The Cause of Death Read online

  To her relief, Jamie had just enough wit left to chime in. "We thank you for this boon, and for extending to us the comforts of your home."

  The Thelm smiled, clearly pleased that the two thick-witted humans had finally managed to understand. "You are most graciously welcome," he said. "You shall travel there with me now, in my private aircar."

  "Again, we thank you most gratefully for this further honor," Hannah said.

  At that moment, the big doors at the end of the warehouse slid silently open. The Thelm's private vehicle came inside, as quiet as a whisper. Two security-agent types popped out of it and stood at the ready.

  There was a brief flurry of farewells. Georg was going to a different destination, and would depart at a different time on a different route, for the sake of security and of keeping a low profile. The Stannlar were going to stay where they were. Everyone else was to travel with the Thelm back to the Thelm's Keep.

  Marta and Georg stepped into the office warehouse for a private good-bye, and came out again after a minute, arm in arm, reluctant to be parted once again. The others did their best not to watch, and to offer the couple some sort of time by themselves.

  "One thing--well, one of many things I don't understand," said Hannah to Zahida, taking her off to one side and speaking in a low voice. "Not to be rude or anything, but Georg is accused of what amounts to treason."

  "Go further," Zahida said. "He has to all intents and purposes been found guilty of treason, based on his own sworn statements that he refuses to do what is required. The finding will become permanent if, ah, no change in the situation has taken place before the statutory time period expires in about four days."

  "All right, then," Hannah said, making up her mind to be blunt about things, "why is Georg Hertzmann wandering around free? Why hasn't he been locked up?"

  Zahida looked at Hannah sharply, then laughed. "Forgive me. To a Reqwar Pavlat like me, the answer is so obvious that the question would never enter my mind. He is free so he will be able to go ahead and--so he can do what is required if he so chooses," she said, correcting herself in midsentence. It was clear that even Zahida thought it best to be careful about what she said. "He has until the time period is expired to 'fulfill his obligation as the eldest son,' as I believe the law reads. Obviously, he has to be at liberty in order to carry out that obligation."

  "Obviously," Hannah said, feeling a trifle dizzy. "But he wants to make it as clear as possible he is not going to commit the--ah, act." If Zahida was being careful in talking about the Thelm's death, Hannah decided she would do likewise. Was there some law against it, or just a strong tradition? "So he moves out of the Keep and into a glass-walled building and invites the world to keep an eye on him."

  "Exactly," said Zahida. "You're starting to understand how we think around here."

  "Oh, good," said Hannah.

  "Is it good?" asked Zahida. "I was about to add, 'if you call that thinking.' But come on. The loving couple has finished their good-byes. Let's get everyone but Georg into the Thelm's car before they start up again."

  * * *

  The Thelm's aircar took off--and the Thelm started in on Jamie almost before they had leveled off. "I must say again, Lawkeeper Wolfson, Lawkeeper Mendez, how pleased I am--we all are--that the two of you did indeed come to us."

  "We are delighted to be here," Hannah lied politely.

  "Good, good." Thelm Lantrall hesitated, then went on, addressing Jamie rather than Hannah. "Forgive me, Lawkeeper Mendez, if I do not indulge in many pleasantries, but things are not very pleasant for any of us just now. The point is, while I very much appreciate the fact that you need time to think things through--and have had next to no time to do it--I wonder if perhaps it might be helpful if you told us something of your thoughts on a solution, however imperfect, to our problem. Perhaps one or more of us could help guide your thinking in some way."

  I'll just bet you want to be helpful, Hannah thought. And it doesn't have the least thing to do with pressuring him to speak now, would it? She could hardly blame the Thelm for asking, but she wanted desperately to keep Jamie quiet until she got him alone--but they were there in the Thelm's own private car, traveling to his home, to live under his roof--and, as she had reminded Jamie herself that very afternoon, a BSI agent was supposed to be part-diplomat. What was she supposed to do? Order the Thelm of all Reqwar to be silent? The Thelm probably had it figured that Hannah would want a chance to corner Jamie, and was deliberately leaning on him before she had the chance.

  Jamie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Before I do that, Great Thelm," said Jamie. "It would be helpful if I asked you a question or two about the legal situation, if that is permitted. We are strangers here, and cannot know all. I might quickly learn whether my idea is of any use."

  "Of course, of course," said the Thelm, most earnestly. "Please, go on."

  "First off, you are an absolute monarch, or very near to one, and yet it is quite apparent that you cannot protect Georg in the present case. Could you explain that?" Jamie asked.

  "A good point. For the very reason that it would invariably put fathers in judgment over their sons, cases concerning mandated parricide are automatically removed from the jurisdiction of any land-thelm or thelek or High Thelek or whatever who would otherwise have the right to lessen or cancel a lawful sentence. I am specifically excluded from granting mercy in such a case as this.

  "The Court of High Crime has sole jurisdiction over Georg's case, and I cannot interfere. If I tried to interfere, that would be construed as treason after the fact. After the fact because the sovereign cannot commit treason against himself. Therefore, in the moment I committed an act deemed treasonous, I would cease to be the sovereign. I would be executed in the same moment as Georg to prevent the survivor of the two of us from claiming that the death of the other removed the legal basis for the charge against the survivor. In other words, if he was killed first, I might claim that my attempt to save him was moot, and therefore my treason was moot, and therefore I was again sovereign. If I was killed before Georg, he might point out that leaving me alive was his crime, now rendered moot, and--well, you see the point."

  "I do indeed," said Jamie. "I apologize for bringing up such unpleasant topics."

  Everyone else in the car was clearly uncomfortable with the repeated mention of the Thelm's death, but the Thelm was not. Zahida's behavior in their chat at the warehouse made it clear that it was at the very least bad manners to discuss the death of the reigning Thelm. But for all of that, it was the duty of the Thelm himself to make arrangements for his own death. It made for tricky conversation.

  "Let us talk of perhaps less unpleasant hypotheticals," said Jamie. "I understand that Georg attempted to escape, hoping to avoid the mandated duty that way. It seems that it would have been very convenient for all concerned if he had escaped. Why was that prevented?"

  The Thelm chuckled. "I ought to flap my ears in indignation and waggle my finger at you for asking why I didn't break my own laws. But you have already seen enough of subordinates being helpfully incompetent and dutifully misunderstanding their orders. However, if Georg had escaped, had managed to vanish, leaving me with no immediate heir, and the High Thelek next in line for the Thelmship--then right now we'd have a full-blown civil war on our hands.

  "Things have calmed down for the moment--but things might well get very dangerous again, very quickly, if Georg were to, ah, meet his punishment in four days. There are many of my people who would not stand for the High Thelek being next in line to take over. They might well see violence as the only way out. And the High Thelek might judge, and judge rightly, that his only chance to triumph, or even to survive, would be a bit of preemptive violence on his part.

  "Beyond all that, Georg misjudged the political situation quite badly when he chose which way to run. At the time my guards caught him, he was headed straight for the border of lands belonging to a certain local landowner who had shown great loyalty to the High Thelek--and great skill
in misunderstanding orders correctly. Georg would not have survived a day in his custody."

  "Would the same problems apply to Georg's openly going into exile?" Hannah asked, hoping to divert the conversation away from whatever Jamie's bright idea was. The Thelm was clearly in a mood to talk. Maybe she could string him along until the car landed. Maybe then she could find some way to grab Jamie and talk to him alone for five minutes--for half a minute--before any more damage could be done. "I have heard and seen references to a law that seems to say that nobles who depart the planet without leave from the Thelm are stripped of their titles. Wouldn't that apply to Georg?"

  "No, and for two reasons," said the Thelm. "First, the same law that takes him out of my jurisdiction of mercy removes him from my jurisdiction of permission, and for similar reasons. If a noble leaves the planet without my permission, I am not required to strip him of his titles, lands, properties, and wealth--but I can if I so choose. I have the discretion, and use it, on a case-by-case basis. The knowledge that I could slows the departure of our wealthier citizens, believe me.

  "But this must not be applied to the heir. Say that Georg was opposed to one of my policies, argued against it, and planned to reverse the policy when he came to power. Say that I grew weary of his complaints, and, perhaps wanted to protect my policy. All I would have to do would be to force him off the planet by whatever means I wished, fair or foul, or perhaps just wait until he went on a holiday somewhere, declare that he had departed without leave, then debar him from the succession. The law prevents such abuses.

  "The second reason is that Georg could come back, despite being debarred, weeks or months or years or decades later. Our history is full of exiles who return, have people flock to their cause, and stir up no end of trouble for the Thelm of the day." He smiled. "I will deny it if you quote me publicly, but that more or less describes how my great-great-great-grandfather came to the Thelmship.

  "And if Georg were exiled," the Thelm went on, "he would not even need to come back in order to become an automatic focus point for dissent against my rule, or that of my successor, whoever that might be. He would not even need to take an active part in the dissent. He could even publicly denounce the dissenters, and it might not matter. His mere existence would be a temptation to plotters and conspirators as long as he lived--perhaps longer. They would only need to say that he was secretly with them, or some such nonsense. Forgive me for even mentioning this, my dear Marta, but if Georg were exiled, and then died, you, or even his daughter, Moira, might become some sort of involuntary rallying point or bargaining chip."

  Jamie nodded. "That all makes sense," he said. "But I think--I think--none of it presents any impediment to my not-very-pleasant or satisfactory solution. Am I correct in assuming that the political situation has now stabilized somewhat? The facts on the ground might not be greatly changed, but emotions are now not running as high?"

  "A fair summing-up."

  Jamie leaned forward toward the Thelm and spoke intently. "I assume you still feel it vital that the High Thelek not be your successor."

  "Yes, that is essential."

  "Very well. So, if I have it straight, the reason exile is no good is that Georg might come back. Someone could claim to be revolting in his name, clearing the way for his return--even if Georg had nothing to do with the revolt. But if Georg left the planet, under circumstances where it would be impossible for him to return, and that was made clear to the public--would it be possible for you to arrange an alternate successor? Perhaps by adopting a suitable young noble? Forgive me if that is a distasteful suggestion, but I do not know your ways well enough to know what is and is not proper."

  The Thelm thought. "If Georg departed in such a way that he could not return--though I don't see how that can be assured--and if things were done quietly, carefully, slowly--then yes, it might be possible. The High Thelek would make no end of trouble, getting that near the prize, then being pushed away--but perhaps he could be bought off. Name him the Regent-Designate during the young heir's minority, if I picked someone young."

  Jamie leaned farther forward, his voice eager, caution forgotten. "Then maybe, maybe, it is possible. My idea is Penitence."

  Hannah cringed, and her insides tied up in knots. Oh, Jamie Mendez, you bloody fool.

  Everyone else in the passenger compartment, even Zahida, reacted with surprise, even alarm, but the Thelm merely frowned and looked puzzled. "I don't quite see how Georg's expressing sorrow and regret will solve the problem," he said.

  Jamie was puzzled in turn for a moment, then understood the point of confusion. "What? Oh! No, no, forgive me, noble Thelm. I used the Lesser Trade word, when I should have used the English-language place name, Penitence. It is a place so well known--perhaps I should say notorious--among humans, or even anyone who has spent time with humans, that I forgot that you would not know of it."

  "Penitence is a penal colony," said Hannah, her voice stiff and precise. "It is used instead of capital punishment by most human governments."

  "Without going into a lot of detail, it has been designed so that it is difficult to get to--but impossible to leave," said Jamie.

  "It is also a hellishly nasty and dangerous place," said Marta, speaking for the first time since they entered the car. "It might not technically be a death sentence to send Georg there, but you would almost certainly be sending him to an early and unpleasant death. That it is used instead of a death sentence should tell you a lot."

  Hannah swore under her breath. Mendez was a fool twice over for having made the suggestion while Georg's wife was there to hear it. But too late now.

  "It isn't a good place to be," said Jamie. "I won't pretend it is. I said my solution wasn't very good. But surely, noble Thelm, it is better than Georg's being executed, or his being forced to kill you. And, of course, it would have to be a voluntary exile. He would have to agree."

  Zahida winced visibly, and Hannah cursed. How could he have so little sense that he spoke that bluntly of the Thelm's death in the Thelm's presence?

  But the Thelm did not seem to notice, or care. He was thinking, considering. "What of his family?" the Thelm asked. "Do you propose sending them, as well? Or do you propose sundering husband from wife, father from daughter, for all time?"

  "Noble Thelm, to be honest, I have not had the chance to think that far."

  "It is even possible, permissible, to send the family there?" asked the Thelm.

  Jamie shifted uncertainly, and glanced to his right, where Marta sat, speechless with fear, rage, doubt, anger.

  And who could blame her? Hannah asked herself. After all, just a few moments before, the Thelm had been pointing out that Marta or their daughter Moira might potentially become a focus of dissent if Georg were removed from the scene. Obviously, it was the Thelm of all Reqwar doing the talking and the thinking, not loving and indulgent Grampa Lantrall. And was he even wrong to consider exiling them, as well? If they went away and could never, ever, come back--then they would be as good as dead, insofar as serving as a rallying point for dissent.

  Jamie's face grew pale as he spoke into the silence. "It is possible and permissible, under some circumstances, noble Thelm," he said. "I will not attempt to make things sound better than they are. Penitence is a rough and wild place, settled by murderers and worse. But there are fortified towns, defended places, where the settler-prisoners--and the descendants of settler-prisoners--struggle to make a decent home for themselves. If this thing was done, I am certain that arrangements could be made to land Georg Hertzmann, and, if it came to that, his family, in such a defended town. It would be a matter of landing enough materials, equipment, and supplies with each person in order to compensate for accommodating new mouths to feed, new backs to watch."

  Hannah shook her head. What the devil else was Jamie going to commit the human race to? She had to speak. She knew better than to disagree with her partner in the midst of outsiders, in the presence of the Thelm, but she could at least point out the difficulties
. "I must emphasize that the road to Penitence is strictly one-way," she said. "Going there would be a life sentence, a permanent exile, for whoever was sent. Leaving alone the question of what is and isn't physically possible, there is a moral element, an ethical element, that will have a strong effect. I can tell you for certain that the United Government of Humanity and the people of Earth and the human worlds will not like these ideas. It would be bad enough to send someone there as a punishment for not committing murder. It would be far worse to send someone there as punishment for being related to someone being punished for not committing murder. Speaking personally, I cannot advise sending a child there under any circumstances."

  "Can you advise that a son be required to kill his father?" the Thelm demanded. "Can you advise that a father be forced to stand by and permit the execution of his son--for the crime of letting that father live? Can you advise that I require all the fathers and sons and mothers and daughters of Reqwar to live under the rule of an unprincipled, unthinking opportunist like the Thelm whom Caldon Saffeer would become, and be required to suffer his government, and the political upheavals and ecological collapse it will likely cause if he succeeds me?

  "Shall I spare one or two or three individuals of the necessity of living in an unpleasant place, and instead allow starvation, food riots, planetary climate failure, and the death of Reqwar? You frame it as my choosing this or that for my family, for those that I love. But it is a choice between death and life for my people, my world, whatever the consequences for individuals. And if that is the case, then I will choose life--life for my people, life for my son who would otherwise die, life for his family, albeit life in a cruel place--and yes, my life as well."

  There was silence in the passenger compartment of the Thelm's car as Thelm Lantrall thought through the new idea, the dangers and the possibilities. It was Marta who dared to break in on his thoughts. "Father Lantrall!" she said at last. "Please! Do not do this! Find some other way, some other place to send us."