The Szuiltan Alliance (The Szuiltan Trilogy) (16 page)

The Reagold Corporation! High Priest Shigra's words returned to him once more,
an abomination
! This was what the Controller and his accursed treaty had brought the Church to, bargaining with an organisation whose very reason for existence the Larnian faith expressly preached against. It was part of the heresy that was the Aksian faith that their church actively embraced the technology of the Reagold Corporation, not out of necessity but out of greed for its luxuries and effort-saving benefits. However, the instructions in the message were clear and had even continued by giving him precise instructions on what he was to offer. Even as High Priest to the Controller of Earth, the highest of all offices in the Priesthood, he was bound to follow the dictates of the High Council.

He turned his head and the light sparked from the Reagold logo in the chair. Pushing himself up in disgust, he strode away from the chair. This whole station reeked of the Reagold Corporation. He was not surprised that they already had a senior representative here.

He glanced at the clock again. Soon now. The message from Reagold's representative had reached him just under two hours ago. Loadra had suggested this time for the meeting because of the gathering currently taking place in the Controller's quarters. He had also suggested using his own room as the location as it was less suspicious for someone to be visiting the High Priest than it was for the High Priest to be seen skulking around the station, entering strange rooms.

He breathed deeply, steadied himself. This was something he must do, whatever his personal feelings. Control. It was of utmost importance. Control and behaviour worthy of the High Priest to the Controller. So much depended on him. The High Council had shown its faith by entrusting this to him, now he must prove that faith well founded.

The soft buzzer of his personal communicator, secreted within his priestly robes, buzzed with the pre-arranged signal. He waited, muscles held stiff with nervousness despite his years of training in emotional control. The buzzer sounded again, a complex pattern, the second signal.

He opened the door to his suite of rooms at the same moment his visitors reached it.

There were six people in total, four of whom were Loadra's priests, dressed in their full robes, robes that concealed the powerful weapons they carried. Of the remaining two, one was tall, muscular, and had the alert look of a trained bodyguard. He was smartly dressed in a loose fitting one-piece suit, obviously tailored to him specifically. Loadra could see no tell-tale bulge of a weapon but he had no doubt that the man was armed. The other was a woman in her middle years wearing, surprisingly, or so thought Loadra, a loose fitting trackover such as those worn by the traders of Sellit and other lower order workers. Her only adornment was a short cape, fastened at her neck with a silver brooch, that came to rest over her shoulders as she stopped in the doorway. In keeping with current popular fashion she wore no makeup and a single chain-link earring which fell from her lobe, almost hidden beneath a shock of near-white hair, fastened to a gold ring surgically implanted in the loose skin of her neck. It was an unfathomable fashion statement popular with the youth on several of the galaxy's more populous worlds, although not, thankfully, Earth. There had even been a report produced on the subject for the High Council to peruse, as there was on anything that might be seen as a threat to the Church's order. It was curious and unpleasant to see this aberration of the young displayed on one of mature years, but then much that passed for fashion originated from Reagold and its damnable fashion design robotics. He should not be surprised that their representative should also act as a walking advert for their products.

"Welcome, High Priest Loadra, to our space station. I hope you are being well looked after?"

Her voice was soft and pleasantly lilting in its accent, but any comforting effect it may have had was lost on Loadra. He had noted and disliked the use of the word
our
in relation to the station. Was it simply a casual use of the word from one who spent much of her time here, or did it hold disturbing suggestions of the true influence of Reagold? What was the message behind her choice of words? Was it a coincidence that her first utterance should hold such a suggestion of her corporation's power?

He forced his voice to be calm, but refused to fall into the apparent casual and friendly tone she had adopted.

"Things are not entirely suited to my tastes, but then, in such an unholy place, how could it be otherwise?"

If she was surprised or offended by his reply she showed no sign of it, preferring instead to remain silent, a slight smile on her face.

"Now," continued Loadra. "May we dispense with these unnecessary pleasantries and proceed with our business?"

Again she did not speak but waved a dismissive hand towards her bodyguard who withdrew outside the door. Loadra glanced to his priests and they did the same. He closed the door, leaving himself and the Reagold Corporation's representative alone.

He jumped, his finger poised over the door control, as her hand reached for her hip pocket. She stopped and he was convinced her smile broadened slightly.

"May I?" she said, not waiting for an answer but pulling out a small box-like device. "Just a precaution, you understand?" She studied the box for a moment and then slipped it back into her pocket.

She seemed to notice, for the first time, Loadra's puzzled and slightly alarmed expression.

"It's one of our newest devices," she explained, maintaining the same soft and lilting voice she had first used. "An improvement on our previous scanners. I needed to be certain we were not overheard."

A scanner for bugs and other spying devices, thought Loadra, but so small! Despite their hatred of all that Reagold stood for, the Larnian Church would need to investigate this and consider the usefulness of such an easily concealed device.

"The suite had already been checked." He would not let her think he was stupid or naive enough not to have had the place thoroughly scanned.

"I'm sure it had, High Priest, but this latest invention of ours detects so much more."

Loadra did not doubt the truth in her words, but they still angered him. So superior, so confident, so hateful! He suppressed the angry words that threatened and, instead, indicated one of the armchairs in the centre of the room. As she sat, he seated himself directly opposite.

Convention and politeness indicated that he should offer his visitor refreshment. He chose not to do so, preferring instead to push straight on with the unsavoury reason for this meeting.

"You have received a message from our High Council?"

He had not even asked her name.

Tina Harrison, Senior Marketing Executive and, for this specific purpose, chosen representative of the Reagold Corporation, was quietly disappointed at the impoliteness. That he had failed to offer refreshment she could understand, it was obvious that he wanted this meeting as brief and business-like as possible, but to ignore even the basic business etiquette of knowing the other's name was, she considered, unprofessional. She had not met face-to-face with a High Priest of the Larnian religion before, but she had been led to understand that they were courteous and professional, if fanatical.

She paused before answering. This High Priest was nervous, agitated by her presence. She had heard much about the Larnian Church on Earth and how it preached against her employers. She could see the effect this meeting was already having in the mind of this man. Her instructions had been clear, however. The Larnian Church must realise just how much they needed the Corporation.

"My office received the communication, yes. It stated the bare bones of what you need. I am sure you can fill it out."

Need.

Her choice of words was well prepared, Loadra was sure. Not
request
or even
desire
but
need
! He had been instructed to bargain with this representative, but she showed no indication of such flexibility. This situation was a business transaction to her, nothing more. The client needs a product. Reagold Corporation can provide that product at a price. There could be no bargaining in such a straightforward deal.

Facing him now was the prospect of very nearly begging, and that angered him even more. This may well be the hardest single action he had ever been requested to perform by the High Council.

"I would prefer to keep this brief." He felt he rushed his words and forced himself to slow down, speak calmly, reasonably. "The Controller's meeting will not go on forever, and he may wish to speak to me following it."

"The Controller's meeting will go on as long as we need, but I will comply with your wish to keep this brief and to the point."

Loadra was stunned but quickly regained his outward mask of composure. It would not be good for the Church to have one of its leading figures so easily surprised by a mere employee of Reagold. But the meaning in her words had been clear. They had someone in the Controller's meeting, someone who would delay the end of that meeting until they received a signal from this woman that it was safe to do so. Was that person among the Stain representatives? That seemed the most obvious. However, he could not rule out the possibility that there was, among the Controller's own political advisors, a spy for this unholy corporation. That was something he must investigate, later.

"The Holy Church is blessed with much power and influence, a sure sign of its righteousness." He fell easily into his sermonising voice. "But even we have our material limits. Spiritually we are infinite, but many of our material resources are eaten away by the need for missionaries and the constant battle against evil and heresy within our own faith."

"The Aksian Priesthood feel the same I believe."

He stumbled over his words for a moment but recovered quickly. She goaded him, but he would not react, he would not!

"The war has taken much from us, but the outcome is sure. Despite this treaty the jihad will continue. There are ways."

"Your ways do not interest me, High Priest Loadra," she interrupted. "Let's cut through all this preaching bullshit shall we? Your Church lacks money. You need resources, equipment. You need technology!"

She knew the word would hurt him. She had read the High Council dictates on technology and, in particular, the technology developed by the Reagold Corporation.

Loadra fought to control the rage within him. Not only did this woman interrupt him and demean the words of a High Priest, he could not help but feel that she mocked him and his Church. Yes, the Church had need of technology as did everyone else, but this was going too far. Memories of High Priest Shigra's lecture and his angry response to that question rose once more in his mind. Could he really deal with these people?

He wanted to throw her out. He wanted to call his priests back into the room. He wanted to order a holy massacre, a bloodbath against this woman and all her kind. Yet his instructions from the High Council had been clear. It must have been a tempestuous meeting. There were many on the Council who felt just as strongly as he did on this matter. Even so, they had come to this conclusion and sent this instruction. He must bow to their combined wisdom.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet, tight with the control he forced upon himself.

"As you say. Your employers seem willing to provide what we wish."

The smile, which had never left her lips, broadened. She detected the feeble attempt to anger her by indicating her position as a simple employee, but it was obvious he had no real understanding of the Reagold Corporation. To be an employee of Reagold was a thing of pride, something to boast about, something others could aspire to. They might choose to use words such as employer and employee, but the Reagold Corporation was every bit as much a faith and a family as any Church of Larn. The man was a fool and she held him in utter contempt.

"And what do you offer the Reagold Corporation in exchange for this help?"

"Unopposed access to Earth." The words were bile in his throat. The Church had spent centuries preaching against the Reagold Corporation, successfully blocking every attempt made to swamp the planet with its products. Earth was one of the few places in the galaxy that had resisted the Reagold Corporation's invasive and sweeping Marketing Campaigns. If it was true that the Reagold Corporation held a massive 95% share of the technological market in the galaxy, then Earth accounted for much of the remaining 5%. What Loadra, under instruction from the High Council, was offering was more than just a change of policy for the Church, it was a change of fundamental doctrine.

Tina controlled the urge to laugh. This was what they had wanted, and what they knew they would get. Reagold products were already on Earth, despite what the Larnian Church believed, but always under secret franchise and by difficult and expensive routes. They could have flooded the Earth market at any time, but while the Larnian Church held such influence and preached so vehemently against them it would have been time consuming and, ultimately, unprofitable. But with the full and public backing of the priesthood, the Reagold logo would infiltrate every part of Earth life. Reagold would become the dominant force, the dominant religion on Earth. These fools were cutting their own throats without realising it.

"I will convey your words to my employers." She chose the word deliberately to show his earlier attempt at humiliation had failed. "They will be in touch with your High Council shortly. Good day."

She rose from her seat and left without a word, her bodyguard joining her as she stepped out of the room.

Loadra watched her go and waved his priests to leave him alone. He felt sick. He felt humiliated. The Controller had driven them to this, the Controller with his unholy treaty. Loadra's hatred burned like acid in his stomach. The treaty might be past stopping, but there was much to do following their return to Earth.

Chapter 29