Battlefield Earth Part 115

That whine in the sky was much louder now. Jonnie shouldered his way through. He got right in front of the Tolnep. He pushed a scepter at his face.

"Is this what you were looking for, Schleim? This is the real one. The others were just copies we made. Duds like the rest of your weapons."

Schleim was struggling and screaming. "Get me some chains!" shouted Fowljopan.

Jonnie came close to the Tolnep's face. But Fowljopan was prying in among Schleim's teeth to make sure there were no other capsules to bite down on. The moment that was done, Jonnie spoke again.

"Schleim! Tell your captain up there to draw off! Talk or I'll shove this radio down your throat!"

Lord Dom tried to push Jonnie away. "This is a conference prisoner! He may not be communicated with until tried. Clause 51, governing trial procedures-"

Jonnie somehow controlled his temper. "Lord Dom, this conference is at this very instant under threat of bombing! For its own safety, I demand that Schleim-'

"Demand?" said Fowljopan. "Here now, those are very strong words! There are certain procedures that must be observed. And you are hereby officially informed that you yourself threw an object at an emissary. The conference-"

"To save his life!" cried Jonnie, pointing at Dom. "This Tolnep would have crushed his skull!"

"You were acting then," said Fowljopan, "as master-at-arms of this conference? I do not recall any appointment-"

Jonnie took a breath. He thought fast.

"I was acting as the appointee of the host planet which is responsible for protecting the lives of invited delegates." He knew of no such procedure.

"Ah," said Lord Dom, "he is invoking Clause 41, responsibilities of the planet responsible for a.s.sembling emissaries."

"Ah," said Fowljopan. "Then you cannot also be charged. Where are those chains?"

A Chinese guard was running up with coils of jangling, mine-hoist chains. Two pilots followed him with another tangle of heavy links.

"Under Clause 41," said Jonnie desperately, "I must demand of the prisoner that he surrender his offensive forces at once."

Lord Dom looked at Fowljopan.

Fowljopan shook his head. "All that can be arranged, per Clause 19, is a temporary suspension of hostilities where warfare threatens the physical safety of a conference."

"Good!" said Jonnie. He knew he was at risk. These emissaries were not as friendly now. But he would push it all he could. He had to save lives. Not only theirs but those of any survivors of Edinburgh. He shoved the radio close to Schleim's mouth. "Declare an immediate suspension of hostilities, Schleim! And tell that captain up there to draw his forces off!"

Lord Schleim simply spat at them.

They were wrapping him in chains now. Somebody had found a spare filter in the hamper and replaced the shattered ones over his eyes so he could see. They had him on the ground and he looked like a huge coil of hoist chain. Only his face was visible now. His lips were drawn back and nothing but hisses were coming out of him.

Jonnie was about to rage at him that if he didn't talk into this radio, the planet of Tolnep would get one big dragon. The thought that this, too, might violate something made him hesitate for a moment, searching for words.

Lord Dom accidentally solved it before Jonnie could speak. "Schleim," said Lord Dom, "I am sure it will go much easier with you at your trial if you call off your forces."

This was the bit of gra.s.s that Schleim had been wriggling to get. "On that condition, and if the captain of that fleet up there will forego his piratical venture and follow my orders, give me the radio."

It was promptly shoved to his mouth by a Jonnie who would rather have smashed his fangs in with it. "No codes! Just say, 'l have hereby declared a temporary suspension of hostilities' and 'You are ordered to withdraw into orbit remote from all combat areas.' "

Schleim looked at the faces above him. When Jonnie pressed the hidden talk switch, Schleim surprised them all by saying exactly what Jonnie had told him to say. But was there a lurking smile on the Tolnep's mouth?

Some prearrangement or regulation must be going into effect up there in s.p.a.ce. RoG.o.deter Snowl's voice came back through the scepter, "It is my duty to inquire whether the emissary of Tolnep is under any physical threat or duress."

They looked at each other. It was obvious that Tolnep naval regulations covered such sudden and otherwise inexplicable orders.

Schleim, wrapped to the chin in heavy, mine-hoist chain, smiled. "May I speak to him again?"

"Tell him to comply at once!" said Jonnie. He didn't want to make an overt threat against the Tolnep planet in this company and at this time.

Again, Schleim said exactly what Jonnie had told him to say.

RoG.o.deter Snowl's voice came back, "I can only comply if I am a.s.sured that the personal safety of the emissary of Tolnep is guaranteed and that the conference promises to return him unharmed to the planet Tolnep."

Fowljopan said to Lord Dom, "It simply precludes execution."

"By Clause 42," said Lord Browl, "a trial can still be held. It is quite normal.

I move we guarantee this emissary's safe return as a personal matter. All those in favor?"

The ayes came back, unanimous this time.

Fowljopan was looking around. "Where is...where is...?"

The small gray man appeared among them. He took the scepter from Jonnie. He looked around at the faces of the lords and then, as they nodded, he spoke into the mike. First he gave a code word followed by a peculiar buzz which seemed to come from the lapel of his gray suit. Then he said, "Captain Snowl, it is certified that the emissary of Tolnep will be returned, physically unharmed, to his planet in due course but not with any unreasonable delay."

Snowl's voice came back: "Thank you, Your Excellency. Please inform the emissaries that I will honor a temporary suspension of hostilities and at this moment am withdrawing to an orbit clear of this and all Combat areas. End transmission."

Jonnie was pointing at the emissaries of the other combatants. They were the ones wrecking Edinburgh and Russia! "Lord Fowljopan," said Jonnie, "I am certain any temporary suspension of hostilities includes all combatants."

"Ah," said Fowljopan. He thought. "We have no guarantee that only Tolnep s.h.i.+ps were up there. It would be irregular for these others not to agree."

But the Bolbod, Drawkin, Hawvin, and other combatant lords were pointing at Sir Robert who was standing outside the ops room.

"We agree!" shouted Sir Robert with an expression of disgust for their delays.

The combatant emissaries started to look around for communication facilities. A mob of communicators with mikes rushed out and almost knocked them down.

With a spatter and batter of many tongues, the other combatants ordered a temporary suspension of hostilities for all their s.h.i.+ps.

Good G.o.d, thought Jonnie. All this while men went on dying. It was still very touch-and-go. No one had said hostilities would not be resumed and with even greater ferocity.

And who was this small gray man who exerted such power over them? Where did he fit in? Who was he? What would he want out of all this? Another threat?

Chapter 9.

The emissaries were dragging Schleim off when Quong, Sir Robert's Buddhist communicator, ran up to Jonnie.

"Sir Robert asks me to tell you," whispered the boy, "that there will be a sudden exodus in a moment and not to be alarmed. They have been working it out in ops for the past half-hour and the orders are being issued this instant. There are hundreds of people trapped in shelters in Edinburgh. The tunnel corridors and entrances fell in under heavy bombs. They do not know how many are alive or anything else. He says it is like a caved-in mine. They are leaving in minutes and he wants you to carry on here. If needed he will come back."

Jonnie felt like a cold hand had gripped his heart. Chrissie and Pattie were part of that.

If they still lived.

"I should go!" said Jonnie.

"No, no," said the boy Quong. "Sir Robert said you would say that, Lord Jonnie. They will do everything that can be done. He said to tell you he is leaving all this in your hands."

At that moment pandemonium broke loose. Sir Robert raced out of the ops room. He had somewhere changed his clothes and the gray cloak billowed as he donned it on the run.

"Goodbye, Lord Jonnie," said Quong and raced away.

Sir Robert was at the pa.s.sage, waving his arm with an urgent swing, "Come on!" he bellowed. "Come on!"

Doctors MacKendrick and Allen sped out of the hospital area, shutting valises as they ran. Allen turned and shouted something at the nurse and then sped on.

The walking wounded hobbled and limped out, heading for the pa.s.sage.

Four pilots raced by.

Guards who a moment before had been covering Schleim from pits were yelling to one another and a soldier carrying several packs raced toward them and then they were gone.

A crowd of officers and communicators slammed out of ops and headed for the pa.s.sage exit.

Suddenly, Jonnie was aware of the turmoil and commotion among the Chinese. Mothers were dumping babies and a screech of instructions at older daughters and then running to the exit. The Chinese men were s.n.a.t.c.hing up bits and pieces from the personal baggage, shooing smaller children into the vicinity of the half-grown girls, yelling at each other to hurry. Dogs, snapped on to leashes that were pushed into the hands of young boys, set up a cacophony of barking and howling at being made to stay.

A plane motor started up. Then another.

Three Scot pilots ran out of the ops room, getting into flight clothes and gripping maps.

And all the time Sir Robert was at the exit shouting, "Come on! Come on!"

From the open door of ops, Stormalong's voice was rising above the din. "Victoria? Victoria? d.a.m.n it man, keep your radios manned! Take every mine pump you've got. Every atmosphere hose and pump. Got that? I know it's in clear! All right." A woman communicator in there was taking over. She started to chatter Pali.

"Come on!" Sir Robert was shouting at the delaying few. "d.a.m.n it, Edinburgh is burning!"

A plane took off. Sir Robert was gone. Another plane. Another, another, another. From the whip of sound they were lancing up to hypersonic in seconds. Jonnie wondered whether they were leaving any aircraft at all.

Lord Dom came over to Jonnie. His big, liquidy face looked a bit concerned. "What's happening? Are you abandoning this area? You realize that in a temporary suspension of hostilities it is irregular to use it to arrange the redisposition of military forces to achieve the advantage of surprise when hostilities are resumed. I would caution-"

Jonnie had had just about enough of being c.h.i.n.ko polite for one day. He was worried about Chrissie and Pattie. And very concerned about his village people who had gone to Russia. "They are on their way to try to dig hundreds of people out of collapsed shelters," said Jonnie. "I don't think your rules apply to noncombatants, Lord Dom. And even if they did, not even you could stop those Scots. They're on their way to save what they can of the Scottish nation."

Jonnie walked into ops. The place was in a shambles left by the hasty departure. Only the Buddhist woman communicator and Stormalong were there. She had finished her messages and was sitting back, head bowed, exhausted. They had been on straight duty for days without rest. This was the first "Russia?" said Jonnie to Stormalong.

"I sent the whole contingent at Singapore there over half an hour ago. They took everything they had. It 's just a flight over the Himalayas and they'll be there in another couple of hours. I don't know what they'll find- we haven't heard from Russia for a couple of days."

"Edinburgh?" said Jonnie. "Nothing for the last hour."

"Did I hear you sending everyone at Victoria to Scotland?" said Jonnie. "What about the prisoners there?"

"Oh, they gave Ker a blast rifle." He saw Jonnie's look. "Ker says he'll blow their heads off if they so much as move an eyebone! They left that old woman from the Mountains of the Moon to handle their diets. And all your vital notes are safe-' He was about to add "here" when he saw Lord Dom at the door and looked at him.

Lord Dom said, "I didn't wish to intrude but I couldn't help overhearing. Haven't you left this whole conference area, maybe this whole continent, maybe the planet, without air cover?"

Jonnie shrugged and pointed to Stormalong. "There's he and I."

This startled Lord Dom. He quivered a bit.

Stormalong laughed and said, "Why, that's twice as many as there used to be! Not long ago, there was just him! him!"

He pointed at Jonnie.

Lord Dom blinked. He stared at Jonnie. The young man didn't seem worried at all.

Lord Dom went off and told his colleagues about this. They discussed it considerably among themselves.

They decided they had better keep a careful eye on Jonnie.

Chapter 10.

Jonnie stood outside the ops room door and looked around the bowl. How quiet it seemed.

The older Chinese children had quieted the younger ones and gotten them to bed. The dogs were silent, exhausted from the excitement of a while ago. The emissaries had all gone off to their apartments or guard duty over Schleim. There were no sentries in sight. The place seemed deserted. Even though it was not late yet.

To one brought up in the silences of mountains, the calm was welcome.

It might be the sort of calm that is followed by blasting storm. But it was a moment's calm.

Too many situations were running all at the same time for him to have any peace of mind. Who knew what would happen as a result of the emissary trial: he did not trust them. What would occur after this "temporary suspension" of war? What would they find in Edinburgh? In Russia? He told himself he had better not let his mind dwell long on these last two places or he would edge over into anxiety and grief.

That book he had read- that said you could handle things if you did one of them at a time: good advice.

Psychlo! He had been living in such a tornado that the question of Psychlo had become a sort of dull pain like a toothache. Was there any danger of counterattack? Or was that just a shadow?