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or that if he had, it had been recent enough that no one knew.
Dainyl folded the report and tucked it into his uniform tunic, then stood and
hurried out of his study and down the corridor. Alcyna was out, supposedly
dealing with Alseryl s assistants over the matter of younger sandox drivers
being transferred as Myrmidon trainees, as well as discovering why the South
Pass bridge could riot be repaired more quickly.
Captain Zernylta was the headquarters duty officer that was one responsibility
that continued over from her previous position as squad leader. Saddling the
other junior officers with extra watches would not have been a good idea.
 Zernylta, is the duty coach back?
 Yes, sir. Sharua was about to pick up the submarshal at the Palace.
 She can take me to the Hall of Justice, and then pick up the submarshal and
swing back to the Hall and wait for me. I need to see the Highest. If Zelyert
weren t there, Dainyl would leave word with one of his assistants, but he
needed to make the effort.
On the coach ride to the Hall, he couldn t help but worry that he wasn t
making much progress as marshal. That feeling continued, even as he made his
way into the Hall and down to the lower levels, where he rapped on the closed
door.  Come in, Dainyl.
Dainyl stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
 You re obviously seeking me out, Marshal, and you look less than pleased.
What is it that you feel I should know? Before you do, however, thank you for
the information about the piers in Dekhron. It was useful to be able to point
out to Ruvryn that some problems are not caused by Cadmians and Myrmidons.
 You sound as if you may already know what I wanted to tell you. The tables in
Hyalt and Tempre are both functioning again, but it took more than two weeks
support by most of Seventh Company. That meant a great amount of life-force
usage, and High Alector Ruvryn will attempt, if he has not already, to have
Justice pay for rebuilding the freestanding structure destroyed in the
conflict with the rebels in Hyalt.
 He has not said anything yet. Zelyert looked directly at Dainyl.  Why was
destroying the structure necessary?
 As I indicated when I first returned from Hyalt, the question was how many
Myrmidons would be killed by the methods we chose. I chose the method that
would produce the fewest Myrmidon casualties. Had I chosen a method that
spared the structure, Fifth Company would possibly be at as little as
half-strength. I suspect that was in fact what Brekylt had in mind, and that
we would use First Company. We have barely been able to replace the seven
Myrmidons lost from Seventh and Fifth Companies. It is unlikely that we could
replace any significant number more for at least several months. The High
Alector of Transport is less than pleased at our request for more trainees.
The submarshal has been spending much of her time on placating Transport and
seeking more trainees.
 Myrmidons are not supposed to be killed by rebels. Ze-lyert s tone was
mocking.  That is exactly how Duarch Samist stated his objections last week.
 We have not lost a single Myrmidon to landers or indi-gens. We lost every
single one to other alectors, a number to lightcannon that should never have
been built. Dainyl did not mention that he had been forced to kill three of
the rebel-suborned officers of Seventh Company.  That suggests that the High
Alector of Engineering has been rather lax in his oversight, if not tacitly in
support of the rebels.
Zelyert laughed, a low rumbling sound.  I can only suggest laxity in oversight
at the moment. That should be sufficient. He paused, then asked,  Has
anything new happened in the Iron Valleys?
 Third Battalion should be there tomorrow. They were delayed by the floods and
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the loss of the piers at Dekhron. There is no sign of adverse action by the
ancients.
 Not that you know about.
 That is true, sir.
 You may be requested to brief the Duarch on that and to explain again the
reason for your tactics in Hyalt.
 I will be happy to do so, sir. Dainyl had very conflicted feelings about
that, especially about explaining again what he had already explained.
 Is there anything else, Marshal?
 No, sir.
Zelyert rose.  Then I need to depart for the Palace. The Duarch is greatly
concerned about the number of criminals fleeing Ifryn and translating to
Acorus. Even if they are executed immediately, the translation tube linkage
creates a life-force loss. For a handful, that is not a problem, but we re
seeing more than handfuls.
Dainyl stood.  That suggests that order on Ifryn is breaking down and that it
will not be long before the Master Scepter is transferred. He paused.  Is it
possible that some of those translating here have been tacitly encouraged and
allowed to reach the Tables in order to reduce the pressure on Efra?
 There s no doubt about that, returned Zelyert, his tone ironic,  but it
would do little good to tell the Duarch so.
 Because we can t do anything about it but accept alectors or kill them?
 I don t see any of us trying to translate to Ifryn to complain to the
Archon. Zelyert gestured to the door.
 Until later, sir. Dainyl took the hint, bowed, and departed.
As he headed back up the steps to the main level of the Hall, Dainyl could not
help but shiver slightly at what he knew was occurring all across Acorus. The
world was a refuge for alectors, but a refuge that could only hold so many. If
too many flooded through the Tables ...
He shook his head.
23
The sun hung low over the Westerhills, and a cool breeze threatening chill
blew out of the northeast, seemingly straight from the towering cliffs that
marked the Aerial Plateau some forty vingts away. Third Battalion had ridden
all Septi, with minimal breaks, and Mykel s shoulder and back had begun to
ache, reminding him that he was not quite healed from his injuries.
Not long after he saw the waystone announcing Iron Stem was but three vingts
ahead, Mykel ordered the battalion off the road to allow another heavy black
wagon, bearing iron pigs, drawn by eight dray horses, to rumble past them,
heading south for Dekhron. Mykel had not told any of the drivers that the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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