read that. He hadn’t meant to get it, and he had no idea what to do with it now that he had it, but Jonah seemed to be in possession of his very own little voting bloc. And he hadn’t even mentioned the Kittery Renaissance connection. He’d leave that for Heather, when she made it back.