Allies by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Read Free Book Online Page A

and slipped his fingers through hers. She squeezed his
hand, and he settled back, happier than he had been in many a
month. Not even the zamzorn's prick against his ribs cast a shadow
on his mood.
    *
    Val Con relaxed into the
shadows across from the slightly seedy shingled building, the
legend Explorers Club blazoned in bright yellow letters over the door. He had done a
quick check of the building, looking for alternate exits, of which
there was only one, and that one locked tightly. Not that a lock
would necessarily stop, or even slow an Agent of Change, but Val
Con rather thought she would be exiting by the front door,
doubtless on the arm of the untidy old gentleman who had escorted
her inside.
    The Agent, Karin pel'Nara, if the records he
had copied were accurate, had been busy this last while, sowing her
seeds of forbidden tech in the most fertile ground available to
her: the inventors, visionaries and crackpots associated with the
greatest university in Bentrill. That she appeared for the moment
to be concentrating her efforts in Bentrill was a comfort, though a
small one. At least Clonak and the hopefully substantial mop-up
team would have a relatively small segment of the world's
population to deal with.
    On the other hand, the Agent had been
thorough, to the point where Vandar might not be recoverable. Val
Con sighed. The Department's philosophy regarding young societies
had always been one of aggression and exploitation. The death of a
few barbarians; the destruction of unique cultures; the upset of
societies; or the death of entire worlds–none could be allowed to
weigh against the Mission.
    Well. It was hoped that Clonak arrived soon.
A final determination of Vandar's status could certainly not be
made until the pernicious influence was removed.
    And, truth told, the Agent's influence was
hardly any worse than his own in allowing a native of an
interdicted world onto a spacecraft, in telling him things no man
of his world and culture had need of.
    Val Con sighed again, quietly.
    He had tracked down both Hakan and Kem and
assured himself of their continued good health. Indeed, it was the
need to be certain that they had not fallen under the eye of Agent
pel'Nara that had prompted him to infiltrate the Agent's base and
copy those very revealing files.
    Seeing that Kem and Hakan had not come into
the Agent's circle, he had reconsidered his own plan to visit them
and drop a word of warning in their ears. Better not to take the
chance, in case the Agent were after all aware of his presence and
interested in his movements.
    The breeze freshened, rattling the handbills
nailed to the post he leaned against. He wondered, idly, how long
the Explorers Club would meet.
    He was considering the advisability of
moving closer when two figures came 'round the corner, moving
quickly, their footsteps noisy on the cobbled walk. Latecomers to
the meeting, Val Con thought–and then came up straight in his
hiding place.
    For the two latecomers were Hakan and Kem.
As he watched they jogged up the sagging wooden stairs and
disappeared into the depths of the Explorers Club.
    Oh , Val Con thought. Damn .
    *
    The pattern of the last meeting held; after
the presentation Zhena Pelnara was immediately surrounded, and
there was no getting near her.
    "She certainly is admired," Kem said, as
they helped themselves to cider and cheese. "How long has she been
a member?"
    Hakan shrugged. "According to Zamir Fulmon,
the zhena was sponsored into the club during the mid-course tests,
and scarcely missed a meeting until she was called away on
business. The last meeting was her first in some time. I didn't
have time to attend meetings during the tests–which is why I'd
never seen her before."
    "Has she done a presentation?" Kem wondered.
"What's her specialty?"
    "I don't know," Hakan said. "We could check
the event book."
    "Maybe–no, look. She's leaving."
    It did seem as if the zhena was taking leave
of her friends. Zamir Fulmon, Hakan's informant of