Politician by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780738806976
Publisher: Xlibris, Corp.
Published: 1985-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10 CONFESSION

Now I knew I could help Dorian Gray; a simple personal request to the premier of Ganymede would produce that baby in hours. Dorian must have known this; that was why she had been so ready to enlist my aid. My captors might not choose to honor their promise, but I, Hope Hubris, the former ambassador to Ganymede, would certainly honor my promise. I had become a better bet for Dorian’s purpose than my captors were. Suddenly it all fell into place, and I believed I could trust her. True, she might be covering all bases, ready to collect from my captors if they prevailed, and from me if I prevailed, but she would probably elect to go with me if she could. That was a comfort to me, because I suspected I would have to tell her more of my memories than I had hitherto, if I was to make further progress. And I did have to make progress, for I didn’t know how much time I had or what my captors really wanted of me. I only knew I had to thwart their plans, and I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know enough.

In due course I was released from the cell, cleaned up, and taken to Scar. “If I may inquire,” I said cautiously, “in what way did I transgress this time? I had not intended to.”

“You play the innocent with me?” Scar demanded curtly. “Confess your crime and I’ll let it go without further ado.”

Was he fishing for something? I gave him the minimum, hoping that was what he wanted. “Then you found out how I escaped my cell at night.”

He nodded. “How long did you think you could fool us about that, Hubris?”

Of course, he had known about it all along, so this was merely a pretext. But I had to play it through, relieved that my true secrets had not been exposed. There was no evidence that Dorian had betrayed me; certainly they would not have punished me openly if she had, for that would have given her away. Why had Scar chosen this time to brace me with this?

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d stop it,” I said with genuine regret. It was not for the discovery but because now he would surely have to cut off my contact with Dorian, to maintain appearances, and I did indeed value that contact. “My only female companionship. I hoped she wouldn’t turn me in.” “She didn’t,” he said.

“Don’t punish her!” I exclaimed with suitable feeling. “She didn’t start it! I used a plumbing rod to jimmy the doors-it was so hard to be alone.”

“Evidently she felt the same way,” he said grimly. “We put her back in the stink-cell too, but she hasn’t talked.”

“Let her out!” I pleaded. “I won’t do it anymore. Maybe she didn’t dare say anything for fear I’d get out again and attack her!”

“You seem quite interested in the slut’s welfare,” he remarked with satisfaction.

“She’s no slut!” I protested, showing exactly that commitment he wished.

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