The Centurion's Empire Read Online Free PDF Page B

sickly sons and daughters of nobles and senators!"
    When Regulus did not reply Doria gave a short, humorless laugh, then returned to her desk and wrote down the figure two thousand on a wax tablet. She did several calculations before looking up again.
    "That raises another question," she said. "Only three
    Temporian men know the Venenum's secret, and one of those is Celcinius. Thus two men produce the Venenum Immortale for 370 people. That cannot be allowed to continue."
    "Why not? It is a secret of power, the ultimate secret that all Temporian control rests upon."
    "I have some figures here, figures about how much time two men would have to devote to making enough Venenum Immortale to allow two thousand people to be refrozen every five years—on average, of course. Two is just not enough. Even ten Venenum Masters would have trouble meeting such a quota. The process should be common knowledge among us."
    "But no more than three have ever needed to know it in the past."
    Doria walked slowly across to the couch where Regulus lay and sat down stiffly, grimacing at the pain from her arthritis. She handed him the wax tablet and pointed to figures with her stylus as he read.
    'Two thousand Temporians would need five times more oil if they are to be frozen and revived at the same rate. Now just think. There are sufficient women in the revival teams to meet the quota. Women could produce all the Venenum that we need."
    "Then women would hold a total monopoly on both freezing and revival. The Adjudicators would never agree to that."
    "If more Venenum is not made, there can be no extra Temporians to govern a bigger empire."
    "There might be if we governed differently." "As kings and emperors?"
    "Exactly. Whatever decision is made, it's going to be a sharp break from tradition, and it will need authority and unity behind it. Only Celcinius can give the Adjudicators that."
    Doria returned to her writing desk and sat with her arms folded, staring at her scrolls but reading nothing. It was some time before she spoke, and Regulus was not inclined to disturb her?"
    "All right then, when do you propose to disturb his rest?"
    she asked, resigned at last and sounding as if she no longer cared what happened.
    "Tomorrow."
    "As soon as that?"
    "The pressure on us is already great. Can your revival teams be ready?"
    "Yes, but Venus is still in the evening sky. Revivals are best done when Venus rises before the dawn, and we shall need the best planetary alignment possible for reviving a ninety-four-year-old man."
    By that time you will have passed your office on to someone else as well, Regulus thought to himself as he swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stiffly rose to his feet. "I shall make my report to the Adjudicators this afternoon. If I am any judge of politics they will vote to take their chances with Venus, and break Celcinius' seal on the equinox." The Cliffs Below Nusquam: 21 December 71, Anno Domini
    Lars and Vespus lay hidden in their sacks of cloth on the altar while the light faded. The cliff beside them towered away into gray mist, but they could see nothing of it. The muleteers had unloaded their shipment of grain, dried fruits, and cloth in the mid-afternoon, leaving the sacks in five neat piles at the center of the altar. Now they were gone, and everything lay unguarded amid the snow and rocks. Nobody came to inspect what was there, no thieves appeared to steal even a single sack. Lars and Vespus had no doubt that they were under observation from somewhere, however, and the two thieves lay very still until after sunset.
    Nusquam, the ancient palace of the Temporians, could no longer be reached by any path. Centuries earlier, when the palace had been completed, the access path had been systematically demolished, leaving only the sheer mountainside. Food, fuel, slaves, and Temporians all came by mule, to be left on the altar.
    The snow had stopped around sunset, and a brisk breeze moaned by the cliff. Somewhere in the