Sleeping Planet by Burkett-Jr. William R

Author:Burkett-Jr., William R. [Burkett-Jr., William R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Goodreads: 20625439
Publisher: Absolutely Amazing Ebooks
Published: 1965-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

"The Terran delegation, my general, awaits your pleasure." Blanatta stood with exaggerated stiffness, resplendent in full-dress uniform.

Sarno nodded. "Show them in, Blanatta, and then carry out your orders."

Blanatta bowed, stood aside. "General Sarno will see you now."

Five glum-looking Terrans filed in—three military men and two civilians. They were followed by a pair of neatly pressed, starched, creased and polished paratroopers who waited for Blanatta to exit, then closed the door and took up positions on either side of it.

"Gentlemen"—he gestured at the length of the conference table—"be seated."

They sat. Five carefully blank faces were turned toward his; five pairs of carefully veiled eyes bored into his own. It happened that the two generals sat on his left and the two civilians to his right, so that he was face to face with the white-hatted space-navy fleet admiral who comprised the fifth member of the delegation.

They were good, Sarno gave them credit—they showed nothing of the conflicting emotions that must be pounding behind those expressionless masks. They could have as easily been here on one of those highly formal social calls such as he had received when military administrator of Risstair as to bargain for the lives of three billion of their kind.

He smiled faintly, feeling the strong wine of victory and power pulsing like molten lead through his veins. For the very first time since arriving on Terra, he began to realize the true magnitude of what he had accomplished. Before, it had been obscured in petty details of conquest duty and the curiously interrelated problem of Donovan, the Unaffecteds and the Spook of Baxter. But now—now he was facing a delegation representative of the leadership of the small but tough Terran Federation, the Federation that had kept all the might of Empire at bay all these long years of semipeace and open war. And it was they who had come to him.

The silence stretched. Finally the leftmost general shifted in his seat, uttered something like a growl deep in his throat. "You know why we're here, Larry. You've got some convincing to do. So start convincing."

Sarno raised surprised eyebrows. "Larry? My, my, general, isn't that taking military brusqueness a bit far? Especially considering the situation?"

That elicited another growl, and the Terran general opened his mouth for a hot retort. He was cut short by the civilian sitting nearest the admiral.

"Easy, Carstairs, we're here to be shown something, not engage in name-calling."

The general fidgeted but subsided, and Sarno regarded the stocky civilian with new interest. Anybody who could cut an irate general down to size must carry a considerable amount of weight.

"Who're you?" he inquired.

"Name's Garcia," the civilian responded easily. "Ryan Garcia."

"Garcia," echoed a phantom voice in Sarno's skull. A key word had been mentioned and the robolibrary listening in on the conversation via various mikes scattered about the conference room had responded. He pressed a stud masked from the Terrans by the edge of the table, triggering the go-ahead.

"Garcia" whispered the voice. "Ryan X. Federation senator, representing the North American Alliance in the Congress.

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