第25节

'Sir, it would be wrong for me to give the impression that it would be

a walkover but I think it would be safe to say you would definitely

achieve an element of surprise."

The eight Assessors reacted with varying degrees of excited

astonishment. Assessor 5 turned to Fran. 'Ma'am - do you realise what

we've got here? This could be the breakthrough the Fed's been looking

for. I think you ought to wire it through to AmEx straight away!"

Fran nodded amiably. 'I share your excitement. But let's not go

overboard.

I know we have night-scopes and other infra-red weaponry but you seem

to be overlooking the fact that a lot of our people are terrified of

the dark too. However, I'm sure that's a problem we will be able to

overcome." She turned to Steve. 'I must thank you for revealing such

a valuable piece of intelligence - even if it took you four days to get

around to it."

Steve assumed a chastened look. 'Ma'am, in my defence, I can only say

it must have been because of what you've just said. Knowing how most

of our people feel about the dark, I guess the real importance of it

just didn't jump out at me. And with so many other things to tell you

about..."

'Yes,' said Fran. Yes, she thought. I can see why people get sucked

in by the winning smile, the strong, honest face, the direct,

unflinching gaze. It's the eyes, Brickman. You're clever. You do

your best to hide behind them but I can still see you in there.

They're right about you, Brickman. You've got potential. But you need

a lot more practice. Or maybe a few private lessons...

Locking her fingers together, she flexed them back and forth then sat

back with her elbows on the arms of her chair and placed her

forefingers under her chin.

'Let's get back to the escape. I accept your explanation of why you

were able to gain access to the arrowhead so easily but - when you took

off - it was almost light. Did no one else witness your departure?

Did none of these eagle-eyed warriors in the surrounding guard posts

fire at you?"

'No, sir-ma'am. I was glad they didn't, of course but, like you, I

found that kinda strange. Maybe it had something to do with the fact

that both wordsmiths were away at the time. As I mentioned earlier,

the clan always seemed to be a more cohesive unit - much more on the

ball - when they were around." Steve paused, as if weighing up what to

say next. In reality, he had it all worked out. So far - apart from

the unintended revelation about the Mute's odd habit of shutting down

for the night - everything had gone as planned. The start had been a

trifle sticky but he had recovered brilliantly.

Onwards and upwards, Brickman. 'A posse of them trailed me but I

stayed high and soon lost them in the mountains. Ever since then, and

especially over these last few days, I've wondered why they gave up so

easily and why they let me build the arrowhead in the first place. '

Fran raised an eyebrow. 'And...?"

'Ma'am, the only thing I can think of is that they wanted me to

escape.

That's why they didn't kill me right at the beginning when I crashed

into the cropfield. They wanted me to bring back a message."

'And what message is that, Steven?"

'The Talis -' Fran cut him short with a wave of her hand. 'That's

enough!" she exclaimed abruptly.. She punched a button on the control

panel of her video and spoke into her table mike. 'Rewind the current

tape and give me an edit facility on this station." Her voice was

hard-edged, efficient. Her presence took on an extra dimension. A

commanding arrogance that went way beyond the assured manner with which

she had controlled the proceedings of the last few days. It was

fascinating to see the mask slip. Chilling, yet exciting at the same

time.

Steve's eyes met hers. I was right, he thought. You are Family!

Fran returned his gaze. Now he knows. NOW he knows!

Steve heard a high-pitched gibble-gabble of dialogue as Fran

backtracked over the tape then hit the Stop button and went into

Play.

'... a posse of them trailed me but I stayed high and soon