Read Ambition for Free Online

internal conflict—he will be able to achieve his objectives.”
    “He thinks up the most troublesome ideas.”
    “For the ones who actually execute them, yes. But it’s not like a lot of labor’s required of the one making them.”
    To that indomitable golden-haired youth, Yang figured this kind of thing was nothing more than a game played after meals to help ease his digestion.
    “I don’t suppose you can tell me who’s involved in this plot, can you?” said Bucock.
    “That’s what you call a no can do.”
    “So in short, a coup d’état will probably break out shortly, and you’re saying I have to stop it before it starts.”
    “Once it’s broken out, you’ll need a lot of military force and a lot of time to put it down, and that will leave scars. But if you can stop it before it starts, the whole thing can be settled with a single company of MPs.”
    “I see. That’s a heavy responsibility.”
    “And there’s one other thing I’d like to ask.”
    “Yeah?”
    Yang unconsciously lowered his voice, drawing the old admiral in.
    Seated just a little removed from them, young Julian couldn’t hear what was said. He felt a little disappointed, but if it was something that was all right for him to hear, Yang was sure to tell him eventually. What he had heard thus far was enough by itself to set his heart racing.
    “All right,” said Bucock, nodding firmly. “I’ll see that it reaches you before you depart Heinessen. Of course, it’s best if something like that doesn’t come in handy.”
    Yang blew into the empty paper bag that the fries had come in, inflating it, and then slapped it with his hand. It burst with a loud pop, startling the people nearby.
    “Sorry for all the trouble, but with things as they are, I can’t just carelessly take this to others.”
    Yang tossed away the wadded-up paper bag, and a hemispherical robocleaner zoomed off after it, trailing the melody of a song that had been popular twenty years ago. Bucock tossed his bag toward the robocleaner too, rubbed his slightly protruding jaw, and stood up.
    “I guess that’s it, then. Let’s leave separately. Take care.”
    After the old admiral had disappeared into the city night, Yang and Julian also got up.
    A thought suddenly occurred to Julian as he was walking next to Yang toward the taxi stand. Were the people plotting this coup d’état meeting somewhere out of sight right now, discussing their plans in secret?
    When Julian mentioned that to Yang, Yang smiled with amusement.
    “You bet they are. With better food than we’ve got and a lot more serious looks on their faces.”
VI
    It was a windowless, spartan room, devoid of any furnishings expressive of its owner’s personality. The illumination was dimmed to the point that the faces of the ten or so men sitting around the meeting table were indistinct.
    “All right, let’s go over it one more time. On April 3 of the standard calendar.”
    A red point shone in the lower-right-hand quadrant of the star chart. Soft whispers were exchanged among the men.
    “The distance from Heinessen is 1,880 light-years. It’s located in the middle of the Fourth Frontier District and has a spaceport, a supply collection center, and an interstellar transmissions base. April 3, don’t forget. The leader of the uprising in this sector will be Mr. Herbay …”
    The dark silhouette of the man whose name had been spoken nodded slowly.
    “The second attack will be on Planet Kaffah, on April 5. That’s 2,092 light-years from Heinessen, located in the Ninth Frontier District …”
    The third attack was to take place on Planet Palmerend, on April 8, and the fourth on Planet Shanpool, on April 10. The man explained how the four uprisings were located at points near the surface of an imaginary sphere with Heinessen as its center, and showed on the star chart how they were all far removed from one another. The government would have to dispatch forces to suppress these rebellions, and each of