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of Landbrides Suiza. "It may be that having her designate you Landbride-to-be would help that plus
your marriage to a Vicarios would prove that the Suizas were not involved in interstellar
politics."
CHAPTER FIVE
Hobart glared at Oskar Morrelline, former head of the
Morrelline branch of his sept. "You were outmaneuvered by Venezia," he said. "That fuzzbrained
sister of yours cost us market share and dropped profits twenty-eight percent "
"It's not my fault," Oskar said. "If "
"Oh yes, it is." Hobart interrupted smoothly. "Your daughter Ottala what is it with the women in
your family, anyway? goes haring off to Patchcock and gets herself killed. That's what started
it a daughter you didn't control any better than Bunny controlled Brun "
Oskar had flushed an ugly color; Hobart enjoyed that as he always enjoyed exercising power. "No,
Oskar. I can't trust you to do it right, whatever it is. I cannot give you a Ministry. In a few
years, I expect the public climate will change, and then, perhaps, we can find something for you."
"You expect my vote but you aren't giving me anything?"
"I expect your vote because you know where your advantage lies. Even if they had it to give, you
would get nothing out of that clique Bunny ran. And they do not have it to give, not anymore."
Oskar glared, but subsided, as Hobart had known he would. Oskar was a blusterer, but if that
didn't work he had no second weapon. Hobart always had a second weapon and a third and a fourth,
he thought to himself. He changed his tone, and went on; if Oskar could get it through his head
what the problem really was, he might be useful.
"Whoever controls the rejuvenation process controls everything as long as the public doesn't rebel
against rejuvs. We must take steps against the Ageist conspiracies; the shortlifes, if they
realize the danger they're in, outnumber us at this point and could be dangerous.
"But Venezia says "
"Venezia is a fool. Yes, something had gone wrong there, something serious. A Benignity spy, if I
understand the little that's been declassified. But it's not as bad as all that. Women are so
excitable, not to mention sentimental, and Venezia in particular "
Oskar nodded eagerly; Hobart smiled to himself. How the Morrelline brothers hated having Venezia
in charge! "All she ever did was play with pottery " Oskar said.
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"Quite so. How could she know anything about the real world? She could not be expected to realize
how many lives would be disrupted prematurely ended, with the shortage of rejuvenation
drugs because of her finicky insistence on exact procedures."
"But Hobart how do we get it back? How do we get her out of there?"
Exactly the opening he'd hoped for. "By doing precisely what I tell you," Hobart said. "I need
your support at all the Grand Council sessions; I will let you know what I need you to say, and
how to vote. With more sympathetic, more cooperative Ministers, we should be able to ease dear
Venezia back into her supportive role."
"She won't like it," Oskar said, puffing out his plump cheeks.
"I don't care whether she does or not," Hobart said. "I am not going to let one woman stand in the
way of progress for the Conselline Sept." He looked forward to that moment, probably more than
Oskar did. Venezia had been a constant nuisance at sept board meetings, poking her nose into all
sorts of inconvenient corners. He'd had to roust her out of his own offices more than once, where
she chatted up the clerical staff and wheedled who knows what out of them. She seemed to think she
had a moral mission to clean up the whole sept.
"Our responsibility to the whole Familias . . ." she would say, while Hobart ground his teeth.
They had no responsibility to the whole Familias; they had a responsibility to Family
shareholders. Period. He wasn't going to urge her to go on making faulty drugs. Bad for business,
and people would be watching carefully. Beyond that, though, it wasn't their business to be
saints, if that's what she had in mind.
"If Kemtre had not been a weak man, none of these disasters would have happened. He drugged his
son into stupidity, and then created those damned clones."
"I don't see that cloning is such a bad thing."
"No, nor do I, except that we have a rapidly growing population anyway. We don't need clones; we
need sensible strong men who know how to handle the hysterics. No offense." He eyed Oskar, but
Oskar didn't mind if Hobart called his sister hysterical. "Now, Oskar, I want you to have a word
with the Broderick Institute, and tell them to do their homework a little better "
"The Broderick Institute? What have they done?"
Sometimes he wondered if Oskar had a brain. Venezia, for all her impracticality, had wit enough.
"Oskar, the Broderick Institute is where Dr. Margulis works." Oskar still looked blank. "The same
Dr. Margulis whose report on the so-called bad drugs coming out of Patchcock started a near panic
in the market "
"Oh that Dr. Margulis. But I thought "
"He's come up with more the man is a closet Ageist, I'm sure, just looking for any excuse to scare
people away from rejuvenation. Broderick has given him free rein for the past fifteen years, and
look what that so-called independent research has led to. It's cost you, and me, and the whole
Familias. He needs to be controlled; at the very least, someone needs to do impartial research
showing how beneficial rejuv is. And since the Conselline Sept provides over two-thirds of the
money to support the Broderick Institute, they need to be reminded of the importance of truly even-
handed science."
"Won't they complain about academic freedom?"
"They're not a university; they're a privately funded research facility. If you're tactful,
they'll get the point without blowing up. That's your job."
Oskar left, finally, and Hobart puffed air out explosively. Idiots. He was surrounded by idiots
and incompetents, and they all wanted something from him. He glanced at his desk and told his
secretary to send in Pedar Orregiemos. Another idiot. Minor family, major nuisance, but also a
born bootlicker, and those could be useful.
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Pedar came in looking smug about something. Hobart had no time for Pedar's self-congratulation.
Besides, he would be even smugger, with more reason, very shortly. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]