Haddock looked at this and could not be pleased with the way he had structured his whole process. It was not for nothing that he had categorized his audience so well — he must always have with him those who, at the level of faith, agreed with his arguments. The kind of people for whom his truth is an immutable, almost sacred truth that cannot be questioned even in their own minds, let alone in public.
When he looked at something like this, all he did was to calm down every time. His truth has an ironclad hold on this world. His truth could already exist on its own. These lectures, in fact, were already necessary just to stretch oneself. To shake up the old days, so as not to lose his grip. And for
my own satisfaction and to raise my spirits, it was very important to make sure once again that the system works smoothly and durably. That it was not based on the moment, not on chance, but on verified calculations, which can really exist forever.
Haddock's assistant stealthily entered the hall and quietly approached him. He came very close to him and whispered in his ear:
— Mr. Haddock, Peyton Cross has had a heart attack. And Delaney Harper was found unconscious with him. She has a concussion.
— Did he do that to her? — Heddock asked, also in a whisper.
— I guess so.
— I'm coming. — The head of the Enlightenment section turned toward the hall, where the argument with the clear winners and outsider was still going on, and addressed them:
— Well, it looks like we've got all the answers, so on that happy note, I suggest we end our lecture today….
***
When Heddock had first heard what had happened, he had thought the old man had had a little too much to drink and then misjudged his strength, not out of spite, but rather in a flash of fleeting anger, had hit his girlfriend. But the details were somewhat different: Peyton with his pants down and semen on his own belly, Delaney lying next to a broken head and bloody nose, and an empty glass near the chair. Heddock's opinion changed somewhat after hearing all this.
There was no such thing as an outburst of rage. It seemed like sadism on the elder's part. First he hit her on the cheek, and then he hit her on the head with the glass. It was unclear in what order he had cum, but the interconnection of these things was a little frightening.
Haddock knew about the adventures of his best propagandist, his mind and doubt caster. He knew that Delaney was a frequent visitor, and had seen the details of the meetings several times, even on hidden cameras. The predicament they were both in only told him that, at least initially, things had gone on as they usually did. But something had gone wrong This "wrong" was not yet
clear in Haddock's mind, because Peyton had never been known for any kind of physical aggression.
Yes, he often shouted in arguments, often waved his index finger, made menacing faces and glared not only at his opponents, but at all interlocutors. There was no doubt that this was just a stage role and nothing more. And it was all the more confirmed by the fact that even in those cases, when something could come to a fight, Peyton, seeing it, hastily hid behind the backs of his colleagues, shielding himself from possible danger. And he never tried to hit someone himself, no matter how much he threatened to do so. In short, violence was quite alien to his nature.
But here it looked as if he was whipping a woman who was pleasuring him at the same time. Doing what he wanted. And he responded with a glass to the head. I couldn't think of anything but sadistic tendencies coupled with some other psychotic disorder.
Maybe the old man became so arrogant that he began to think that he was the master of destinies? All sorts of things happen in people's brains, and when you control the mass consciousness of people, the roof can go off in no time — you look back and you don't recognize the person. But why now?
Peyton has been doing what he does for two decades. He's been a member of the Council of Elders for more than twenty years now, since the institution of the Council of Elders was invented. What's happened lately that's so special that he suddenly needs to do something like this? Or has he been doing it for a long time and we just haven't noticed? Wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for his heart attack.? Somebody, and Delaney at least had an answer for that.
***
— Are you feeling any better? — Heddock stood in front of Delaney, still holding the ice rocks to her head. The station used shards of rock cooled from the outside for cooling — temperatures
outside could reach minus 170 degrees Celsius, and by lowering molds with these rocks on special elevators, anything could be cooled instantly.
— I'm disgusted…" the girl was really desperate. In addition to the bruise on her head and the redness on her nose, she had a crying face and a burst vessel in her eye, making it even redder. She was pitiful to look at, especially since Heddock kept thinking of Sierra, who also frequented his office for similar purposes. And though he distinguished himself from Peyton quite thoroughly, the similarity of the situations made him uneasy.
Heddock crouched down beside her and put his arms around her shoulders:
— Delaney, it's all behind us now… Understand, it's better for us to know what happened there… Incidents of violence on the station are very dangerous. It affects all of us… We don't have the ability to relocate somewhere or give second chances at anything. There are only seven thousand of us. You know that yourself. That's all of humanity… We can't have people among us who are dangerous to the rest of us… Delaney, do you realize how important what you know is?
Heddock was very good at making conversation so that no one thought of turning the situation on him. It wasn't the first time he'd had to act on his own, but he couldn't say openly that he was in charge, of course. After all, he was officially not a rank-and-file member, but not the first, not an elder, not the head of the Security Section. And the role that was given to him as the head of the Enlightenment Section only allowed him to act with soft power, to ask for help, to be in the position of someone who needed something himself. And in this line of work it was only possible to ask for something, if it did not concern education and ideology. On the other hand, Heddock arranged things in such a way that ideology became pervasive in all walks of life in society, which meant that any deviation was nothing but his direct work. People didn't want to be guilty under him
— they wanted to do something for the common good, and that was his main advantage over those people who worked in the Security Section.
— I get it… And it's precisely because I get it that I don't feel like doing something that will send Peyton into Tosca.
— Delaney, we're doing everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen. He's an elder. He's supposed to set an example for us. Trust me, no one knows anything about this yet. And I give you my word that nothing you tell me will leave this room…" Heddock put his hand around the room and returned it to Delaney's shoulder. Despite her current battered and weepy appearance, she still looked very attractive. Also with that cutout on her chest. And with a few glances at her breasts from above, being quite close, Heddock felt himself getting aroused, which was bad timing. So he took his hands off her, sat back a little, and crossed his palms and stared into her eyes.
— You promise? Promise that Peyton won't go to Tosca?
— Delaney. No Longing. It's all behind us now. We just need to know what was there.