This Day All Gods Die by Stephen R. Donaldson Page A

except Holt Fasner."
    For a moment Hashi's explanation held his listeners.
    Koina frowned like a woman who was so lost in what she'd heard that she could no longer frame questions. Chief Mandich said nothing.
    But then Warden murmured distantly, "Don't stop now, Hashi. Finish it.
    "Why Captain Vertigus? Why not Igensard? Or someone with more influence than poor old Sixten?"
    Koina turned a grateful look toward the UMCP director, as if he'd restored her capacity for thought. At once, however, she faced Hashi again, awaiting his reply.
    Hashi found that he no longer enjoyed the sound of his own voice. The mechanics of his new comprehension showed that he was doing Warden's dirty work for him, naming facts and perhaps truths which Warden already knew, and which must be communicated to both PR and UMCPED Security, but which the UMCP director could not articulate himself without compromising his deeper intentions; exposing the nature of his game.
    The bitterness of Hashi's grief grew more acrid.
    "Who better?" he countered. Koina may have thought he sneered at the old Senior Member. If so, she was mistaken.
    "Precisely because he has become peripheral to the workings of the Council, he might be presumed to be an easy target. In addition, an attack on him is less bald, less easily interpreted, than an attempt on our fearsome Special Counsel. And, finally, Captain Vertigus is overdue for retribution. The Dragon never forgives. If he withholds his hand from those who trouble him, it is only because he bides his time.
    "Upon occasion Captain Vertigus has both disobeyed and opposed the UMC CEO."
    Koina nodded. She no longer doubted Hashi: she had already been persuaded; won over. Now she was simply trying to fit the pieces of her new understanding together.
    "But why Godsen, of all people?" she asked. "That's never made sense to me. If anything, I would have said he was"—
    she searched for the right word—
    "irrelevant. A pawn.
    Killing him is like shooting at the decor. It makes a mess, but it doesn't change anything."
    Hashi responded with a shrug of irritation. "His own special relationship with the Dragon was well-known. An attack on him would also appear to be an attack on his master. That is reason enough for his selection as a target."

    The DA director paused to gather his determination, then continued acidly, "Surely it is obvious that our lamented Godsen was not meant to die? Before he was attacked, he received a summons to attend CEO Fasner. Had he obeyed, he would not have been present for assassination.
    "He did not obey, however. The director had restricted him to UMCPHQ. He died because, and only because, he elected to honor Warden Dios' instructions rather than the Dragon's."
    Against all expectation, Godsen Frik had at last discovered his own honor. And he had acted on it by informing his director of Holt Fasner's summons.
    Again Koina nodded.
    Is it enough? Hashi asked Warden silently. Must I continue this charade?
    Inadvertently Chief Mandich spared Hashi. Speaking in a rush, he said, "And Fane made himself look like a target to complete the pattern. Put himself above suspicion. I get it.
    "He could be sure he wasn't in any real danger because he controlled the trigger."
    "Exactly so," Hashi assented. He lacked the energy—
    or
    perhaps the will—
    to give Mandich any other acknowledgment.
    Now that the Chief had finally grasped the thrust of Hashi's explanations, he seemed unable to contain himself.
    His blunt nature demanded action. He turned at once to Warden.
    "Director, what do you want me to do? It's probably a mistake to arrest Fane. If you say so, I accept that. But we can't just sit on our hands with all this. It's too much—
    "My God, it's going to make the Council reconsider that Bill." He swallowed convulsively as the truth struck him. "I mean, what we have is too much to ignore. But it isn't enough." Like all of Min Donner's ilk, he instantly and passionately favored a Bill of Severance. "We need