[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

astonishment. "Oh, Jesus, Skilly, sure
I'm sorry, didn't fuckin' recognize you, honest!" He relaxed slightly as she
smiled whitely.
"Not sorry enough," she said, grabbing his thumb with her free hand and
jerking sharply backward.
His eyes bulged, and his free hand scrabbled for the automatic at his waist.
Skilly released his hand, and her elbow moved in a short chopping arc that
ended on his temple; there was a thock, and another as he collapsed back into
the chair and his head dropped limply to the table. There were nervous grins
from the other cardplayers, hoots and guffaws from all around; the woman moved
through the throng slapping palms and backs, calling greetings and declining
Page 43
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
offers of drinks as she led the others to the door at the back of the room.
Niles swallowed. "Well, I'm certainly not going to press uninvited attentions
on that lady," he said, fiddling slightly with the catch of his Jujitsu
laptop. It would be ten minutes before they could join the others.
Murasaki looked up from doing calculations on his wristcomp; this time his
smile showed real amusement. "Let us hope, Niles-san, that she does not choose
to press her attentions on you."
Niles took a swallow of his drink. Grand-Uncle had promised him an experience
that would show what he was made of. So far, it was living up to the advance
billing. Collecting himself, he glanced at the ceiling. Time for the
conspirators to meet and plan; he smoothed back his fluffy blond mustache with
a finger and practiced his grin.
Adventure, complete with exotic dusky maiden, he thought. I'll just remember
not to offer her a thumb.
* * *
"Excellent," Kenjiro Murasaki said. "As a beginning."
It was a small meeting: Croser and Skida on the one side, the Meijian and his
equally stone-faced aide on the other. The small upper room smelled of wine
and spilled beer and sweat; there were stains on the blankets that covered the
cot in the corner, and a scribble of names knife-carved in the broad pine
planks. There were no papers on the table. A first-rate memory was a condition
of leadership in work like this.
The Meijian continued. "I am particularly pleased with the slow, careful
preparation for overt action, the building of funds and organization."
"Protracted struggle," Croser said. He did not like the Meijian; the man was a
mercenary, someone who made war for money, not principle. But there was no
doubt of his competence; Grand Senator Bronson
Earth Prime, remember that did not spend good money on incompetents.
"Exactly," Murasaki nodded. "Now, Capital Prime, with the assets I have
brought, we may proceed much more rapidly from the phase of organization and
low-intensity guerrilla struggle to that of large-
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis...Falkenberg%203%20-%20Go%
20Tell%20the%20Spartans.txt (41 of 159)20-2-2006 23:17:51
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruiswijk/Mijn%20d...lle%20-%20%
20Falkenberg%203%20-%20Go%20Tell%20the%20Spartans.txt scale destabilization.
Indeed, I believe we must work quickly. The reports of the War Cabinet meeting
today indicate that Major Owensford has already begun mobilization."
"You can overhear War Cabinet meetings?" Croser asked.
Murasaki bowed slightly. "Let us say they are not as secure as they believe.
You will understand, Capital
Prime, my men are specialists and technicians, not soldiers in the strict
sense of the term. What we can do is give you secure communications, subvert
the enemy's communications and computer networks, and provide a small but
crucial increment of highly advanced weapons to offset those employed by the
Spartan government. Occasional direct action of a limited nature."
"That's the Royal government," Croser corrected. "The Movement is the
legitimate government of
Sparta."
"As you say. Now, despite this, the enemy will maintain superior conventional
military power almost to the end. As your own plan outlines, we must keep the
struggle on a political level as far as possible." He smiled, an expression
that went no further than his lips. "In this we are aided by the nature of
reality, and the arrow of entropy. It is always easier to tear down than to
build, to make chaos rather than order, to render a society ungovernable
rather than to govern effectively.
"So. First, we must weaken and immobilize the governing class, the Citizens.
Split them along every possible fault line. Next, we must detach as many of
the non-Citizens who are loyal to the regime as possible, by driving the Royal
Page 44
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
government into a policy of ineffective repression. This will not be
difficult; to create an atmosphere of fear through terrorism, we need only a
small organization and limited support. The countermeasures, if clumsy or made
to appear so, will furnish us with our mass base.
"In conjunction with this, we strike both covertly and overtly at the economy;
for example, this planet is desperately short of capital, so capital assets
must be destroyed, particularly those which generate foreign exchange. Earth
Prime will be assisting, of course, with financial manipulations which the
enemy has no effective means of countering. Once the economy is locked in a
downward spiral, the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]