Read Empyrion II: The Siege of Dome for Free Online

huge doors and raced toward the next one ahead. Treet waited, holding his breath and praying none of them would glance back and see him standing there playing chameleon. None did; all five, hurrying to get to the Archives, pounded straight ahead.
    Treet inched his way to the door and slipped through. He waited until the corridor was empty and then sealed the door he'd just exited. Then, listening carefully, he made his way to the next set of doors, which he also sealed behind him. No one seemed to be following him. They would not know he had evaded them until they conferred with the others inside the Archives; that would give him a minute or two before they came racing back after him. The doors would stop them only momentarily as they re-entered the code at the lock, but every second counted.
    He was thinking about how best to lose himself in Hage as he burst through the last set of doors—which is why he failed to see the Nilokerus guard waiting for him on the other side.
    Nilokerus Director Hladik was reclining in his suspension bed, stroking the soft flank of his Hagemate as she fed him cherimoyas from a silver bowl, when a chime sounded in the next room. A moment later his guide came silently into the sleep chamber.
    “I told you I was not to be disturbed,” Hladik said.
    “Forgive my intrusion, Hage Leader,” said the guide tentatively, his fingers sifting the air, eye sockets staring emptily into space. “It is from Supreme Director Jamrog.”
    Hladik sighed and lifted his deeply creased face. “Since Jamrog has become Supreme Director, I have not had one moment to myself. Well, what is it, Bremot?”
    “The messenger did not say. You are to go to Threl High Chambers at once. Jamrog is waiting for you there.”
    Eyeing his bedmate hungrily, he said, “I must go, Moira, but wait for me and I will return soon.” She yawned as he kissed her neck, then pulled a sheet over her body and went to sleep.
    Hladik pulled off his hagerobe, donned a yos, and strode into the next room where Bremot stood waiting. “I hope Jamrog is brief this morning. I wish to return as soon as possible.”
    The blind guide led his master through Nilokerus Hage to a lift. They rode the tube down to Greengrass level and entered a guarded corridor where an em stood waiting. At the sight of their Director, the two Nilokerus snapped to attention. Hladik frowned, but passed by without a word, too much in a hurry and too preoccupied to offer the obligatory reprimand.
    Under Bremot's precise control, the em sped along the empty corridor as it bent around and down, dipping below Kyan and coming up on the other side in Saecaraz Hage. The corridor had been constructed well before Sirin Rohee's time, and had served many Nilokerus Directors, providing a well-used shortcut to Threl High Chambers.
    At one time Hladik had dreamed of becoming Supreme Director. But he feared Jamrog, and in that he showed wisdom. Jamrog's ambition was fiercer than his own; he knew Jamrog would ruthlessly remove any rivals to his claim. So, in those early years of Rohee's reign when the Directors were still vying for position and favor in his regime, Hladik had tipped his hand—a risk, certainly, but a very small risk—and let it be known that he considered himself successor material. Jamrog, still assembling his power base then, had been in no position to challenge him since Jamrog himself was a Subdirector and, technically, wielded an authority inferior to Hladik's.
    This had forced Jamrog into the position of having to win Hladik over through gifts and favors. And Hladik allowed himself to be won, selling his ambition for the Supreme Director's kraam, but at a very fine price. He had never regretted his choice—except now, when Jamrog interrupted his intimate affairs for trifles.
    Eventually Bremot brought the em to a stop and led them to another lift. They rode to the upper levels of Threl High Chambers. “Wait here,” said Hladik as he stepped from the compartment.