The last time he did that, he had a butchering knife in his hands and a flock of guards on his tail. Today no one thought twice about another young man in a uniform entering the Headquarters.
He walked past the old gold and leather throne still on display and proceeded towards a large outer office. He paused at the desk and nodded to the two men in red jackets.
“Lieutenant Heth, sirs.”
One checked the ledger. “He’s expecting you, Lieutenant. Go right in.”
Heth turned towards the large double doors, opened them, walked through, and shut them behind him.
“A much better entry than six moons ago. Sit down, Heth,” Chairman Mal nodded to a seat in front of him.
Heth sat obediently in the chair he occupied back in Planting Season and waited.
“Normally I would begin by quizzing you on some of your past exam material,” Mal explained, “but you’re not a typical officer-in-training, are you?”
“No, sir.”
“Dormin came to see you, didn’t he?” Mal casually sprung on him. “About a full moons ago?”
Heth’s mouth dropped open. “Uh, yes . . . yes he did. How did you know—”
Mal clasped his hands in front of him. “I know all kinds of things, Lieutenant. Why didn’t you tell me?” His tone turned sharp.
Heth swallowed. “It wasn’t a good visit, sir. He wouldn’t have been interested in what you could offer him.”
“Are you sure?” Mal asked harshly.
Heth nodded and answered swiftly, “Yes sir! He was trying to give me a copy of The Writings. Wanted me to read them.”
Mal pulled a face. “The Writings? Hm. That’s too bad,” he reluctantly admitted. “He had a good mind. Could have used him.”
Heth shifted uncomfortably, having been under the impression that he was the one with a “good mind.”
“Did he question you about your new position?”
“He did. I told him that my great-grandmother left me the gold to pay for Command School.”
“And he believed that?”
“He did, sir.”
“Good. Did he ask why you were here?”
“Yes, sir. Told him I had nothing better to do.”
Mal squinted. “And his response to that was . . .”
Heth shrugged. “He believed it.”
“Coming from you, I suppose it’s not unexpected.”
Heth wondered if he had just been slighted. “When he left, he said he didn’t know if I would ever see him again.”
“Where does he live, Heth?”
“I . . . I don’t know, sir,” he confessed.
Mal leaned forward. “Do you recall that I asked you specifically to find out where he lives if ever you saw him again?”
“You did, sir.” He gulped.
“So what is he doing?”
“Moving rubbish, sir.”
“Moving rubbish,” Mal repeated tonelessly. “Where?”
Heth hesitated. “He didn’t reveal that, sir,” realizing that he shouldn’t add, Because I forgot to ask.
Mal analyzed him.
Heth shifted again, perceiving that the Chairman didn’t have too high of expectations for him. For some reason that made him feel guilty. It took him a moment to recognize the emotion, because it wasn’t one he’d experienced often.
“Did your brother say anything useful? Any suggestion of what he might be up to, or who he might be working with?”
Heth eagerly answered, knowing it would make his brother seem more foolish than him. “A rector. He’s been working with a rector.”
“Hmm,” was all that Mal answered.
Heth was disappointed.
“I’m disappointed,” Mal said.
Heth began to smile, until Mal finished his sentence.
“—in you. I expected more. If you’re going to get what you want, I need to get what I want, too.”
“But sir, he’s not doing anything!” Heth protested. “He’s useless!”
“According to your evaluation, which, unfortunately, is all I have to go on,” Mal griped. “You’re going to have to do better. The next time I require something of you, I expect to be impressed. I’m investing a great deal in you, and when the world gives you something, it wants something in return.”
Heth had never heard that before, but he nodded anyway. “Yes, sir.”
“I need you to be ready for when the moment is right,” Mal said.
“When will the time be right, sir?”
“Well, that’s the issue—the time may come up tomorrow, or not for five more years. Whenever I feel it. I need to reach our target while he’s still vulnerable, at some moment when he’s least expecting it.”
“I think I’ll be ready, sir.”