"Dad? Then Dr. Reine was rescued? But how?"
They both started talking. A moment later Manning Reine joined them,
looking paler and more haggard than before. All three of them talked,
constantly interrupting each other. Gradually Thane got the essential
details.
After the first impulsive, unorganized revolt, the church took over.
It, at least, had an organization. A large part of the armed forces
had joined in. Some, though, had stayed on Candar's side, and there
had been sharp, bitter fighting. But by the time Candar landed it was
about over. This was his greatest victory. He had destroyed the power
of Darzent, and was bringing back, as captives, most of the leadership
of the fleet and of Darzent. In addition, there was Dr. Reine, who had
been discovered in captivity, on the leading staff ship. But when
Candar stepped out into the spaceport, instead of meeting his
adulating subjects, a very determined group of his own soldiers
stopped him.
Thane finally turned to Astrid. "But how did we get away? The last I
remember...."
"You got them all, Roger. One of them hit your leg with a blaster as
he went down. All I had to do was to get you to the anti-grav, and out
of there."
Thane moved the leg, experimentally, and winced. "How is it?"
"Surface burn and shock," Astrid said. "In a week you can ski on it."
"Skiing--haven't done that since I was at Earth University." He
thought for a moment. "How did you get into it, Garth? Did my message
get through to Liaison?"
"Oh, yes. We picked up the recording an hour or so after it was
recorded. I listened to it myself, and it convinced me. It sounded
like you, and I could sort of see what you might have done. I shoved
every available Liaison in the adjacent sectors right into Onzar, on
my own responsibility. It worked out as it turned out. All they had to
do was to clean up the tag-end of things."
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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