STONER knew that the spacecraft was heading for Hell Crater and the Pacific Commerce facility there. Janos had been working for Li-Po Hsen all along
The president of Hungary had been a figurehead, like so many politicians. In this case, the power behind him was the immense financial and political clout of Pacific Commerce
Corporation. Li-Po Hsen. How many other governments did he control? Stoner wondered.
It had never been difficult to corrupt the average politician. Money and power are irresistible lures. And in an era where politics is played out on the media's screens, the most successful politicians are those who could perform before the cameras, those who reveal their need for adulation, their absolute willingness to say anything that the crowd wants to hear in return for the applause, the approval, the worship of the masses.
No wonder most politicians are emotional cripples, Stoner thought. No wonder an egomaniac like Novotny could be seduced by a powerful international corporation's money and influence. It took a rare person, a de Sagres or Nkona or Varahamihara, to rise above such lures.
Are they enough? he asked himself. His star brother replied, They might have been, if someone had not unleashed the Horror upon the world.
The sleepers were stirring. Stoner closed his eyes and saw their landing through the mind of the spacecraft's captain, up in the cockpit surrounded by panels of complex instrument displays as the pinpoint of light set in the dark lunar wasteland grew into a ring of brilliance, domes outlined in colors, landing pad marked with flashing beacons that grew larger and larger as they descended . .
Stoner's mind suddenly filled with his last sight of his daughter floating in the lighted pool, her blood spreading across the crystal water as he was carried aloft by the kidnappers' rocket pack, her dead young body dwindling, dwindling as he rose higher, higher into the dark night.
Zoltan Janos bears responsibility for Cathy's death More than him, though, is Li-Po Hsen. And then Stoner realized there was a third man involved: the traitor whose presence he had felt at his birthday party. Three men.
His star brother replied, At least three. There will undoubtedly be many more.
* * *
"How did you know I was here?" asked Cliff Baker. "I mean, you've got a big facility here and it seems to be jam-packed."
Jo sat tensely, straight upright in her powered chair. Her office at Archimedes was almost exactly like her offices at Hilo and elsewhere. The major difference was that, deep underground, this lunar office had video screens where windows would normally be. At the moment they showed camera views of the barren surface of Mare Imbrium.
She made herself smile at Baker. "I have a subroutine in my daily program that announces the arrival of VIPs."
"I'm a VIP?" Baker's blond eyebrows rose. He was sprawled on one of the small couches, arms spread across its back, slouched halfway down on his spine, booted legs crossed. Instead of the normal lunar coveralls he still wore a sports shirt and chino slacks.
"Don't be coy with me, Cliff." Jo was in metallic silver coveralls. Even the lowliest Vanguard employee at Archimedes could recognize her at a distance of a hundred meters.
"Alright, so I'm an important person. Good of you to let me have a suite at the hotel. I understand it's filled to capacity."
With a slightly nervous nod, Jo admitted, "Everybody who can afford the trip is trying to come here to get away from the Horror. That's why you're here, isn't it?"
"Royt as rayn," said Baker, emphasizing his outback accent. "The bloody plague is starting to wipe out whole cities down there."
"No one's found a way of stopping it yet?"
Baker shrugged. "National governments are starting to quarantine incoming people for twenty-four hours."
"I know. It raises hell with commerce."
"Sure. And it's beautiful when somebody who's quarantined at an airport comes down with the Horror. Talk about riots! Fuckin' troops have had to fire live ammunition into the mob. They're killing thousands every day, and not a peep of it gets into the media. Not even in the U.S.! States have declared martial law."
"It's . . ." Jo groped for a word. ". . . terrible."
"Not for us, though," said Baker cheerfully. "We can sit up here and watch the world tear itself apart, safe and sound. Just goes to prove that, rich or poor, it pays to have money."
Jo felt her nerves tightening. "That's my Cliff. Always ready with a snide remark."
He hunched forward, leaning his arms on his thighs, and almost snarled at her, "So what've you done to help? Run away to the Moon, that's what!"
"And you?"
"There's not much I can do to help, is there? You and your kind won't vote more money for the medics and you dash up here to avoid the consequences."
The bastard knows that Keith's been abducted, Jo said to herself. He knows Cathy was murdered and Hsen's out to get me. But he doesn't give a damn. He's too busy playing his stupid rich-vs.-poor game to care about actual people.
"So--" Baker leaned back in the couch once more, spread his arms again, "--how long d'you intend to stay up here, luv?"
"I've got work to do here," Jo said.
"Sure. Of course."
Suddenly her temper flared out of control. "You think I don't? You think all I've got to do is sit around here and wait for the plague to die down? You think I'm some kind of latter-day Nero?"
Baker grinned, a lopsided show of pleasure at Jo's pain. "I don't see any fiddle, but ..."
Jo jumped to her feet. "Come on with me, Cliff. I'll show you what I've got to do! I'll show you things that'll wipe that damned smug smile off your face!"
An hour later Baker was sitting beside Jo in a converted lunar bus as it lumbered across the desolate Imbrium plain. Originally capable of taking a dozen tourists out across the lunar surface on journeys of a week or more, the bus now carried only the two passengers plus its normal crew of three. Her security troops were all still at Archimedes, waiting for her signal to board ballistic rockets that would loft them
across the airless Mare Imbnum and land them at the secret base within minutes
Rickie stayed at Archimedes Jo was offering herself as bait to trap Hsen, and she did not want Rickie to be involved in more violence So she left him behind, surrounded by dozens of security men and women, as safe as he could be in a world where private armies and mercenary commandos worked at the behest of giant multinational corporations
She was certain that Vie Tomasso was on his way to the base, leading an assault force for Hsen Maybe Hsen himself would come to Delphi base No, she told herself, that would be too much to hope for Tomasso would be there That's enough For now
Briefly she wondered if it was smart to go to Delphi herself, to dangle herself as bait for the trap she wanted to spring on her enemies There's no other way, she concluded Hsen can't pass up the opportunity to get at me Whether he suspects a trap or not he'll send Vie to Delphi to take me She smiled to herself Besides, I want to be there to see the bastard's face for myself
The battle between her and Hsen was coming down to its final moves There was no room in the solar system now for the two of them Either he dies or I do, Jo told herself And he knows that It's gone beyond a corporate power struggle, beyond the battle to control most of the world's wealth and power It's a personal war between the two of us A vendetta Turning those thoughts over and over in her mind, Jo rode in the plushly furnished, wmdowless van toward Delphi base How Nunzio would have been shocked to see a woman involved in a vendetta Women were not supposed to fight They could goad their men to fury, they could nourish the generations-long hatreds that set grandson against grandson, they could recite with bitter tears who murdered whom, but they were not expected to do the actual fighting They stayed at home while the men slaughtered each other, tending to the wounded, keening dirges at the funerals, nursing the acid poison of vengeance all their lives
Nunzio was dead, though Murdered Like Cathy Killed without mercy or reason because Hsen wants my power and Keith's abilities Is Keith dead too' She shook her head Probably not I just hope he keeps out of the picture until I've finished with Hsen I don't want him trying to make me forgive the murdering bastard
She closed her eyes and said to herself, Stay out of my way, Keith Don't try to stop my revenge If you force me to choose between you and Cathy, it'll destroy everything we've had together
As soon as their spacecraft landed, a new team of security people replaced the burlap hood over Stoner's head with a sophisticated black blindfold and a pair of soundproof earphones Stoner had a brief glimpse of the interior of a spaceport hangar and the solemn faces of strangers clustered around him and then the blindfold cut off all light from his eyes
Blind and deaf, he was led to another vehicle, strong hands guiding him and then half-boosting him up a ladder and through a low hatch Someone checked the handcuffs that still pinned his wrists behind his back, apparently satisfied that they were tight enough, the person pushed Stoner down onto a seat and fastened a safety harness across his lap and shoulders
Stoner knew they were on the Moon He recognized the gentle lunar gravity, and his star brother immediately helped him compensate his Earth-trained muscles to the lower pull Then he felt the push of acceleration, like a rocket liftoff but much softer, almost ethereal Before he could take a breath the acceleration died away and he felt weightless as the rocket craft soared across the airless lunar surface
His physical senses cut off, Stoner probed with his mind to find out who else was in the rocket vehicle and where they were heading He sensed fanos and Ilona, but they were the only ones among the eighteen people aboard whom he recognized The others were all men, all strangers, except
He felt the tingle of discovery the same sensation he had felt at his birthday party The same man was aboard this rocket, the traitor from Jo's headquarters Stoner concentrated on his mind and found that Vie Tomasso knew where they were going and why
They were heading for Delphi base, out in the bleak and empty Mare Imbnum where he and Jo were constructing the starship Jo was already on her way there and they meant to trap her there
Why are they taking me there? Probing deeper, he found the answer in Tomasso's mind Li-Po Hsen planned to keep Stoner at the isolated base so that Janos could continue his experiments until he uncovered the secrets of Stoner's abilities Hsen wanted those abilities for himself Above all, he wanted immortality
Stoner felt his teeth clenching together so hard that his jaws hurt Hsen wants immortality for himself and death for Jo He sees himself as a new Genghis Khan, absolute ruler of all the world, immortal and all-powerful He wants to be a god