r."

"Oh." She seemed to accept that, but Thark was familiar with her
curiosity, and it would be no surprise to him if she kept trying to
find out. He would have to be careful to keep his shield up.

"All I can tell you now," he said, hoping to ease that curiosity, "is
that it will bring proper symmetry to the Cosmos."

That statement served only to make Corina even more curious. Thark had
seemed preoccupied for the last half year, and so had the other Seniors
she knew. It was clear that something was going on; she had sensed it
for some time. She had asked nothing about what she felt, knowing that
Thark was reluctant to discuss it. Now, though, it appeared that
whatever this "Crusade" was, it concerned her own future. That fact,
she felt, gave her the right to know about it.

She probed at Thark's shield again, but he was too strong for her to
penetrate it. All she knew was what she had overheard, and even then
she had gotten little information. Only the term "Crusade," the fact
that she was somehow involved, and a mixed feeling of obligation and
impending triumph. But what kind of triumph, and over what? Or . . .
who?

"Is it something that will affect the Empire?" she asked.

"Something that will improve it," Thark replied. "You must admit it is
not perfect--"

He was interrupted by a mindcall from Valla, head of the Sanctioners
and his chief lieutenant. *What is it, Thark? I felt your
disturbance--*

*Not now, Valla!*

Her thought cut off, but too late; the momentary distraction had
enabled Corina to break through his lowered shield. He could see, as
well as feel, her reaction, and it was what he had feared.

Corina was both shocked and angry. Shocked that Thark would even plan
such a rebellion, and angry that he had expected her to participate.
Thark had not been raised as an Imperial citizen; she had, and could
not understand his desire for change. Yet she liked him as a friend as
well as respecting him as a teacher--she did not want to believe he
would actually go through with such a thing.

Her thoughts were a turmoil of conflicting loyalties. The Empire, she
had been taught and firmly believed, was what kept the peace between
planets and systems, while allowing maximum freedom on-planet through
the ruling nobility. Thark retained his title of High Adept, though he
could have claimed the title of Planetary Baron, and was virtually as
powerful as he would have been before the Empire