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wish another war the first was shock-
ing enough and for the most part the rest of the Empire has not yet recovered
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from the surprise of the human action. New possibilities have been awakened
here, and other subject races are beginning to realize it. Odd though it may
seem, revolt hadn't even been considered before.
Despite the revolt and its consequences. High Custom continues on both sides
of the border there is no accept-
able alternative, no agreed-upon human standard of behav-
ior. There is, however, a constant search within the
Constellation for a true culture based on universal human principles the
report of the Constellation Practices Au-
thority has been widely anticipated for the last generation, and is said to be
in the final stages of the preparation.
38 / WALTER JON WIUJAMS
Until the CPA finishes its work, however, Imperial law and custom prevail in
most of the human sphere. Even
Imperial titles and grants of nobility are used as a matter of courtesy,
though they have no official basis in law. The high Imperial caste has been
thrown on its own resources for the first time in its history, and its members
rise and fall by their own abilities. It is something they'd got out of the
habit of doing. Within the aristocracy there is still a prejudice against
working in trade, but some have been reduced to it. Many lost souls wander
from place to place, living in High Custom as much as possible, looking for a
home.
There are a lot of wanderers- After all, if through a fluke of ancestry you
were saddled with being Baron
Drago, Viscount Sing, Duke of Dornier, Prince-Bishop of
Nana, and Hereditary Captain-General of the Green Le-
gion, you could hardly ignore it, and neither, you would discover, would
anyone else. It could hardly have escaped your attention that you were the
hereditary exemplar of a social system that had no function or even relevance,
that existed only because of cultural inertia and then what would you do? Yeam
for the past? Try to reach an accom-
modation with the present? Try to create a future more
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%20Jewels.txt (26 of 171) [10/16/2004 5:37:55 PM]
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Crown%20Jewels.txt agreeable?
You might even decide to steal for a living. Who knows?
A new set of holographic representations rotated in the niches. The day art
was pleasantly different from the night pieces brighter, more cheerful.
"Trouble, boss." Gregor's eyes twitched as he sucked on a smokeless hi-stick.
"We were followed today. Ro-
man and me both."
MaijstraFs ears were still ringing from the aftereffects of
THE CROWN JEWELS / 39
the concert. He frowned as Roman began to work on the complicated knotting of
his jacket. "Police?" he asked.
Gregor grimaced. "Can police afford Jefferson-Singh high-performance fliers?"
Maijstral brows lifted. "Indeed?" He looked over his shoulder at Roman.
"Both shadows were Khosali," Roman reported. "Mine was female, about twenty. I
didn't notice her until after I
had begun my inquiries about Miss Jensen. Then I gave her the slip."
"I spotted mine right away," Gregor said. He shook his long hair out of his
eyes. "He was another Khosalikh, a mate. A big bastard, too, which was how 1
saw him so quick. He was easy enough to lose, though."
"Thrill seekers, possibly," Maijstral said. He shrugged out of his jacket, and
Roman took his pistol and began unlacing the side seam of Maijstral's tight
trousers. "Per-
haps they want the credit for catching us. Or maybe they just want to watch us
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work."
"Mine didn't look like he was out for fun," Gregor said. "He looked like he
wanted to dismember me with his bare hands.''
"Maybe police after all."
"He had that look. But I think he may have something to do with the
commission." He sucked on his hi-stick again.
"Tell him what you found out, Roman."
"Miss Jensen is the local head of Humanity Prime,"
Roman said carefully. His ears trembled with the repressed urge to turn
downward in disapproval. "Mr. Quijano is the treasurer.''
"I see," Maijstral said. Humanity Prime was a group formed to assure human
domination of the Constellation, and its membership ran from perfectly
respectable citizens to denizens of the gutter. The more respectable among
40 / WALTER JON WILLIAMS
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