and gaunt cheeks, and there was something compelling about the way he held his shoulders. Nadia wore a cap, with long hair spilling out of it. Her slacks showed her trim figure and the cut of her blouse heightened the fullness of her breasts.
Behind them followed two peacekeepers in helmet and dark visor. The peacekeepers wore body-armor but lacked combat weapons. Shock-rods dangled from their belts.
“I wish they’d leave us alone,” Nadia said.
Marten glanced back and grunted. Hawthorne hadn’t returned from orbit. It made his—Marten’s—standing on Earth more problematic. He needed to get his space marines back, tell Omi to hurry here and then find passage back up to space to the patrol boats. He never should have let the marines go to Athens. His Jovians were crazy interested about ancient Greek ruins.
Marten scowled. He didn’t like the feel of the crowds. The two peacekeepers paced them. There was something going on. He—
“There he is!” a woman shouted.
Marten almost drew his gun, but he hesitated.
“You!” the woman shouted. She was hidden but nearby. “Push those people back. You, make sure to use zoom. I want close-ups of his face.”
Police whistles began to blast.
“What’s going on?” Nadia whispered.
Before Marten could answer, several dozen new peacekeepers in red riot-control uniforms stepped through the crowd. They wielded shock-rods as the weapons sizzled with electric power. People screamed, shoving and pushing one another to get away from the red-suited thugs.
“Stand back!” a peacekeeper shouted through his voice amplifier. “Make room for the Information Advisor.”
As the red-uniformed peacekeepers drove the crowd apart, a woman with glossy lips and a stylish pantsuit approached Marten and Nadia.
Nadia sidled closer to Marten, gripping his left arm with both of hers.
Behind the woman—Nancy Vance by the crowd’s whispers—came several men with video devices, followed by thick-limbed security personnel wearing black armor.
“I’m speaking today with Jovian Representative, Marten Kluge,” Nancy said toward the cameras. She smiled. It was a radiant thing. She had sparkles in her hair and wore a shimmering blouse.
Marten pried his fingers from the butt of his holstered gun.
“Hello, Marten Kluge,” Nancy said, turning to him.
“Try to smile,” Nadia whispered.
Marten did try. The hundreds of people staring at him, however, made his scalp prickle. The curious knot of humanity pressed toward the guarding peacekeepers and the busy cameramen.
“Have you enjoyed your stay on Earth?” Nancy asked.
Marten nodded.
“The Jovians are a taciturn people,” Nancy explained to the cameras. “They ponder philosophic insights as they struggle to engage themselves with the regular world.”
“You think I’m a philosopher?” Marten asked, bemused.
Nancy made an elaborate bow. “I do not wish to presume, sir. On Earth, social justice and a fair distribution of the wealth supersede airy notions of archetype and forms.”
“Both political systems are useless these days,” he said.
Nancy Vance’s eyebrows rose. “You do not believe in an equal distribution of wealth?”
“Be careful, Marten,” Nadia whispered.
Marten scanned the crowd, noticing how people listened for his answer. Years ago, he had endured the hall leaders prattling about their empty slogans. How he’d longed to speak his mind then.
“You should ask yourself a question,” Marten said.
Nancy nodded politely.
“Do the directors live as simply as apartment dwellers? You know the answer. Directors, hall leaders and other functionaries go to high-class parties, dine at the best eateries and receive top-grade medical procedures. Apparently, not even the lords of Social Unity believe their own slogans.”
Nancy turned to the crowd. “Notice the craft which Jovians frame a question, which they then answer. It is diabolically clever. Notice, too, the effort our Jovian Representative has gone to learning our norms. It shows great intellect and the belief in hard study.” Nancy turned back to Marten. “On Jupiter the philosopher-kings possess incredible mansions. There—”
“On Jupiter?” Marten asked.
Nancy Vance smiled more brightly. “You are the Jovian Representative, correct?”
“I am.”
“Then Jupiter—”
“Jupiter is the gas giant,” Marten said. “No one can live on it. The people of the Jupiter System live on Europa and Ganymede, the moons orbiting—”
Nancy laughed in a delightful manner as she turned to the cameras. “Jovians are logicians, known for their lack of humor and rigorous attention to detail. It appears that Marten Kluge is no exception. I ask you,” Nancy said, turning back to Marten, “do all Jovians go armed as you do?”
“Don’t say anything else,” Nadia whispered.
Marten stared at the cameras, at Nancy Vance and then at Nadia.
“I apologize if I have touched upon a taboo subject,” Nancy said. She turned to the cameras. “Life is strange and unordered on the fringes of the Solar System. There, men and women must go armed to protect themselves from lawless behavior.”
“It’s not like that,” Marten said. “People should go armed so the government fears them more than the people fear the government.”
Silence swept over the crowd. Nancy Vance turned back to him, frowning in disbelief.
Nadia’s arms tightened around Marten’s bicep.
“We go armed so we can be free,” Marten said. “We have guns in case thugs in red-armor try to march us to the slime pits. We refuse to live beneath others who would attempt to tell us exactly what we can and cannot do.”
People in the front of the crowd began to murmur.
The tip of Nancy’s tongue touched her glossy lower lip. “Representative Kluge—”
“Once they take your guns, you’re no longer free,” Marten said. “Once you fail to speak your mind, you’re a slave to the system. I know. I once stood up for—”
“Marten,” Nadia whispered in his ear.
Nancy’s eyes brightened. “Please, be free with us, Marten Kluge. Tell us what we were about to say.”
Marten’s desire evaporated as he studied the crowd. People glared at him, some muttering angrily. His fingers twitched, and he longed to draw his gun.
“Give us your Jovian wisdom,” Nancy Vance said in a sugary voice.
“I’m late!” Marten declared. “I have an appointment with the Transportation Minister. Our two systems are working together so we may destroy the cyborgs and bring wealth and prosperity to Earth. If you will excuse me…”
Nancy Vance nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Kluge.” She turned to the crowd. “Make way for the Jovian Representative. He brings aid to our battered world.”
People glared at Marten, but they listened to Nancy Vance and slowly parted.
Nancy indicated several peacekeepers. “Escort the representative to the elevators. We don’t want the people to mob him.”
Marten glanced at her. Then he grabbed Nadia’s hand. Together they hurried for the elevators. It was time to get off the streets.
