Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

bleeding and dazed on the ground, but the medics couldn't get to them. Most of the medics were frankly too scared even to try. Where the two sides did occasionally manage to get at each other, fistfights and worse broke out immediately. The peacekeepers and the security forces were running scared. They hadn't a hope of controlling or even containing the situation anymore, and everyone knew it. They hadn't been trained in how to deal with mass civil insurrection. No one had ever thought it would be necessary.
    No one had drawn a weapon yet, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time now.
    "Send the troops in," said Tel Markham, Member for Madraguda. "The peacekeepers are out of their depth. Someone's going to get hurt soon. Really hurt. Call out the army. Let them handle it. One look at trained professional fighting men, and the mob will fall apart."
    "What if they don't?" said Lewis.
    "I'm reluctant to have armed troops running loose in the city, attacking civilians," Douglas said heavily.
    "The last thing we need is for this to escalate. Lewis is right. If the crowds see troops bearing down on them with weapons in their hands, they won't run; they'll go crazy. Intelligence says a lot of the marchers are armed, some of them with energy weapons. They were expecting trouble. I don't want blood and bodies in the streets. That smacks too much of the bad old days; the kind of tactics Lionstone was famous for. We're supposed to be better than that. We need a way to defuse this situation, before anyone gets seriously hurt."
    "Exactly," said Meerah Puri, Member for Malediction. "Troops haven't been allowed into the Parade of the Endless for over a century. Not even for parades. We mustn't let this mob panic us into taking measures we might regret later."
    "If those thugs break through the barriers and storm the House, we could end up regretting that even more," said Rowan Boswell, Member for Hercules IV "They've got fire in their bellies and blood in their eyes. Let them even scent weakness, and they'll take the House by force; and we could all end up hanging from ropes!"
    "Hysteria doesn't suit you, Rowan!" snapped Gilad Xiang, Member for Zenith. "Take a few deep breaths and stick your head between your knees. Before I have someone do it for you. There is no need
    for panic. We're all perfectly safe in here. There's no way the protesters can get to us. The House has been on security Red Alert ever since the suicide bomber got in here, and all the old defenses have been reactivated. The House has its own blastproof steel doors and interior force shields. We could stand off an army if we had to. Whatever happens out there, we're safe."
    "We still don't know how that bloody bomber got in!" said Boswell shrilly. His face was pale, and his mouth was trembling. "Maybe we should . . . agree to meet someone from the Church. A delegation . . ."
    "We are not opening our doors to a mob!" Tel Markham said immediately. "We can't give in to threats.
    We certainly can't afford to appear weak before them. Give the Church Militant an inch, and we'll never be free of them. And if we start making concessions to the Church, where would it all end? They aren't the only extremists with demands. We have to set an example. Show everyone that we can't be intimidated. We have to break up the mob, and send the militants packing. And for that we need the army!"
    "The troops are in their barracks, outside the city limits," Douglas said steadily. "Even if the House gave the order, it would take time for them to assemble and set here in force. I doubt we'd see them in under an hour.
    And a lot can happen in an hour; especially if the mob found out armed troops were on their way to shut them down."
    "How would they find out?" said Boswell.
    "Don't be naive," said Xiang. "This demonstration didn't just happen; it was organized. By people who aren't stupid enough to be down here themselves. Whoever they are, you can bet they'll be monitoring this situation very carefully. If we give the order, you can bet the militants will know almost as soon as the troops. And then the shit really will hit the fan."
    "There is ... an alternative," said Lewis, and everyone in the House turned to look at him.
    "Is there, by God?" said Douglas. "I for one would very much love to hear it."
    "The Paragons," said Lewis. "You've got over a hundred Paragons in the city right now, sitting around waiting for the Royal wedding. Call them in. The mob will take one look at that