Read Exile for Free Online

Pynthas Rei scrambling into the tube behind them, stumbling and then falling as the doors hissed shut. The end of his tunic caught in the closing mechanism, and the doors flew open again, revealing Pynthas on the floor, mumbling to himself, trying to crawl farther into the elevator's cage.
    Striding forward on his ticking limbs, Prime Cornelian kicked at Pynthas as the doors once again sealed.
    With a faint hiss, the tube lowered.
    Prime Cornelian turned his head without moving his body and gave his slit-eyed insect's smile to Senator Kris.
    "How nice of you to come! I trust you enjoyed your journey home?"
    "It was pleasant enough," Senator Kris answered. "Until I landed."
    Prime Cornelian maneuvered his body around to face the same direction as his head.
    "More pleasant than the last—or should I say final—session of the Senate. You missed quite a meeting."
    "I demand to know when the plebiscite will take place."
    Prime Cornelian ignored the challenge, moving past the senator to the depths of the room. At the far end, the wall from ceiling to floor spread out in a magnificent window showing a panorama of the city of Lowell below; nearly to the edge of the field, sandstone structures dotted the landscape, while down the center, between the High Prefect's residence and the dome of the Senate chambers a mile distant, spread a mall of pale green grass. Continually fertilized, a soft fescue completely unlike the tough stiff native grasses, it was the only bed of its kind on the planet. Citizens flew kites and picnicked on that expanse; and occasionally it was the site of protest to various government measures—though this day not a protester was in sight.
    Prime Cornelian stopped at the window, took in the vista for a moment, then turned to face the senator.
    "What news have you from Earth? Did you gain the trading pact the late High Prefect sought?"
    "We both know you have no intention of honoring that pact."
    Cornelian shrugged, an eerie gesture. "Soon there will be no need."
    "I've warned Faulkner of your designs."
    "No matter. There is nothing he can do. This is a resource-poor world, and we have been polite about getting what we need long enough. That will change."
    "With war?"
    Cornelian smiled thinly. "You remember that Mars was the god of war, Kris. You forget the wars that were fought here long ago."
    "Those were foolish times, and we've tried to banish that spirit from Mars."
    "Tried, yes. But succeeded? I don't think so. You yourself have watched the people recently. At first they thought me a circus freak. So did the High Prefect. They listened, smiled, and then went back to their daily lives. But in the last months my word has started to take hold. They've begun to listen. As shortages began to affect them—less Earth sugar for their coffee, less Titanian metals for their jewelry—their ears have pricked up. They look around at the other of the Four Worlds and say, 'Why don't we have that? Why must we pay so much for that?' And soon they will be ready to say, 'Why don't we just take that?'
    "You'll never get them to follow you blindly, Cornelian."
    "We both know how wrong you are, Senator. The amount of unrest following the Senate's and High Prefect's departure was surprisingly small. I crushed it, of course. It also helped that I blamed the High Prefect's assassination on Venusian agents. The Senate was wiped out by agents from Earth, of course."
    Senator Kris barely held in his boiling anger. "They won't follow you into war."
    "Oh, but they will. They want someone to lead them, to tell them what to do. A little terror may be necessary, of course—but in the end they'll follow gladly. Already the old war spirit is resurfacing. Enlistment in the Marines is up thirty-five percent!"
    "Once again I ask you: When will the plebiscite take place?"
    Prime Cornelian's eye slits narrowed. "I notice that your daughter did not come up with you. Is she resting?"
    Senator Kris said nothing.
    "Did she