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diff --git a/41905.txt b/41905.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a625a6b..0000000 --- a/41905.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6486 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captives of the Flame, by Samuel R. Delany - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Captives of the Flame - -Author: Samuel R. Delany - -Release Date: January 24, 2013 [EBook #41905] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTIVES OF THE FLAME *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - * * * * * - - - - CAPTIVES OF THE FLAME - - by SAMUEL R. DELANY - - [Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence - that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - ACE BOOKS, INC. - 1120 Avenue of the Americas - New York 36, N.Y. - - CAPTIVES OF THE FLAME - - Copyright (C), 1963, by Ace Books, Inc. - - All Rights Reserved - - Printed in U.S.A. - - * * * * * - - _This is for Marilyn, of course._ - - * * * * * - - SAMUEL R. DELANY considers _Captives of the Flame_ to be the first - of a trilogy dealing with the same epoch and characters. It is, - however, his second published novel, his first being _The Jewels of - Aptor_, Ace Book F-173, which has received considerable acclaim. - - A young man, resident in New York City, Delany is a prolific and - talented writer, whose work in poetry and prose have won him many - awards. Asked for comment on his literary ambitions, he preferred - to quote one of the characters from one of his works: - - "I wanted to wield together a prose luminous as twenty sets of - headlights flung down a night road; I wanted my words tinged with - the green of mercury vapor street lamps seen through a shaling of - oak leaves in the park past midnight. I needed phrases that would - break open like thunder, or leave a brush as gentle as willow - boughs passed in a dark room.... The finest writing is always the - finest delineation of surfaces." - - * * * * * - - - - -PROLOGUE - - -The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web -of silver fire. Lightning tore his eyes apart, struck deep inside his -body; and he felt his bones split. Before it became pain, it was gone. -And he was falling through blue smoke. The smoke was inside him, cool as -blown ice. It was getting darker. - -He had heard something before, a ... voice: the _Lord of the Flames_.... -Then: - -Jon Koshar shook his head, staggered forward, and went down on his knees -in white sand. He blinked. He looked up. There were two shadows in front -of him. - -To his left a tooth of rock jutted from the sand, also casting a double -shadow. He felt unreal, light. But the backs of his hands had real dirt -on them, his clothes were damp with real sweat, and they clung to his -back and sides. He felt immense. But that was because the horizon was so -close. Above it, the sky was turquoise--which was odd because the sand -was too white for it to be evening. Then he saw the City. - -It hit his eyes with a familiarity that made him start. The familiarity -was a refuge, and violently his mind clawed at it, tried to find other -familiar things. But the towers, the looped roadways, that was all there -was--and one small line of metal ribbon that soared out across the -desert, supported by strut-work pylons. The transit ribbon! He followed -it with his eyes, praying it would lead to something more familiar. The -thirteenth pylon--he had counted them as he ran his eye along the silver -length--was crumpled, as though a fist had smashed it. The transit -ribbon snarled in mid-air and ceased. The abrupt end again sent his mind -clawing back toward familiarity: _I am Jon Koshar_ (followed by the -meaningless number that had been part of his name for five years). _I -want to be free_ (and for a moment he saw again the dank, creosoted -walls of the cabins of the penal camp, and heard the clinking chains of -the cutter teeth as he had heard them for so many days walking to the -mine entrance while the yard-high ferns brushed his thighs and -forearms ... but that was in his mind). - -The only other things his scrambling brain could reach were facts of -negation. He was some place he had _never_ been before. He did _not_ -know how he had gotten there. He did _not_ know how to get back. And the -close horizon, the double shadows ... now he realized that this was -_not_ Earth (Earth of the Thirty-fifth Century, although he gave it -another name, Fifteenth Century G.F.). - -But the City.... It was on earth, and he was on earth, and he was--had -been--in it. Again the negations: the City was _not_ on a desert, nor -could its dead, deserted towers cast double shadows, nor was the transit -ribbon broken. - -The transit ribbon! - -No! - -It couldn't be broken. He almost screamed. _Don't let it be broken, -please...._ - -The entire scene was suddenly jerked from his head. There was nothing -left but blue smoke, cool as blown ice, inside him, around him. He was -spinning in blue smoke. Sudden lightning seared his eyeballs, and the -shivering after-image faded, shifted, became ... a web of silver fire, -the red of polished carbuncle, the green of beetles' wings. - - - - -CHAPTER I - - -Silent as a sleeping serpent for sixty years, it spanned from the heart -of Telphar to the royal palace of Toromon. From the ashes of the dead -city to the island capital, it connected what once had been the two -major cities, the only cities of Toromon. Today there was only one. - -In Telphar, it soared above ashes and fallen roadways into the night. - -Miles on, the edge of darkness paled before the morning and in the faint -shadow of the transit ribbon, at the edge of a field of lava, among the -whispering, yard-high ferns, sat row on row of squat shacks, cheerless -as roosting macaws. They stood near the entrance of the tetron mines. - -A few moments before, the light rain had stopped. Water dribbled down -the supporting columns of the transit ribbon which made a black band on -the fading night. - -Now, six extraordinarily tall men left the edge of the jungle. They -carried two corpses among them. Two of the tall men hung back to -converse. - -"The third one won't get very far." - -"If he does," said the other, "he'll be the first one to get through the -forest guards in twelve years." - -"I'm not worried about his escaping," said the first. "But why have -there been such an increase in attempts over the past year?" - -The other one laughed. Even in the dull light, the three scars that ran -down the side of his face and neck were visible. "The orders for tetron -have nearly doubled." - -"I wonder just what sort of leeches in Toron make their living off these -miserable--" He didn't finish, but pointed ahead to the corpses. - -"The hydroponic growers, the aquarium manufacturers," answered the man -with the scars. "They're the ones who use the ore. Then, of course, -there's the preparation for the war." - -"They say that since the artificial food growers have taken over, the -farmers and fishermen near the coast are being starved out. And with the -increased demand for tetron, the miners are dying off like flies here at -the mine. Sometimes I wonder how they supply enough prisoners." - -"They don't," said the other. Now he called out. "All right. Just drop -them there, in front of the cabins." - -The rain had made the ground mud. Two dull splashes came through the -graying morning. "Maybe that'll teach them some sort of lesson," said -the first. - -"Maybe," shrugged the one with the scars. - -Now they turned back toward the jungle. - - * * * * * - -Soon, streaks of light speared the yellow clouds and pried apart the -billowing rifts. Shafts of yellow sank into the lush jungles of Toromon, -dropping from wet, green fronds, or catching on the moist cracks of -boulders. Then the dawn snagged on the metal ribbon that arced over the -trees, and webs of shadow from the immense supporting pylons fell across -the few, gutted lava beds that dotted the forest. - -A formation of airships flashed through a tear in the clouds like a -handful of hurled, silver chips. As the buzz from their tetron motors -descended through the trees, Quorl, the forest guard, stretched his -seven-foot body and rolled over, crushing leaves beneath his shoulder. -Instinctively his stomach tensed. But silence had returned. With large, -yellow-brown eyes, he looked about the grove in which he had spent the -night. His broad nostrils flared even wider. But the air was still, -clean, safe. Above, the metal ribbon glinted. Quorl lay back on the -dried leaves once more. - - * * * * * - -As dawn slipped across the jungle, more and more of the ribbon caught -fire from beneath the receding shadows, till at last it soared above the -yellow crescent of sand that marked the edge of the sea. - -Fifty yards down the beach from the last supporting pylon whose base -still sat on dry land, Cithon, the fisherman, emerged from his shack. - -"Tel?" he called. He was a brown, wiry man whose leathery face was -netted with lines from sand and wind. "Tel?" he called once more. Now he -turned back into the cottage. "And where has the boy gotten off to now?" - -Grella had already seated herself at the loom, and her strong hands now -began to work the shuttle back and forth while her feet stamped the -treadle. - -"Where has he gone?" Cithon demanded. - -"He went out early this morning," Grella said quietly. She did not look -at her husband. She watched the shuttle moving back and forth, back and -forth between the green and yellow threads. - -"I can see he's gone out," Cithon snapped. "But where? The sun is up. He -should be out with me on the boat. When will he be back?" - -Grella didn't answer. - -"When will he be back?" Cithon demanded. - -"I don't know." - -Outside there was a sound, and Cithon turned abruptly and went to the -side of the shack. - -The boy was leaning over the water trough, sloshing his face. - -"Tel." - -The boy looked up quickly at his father. He was perhaps fourteen, a thin -child, with a shock of black hair, yet eyes as green as the sea. Fear -had widened them now. - -"Where were you?" - -"No place," was the boy's quietly defensive answer. "I wasn't doing -anything." - -"Where were you?" - -"No place," Tel mumbled again. "Just walking...." - -Suddenly Cithon's hand, which had been at his waist jerked up and then -down, and the leather strap that had been his belt slashed over the -boy's wet shoulder. - -The only sound was a sudden intake of breath. - -"Now get down to the boat." - -Inside the shack, the shuttle paused in Grella's fist the length of a -drawn breath. Then it shot once more between the threads. - - * * * * * - -Down the beach, the transit ribbon leapt across the water. Light shook -on the surface of the sea like flung diamonds, and the ribbon above was -dull by comparison. - -Dawn reached across the water till at last the early light fell on the -shore of an island. High in the air, the ribbon gleamed above the busy -piers and the early morning traffic of the wharf. Behind the piers, the -towers of the City were lanced with gold, and as the sun rose, gold -light dropped further down the building faces. - -On the boardwalk, two merchants were talking above the roar of -tetron-powered winches and chuckling carts. - -"It looks like your boat's bringing in a cargo of fish," said the stout -one. - -"It could be fish. It could be something else," answered the other. - -"Tell me, friend," asked the portly one, whose coat was of cut and cloth -expensive enough to suggest his guesses were usually right, "why do you -trouble to send your boat all the way to the mainland to buy from the -little fishermen there? My aquariums can supply the City with all the -food it needs." - -The other merchant looked down at the clip-board of inventory slips. - -"Perhaps my clientele is somewhat different from yours." - -The first merchant laughed. "You sell to the upper families of the City, -who still insist on the doubtful superiority of your imported -delicacies. Did you know, my friend, I am superior in every way to you? -I feed more people, so what I produce is superior to what you produce. I -charge them less money, and so I am financially more benevolent than -you. I make more money than you do, so I am also financially superior. -Also, later this morning my daughter is coming back from the university, -and this evening I will give her a party so great and so lavish that she -will love me more than any daughter has ever loved a father before." - -Here the self-satisfied merchant laughed again, and turned down the -wharf to inspect a cargo of tetron ore that was coming in from the -mainland. - -As the merchant of imported fish turned up another inventory slip, -another man approached him. "What was old Koshar laughing about?" he -asked. - -"He was gloating over his good fortune in backing that hairbrained -aquarium idea. He was also trying to make me jealous of his daughter. -He's giving her a party tonight to which I am no doubt invited; but the -invitation will come late this afternoon with no time for me to reply -properly." - -The other man shook his head. "He's a proud man. But you can bring him -to his place. Next time he mentions his daughter, ask him about his son, -and watch the shame storm into his face." - -"He may be proud," said the other, "but I am not cruel. Why should I -move to hurt him? Time takes care of her own. This coming war will see." - -"Perhaps," said the other merchant. "Perhaps." - - * * * * * - -Once over the island city of Toron, capital of Toromon, the transit -ribbon breaks from its even course and bends among the towers, weaves -among the elevated highways, till finally it crosses near a wide splash -of bare concrete, edged with block-long aircraft hangars. Several -airships had just arrived, and at one of the passenger gates the people -waiting for arrivals crowded closely to the metal fence. - -Among them was one young man in military uniform. A brush of red hair, -eyes that seemed doubly dark in his pale face, along with a squat, -taurine power in his legs and shoulders; these were what struck you in -the swift glance. A close look brought you the incongruity of the -major's insignia and his obvious youth. - -He watched the passengers coming through the gate with more than -military interest. - -Someone called, "Tomar!" - -And he turned, a grin leaping to his face. - -"Tomar," she called again. "I'm over here." - -A little too bumptiously, he rammed through the crowd until at last he -almost collided with her. Then he stopped, looking bewildered and happy. - -"Gee, I'm glad you came," she said. "Come on. You can walk me back to -father's." Her black hair fell close to broad, nearly oriental -cheekbones. Then the smile on her first strangely, then attractively -pale mouth fell. - -Tomar shook his head, as they turned now, arm in arm, among the people -wandering over the field. - -"No?" she asked. "Why not?" - -"I don't have time, Clea," he answered. "I had to sneak an hour off just -to get here. I'm supposed to be back at the Military Ministry in forty -minutes. Hey, do you have any bags I can carry?" - -Clea held up a slide rule and a notebook. "I'm traveling light. In a -week I'll be back at the university for summer courses, so I didn't -bring any clothes. Wait a minute. You're not going to be too busy to get -to the party Dad's giving me tonight, are you?" - -Tomar shrugged. - -Clea began a word, but pushed her tongue hard against the roof of her -mouth. "Tomar?" she asked after a moment. - -"Yes?" He had a rough voice, which, when he was sad, took on the -undertones of a bear's growl. - -"What's happening about the war? Will there really be one?" - -Again he shrugged. "More soldiers, more planes, and at the Ministry -there's more and more work to do. I was up before dawn this morning -getting a fleet of survey planes off for a scouting trip to the mainland -over the radiation barrier. If they come back this evening, I'll be -busy all night with the reports and I won't be able to make the party. - -"Oh," said Clea. "Tomar?" - -"Yes, Clea Koshar?" - -"Oh, don't be formal with me, please. You've been in the City long -enough and known me long enough. Tomar, if the war comes, do you think -they'll draft prisoners from the tetron mines into the army?" - -"They talk about it." - -"Because my brother...." - -"I know," said Tomar. - -"And if a prisoner from the mines distinguished himself as a soldier, -would he be freed at the end of the war? They wouldn't send him back to -the mines, would they?" - -"The war hasn't even begun yet," said Tomar. "No one knows how it will -end." - -"You're right," she said, "as usual." They reached the gate. "Look, -Tomar, I don't want to keep you if you're busy. But you've got to -promise to come see me and spend at least an afternoon before I go back -to school." - -"If the war starts, you won't be going back to school." - -"Why not?" - -"You already have your degree in theoretical physics. Now you're only -doing advanced work. Not only will they conscript prisoners from the -mines, but all scientists, engineers, and mathematicians will have to -lend their efforts to the cause as well." - -"I was afraid of that," Clea said. "You believe the war will actually -come, don't you, Tomar?" - -"They get ready for it night and day," Tomar said. "What is there to -stop it? When I was a boy on my father's farm on the mainland, there was -too much work, and no food. I was a strong boy, with a strong boy's -stomach. I came to the City and I took my strength to the army. Now I -have work that I like. I'm not hungry. With the war, there will be work -for a lot more people. Your father will be richer. Your brother may come -back to you, and even the thieves and beggars in the Devil's Pot will -have a chance to do some honest work." - -"Perhaps," said Clea. "Look, like I said, I don't want to keep you--I -mean I do, but. Well, when will you have some time?" - -"Probably tomorrow afternoon." - -"Fine," said Clea. "We'll have a picnic then, all right?" - -Tomar grinned. "Yes," he said. "Yes." He took both her hands, and she -smiled back at him. Then he turned away, and was gone through the crowd. - -Clea watched a moment, and then turned toward the taxi stand. The sun -was beginning to warm the air as she pushed into the shadow of the great -transit ribbon that soared above her between the towers. - - * * * * * - -Buildings dropped bands of shadow across the ribbon, as it wound through -the city, although occasional streaks of light from an eastward street -still made silver half-rings around it. At the center of the city it -raised a final two hundred feet and entered the window of the laboratory -tower in the west wing of the royal palace of Toron. - -The room in which the transit ribbon ended was deserted. At the end of -the metal band was a transparent crystal sphere, fifteen feet in -diameter which hovered above the receiving platform. A dozen small -tetron units of varying sizes sat around the room. The viewing screens -were dead gray. On a control panel by one ornate window, a bank of -forty-nine scarlet-knobbed switches pointed to off. The metal catwalks -that ran over the receiving platform were empty. - -In another room of the palace, however, someone was screaming. - -"Tetron!" - -"... if your Highness would only wait a moment to hear the report," -began the aged minister, "I believe...." - -"Tetron!" - -"... you would understand the necessity," he continued in an amazingly -calm voice, "of disturbing you at such an ungodly hour ..." - -"I never want to hear the word tetron again!" - -"... of the morning." - -"Go away, Chargill; I'm sleeping!" King Uske, who had just turned -twenty-one though he had been the official ruler of Toromon since the -age of seven, jammed his pale blond head beneath three over-stuffed -pillows that lay about the purple silken sheets of his bed. With one -too-slender hand he sought feebly around for the covers to hide himself -completely. - -The old minister quietly picked up the edge of the ermine-rimmed -coverlet and held it out of reach. After several half-hearted swipes, -the pale head emerged once more and asked in a coldly quiet voice, -"Chargill, why is it that roads have been built, prisoners have been -reprieved, and traitors have been disemboweled at every hour of the -afternoon and evening without anyone expressing the least concern for -what I thought? Now, suddenly, at--" Uske peered at the jewel-crusted -chronometer by his bed in which a shimmering gold light fixed the hour, -"--my God, ten o'clock in the morning! Why must I suddenly be consulted -at every little twist and turn of empire?" - -"First," explained Chargill, "you are now of age. Secondly, we are about -to enter a war, and in times of stress, responsibility is passed to the -top, and you, sir, are in the unfortunate position." - -"Why can't we have a war and get it over with?" said Uske, rolling over -to face Chargill and becoming a trifle more amenable. "I'm tired of all -this idiocy. You don't think I'm a very good king, do you?" The young -man sat up and planted his slender feet as firmly as possible on the -three-inch thick fur rug. "Well, if we had a war," he continued, -scratching his stomach through his pink sateen pajama top, "I'd ride in -the first line of fire, in the most splendid uniform imaginable, and -lead my soldiers to a _sweeping_ victory." At the word sweeping, he -threw himself under the covers. - -"Commendable sentiment," stated Chargill dryly. "And seeing that there -may just be a war before the afternoon arrives, why don't you listen to -the report, which merely says that another scouting flight of planes -has been crippled trying to observe the enemy just beyond the tetron -mines over the radiation barrier." - -"Let me continue it for you. No one knows how the planes have been -crippled, but the efficacy of their methods has lead the council to -suggest that we consider the possibility of open war even more strongly. -Isn't this more or less what the reports have been for weeks?" - -"It is," replied Chargill. - -"Then why bother me. Incidentally, must we really go to that imbecilic -party for that stupid fish-peddler's daughter this evening? And talk -about tetron as little as possible, please." - -"I need not remind you," went on the patient Chargill, "that this stupid -fish-peddler has amassed a fortune nearly as large as that in the royal -treasury--though I doubt if he is aware of the comparison--through the -proper exploitation of the unmentionable metal. If there is a war, and -we should need to borrow funds, it should be done with as much good will -as possible. Therefore, you will attend his party to which he has so -kindly invited you." - -"Listen a minute, Chargill," said Uske. "And I'm being serious now. This -war business is completely ridiculous, and if you expect me to take it -seriously, then the council is going to have to take it seriously. How -can we have a war with whatever is behind the radiation barrier? We -don't know anything about it. Is it a country? Is it a city? Is it an -empire? We don't even know if it's got a name. We don't know how they've -crippled our scouting planes. We can't monitor any radio communication. -Of course we couldn't do that anyway with the radiation barrier. We -don't even know if it's people. One of our silly planes gets its tetron -(Pardon me. If you can't say it, I shouldn't say it either.) device -knocked out and a missile hurled at it. Bango! The council says war. -Well, I refuse to take it seriously. Why do we keep on wasting planes -anyway? Why not send a few people through the transit ribbon to do some -spying?" - -Chargill looked amazed. - -"Before we instituted the penal mines, and just after we annexed the -forest people, the transit ribbon was built. Correct? Now, where does it -go?" - -"Into the dead city of Telphar," answered Chargill. - -"Exactly. And Telphar was not at all dead when we built it, sixty years -ago. The radiation hadn't progressed that far. Well, why not send spies -into Telphar and from there, across the barrier and into enemy -territory. Then they can come back and tell us everything." Uske smiled. - -"Of course your Majesty is joking." Chargill smiled. "May I remind your -Majesty that the radiation level in Telphar today is fatal to human -beings. Completely fatal. The enemy seems to be well beyond the barrier. -Only recently, with the great amount of tetron--eh, excuse me--coming -from the mines have we been able to develop planes that can perhaps go -over it. And that, when and if we can do it, is the only way." - -Uske had started out smiling. It turned to a giggle. Then to a laugh. -Suddenly he cried out and threw himself down on the bed. "Nobody listens -to me! Nobody takes any of my suggestions!" He moaned and stuck his head -under the pillows. "No one does anything but contradict me. Go away. Get -out. Let me sleep." - -Chargill sighed and withdrew from the royal bedchamber. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - -It had been silent for sixty years. Then, above the receiving stage in -the laboratory tower of the royal place of Toromon, the great -transparent crystal sphere glowed. - -On the stage a blue haze shimmered. Red flame shot through the mist, a -net of scarlet, contracting, pulsing, outlining the recognizable -patterning of veins and arteries. Among the running fires, the shadow of -bones formed a human skeleton in the blue, till suddenly the shape was -laced with sudden silver, the net of nerves that held the body -imprisoned in sensation. The blue became opaque. Then the black-haired -man, barefooted, in rags, staggered forward to the rail and held on for -a moment. Above, the crystal faded. - -He blinked his eyes hard before he looked up. He looked around. "All -right," he said out loud. "Where the hell are you?" He paused. "Okay. -Okay. I know. I'm not supposed to get dependent on you. I guess I'm all -right now, aren't I?" Another pause. "Well, I feel fine." He let go of -the rail and looked at his hands, back and palms. "Dirty as hell," he -mumbled. "Wonder where I can get washed up." He looked up. "Yeah, sure. -Why not?" He ducked under the railing and vaulted to the floor. Once -again he looked around. "So I'm really in the castle. After all these -years. I never thought I'd see it. Yeah, I guess it really is." - -He started forward, but as he passed under the shadow of the great -ribbon's end, something happened. - -He faded. - -At least the exposed parts of his body--head, hands, and feet--faded. He -stopped and looked down. Through his ghost-like feet, he could see the -rivets that held down the metal floor. He made a disgusted face, and -continued toward the door. Once in the sunlight, he solidified again. - -There was no one in the hall. He walked along, ignoring the triptych of -silver partitions that marked the consultant chamber. A stained glass -window further on rotated by silent machinery flung colors over his face -as he passed. A golden disk chronometer fixed in the ceiling behind a -carved crystal face said ten-thirty. - -Suddenly he stopped in front of a book cabinet and opened the glass -door. "Here's the one," he said out loud again. "Yeah, I know we haven't -got time, but it will explain it to you better than I can." He pulled a -book from the row of books. "We used this in school," he said. "A long -time ago." - -The book was Catham's _Revised History of Toromon_. He opened the -sharkskin cover and flipped a few pages into the text. - -"... from a few libraries that survived the Great Fire (from which we -will date all subsequent events). Civilization was reduced beyond -barbarism. But eventually the few survivors on the Island of Toron -established a settlement, a village, a city. Now they pushed to the -mainland, and the shore became the central source of food for the -island's population which now devoted itself to manufacturing. On the -coast, farms and fishing villages flourished. On the island, science and -industry became sudden factors in the life of Toromon, now an empire. - -"Beyond the plains at the coast, explorers discovered the forest people -who lived in the strip of jungle that held in its crescent the stretch -of mainland. They were a mutant breed, gigantic in physical stature, -peaceful in nature. They quickly became part of Toromon's empire, with -no resistance. - -"Beyond the jungle were the gutted fields of lava and dead earth, and it -was here that the strange metal tetron was discovered. A great empire -has a great crime rate, and our penal system was used to supply miners -for the tetron. Now technology leaped ahead, and we developed many uses -for the power that could be released from the tetron. - -"Then, beyond the lava fields, we discovered what it was that had -enlarged the bodies of the forest people, what it was that had killed -all green things beyond the jungle. Lingering from the days of the Great -Fire, a wide strip of radioactive land still burned all around the lava -fields, cutting us off from further expansion. - -"Going toward that field of death, the plants became gnarled, distorted -caricatures of themselves. Then only rock. Death was long if a man -ventured in and came back. First immense thirst; then the skin dries -out; blindness, fever, madness, at last death; this is what awaited the -transgressor. - -"It was at the brink of the radiation barrier, in defiance of death, -that Telphar was established. It was far enough away to be safe, yet -near enough to see the purple glow at the horizon over the broken -hills. At the same time, experiments were being conducted with -elementary matter transmission, and as a token to this new direction of -science, the transit ribbon was commissioned to link the two cities. It -was more a gesture of the solidarity of Toromon's empire than a -practical appliance. Only three or four hundred pounds of matter could -be sent at once, or two or three people. The transportation was -instantaneous, and portended a future of great exploration to any part -of the world, with theoretical travel to the stars. - -"Then, at seven thirty-two on an autumn evening, sixty years -ago, a sudden increase in the pale light was observed in the -radiation-saturated west by the citizens of Telphar. Seven hours later -the entire sky above Telphar was flickering with streaks of pale blue -and yellow. Evacuation had begun already. But in three days, Telphar was -dead. The sudden rise in radiation has been attributed to many things in -theory, but as yet, an irrefutable explanation is still wanted. - -"The advance of the radiation stopped well before the tetron mines; -however, Telphar was not lost to Toron for good, and ..." - -Jon suddenly closed the book. "You see?" he said. "That's why I was -afraid when I saw where I was. That's why ..." He stopped, shrugged. -"You're not listening," he said, and put the book back on the shelf. - -Down the hallway fifty feet, two ornate stairways branched right and -left. He waited with his hands shoved into his pockets, looking absently -toward another window, like a person waiting for someone else to make up -his mind. But the decision was not forthcoming. At last, belligerently -he started up the stairway to the left. Halfway up he became a little -more cautious, his bare feet padding softly, his broad hand preceding -him wearily on the banister. - -He turned down another hallway where carved busts and statues sat in -niches in the walls, a light glowing blue behind those to the left, -yellow behind those to the right. A sound from around a corner sent him -behind a pink marble mermaid playing with a garland of seaweed. - -The old man who walked by was carrying a folder and looked serenely and -patiently preoccupied. - -Jon waited without breathing the space of three ordinary breaths. Then -he ducked out and sprinted down the hall. At last he stopped before a -group of doors. "Which one?" he demanded. - -This time he must have gotten an answer, because he went to one, opened -it, and slipped in. - - * * * * * - -Uske had pulled the silken sheet over his head. He heard several small -clicks and tiny brushing noises, but they came through the fog of sleep -that had been washing back over him since Chargill's departure. The -first sound definite enough to wake him was water against tile. He -listened to it for nearly two minutes through the languid veil of -fatigue. It was only when it stopped that he frowned, pushed back the -sheet, and sat up. The door to his private bath was open. The light was -off, but someone, or thing, was apparently finishing a shower. The -windows of his room were covered with thick drapes, but he hesitated to -push the button that would reel them back from the sun. - -He heard the rings of the shower curtain sliding along the shower rod; -the rattle of the towel rack; silence; a few whistled notes. Suddenly he -saw that dark spots were forming on the great fur rug that sprawled -across the black stone floor. One after another--footprints! Incorporeal -footprints were coming toward him slowly. - -When they were about four feet away from his bed, he slammed the flat of -his palm on the button that drew back the curtains. Sunlight filled the -room like bright water. - -And standing in the last pair of footprints was the sudden, naked figure -of a man. He leaped at Uske as the King threw himself face down into the -mound of pillows and tried to scream at the same time. Immediately he -was caught, pulled up, and the edge of a hand was thrust into his open -mouth so that when he bit down, he chomped the inside of his cheeks. - -"Will you keep still, stupid?" a voice whispered behind him. The King -went limp. - -"There, now just a second." - -A hand reached past Uske's shoulder, pressed the button on the night -table by the bed, and the curtains swept across the window. The hand -went out as if it had been a flame. - -"Now you keep still and be quiet." - -The pressure released and the King felt the bed give as the weight -lifted. He held still for a moment. Then he whirled around. There wasn't -anyone there. - -"Where do you keep your clothes, huh? You always were about my size." - -"Over there ... there in that closet." - -The bodiless footprints padded over the fur rug, and the closet door -opened. Hangers slid along the rack. The bureau at the back of the -closet was opened. "This'll do fine. I didn't think I was ever going to -get into decent clothes again. Just a second." - -There was the sound of tearing thread. - -"This jacket will fit me all right, once I get these shoulder pads out -of it." - -Something came out of the closet, dressed now: a human form, only -without head or hands. - -"Now that I'm decent, open up those curtains and throw some light around -the place." The standing suit of clothes waited. "Well, come on, open -the curtains." - -Slowly Uske reached for the button. A freshly shaven young man with -black hair stood in the sunlight, examining his cuffs. An open brocade -jacket with metal-work filigree covered a white silk shirt that laced -over a wide V-neck. The tight gray trousers were belted with a broad -strip of black leather and fastened with a gold disk. The black boots, -opened at the toe and the heel, were topped with similar disks. Jon -Koshar looked around. "It's good to be back." - -"Who ... what are you?" whispered Uske. - -"Loyal subject of the crown," said Jon, "you squid-brained clam." - -Uske sputtered. - -"Think back about five years to when you and I were in school together." - -A flicker of recognition showed in the blond face. - -"You remember a kid who was a couple of years ahead of you, and got you -out of a beating when the kids in the mechanics class were going to gang -up on you because you'd smashed a high-frequency coil, on purpose. And -remember you dared that same kid to break into the castle and steal the -royal Herald from the throne room? In fact, you gave him the fire-blade -to do it, too. Only that wasn't mentioned in the trial. Did you also -alert the guards that I was coming? I was never quite sure of that -part." - -"Look ..." began Uske. "You're crazy." - -"I might have been a little crazy then. But five years out in the tetron -mines has brought me pretty close to my senses." - -"You're a murderer...." - -"It was in self-defense, and you know it. Those guards that converged on -me weren't kidding. I didn't kill him on purpose. I just didn't want to -get my head seared off." - -"So you seared one of their heads off first. Jon Koshar, I think you're -crazy. What are you doing here anyway?" - -"It would take too long to explain. But believe me, the last thing I -came back for was to see you again." - -"So you come in, steal my clothing" Suddenly he laughed. "Oh, of course. -I'm dreaming all this. How silly of me. I must be dreaming." - -Jon frowned. - -Uske went on. "I must be feeling guilty about that whole business when -we were kids. You keep on disappearing and appearing. You can't possibly -be more than a figment of my imagination. Koshar! The name! Of course. -That's the name of the people who are giving the party that I'm going to -once I wake up. That's the reason for the whole thing." - -"What party?" Jon demanded. - -"Your father is giving it for your sister. Yes, that's right. You had -quite a pretty sister. I'm going back to sleep now. And when I wake up, -you're to be gone, do you understand? What a silly dream." - -"Just a moment. Why are you going?" - -Uske snuggled his head into the pillow. "Apparently your father has -managed to amass quite a fortune. Chargill says I have to treat him -kindly so we can borrow money from him later on. Unless I'm dreaming -that up too." - -"You're not dreaming." - -Uske opened one eye, closed it again. And rolled over onto the pillow. -"Tell that to my cousin, the Duchess of Petra. She was dragged all the -way from her island estate to come to this thing. The only people who -are getting out of it are mother and my kid brother. Lucky starfish." - -"Go back to sleep," said Jon. - -"Go away," said Uske. He opened his eyes once more to see Jon push the -button that pulled the curtains. And then the headless, handless figure -went to the door and out. Uske shivered and pulled the covers up again. - - * * * * * - -Jon walked down the hall. - -Behind the door to one room that he did not enter, the red-headed -Duchess of Petra was standing by the window of her apartment, gazing -over the roofs of the city, the great houses of the wealthy merchants -and manufacturers, over the hive-like buildings which housed the city's -doctors, clerks, secretaries, and storekeepers, down to the reeking -clapboard and stone alleys of the Devil's Pot. - -The early sun lay flame in her hair and whitened her pale face. She -pushed the window open a bit, and the breeze waved her blue robe as she -absently fingered a smoky crystal set in a silver chain around her neck. - - * * * * * - -Jon continued down the hall. - -Three doors away, the old queen lay on the heap of over-stuffed -mattresses, nestled in the center of an immense four-poster bed. Her -white hair was coiled in two buns on either side of her head, her mouth -was slightly open and a faint breath hissed across the white lips. On -the wall above the bed hung the portrait of the late King Alsen, -sceptered, official, and benevolent. - - * * * * * - -In a set of rooms just beside the queen mother's chamber, Let, Prince of -the Royal Blood, Heir Apparent to the Empire of Toromon, and half a -dozen more, was sitting in just his pajama top on the edge of his bed, -knuckling his eyes. - -The thin limbs of the thirteen-year-old were still slightly akimbo with -natural awkwardness and sleep. Like his brother, he was blond and -slight. - -Still blinking, he slipped into his underwear and trousers, pausing a -moment to check his watch. He fastened the three snaps on his shirt, -turned to the palace intercom, and pressed a button. - -"I overslept, Petra," Let apologized. "Anyway, I'm up now." - -"You must learn to be on time. Remember, you are heir to the throne of -Toromon. You mustn't forget that." - -"Sometimes I wish I could," replied Let. "Sometimes." - -"Never say that again," came the sudden command through the tiny -intercom. "Do you hear me? Never even let yourself think that for a -moment." - -"I'm sorry, Petra," Let said. His cousin, the Duchess, had been acting -strangely since her arrival two days ago. Fifteen years his senior, she -was still the member of the family to whom he felt closest. Usually, -with her, he could forget the crown that was always being pointed to as -it dangled above his head. His brother was not very healthy, nor -even--as some rumored--all in his proper mind. Yet now it was Petra -herself who was pointing out the gold circlet of Toromon's kingship. It -seemed a betrayal. "Anyway," he went on. "Here I am. What did you want?" - -"To say good morning." The smile in the voice brought a smile to Let's -face too. "Do you remember that story I told you last night, about the -prisoners in the tetron mines?" - -"Sure," said Let, who had fallen asleep thinking about it. "The ones who -were planning an escape." She had sat in the garden with him for an hour -after dark, regaling him with the harrowing details of three prisoners' -attempt to escape the penal mines. She had terminated it at the height -of suspense with the three men crouching by the steps in the darkness -and the drizzling rain, waiting to make their dash into the forest. "You -said you were going to go on with it this morning." - -"Do you really want to hear the end of the story?" - -"Of course I do. I couldn't get to sleep for hours thinking about it." - -"Well," said Petra, "when the guard changed, and the rope tripped him up -when he was coming down the steps, the rear guard ran around to see what -had happened, as planned, and they dashed through the searchlight beam, -into the forest, and ..." She paused. "Anyway, one of them made it. The -other two were caught and killed." - -"Huh?" said Let. "Is that all?" - -"That's about it," said Petra. - -"What do you mean?" Let demanded. Last night's version had contained -detail upon detail of the prisoners' treatment, their efforts to dig a -tunnel, the precautions they took, along with an uncannily vivid -description of the scenery that had made him shiver as though he had -been in the leaky, rotten-walled shacks. "You can't just finish it up -like that," he exclaimed. "How did they get caught? Which one got away? -Was it the chubby one with the freckles? How did they die?" - -"Unpleasantly," Petra answered. "No, the chubby one with the freckles -didn't make it. They brought him, and the one with the limp, back that -morning in the rain and dropped them in the mud outside the barracks to -discourage further escape attempts." - -"Oh," said Let. "What about the one who did make it?" he asked after a -moment. - -Instead of answering, she said, "Let, I want to give you a warning." The -prince stiffened a bit, but she began differently than he expected. -"Let, in a little while, you may be going on quite an adventure, and you -may want to forget some things, because it will be easier. Like being -the prince of Toromon. But don't forget it, Let. Don't." - -"What sort of adventure, Petra?" - -Again she did not answer his question. "Let, do you remember how I -described the prison to you? What would you do if you were king and -those prisoners were under your rule, with their rotten food, the rats, -their fourteen hours of labor a day in the mines ..." - -"Well, I don't know, Petra," he began, feeling as if something were -being asked of him that he was reluctant to give. It was like when his -history teacher expected him to know the answer on a question of -government just because he had been born into it. "I suppose I'd have to -consult the council, and see what Chargill said. It would depend on the -individual prisoners, and what they'd done; and of course how the people -felt about it. Chargill always says you shouldn't do things too -quickly ..." - -"I know what Chargill says," said the Duchess quietly. "Just remember -what I've said, will you?" - -"What about the third man, the one who escaped?" - -"He ... came back to Toron." - -"He must have had a lot more adventures. What happened to him, Petra? -Come on, tell me." - -"Actually," said Petra, "he managed to bypass most of the adventures. He -came very quickly. Let me see. After they dashed across the searchlit -area, they ducked into the jungle. Almost immediately the three got -separated. The black-haired one got completely turned around, and -wandered in the wrong direction until he had gone past the mines, out of -the forest, and across the rocky stretch of ground beyond a good five -miles. By the time it was light enough to see, he suddenly realized he -had been wandering toward the radiation barrier; because in the -distance, like a black skeleton on the horizon, were the abandoned ruins -of Telphar, the Dead City." - -"Shouldn't he have been dead from the radiation?" - -"That's exactly what he figured. In fact, he figured if he was close -enough to see the place, he should have been dead a few miles back. He -was tired. The food they'd taken kept him from being hungry. But he was -definitely alive. Finally he decided that he might as well go toward -the city. He took two steps more, when suddenly he heard something." - -There was silence over the intercom. - -After he had allowed sufficient time for a dramatic pause, Let asked, -"What was it? What did he hear?" - -"If you ever hear it," Petra said, "you'll know it." - -"Come on, Petra, what was it?" - -"I'm quite serious," Petra said. "That's all I know of the story. And -that's all you need to know. Maybe I'll be able to finish it when I come -back from the party tonight." - -"Please, Petra ..." - -"That's it." - -He paused for a minute. "Petra, is the adventure I'm supposed to have, -the war? Is that why you're reminding me not to forget?" - -"I wish it were that simple, Let. Let's say that's part of it." - -"Oh," said Let. - -"Just promise to remember the story, and what I've said." - -"I will," said Let, wondering. "I will." - - * * * * * - -Jon walked down a long spiral staircase, nodded to the guard at the -foot, passed into the castle garden, paused to squint at the sun, and -went out the gate. Getting in was a lot more difficult. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - -The Devil's Pot overturned its foul jelly at the city's edge. Thirteen -alleys lined with old stone houses was its nucleus; many of them were -ruined, built over, and ruined again. These were the oldest structures -in Toron. Thick with humanity and garbage, it reached from the -waterfront to the border of the hive houses in which lived the clerks -and professionals of Toron. Clapboard alternated with hastily -constructed sheet-metal buildings with no room between. The metal -rusted; the clapboard sagged. The waterfront housed the temporary -prison, the immigration offices, and the launch service that went out to -the aquariums and hydroponics plants that floated on vast pontoons three -miles away. - -At the dock, a frog-like, sooty hulk had pulled in nearly an hour ago. -But the passengers were only being allowed to come ashore now, and that -after passing their papers through the inspection of a row of officials -who sat behind a wooden table. A flimsy, waist-high structure of boards -separated the passengers from the people on the wharf. The passengers -milled. - -A few had bundles. Many had nothing. They stood quietly, or ambled -aimlessly. On the waterfront street, the noise was thunderous. Peddlers -hawking, pushcarts trundling, the roar of arguing voices. Some -passengers gazed across the fence at the sprawling slum. Most did not. - -As they filed past the officers and onto the dock, a woman with a box of -trinkets and a brown-red birthmark splashed over the left side of her -face pushed among the new arrivals. Near fifty, she wore a dress and -head rag, that were a well-washed, featureless gray. - -"And would you like to buy a pair of shoelaces, fine strong ones," she -accosted a young man who returned a bewildered smile of embarrassment. - -"I ... I don't got any money," he stammered, though complimented by the -attention. - -Rara glanced down at his feet. "Apparently you have no shoes either. -Well, good luck here in the New World, the Island of Opportunity." She -brushed by him and aimed toward a man and woman who carried a bundle -composed of a hoe, a rake, a shovel, and a baby. "A picture," she said, -digging into her box, "of our illustrious majesty, King Uske, with a -real metal frame, hand-painted in miniature in honor of his birthday. -No true cosmopolitan patriot can be without one." - -The woman with the baby leaned over to see the palm-sized portrait of a -vague young man with blond hair and a crown. "Is that really the king?" - -"Of course it is," declared the birthmarked vendress. "He sat for it in -person. Look at that noble face. It would be a real inspiration to the -little one there, when and if he grows up." - -"How much is it?" the woman asked. - -Her husband frowned. - -"For a hand-painted picture," said Rara, "it's very cheap. Say, half a -unit?" - -"It's pretty," said the woman, then caught the frown on the man's face. -She dropped her eyes and shook her head. - -Suddenly the man, from somewhere, thrust a half-unit piece into Rara's -hand. "Here." He took the picture and handed it to his wife. As she -looked at it, he nodded his head. "It is pretty," he said. "Yes. It is." - -"Good luck here in the New World," commented Rara. "Welcome to the -Island of Opportunity." Turning, she drew out the next gee-gaw her hand -touched, glanced at it long enough to see what it was, and said to the -man she now faced. "I see you could certainly use a spool of fine thread -to good purpose." She pointed to a hole in his sleeve. "There." A brown -shoulder showed through his shirt, further up. "And there." - -"I could use a needle too," he answered her. "And I could use a new -shirt, and a bucket of gold." Suddenly he spat. "I've as much chance of -getting one as the other with what I've got in my pocket." - -"Oh, surely a spool of fine, strong thread ..." - -Suddenly someone pushed her from behind. "All right. Move on, lady. You -can't peddle here." - -"I certainly can," exclaimed Rara, whirling. "I've got my license right -here. Just let me find it now...." - -"Nobody has a license to peddle in front of the immigration building. -Now move on." - -"Good luck in the New Land," she called over her shoulder as the officer -forced her away. "Welcome to the Island of Opportunity!" - -Suddenly a commotion started behind the gate. Someone was having trouble -with papers. Then a dark-haired, barefoot boy broke from his place in -line, ran to the wooden gate, and vaulted over. The wooden structure was -flimsy. As the boy landed, feet running, the fence collapsed. - -Behind the fence they hesitated like an unbroken wave. Then they came. -At the table the officials stood up, waved their hands, shouted, then -stood on their benches and shouted some more. The officer who had shoved -the vending woman disappeared in the wash of bodies. - -Rara clutched her box of trinkets and scurried to the corner, then -melded with the herding crowd for two blocks into the slums. - -"Rara!" - -She stopped and looked around. "Oh, there you are," she said, joining a -young girl who stood back from the crowd, holding a box of trinkets like -the other woman's. - -"Rara, what happened?" - -The birthmarked woman laughed. "You are watching the beginning of the -transformation. Fear, hunger, a little more fear, no work, more fear, -and every last one of these poor souls will be a first class, grade-A -citizen of the Devil's Pot. How much did you sell?" - -"Just a couple of units worth," the girl answered. She was perhaps -sixteen, with a strange combination of white hair, blue eyes, and skin -that had tanned richly and quickly, giving her the large-eyed look of an -exotic snow-maned animal. "Why are they running?" - -"Some boy started a panic. The fence gave way and the rest followed -him." A second surge of people rounded the corner. "Welcome to the New -Land, the Island of Opportunity," Rara called out. Then she laughed. - -"Where are they all going to go?" Alter asked. - -"Into the holes in the ground, into the cracks in the street. The lucky -men will get into the army. But even that won't absorb them all. The -women, the children...?" She shrugged. - -Just then a boy's voice came from halfway down the block. "Hey!" - -They turned. - -"Why that's the boy that broke the fence down," exclaimed Rara. - -"What does he want?" - -"I don't know. Before this afternoon I'd never seen him in my life." - -He was dark, with black hair; but as he approached, they saw that his -eyes were water-green. "You're the woman who was selling things, huh?" - -Rara nodded. "What do you want to buy?" - -"I don't want to buy anything," he said. "I want to sell something to -you." He was barefoot; his pants frayed into nothing at mid-calf, and -his sleeveless shirt had no fastenings. - -"What do you want to sell?" she asked, her voice deepening with -skepticism. - -He reached into his pocket, and brought out a rag of green flannel, -which he unwrapped now in his hand. - -They had been polished to a milky hue, some streaked with gold and red, -others run through with warm browns and yellows. Two had been rubbed -down to pure mother-of-pearl, rubbed until their muted silver surfaces -were clouded with pastel lusters. There in the nest of green, they -swirled around themselves, shimmering. - -"They're nothing but sea shells," Rara said. - -Alter reached her forefinger out and touched a white periwinkle. -"They're lovely," she told him. "Where did you get them?" They ranged in -size from the first joint of her thumb to the width of her pinky nail. - -"By your departed mother, my own sister, we can't afford to give him a -centiunit, Alter. I hardly sold a thing before that brute officer forced -me away." - -"I found them on the beach," the boy explained. "I was hiding on the -boat and I didn't have nothing to do. So I polished them." - -"What were you hiding for?" asked Rara, her voice suddenly sharp. "You -don't mean you stowed away?" - -"Un-huh," the boy nodded. - -"How much do you want for them?" Alter asked. - -"How much? How much would it cost to get a meal and a place to stay?" - -"Much more than we can afford to pay," interrupted Rara. "Alter, come -with me. This boy is going to talk you out of a unit or two yet, if you -keep on listening to him." - -"See," said the boy, pointing to the shells. "I've put holes in them -already. You can string them around your neck." - -"If you want to get food and a place to sleep," said Alter, "you don't -want money. You want friends. What's your name? And where are you from?" - -The boy looked up from the handful of shells, surprised. "My name is -Tel," he said after a moment. "I come from the mainland coast. And I'm a -fisherman's son. I thought when I came here I could get a job in the -aquariums. That's all you hear about on the coast." - -Alter smiled. "First of all you're sort of young ..." - -"But I'm a good fisherman." - -"... and also, it's very different from fishing on a boat. I guess you'd -say that there were a lot of jobs in the aquariums and the hydroponics -gardens. But with all the immigrants, there are three people for every -job." - -The boy shrugged. "Well, I can try." - -"That's right," said Alter. "Come on. Walk with us." - -Rara huffed. - -"We'll take him back to Geryn's place and see if we can get him some -food. He can probably stay there a little while if Geryn takes a liking -to him." - -"You can't just take every homeless barnacle you find back to Geryn's. -You'll have it crawling with every shrimp in the Pot. And suppose he -doesn't take a liking to him. Suppose he decides to kick us out in the -street." The birthmark on her left cheek darkened. - -"Aunt Rara, please," said Alter. "I'll handle Geryn." - -Rara huffed once more. "How come when we're two weeks behind on the -rent, you can't find a kind word in your mouth for the old man when he -threatens to throw us onto the street? Yet for the sake of a handful of -pretty shells ..." - -"_Please ..._" - -A breeze seeped through the narrow street, picked a shock of Alter's -white hair and flung it back from her shoulder. - -"Anyway, Geryn may be able to use him. If Tel stowed away, that means he -doesn't have any papers." - -Tel frowned with puzzlement. - -Rara frowned with chastisement in her eyes. "You are not supposed to -refer to that, ever." - -"Don't be silly," said Alter. "It's just a fantasy of Geryn's anyway. -It'll never happen. And without papers, Tel can't get a job at the -aquariums, even if they wanted him. So if Geryn thinks he can fit him -into his crazy plan, Tel will come out a lot better than if he had some -old ten-unit-a-week factory job. Look, Rara, how can Geryn possibly -kidnap ..." - -"Be quiet," snapped Rara. - -"And even if he did, what good is it going to do? It's not as if it were -the king himself." - -"I don't understand," said Tel. - -"That's good," said Rara. "And if you want to keep going with us, you -won't try to find out." - -"We can tell you this much," said Alter. "The man who owns the inn where -we stay wants to do something. Now, he is a little crazy. He's always -talking to himself, for example. But he needs someone who has no -identification registered in the City. Now, if he thinks he can use you, -you'll get free food and a place to sleep. He used to be the gardener on -the island estate of the Duchess of Petra. But he drank a little too -much and I guess at last he had to go. He still says she sends him -messages though, about his plan. But ..." - -"You don't have to go any further," Rara said, curtly. - -"You'll hear about it from him," said Alter. "Why did you stow away?" - -"I just got fed up with life at home. We'd work all day to catch fish, -and then have to leave them rotting on the beach because we could only -sell a fifth of them, or sometimes none at all. Some people gave up; -some only managed to get it in their heads that they had to work harder. -I guess my father was like that. He figured if he worked enough, someone -would just have to buy them. Only nobody did. My mother did some hand -weaving and we were living mostly on that. Finally, I figured I was -eating up more than I was worth. So I left." - -"Just like that, and with no money?" asked Rara. - -"Just like that," Tel said. - -"You poor boy," said Rara, and in a sudden fit of maternal affection, -she put her arm around his shoulder. - -"Ow!" cried Tel, and winced. - -Rara jerked her hand away. "What's the matter?" - -"I ... I got hurt there," the boy said, rubbing his shoulders gently. - -"Hurt? How?" - -"My father--he whipped me there." - -"Ah," said Rara. "Now it comes out. Well, whatever the reasons you left, -they're your own business. Anyway, I've never known anyone yet to do -something for one reason alone. Don't lag behind, now. We'll be back at -Geryn's in time for lunch." - -"I thought if I could sneak aboard," went on Tel, "that they'd have to -let me off in the City, even if I didn't have money. I didn't know about -papers. And when I was in line, I figured I'd explain to the men at the -desk. Or maybe I'd even give them my shells, and they would get the -papers for me. But the guy ahead of me had a mistake in his. Some date -was wrong, and they said they were going to send him back to the -mainland and that he couldn't leave the ship. He said he'd give them -real money, and even got it out of his pocket. But they started to take -him away. That's when I ran out of line and jumped the fence. I didn't -know everyone else would run too." - -"Probably half their papers were out of order, too. Or forged. That's -why they ran." - -"You're a cynic, Aunt Rara." - -"I'm a practical woman." - -As they turned another corner, the boy's green eyes jumped at the -blue-hazed towers of the palace, distant behind the wealthy roofs of -merchants' mansions, themselves behind the hive houses and the spreading -ruin of tenements. He tried to memorize the twisting street they -followed. He couldn't. - -There were two general, contradictory impressions in his mind: first, of -being enclosed in these tiny alleys, some so small that two could not -pass through them with arms held out; the second, of the spreading, -immense endlessness of the city. He tried to tell Alter what he felt, -but after a minute of broken sentences, she smiled at him and shook her -head. "No, I don't understand. What do you mean?" - -And a sudden picture of the seaside leapt into his head. The yellow -length of the beach lashed across his mind so that it stung. He could -see the salt-and-pepper rocks, shoaling away and knobbed with periwinkle -shells. He could see the brown and green fingers of seaweed clutching -the sand when the waves went out. He blinked the gray city back into his -eyes. Tears washed the broken curb, the cracked walls, washed the rusted -metal window jamb sharp and clean again. - -"He means he's homesick," Rara interpreted. "No, boy," she said. "It'll -never go away. But it'll get less." - -The street turned sharply twice, then widened. - -"Well," said Alter. "Here we are." - -A red, circular plaque hung over the door of the only stone building on -the block. It was two stories, twice the height of the other structures. -They entered. - -Beams of real wood were set into the low ceiling. By one wall was a -counter. There was a large table in the middle, and coming down into the -room in a large V was a stairway. - -Of the men and women sitting around the room, one caught Tel's eye -immediately. He was perhaps seven feet and a handful of inches tall, and -was sitting, spraddle-legged, at the table. He had a long, flat, equine -face, and a triplex of scars started on his cheek, veered down to his -neck, and disappeared under his collarless shirt. As Tel watched, he -turned to a plate of food he was eating, so that his scars disappeared. - -Suddenly, from the stair's top, a harpoon-straight old man appeared. He -hurried down, his white hair spiking out in all directions. Reaching the -bottom, he whirled around, darting black eyes to every person in the -room. "All right," he said. "I've received the message. I've received -the message. And it's time." - -Alter whispered to Tel, "That's Geryn." - -"Are we all here?" the old man demanded. "Are we all here now?" - -A woman at the counter snickered. Suddenly Geryn turned toward Tel, -Alter, and Rara. "You!" he demanded. His pointing finger wavered so they -could not tell which of the three he meant. - -"You mean him?" asked Alter, pointing to Tel. - -Geryn nodded vigorously. "What are you doing here? Are you a spy?" - -"No, sir," said Tel. - -Geryn stepped around the table and looked at him closely. The black eyes -were two sharp spots of darkness in a face the color of shipboards gone -two winters without paint. - -"Geryn," Alter said. "Geryn, he isn't a spy. He's from the mainland. And -Geryn, he doesn't have any papers, either. He stowed away." - -"You're not a spy?" Geryn demanded again. - -"No, sir," Tel repeated. - -Geryn backed away. "I like you," he said. "I trust you." Slowly he -turned away. Then he whirled back. "I have no choice, you see. It's too -late. The message has come. So I need you." He laughed. Then the laugh -stopped short as if sliced by a razor. He put his hands over his eyes, -and then brought his finger down slowly. "I'm tired," he said. "Rara, -you owe me rent. Pay up or I'll kick you all out. I'm tired." He walked -heavily toward the bar. "Give me something to drink. In my own tavern -you can give me something to drink." - -Someone laughed again. Tel looked at Alter. - -"Well," she said. "He likes you." - -"He does?" - -"Um-hm," she nodded. - -"Oh," said Tel. - -At the bar, Geryn drained a large glass of pale green liquid, slammed -the empty glass on the board and cried out, "The war. Yes, the war!" - -"Oh, here we go," Alter whispered. - -Geryn ran his finger slowly along the rim of the glass. "The war," he -said again. He turned suddenly. "It's coming!" he declaimed. "And do you -know why it's coming? Do you know how it's coming? We can't stop it, not -now, not any more. I've received the signal, so there's no hope left. We -must just go ahead and try to save something, something to start and -build from again." Geryn looked directly at Tel. "Boy, do you know what -a war is?" - -"No, sir," said Tel, which wasn't exactly true. He'd heard the word. - -"Hey," someone cried from the bar. "Are we gonna get stories, great -fires and destruction again?" - -Geryn ignored the cry. "Do you know what the Great Fire was?" - -Tel shook his head. - -"The world was once much bigger than it is today," Geryn said. "Once man -flew not just between island and mainland, island and island, but -skirted the entire globe of the earth. Once man flew to the moon, even -to the moving lights in the sky. There were empires, like Toromon, only -bigger. And there were many of them. Often they fought with one another, -and that was called a war. And the end of the final war was the Great -Fire. That was over fifteen hundred years ago. Most of the world, from -what little we know of it today, is scarred with strips of impassable -land, the sea is run through with deadly currents. Only fragments of the -earth, widely separated can hold life. Toromon may be the only one, for -all we are sure of. And now we will have another war." - -Some one from the bar yelled, "So what if it comes? It might bring some -excitement." - -Geryn whirled. "You don't understand!" He whipped one hand through his -shocked white hair. "What are we fighting? We don't know. It's something -mysterious and unnamable on the other side of the radiation barrier. Why -are we fighting?" - -"Because ..." began a bored voice at the bar. - -"Because," interrupted Geryn, suddenly pointing directly at Tel's face, -"we have to fight. Toromon has gotten into a situation where its -excesses must be channelled toward something external. Our science has -outrun our economics. Our laws have become stricter, and we say it is to -stop the rising lawlessness. But it is to supply workers for the mines -that the laws tighten, workers who will dig more tetron, that more -citizens shall be jobless, and must therefore become lawless to survive. -Ten years ago, before the aquariums, fish was five times its present -price. There was perhaps four per cent unemployment in Toron. Today the -prices of fish are a fifth of what they were, yet unemployment has -reached twenty-five per cent of the city's populace. A quarter of our -people starve. More arrive every day. What will we do with them? We will -use them to fight a war. Our university turns out scientists whose -science we can not use lest it put more people out of work. What will we -do with them? We will use them to fight a war. Eventually the mines will -flood us with tetron, too much for even the aquariums and the hydroponic -gardens. It will be used for the war." - -"Then what?" asked Tel. - -"We do not know who or what we are fighting," repeated Geryn. "We will -be fighting ourselves, but we will not know it. According to the books, -it is customary in a war to keep each side in complete ignorance of the -other. Or give them lies like those we use to frighten children instead -of truth. But here the truth may be ..." His voice trailed off. - -"What's your plan?" Tel asked. - -There was another laugh at the bar. - -"Somehow," and his voice was lower. "Somehow we must get ready to save -something, salvage some fragment from the destruction that will come. -There are only a few of us who know all this, who understand it, who -know what ... what has to be done." - -"What is that?" Tel asked again. - -Suddenly Geryn whirled. "Drinks!" he called. "Drinks all around!" The -quiet amusement and general lethargy disappeared as the people moved to -the bar. "Drink up, friends, my fellows!" cried Geryn. - -"Your plan?" Tel asked again, puzzled. - -"I'll tell you," answered the old man, almost in a whisper. "I'll tell -you. But not just yet. Not just ..." He turned back again. "Drink up!" -Three men who already had their glasses gave a cheer. - -"Are you with me, friends?" Geryn demanded. - -"We're with you," six more cried, laughing, clinking their glasses hard -on the table top as Tel looked from Alter to Rara and back. - -"My plan ..." began Geryn. "Have you all had a glass? All of you? -Another round for everybody. Yes, a second round!" - -There was a solid cheer, now. Glass bottoms turned toward the ceiling, -then whammed on the counter top again. - -"My plan is to--you understand it's not just my plan, but only a small -part in a great plan, a plan to save us all--my plan is to kidnap Prince -Let from the palace. That's the part that we must do. Are you with me, -friends?" A yell rose, and somebody had started a friendly fight at the -end of the bar. Then Geryn's voice suddenly broke through the sound, -low, in a grating whisper that silenced them for seconds. "Because you -must be with me! The time is tonight. I have ... I have it planned." The -voices halted, and then heaved to a roar. "Tonight," repeated Geryn, -though hardly anyone could hear him. "I have it planned. Only you've got -to be ... be with me." - -Tel frowned and Alter shook her head. The old man had closed his eyes -for a moment. Rara was beside him, her hand on his shoulder. "You're -going to get yourself sick with all this yelling. Let me get you up to -your room." - -As she turned him toward the stairs, the scarred giant who had been -given a drink, now rose from the table, looked straight at Geryn, then -drained his glass. - -Geryn nodded, drew a breath through his teeth, and then allowed Rara to -lead him up the stairs as Tel and Alter watched. - -The noise among the drinking men and women at the bar increased. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - -She made a note on her pad, put down her slide rule, and picked up a -pearl snap with which she fastened together the shoulder panels of her -white dress. The maid said, "Ma'am, shall I do your hair now?" - -"One second," Clea said. She turned to page 328 of her integral tables, -checked the increment of sub-cosine A plus B over the _n_th root of A to -the _n_th plus B to the _n_th, and transferred it to her notebook. - -"Ma'am?" asked the maid. She was a thin woman, about thirty. The little -finger of her left hand was gone. - -"You can start now." Clea leaned back in the beauty-hammock and lifted -the dark mass of her hair from her neck. The maid caught the ebony -wealth with one hand and reached for the end of the four yards of silver -chain strung with alternate pearls and diamonds each inch and a half. - -"Ma'am?" asked the maid again. "What are you figuring on?" - -"I'm trying to determine the inverse sub-trigonometric functions. Dalen -Golga, he was my mathematics professor at the university, discovered the -regular ones, but nobody's come up with the inverses yet." - -"Oh," said the maid. She ceased weaving the jeweled chain a moment, -took a comb, and whipped it through a cascade of hair that fell back on -Clea's shoulder. "Eh ... what are you going to do with them, once you -find them?" - -"Actually," said Clea. "Ouch ..." - -"Oh, pardon me, I'm sorry, please ..." - -"Actually," went on Clea, "they'll be perfectly useless. At least as far -as anyone knows now. They exist, so to speak, in a world that has little -to do with ours. Like the world of imaginary numbers, the square root of -minus one. Eventually we may find use for them, perhaps in the same way -we use imaginary numbers to find the roots of equations of a higher -order than two, because cosine theta plus _I_ sine theta equals _e_ to -the _I_ sine theta, which lets us ..." - -"Ma'am?" - -"Well, that is to say they haven't been able to do anything like that -with the sub-trigonometric functions yet. But they're fun." - -"Bend your head a little to the left, ma'am," was the maid's comment. - -Clea bent. - -"You're going to look beautiful." Four and five fingers wove deftly in -her hair. "Just beautiful." - -"I hope that Tomar can get here. It's not going to be any fun without -him." - -"But isn't the King coming?" asked the maid. "I saw his acceptance note -myself. You know it was on very simple paper. Very elegant." - -"My father will enjoy that a good deal more than I will. My brother went -to school with the King before ... before his Majesty's coronation." - -"That's amazing," said the maid. "Were they friends? Just think of it? -Do you know whether they were friends or not?" - -Clea shrugged. - -"And, oh," said the maid, continuing, "have you seen the ballroom? All -the hors d'oeuvres are real, imported fish. You can tell, because -they're smaller than the ones your father grows." - -"I know," smiled Clea. "I don't think I've ever eaten any of Dad's fish -in my life, which is sort of terrible, actually. They're supposed to be -very good." - -"Oh, they are, ma'am. They are. Your father is a fine man to grow such -great, good fishes. But you must admit, there's something special about -the ones that come from the coast. I tasted one on my way up through the -pantry. So I know." - -"What exactly is it?" Clea asked, turning around. - -The maid frowned, and then smiled and nodded wisely. "Oh, I know. I -know. You can tell the difference." - - * * * * * - -At that moment, Jon Koshar was saying, "Well, so far you've been right." -He appeared to be more or less standing (the room was dim, so his head -and hands were invisible), more or less alone ("Yeah, I trust you. I -don't have much choice," he added.) in the pantry of his father's -mansion. - -Suddenly his voice took a different tone. "Look, I _will_ trust you; -with part of me, anyway. I've been caged up for nearly five years, for -something stupid I did, and for something that no matter how hard I try, -I can't convince myself was all my fault. I don't mean that Uske should -be blamed. But chance, and all the rest ... well, all I mean is it makes -me want out that much more. I want to be _free_. I nearly got myself -killed trying to escape from the mines. And a couple of people did get -killed helping me. All right, you got me out of that stainless steel -graveyard I wandered into back at the radiation barrier, and for that, -thanks. I mean it. But I'm not free yet. And I still want out, more than -anything in the world. - -"Sure, I know that you want me to do something, but I don't understand -it yet. You say you'll tell me soon. Okay. But you're riding around in -my head like this, so I'm not free yet. If that's what I have to do to -get free, than I'll do it. But I'm warning you. If I see another crack -in the wall, another spot of light getting in, I'll claw my hands off -trying to break through and to hell with what you want. Because while -you're there, I can't be free." - -Suddenly the light in the pantry flipped on. His sudden face went from -the tautness of his last speech to fear. He had been standing by the -side of a seven-foot porcelain storage cabinet. He jumped back to the -wall. Whoever had come in, a butler or caterer, was out of sight on the -other side. A hand came around the edge of the cabinet, reaching for the -handle. The hand was broad, wiry with black hair, and sported a cheap, -wide, brass ring set with an irregular shape of blue glass. As the door -opened, the hand swung out of sight. There was a clatter of dishes on -the shelves, the slide of crockery slipping over plastic racks, and a -voice. "All right there. You carry this one." Then a grunt, and the -_ker-flop_ of the latch as the door slammed to. - -A moment later, the light, and John Koshar's hands and head, went out. -When Jon stepped forward again, he looked at the pantry, at the doors, -the cabinets. The familiarity hurt. There was a door that opened into -the main kitchen. (Once he had snagged a kharba fruit from the cook's -table and ran, as behind him a wooden salad bowl crashed to the floor. -The sound made him whirl, in time to catch the cook's howl and to see -the pale shreds of lettuce strewn across the black tile floor. The bowl -was still spinning. He had been nine.) - -He started slowly for the door to the hallway that led to the dining -room. In the hall was a red wood table on which sat a free form -sculpture of aluminum rods and heavy glass spheres. That was unfamiliar. -Not the table, the sculpture. - -A slight highlight along the curve of crystal brought back to him for a -moment the blue ceramic vase that had been there in his memory. It was -coated with glaze that was shot through with myriad cracks. It was -cylindrical, straight, then suddenly veering to a small mouth, slightly -off center. The burnished red wood behind the vivid, turquoise blue was -a combination that was almost too rich, too sensual. He had broken the -vase. He had broken it in surprise, when his sister had come in on him -suddenly, the little girl with hair black as his own, only more of it, -saying, "What are you doing, Jon?" and he had jumped, turned, and then -the vase was lying in fragments on the floor, like a lot of bright, -brittle leaves made out of stone. He remembered his first reaction had -been, oddly, surprise at finding that the glaze covered the inside as -well as the outside of the vase. He was fourteen. - -He walked to the family dining room and stepped inside. With the -ballroom in use, no one would come here. Stepping into the room was like -stepping into a cricket's den, the subtle _tsk-tsk_ of a thousand clocks -repeated and repeated, overlapping and melting, with no clear, -discernible rhythm. The wall by the door was lined with shelves and they -were filled with his father's collection of chronometers. He looked at -the clocks on the shelf level with his eye. The last time he had been in -this room, it had been the shelf below. The light from the door made a -row of crescents on the curved faces, some the size of his little finger -nail, others the diameter of his head. Their hands were invisible, their -settings were dim. (In his memory they went from simple gold to ornately -carved silver, and one was set in an undersea bower with jeweled shells -and coral branches.) There must be many new clocks after five years, he -thought. If he turned on the light, how many would he recognize? - -(When he was eighteen, he had stood in this room and examined the thin, -double prong of a fire-blade. The light in the room was off, and as he -flicked the button on the hilt, and the white sparks leaped out and up -the length of the blade, the crescents flamed on the edges of the clock -faces, all along the wall. Later, at the royal palace, with that same -blade, there had been the same, sudden, clumsy fear at discovery, fear -clotting into panic, the panic turning to confusion, and the confusion -metastasizing into fear again, only fear all through him, dragging him -down, so that when he tried to run down the vaulted hall, his feet were -too heavy, so that when he tripped against the statue in the alcove, -whirled upon the pursuing guard, and swung the white needle of energy -down and the guard's flesh hissed and fell away--a moment of blood -spurring under pale flame--almost immediately he was exhausted. They -took him easily after that.) - -Clumsy, he thought. Not with his fingers, (He had fixed many of these -clocks when his father had acquired them in various states of -disrepair.), but with his mind. His emotions were not fine and drawn, -but rather great shafts of anger or fear fell about him without focus or -apparent source. Disgust, or even love, when he had felt it was vague, -liable to metamorphasize from one to the other. (School was great; his -history teacher was very good.... School was noisy; the kids were pushy -and didn't care about anything. His blue parakeet was delicate and -beautiful; he had taught it to whistle ... there were always crumbs on -the bottom of the cage; changing the paper was a nuisance.) - -Then there had been five years of prison. And the first sharp feeling -pierced his mind, as sharp as the uncoiled hair-spring of a clock, as -sharp as jewels in a poison ring. It was a wish, a pain, an agony for -freedom. The plans for escape had been intricate, yet sharp as the -cracks in blue ceramic glaze. The hunger for escape was a hand against -his stomach, and as the three of them had, at last, waited in the rain -by the steps, it had tightened unbearably. Then ... - -Then with all the sharpness, what had made him lose the others? Why had -he wandered in the wrong direction? Clumsy! And he wanted to be free of -that! And wonder if that was what he had wanted to be free of all along -while he had sputtered at the prison guards, choked on the food, and -could not communicate his outrage. Then, at the horizon, was the purple -glow of something paler than sunrise, deadlier than the sea, a -flickering, luminous purple gauze behind the hills. Near him were the -skeletons of broken, century-ancient trees, leafless, nearly petrified. -The crumbly dirt looked as if it had been scattered over the land in -handfuls, loosely, bearing neither shrubs or footprints. By one boulder -a trickle of black water ran beneath a fallen log, catching dim light in -the ripples on either side. He looked up. - -On the horizon, against the lines of light, as though cut--no, -torn--from carbon paper was the silhouette of a city. Tower behind tower -rose against the pearly haze. A net of roadways wound among the spires. - -Then he made out one minuscule thread of metal that ran from the city, -in his general direction but veering to the right. It passed him half a -mile away and at last disappeared into the edge of the jungle that he -could see, now, behind him. _Telphar!_ The word came to his mind as -though on a sign attached with springs to his consciousness. The -radiation! That was the second thing he thought of. Once more the name -of the city shivered in his brain: _Telphar!_ The certain, very certain -death he had wandered into caught the center of his gut like a fist. It -was almost as if the name were sounding out loud in his skull. Then he -stopped. Because he realized he had heard something. A ... a voice! Very -definitely he heard it-- - -Music had started. He could hear it coming from the ballroom now. The -party must be under way. He looked out into the hall. A fellow in a -white apron, holding an empty tray on which were crumbs from small -cakes, was coming toward him. - -"Excuse me, sir," the man in the apron said. "Guests aren't supposed to -be in this part of the house." - -"I was trying to find the-eh-er ..." Jon coughed. - -The man in the apron smiled. "Oh. Of course. Go back into the ballroom -and take the hall to your left down three doors." - -"Thank you," Jon smiled back and hurried up the hallway. He entered the -ballroom by way of a high, arched alcove in which were small white meat, -red meat, dark meat of fish ground into patties, cut into stars, strips -of fillet wound into imitation sea shells, tiny braised shrimp, and -stuffed baby smelts. - -A ten-piece orchestra--three bass radiolins, a theremin, and six blown -shells of various sizes--was making a slow, windy music from the dais. -The scattering of guests seemed lost in the great room. Jon wandered -across the floor. - -Here and there were stainless steel fountains in which blue or pink -liquid fanned over mounds of crushed ice. Each fountain was rimmed with -a little shelf on which was a ring of glasses. He picked a glass up, let -a spout of pink fill it, and walked on, sipping slowly. - -Suddenly, the loudspeaker announced the arrival of Mr. Quelor Da and -party. Heads turned, and a moment later a complex of glitter, green -silk, blue net, and diamonds at the top of the six wide marble steps -across the room resolved into four ladies and their escorts. - -Jon glanced up at the balcony than ran around the second story of the -room. A short gentleman in a severe, unornamented blue suit was coming -toward the head of the steps which expanded down toward the ballroom -floor with the grace and approximate shape of a swan's wing. The -gentleman hurried down the pale cascade. - -Jon sipped his drink. It was sweet with the combined flavors of a dozen -fruits, with the whisper of alcohol bitter at the back of his tongue. -The gentleman hurried across the floor, passing within yards of him. - -Father! The impact was the same as the recognition of Telphar. The hair -was thinner than it had been five years ago. He was much heavier. -His--father--was at the other side of the room already, checking with -the waiters. Jon pulled his shoulders in, and let his breath out. It was -the familiarity, not the change, that hurt. - -It took some time before the room filled. There was a lot of space. One -guest Jon noted was a young man in military uniform. He was powerful, -squat in a taurine way usually associated with older men. There was a -major's insignia on his shoulder. Jon watched him a while, empathizing -with his occasional looks that told how out of place he felt. He took -neither food nor drink, but prowled a ten-foot area by the side of the -balcony steps. Waiting, Jon thought. - -A half an hour later, the floor was respectably populated. Jon had -exchanged a few words at last with the soldier. (Jon: "A beautiful -party, don't you think?" Soldier, with embarrassment: "Yes, sir." Jon: -"I guess the war is worrying all of us." Soldier: "The war? Yes." Then -he looked away, not inclined to talk more.) Jon was now near the door. -Suddenly the loudspeaker announced: "The Party of His Royal Majesty, the -King." - -Gowns rustled, the talk rose, people turned, and fell back from the -entrance. The King's party, headed by himself and a tall, -electric-looking red-headed woman, his senior by a handful of years, -appeared at the top of the six marble steps. As they came down, right -and left, people bowed. Jon dropped his head, but not before he realized -that the King's escort had given him a very direct look. He glanced up -again, but now her emerald train was sweeping down the aisle the people -had left open. Her insignia, he remembered, told him she was a duchess. - -Coming up the aisle in the other direction now between the bowing crowds -was old Koshar. He bowed very low, and the pale blond young man raised -him and they shook hands, and Koshar spoke. "Your Majesty," he began -warmly. - -"Sir," answered the King, smiling. - -"I haven't seen you since you were a boy at school." - -The King smiled again, this time rather wanly. Koshar hurried on. - -"But I would like to introduce my daughter to you, for it's her party. -Clea--." The old man turned to the balcony stairs, and the crowd's eyes -turned with him. - -She was standing on the top step, in a white dress made of panel over -silken panel, held with pearl clasps. Her black hair cascaded across one -shoulder, webbed and re-webbed with a chain of silver strung with -pearls. Her hands at her sides, she came down the stairs. People stepped -back; she smiled, and walked forward. Jon watched while at last his -sister reached his father's side. - -"My daughter Clea," said old Koshar to the King. - -"Charmed." - -Koshar raised his left hand, and the musicians began the introduction to -the changing partners dance. Jon watched the King take Clea in his arms, -and also saw the soldier move toward them, and then stop. A woman in a -smoky gray dress suddenly blocked his view, smiled at him, and said, -"Will you dance?" He smiled back, to avoid another expression, and she -was in his arms. Apparently the soldier had had a similar experience, -for at the first turn of the music, Jon saw the soldier was dancing too. -A few couples away, Clea and the King turned round and round, white and -white, brunette and blond. The steps came back to Jon like a poem -remembered, the turn, the dip, separate, and join again. When a girl -does the strange little outward step, and the boy bows, so that for a -moment she is out of sight, her gown always swishes just so. Yes, like -that! This whole day had been filled with the sudden remembrances of -tiny facts like that, forgotten for five years, at once relearned with -startling vividness that shocked him. The music signaled for partners to -change. Gowns whirled into momentary flowers, and he was dancing with -the brown-haired woman the soldier had been dancing with a moment -before. Looking to his left, he saw that the soldier had somehow -contrived to get Clea for a partner. Moving closer, he overheard. - -"I didn't think you were going to get here at all. I'm so glad," from -Clea. - -"I could have even come earlier," Tomar said. "But you'd have been -busy." - -"You could have come up." - -"And once I got here, I didn't think we'd get a chance to talk, either." - -"Well, you've got one now. Better make it quick. We change partners in a -moment. What happened to the scouting planes?" - -"All crippled. Didn't sight a thing. They got back to base almost before -I did this morning. The report was nothing. What about the picnic, -Clea?" - -"We can have it on ..." - -A burst of music signaled the change. Jon did not hear the day, but -expected his sister to whirl into his arms. But instead (he saw her -white dress flare and turn by him) an emerald iridescence caught in his -eye, then rich mahogany flame. He was dancing with the Duchess. She was -nearly his height, and watched him with a smile hung in the subtle area -between friendship and knowing cynicism. She moved easily, and he had -just remembered that he ought to smile back to be polite when the music -sounded the change. The instant before she whirled away, he heard her -say, very distinctly, "Good luck, Jon Koshar." - -His name brought him to a halt, and he stared after her. When he did -turn back to his new partner, surprise still on his face, his eyes were -filled with sudden whiteness. It was Clea. He should have been dancing, -but he was standing still. When she looked at his face to discover why, -she suddenly drew a breath. At first he thought his head had disappeared -again. Then, as shock and surprise became suddenly as real as her wide -eyes, her open mouth, he whispered, "Clea!" And her hand went to her -mouth. - -_Clumsy!_ he thought, and the word was a sudden ache in his hands and -chest. Reach for her. Dance. As his hands went out, the music stopped, -and the languid voice of the King came over the loudspeaker. - -"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Toromon, I have just received a -message from the council that necessitates an announcement to you as my -friends and loyal subjects. I have been requested by the council to make -their declaration of war official by my consent. An emergency meeting -over sudden developments has made it imperative that we begin immediate -action against our most hostile enemies on the mainland. Therefore, -before you all, I declare the Empire of Toromon to be at war." - -In the silence, Jon looked for his sister, but she was gone. Someone -near the microphone cried out, "Long live the King." Then the cry echoed -again. The musicians started the music once more, partners found one -another, and the talking and laughing grew in his ears like waves, like -crumbling rock, like the cutter teeth clawing into the rock face of the -ore deposits.... - -Jon shook his head. But he was in his own house, yes. His room was on -the second floor and he could go up and lie down. And by his bed would -be the copper night table, and the copy of _Delcord the Whaler_ which he -had been reading the night before. - -He'd left the ballroom and gotten halfway down the hall before he -remembered that his room was probably not his room any longer. And that -he certainly couldn't go up to it and lie down. He was standing in front -of the door of one of the sitting rooms that opened off the hall. The -door was ajar, and from it he heard a woman's voice. - -"Well, can't you do something about his index of refraction? If he's -going to be doing any work at night, you can't have him popping on and -off like a cigarette lighter." There was silence. Then: "Well, at least -don't you think he should be told more than he knows now? Fine. So do I, -especially since the war has been officially declared." - -Jon took a breath and stepped in. - -Her emerald train whirled across the duller green of the carpet as she -turned. The bright hair, untonsured save by two coral combs, fell behind -her shoulders. Her smile showed faint surprise. Very faint. "Who were -you talking to?" Jon Koshar asked. - -"Mutual friends," the Duchess said. They were alone in the room. - -After a moment, Jon said, "What do they want us to do? It's treason, -isn't it?" - -The Duchess' eyes went thin. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You call -that treason, keeping these idiots from destroying themselves, eating -themselves up in a war with a nameless enemy, something so powerful that -if there were any consideration of real fighting, we could be destroyed -with a thought. Do you remember who the enemy is? You've heard his name. -There are only three people in Toromon who have, Jon Koshar. Everyone -else is ignorant. So we're the only ones who can say we're fully -responsible. That responsibility is to Toromon. Have you any idea what -state the economy is in? Your own father is responsible for a good bit -of it; but if he closed down his aquariums now, the panic he would cause -would equal the destruction their being open already causes. The empire -is snowballing toward its own destruction, and it's going to take it out -in the war. You call trying to prevent it treason?" - -"Whatever we call it, we don't have much choice, do we?" - -"With people like you around, I'm not sure it isn't a bad idea." - -"Look," said Jon. "I was cooped up in a prison mine way out beyond -nowhere for five years. All I wanted was out, see. All I wanted was to -get free. Well, I'm back in Toron and I'm still not free." - -"First of all," said the Duchess, "if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't -be as free as you are now. After a day of clean clothes and walking in -fresh air, if you're not well on the road to what you want, then I'd -better change some ideas of my own. I want something too, Jon Koshar. -When I was seventeen, I worked for a summer in your father's aquarium. -My nine hours a day were spent with a metal spoon about the size of your -head scraping the bottoms of the used tank tube of the stuff that even -the glass filters were too touchy to take out. Afterwards I was too -tired to do much more than read. So I read. Most of it was about -Toromon's history. I read a lot about the mainland expeditions. Then, in -my first winter out of school, I lived in a fishing village at the edge -of the forest, studying what I could of the customs of the forest -people. I made sketches of their temples, tried to map their nomadic -movements. I even wrote an article on the architecture of their -temporary shelters that was published in the university journal. - -"Well, what I want is for Toromon to be free, free of its own ridiculous -self-entanglements. Perhaps coming from the royal family, I had a easier -path toward a sense of Toromon's history. At its best, that's all an -aristocracy is good for anyway. But I wanted more than a sense, I wanted -to know what it was worth. So I went out and looked, and I found out it -was worth a whole lot. Somehow Toromon is going to have to pick itself -up by the back of the neck and give itself a shaking. If I have to be -the part that does the shaking, then I will. That's what I want, Jon -Koshar, and I want it as badly as you want to be free." - -Jon was quiet a moment. Then he said, "Anyway, to get what we want, I -guess we more or less have to do the same thing. All right, I'll go -along. But you're going to have to explain some things to me. There's a -lot I still don't understand." - -"A lot we both don't," the Duchess said. "But we know this: they're not -from Earth, they're not human, and they come from very far away. -Inconceivably far." - -"What about the rest?" - -"They'll help us help Toromon if we help them. How, I still don't -understand for sure. Already I've arranged to have Price Let kidnaped." - -"Kidnaped? But why?" - -"Because if we get through this, Toromon is going to need a strong king. -And I think you'll agree that Uske will never quite make that. Also, -he's ill, and under any great strain, might die in a moment, not to -mention the underground groups that are bound to spring up to undermine -whatever the government decides to do, once the war gets going. Let is -going where he can become a strong man, with the proper training, so -that if anything happens to Uske, he can return and there'll be someone -to guide the government through its crises. After that, how we're to -help them, I'm not sure." - -"I see," said Jon. "How did they get hold of you, anyway? For that -matter, how did they get me?" - -"You? They contacted you just outside of Telphar, didn't they? They had -to rearrange the molecular structure of some of your more delicate -proteins and do a general overhaul on your sub-crystalline structure so -the radiation wouldn't kill you. That, unfortunately had the unpleasant -side effect of booting down your index of refraction a couple of points, -which is why you keep fading in dim light. In fact, I got a blow-by-blow -description of your entire escape from them. It kept me on the edge of -my seat all night. How was I contacted? The same way you were, suddenly, -and with those words: _Lord of the Flames_. Now, your first direct -assignment will be ..." - - * * * * * - -In another room, Clea was sitting on a blue velvet hassock with her -hands tight in her lap. Then suddenly they flew apart like springs, -shook beside her head, and then clasped again. "Tomar," she said. -"Please, excuse me, but I'm upset. It was so strange. When I was dancing -with the King, he told me how he had dreamed of my brother this morning. -I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was just small talk. Then, -just after I changed partners for the third time, there I was, staring -into a face that I could have sworn was Jon's. And the man wasn't -dancing, either. He was just looking at me, very funny, and then he said -my name. Tomar, it was the same voice Jon used to use when I'd hurt -myself and he wanted to help. Oh, it couldn't have been him, because he -was too tall, and too gaunt, and the voice was just a little too deep. -But it was so much like what he might have been. That was when the King -made his announcement. I just turned and ran. The whole thing seemed -supernatural. Oh, don't worry, I'm not superstitious, but it unnerved -me. And that plus what you said this morning." - -"What I said?" asked Tomar. He stood beside the hassock in the -blue-draped sitting room, his hands in his pockets, listening with -animal patience. - -"About their drafting all the degree students into the war effort. Maybe -the war is good, but Tomar, I'm working on another project, and all at -once, the thing I want most in the world is to be left alone to work on -it. And I want you, and I want to have a picnic. I'm nearly at the -solution now, and to have to stop and work on bomb sightings and missile -trajectories ... Tomar, there's a beauty in abstract mathematics that -shouldn't have to be dulled with that sort of thing. Also, maybe you'll -go away, or I'll go away. That doesn't seem fair either. Tomar, have you -ever had things you wanted, had them in your hands, and suddenly have a -situation come up that made it look like they might fly out of your grip -forever?" - -Tomar rubbed his hand across his brush-cut red hair and shook his head. -"There was a time once, when I wanted things. Like food, work, and a bed -where all four legs touched the ground. So I came to Toron. And I got -them. And I got you, and so I guess there isn't anything else to want, -or want that bad." He grinned, and the grin made her smile. - -"I guess," she started, "... I guess it was just that he looked so much -like my brother." - -"Clea," Tomar said. "About your brother. I wasn't going to tell you this -until later. Maybe I shouldn't say it now. But you were asking whether -or not they were going to draft prisoners into the army; and whether at -the end of their service, they'd be freed. Well, I did some checking. -They are going to, and I sent through a recommendation that they take -your brother among the first bunch. In three hours I got a memorandum -from the penal commissioner. Your brother's dead." - -She looked at him hard, trying to hold her eyes open and to prevent the -little snarl of sound that was a sob from loosening in the back of her -throat. - -"In fact it happened last night," Tomar went on. "He and two others -attempted an escape. Two of their bodies were found. And there's no -chance that the third one could have escaped alive." - -The snarl collapsed into a sound she would not make. She sat for a -moment. Then she said, "Let's go back to the party." She stood up, and -they walked across the white rug to the door. Once she shook her head -and opened her mouth. Then she closed it again and went on. "Yes. I'm -glad you said it. I don't know. Maybe it was a sign ... a sign that he -was dead. Maybe it was a sign ..." She stopped. "No. It wasn't. It -wasn't anything, was it? No." They went down the steps to the ballroom -once more. The music was very, very happy. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - -A few hours earlier, Geryn gave Tel a kharba fruit. The boy took the -bright-speckled melon around the inn, looking for Alter. Unable to find -her, he wandered onto the street and up the block. Once a cat with a -struggling gray shape in its teeth hurtled across his path. Later he saw -an overturned garbage can with a filigree of fish bones ornamenting the -parti-colored heap. Over the house roofs across the street, the taller -buildings and towers of Toron paled to blue, with sudden yellow -rectangles of window light scattered unevenly over their faces. - -Turning down another block, he saw Rara standing on the corner, stopping -the occasional passers-by. Tel started up to her, but she saw him and -motioned him away. Puzzled, he went to a stoop and sat down to watch. As -he ran his thumbnail along the orange rind, and juice oozed from the -slit, he heard Rara talking to a stranger. - -"Your fortune, sir. I'll spread your future before you like a silver -mirror ..." The stranger passed. Rara turned to a woman now coming toward -her. "Ma'am, a fragment of a unit will spread your life out like a -patterned carpet where you may trace the designs of your fate. Just a -quarter of a unit ..." The woman smiled, but shook her head. "You look -like you come from the mainland," Rara called after her. "Well, good -luck here in the New World, sister, the Island of Opportunity." -Immediately she turned to another man, this one in a deep green uniform. -"Sir," Tel heard her begin. Then she paused as she surveyed his costume. -"Sir," she continued, "for a single unit I will unweave the threads of -your destiny from eternity's loom. Would you like to know the promotion -about to come your way? How many children you'll ..." - -"Come on, lady," said the man in uniform. "It's illegal to tell fortunes -here." - -"But I've got my license," declared Rara. "I'm a genuine clairvoyant. -Just a second ..." And her hands began to plunge into the seams and -pockets of her gray rags. - -"Never mind, lady. Just get moving," and he gave her a push. Rara moved. - -Tel peeled back the strip of rind he'd loosened from the kharba fruit, -licked the juice from the yellow wound, and followed Rara. - -"Son of an electric eel," she said when Tel reached her, her birthmark -scarlet. "Just trying to make a living, that's all." - -"Want a bite?" - -Rara shook her head. "I'm too angry," she said. They walked back to the -inn. - -"Do you know where Alter is?" Tel asked. "I was looking for her." - -"She's not in the inn?" - -"I couldn't find her there." - -"Did you look on the roof?" Rara asked. - -"Oh," said Tel. "No." They turned into the tavern and Tel went upstairs. -It was not until he was halfway up the ladder on the second floor that -went to the trap door in the ceiling that he wondered why she was on the -roof. He pushed the trap door back and hoisted himself to the dusty, -weathered rim. - -Alter was hanging head and white hair down from a pipe that went from -the stone chimney to a supporting pipe that was fastened by a firm -collar to the roof. - -"What are you doing?" Tel asked. - -"Hi," she smiled down at him. "I'm practicing." - -"Practicing what?" - -She was hanging double from her waist over the pipe. Now she grabbed the -bar close to her waist and somersaulted forward, letting her feet slowly -and evenly to the ground, her legs perfectly straight. "My stunts," she -said. "I'm an acrobat." She did not let go of the bar, but suddenly -swung her legs up so that her ankles nearly touched her hands, and then -whipped them down again, ending the kip by supporting herself upright on -the metal perch. Then she flung her legs back (Tel jumped because she -looked like she was going to fall) and went out and down, then under, -swung up, arced over, and went down again in a giant circle. She circled -once more, then doubled up, caught one knee over the bar, reversed -direction, and suddenly was sitting on top of the rod with one leg over. - -"Gee," Tel said. "How did you do that?" - -"It's all timing," Alter said. Suddenly she threw her head back, and -circled the bar once more, hanging from her hands and one knee. Then -the knee came loose, and her feet came slowly to the ground. "You've -just got to be strong enough to hold up your own weight. Maybe a little -stronger. But the rest is all timing." - -"You mean I could do that?" - -"You want to try something?" - -"Like what?" - -"Come here and grab hold of the bar." - -Tel came over and grabbed. He could just keep his feet flat on the -tar-papered roof and still hold on. "All right," he said. - -"Now pull yourself up and hook your left knee around the bar." - -"Like this?" He kicked up once, missed, and tried again. - -"When you kick, throw your head back," she instructed. "You'll balance -better." - -He did, pulled up, and got his foot through his arms, and suddenly felt -the bar slide into the crook of his knee. He was hanging by his left -knee and hands. "Now what do I do?" he asked, swaying back and forth. - -Alter put her hand on his back to steady him. "Now straighten your right -leg, and keep your arms fairly straight." He obeyed. "Now swing your -right leg up and down, three times, and then swing it down real hard." -Tel lifted his leg, dropped it, and at once began swinging back and -forth beneath the pole. "Keep the leg straight," Alter said. "Don't bend -it, or you'll loose momentum." - -He got to the third kick, and then let go (with his thigh muscles, not -his hands) and at once the sky slipped back behind him and his body -swung upward away from the direction of the kick. "Whoooo," he said, and -then felt an arm steadying his wrist. He was sitting on top of the bar -with one leg over it. He looked down at Alter. "Is that what was -supposed to happen?" - -"Sure," she said. "That's how you mount the bar. It's called a knee -mount." - -"I guess it's easier than climbing. Now what do I do?" - -"Try this. Straighten out your arms. And make sure they stay straight. -Now straighten your back leg behind you." As he tried, he felt her hand -on his knee, helping. "Hey ..." he said. "I'm not balanced." - -"Don't worry," she said. "I'm holding you. Keep those arms straight. If -you don't obey instructions you'll have a head full of tar paper. Seven -feet isn't very high, but head first it's sort of uncomfortable." - -Tel's elbows locked. - -"Now when I count three, kick the leg I'm holding under you and throw -your head back as hard as you can. One ..." - -"What's supposed to happen?" Tel demanded. - -"Follow instructions," replied Alter. "Two ... three!" - -Tel threw and kicked, and felt Alter give his leg an extra push. He had -planned to close his eyes, but what he saw kept them open. Sky and then -roof were coming at him, fast. Then they veered away, along with Alter's -face (which was upside down), till an instant later the pale blue towers -of Toron, all pointing in the wrong direction, pierced his sight. -Righting themselves, they jerked out of his line of vision and he was -looking straight up at the sky (there was a star out, he noted before it -became a meteor and flashed away) until it was replaced by the roof and -Alter's face (laughing now) and then once more everything swept into its -proper position for a moment. - -He clamped his stinging hands tightly on the bar, and when he felt -himself stop, he hunched forward and closed his eyes. "Mmmmmmmmmm," he -said. Alter's hand was on his wrist, very firm, and he was sitting on -top of the bar again. - -"You just did a double back knee circle," she said, "You did it very -well too." Then she laughed. "Only it wasn't supposed to be double. You -just kept going." - -"How do I get down?" Tel asked. - -"Arms straight," said Alter. - -Tel straightened his arms. - -"Put this hand over here." She patted the bar on the other side of his -leg. Tel transferred his grip. "Now bring your leg off the bar." Tel -hoisted his leg back so that he was supported by just his hands. "Now -bend forward and roll over, slowly if you can." Tel rolled, felt the -bar slip from where it was pressed against his waist, and a moment later -his feet were brushing back and forth over the tar paper. He let go and -rubbed his hands together. "Why didn't you tell me what I was gonna do?" - -"Because then you wouldn't have done it. Now that you know you can, the -rest will be easier. You've got three stunts now in less than five -minutes. The knee mount, back knee circle, and the forward dismount. And -that was the best I've ever seen anybody do for a first try." - -"Thanks," said Tel. He looked back up at the horizontal bar. "You know, -it feels real funny, doing that stuff. I mean you don't really do it. -You do things and than it happens to you." - -"That's right," Alter said. "I hadn't thought of it like that Maybe -that's why a good acrobat has to be a person who can sort of relax and -just let things happen. You have to trust both your mind and your body." - -"Oh," said Tel. "I was looking for you when I came up here. I wanted to -give you something." - -"Thank you," she smiled, brushing a shock of white hair from her -forehead. - -"I hope it didn't get broken." He reached into his pocket and pulled out -a handful of something sinewy; he had strung the shells on lengths of -leather thong. There were three loops of leather, each longer than the -one before, and the shells were spread apart and held in place by tiny -knots. "Geryn gave me the thong, and I put it together this afternoon. -It's a necklace, see?" - -She turned while he tied the ends behind her neck. Then she turned back -to him, touching the green brilliance of one frail cornucopia, passing -to the muted orange of another along the brown leather band. "Thank -you," she said. "Thank you very much, Tel." - -"You want some fruit?" he said, picking up the globe and beginning to -peel the rest of it. - -"All right," she said. He broke it open, gave her half, and they went to -the edge of the roof and leaned on the balustrade, looking to the -street below, then over the roofs of the other houses of the Devil's Pot -and up to the darkening towers. - -"You know," Tel said. "I've got a problem." - -"No identification papers, no place to go. I should say you do." - -"Not like that," he said. "But that's part of it, I guess. I guess it's -a large part of it. But not all." - -"Then what is it?" - -"I've got to figure out what I want. Here I am, in a new place, with no -way to get anything for myself; I've got to figure a goal." - -"Look," said Alter, assuming the superiority of age and urban training, -"I'm a year older than you, and I don't know where I'm going yet. But -when I was your age, it occurred to me it would probably all take care -of itself. All I had to do was ride it out. So that's what I've been -doing, and I haven't been too unhappy. Maybe it's the difference between -living here or on the seashore. But here you've got to spend a lot of -time looking for the next meal. At least people like you and me have to. -If you pay attention to that, you'll find yourself heading in the right -direction soon enough. Whatever you're going to be, you're going to be, -if you just give yourself half a chance." - -"Like a big acrobatic stunt, huh?" asked Tel. "You just do the right -things and then it happens to you." - -"Like that," said Alter. "I guess so." - -"Maybe," said Tel. The kharba fruit was cool, sweet like honey, orange, -and pineapple. - -A minute later someone was calling them. They turned from the balustrade -and saw Geryn's white head poking from the trap door. "Come down," he -demanded. "I've been looking all over for you. It's time." - -They followed him back to the first floor. Tel saw that the scarred -giant was still sitting at the table, his hands folded into quiet -hammers before him. - -"Now, everyone," Geryn called as he sat down at the table. Somewhat -reluctantly people left the bar. Geryn dropped a sheaf of papers on the -table. "Come around, everyone." The top sheet was covered with fine -writing and careful architectural drawing. "Now this is the plan." So -were the other sheets, when Geryn turned them over. "First, I'll divide -you into groups." - -He looked at the giant across the table. "Arkor, you take the first -group." He picked out six more men and three women. He turned to the -white-haired girl now. "Alter, you'll be with the special group." He -named six more people. Tel was among them. A third group was formed -which Geryn himself was to lead. Arkor's group was for strong-arm work. -Geryn's was for guard duty and to keep the way clear while the prince -was being conveyed back to the inn. "The people in the special group -already know what to do." - -"Sir," said Tel, "you haven't told me, yet." - -Geryn looked at him. "You have to get caught." - -"Sir?" - -"You go past the guards, and make enough noise so that they catch you. -Then, when they're occupied with you, we'll break in. Because you have -no papers, they won't be able to trace you." - -"Am I supposed to stay caught?" - -"Of course not. You'll get away when we distract them." - -"Oh," said Tel. Geryn went back to the papers. - -As the plan was reviewed, Tel saw two things. First the completeness of -the research, information, and attention to detail--habits of individual -guards: one who left at the first sound of the change signal; another -who waited a moment to exchange greetings with his replacement, a friend -from his military academy days. Second, he saw its complexity. There -were so many ins and outs, gears that had to mesh, movements to be timed -within seconds, that Tel wondered if everything could possibly go right. - -While he was wondering, they were suddenly already on their way, each -one with a bit of the plan fixed firmly in his mind, no one with too -clear a picture of the entire device. The groups were to split into -subgroups of two or three, then reconvene at appointed spots around the -castle. Tel and Alter found themselves walking through the city with -the giant. Occasional street lights wheeled their shadows over the -cracked pavement. - -"You're from the forest, aren't you?" Tel finally asked the giant. - -He nodded. - -"Why did you come here?" Tel asked, trying to make conversation as they -walked. - -"I wanted to see the city," he said, raising his hand to his scars with -a small chuckle. After that, he said nothing. - - * * * * * - -Prime Minister Chargill took his evening constitutional along the -usually deserted Avenue of the Oyster at about this time every night. -Prime Minister Chargill always carried on him a complete set of keys to -the private suites of the royal family. This evening, however, a drunk -in rags reeled out of a side street and collided with the old man. A -moment later, making profuse apologies, he backed away, ducking his -head, his hands behind his back. When the drunk returned to the side -street, his weaving gait ceased, his hand came from behind his back, and -in it was a complete set of keys to the private suites of the royal -family. - - * * * * * - -The guard who was in charge of checking the alarm system loved flowers. -He could--(and had been)--observed going to the florist's at least once -a week on his time off. So when the old woman with a tray of scarlet -anemones came by and offered them for his perusal, it is not surprising -that he lowered his head over the tray and filled his lungs with that -strange, pungent smell somewhere between orange rind and the sea wind. -Forty-seven seconds later, he yawned. Fourteen seconds after that, he -was sitting on the ground, his head hung forward, snoring. Through the -gate two figures could be seen at the alarm box ... had anyone been -there to look. - - * * * * * - -At another entrance to the castle, two guards converged on a -fourteen-year-old boy with black hair and green eyes who was trying to -climb the fence. - -"Hey, get down from there! All right, come on. Where're your papers? -What do you mean you don't have any? Come on with us. Get the camera -out, Jo. We'll have to photograph him and send the picture to Chief -Records Headquarters. They'll tell us who you are, kid. Now hold still." - -Behind them, a sudden white-haired figure was out of the shadows and -over the gate in a moment. The guards did not see her. - -"Hold still now, kid, while I get your retina pattern." - - * * * * * - -Later on a bunch of rowdies, led by a giant, started to raise hell -around the palace. They hadn't even gotten the kid to the guard house -yet, but somehow in the confusion the boy got away. One guard, who wore -a size seventeen uniform was knocked unconscious, but no one else was -hurt. They dispersed the rowdies, carried the guard to the infirmary, -and left. The doctor saw him in the waiting room, then left him there -momentarily to look for an accident report slip in the supply room at -the other side of the building. (He could have sworn that a whole pad of -them had been lying on the desk when he'd stepped out for a bit ten -minutes ago.) When the doctor returned with the slip the soldier was -still there--only he was stark naked. - - * * * * * - -A minute later, an unfamiliar guard, wearing a size seventeen uniform, -saluted the guard at the gate, and marched in. - - * * * * * - -Two strange men behind the gate flung a cord with a weight on one end -over a third story cornice. They missed once, then secured it the second -time and left it hanging there. - -A guard wearing a size seventeen uniform came down the hall of the west -wing of the castle, stopped before a large double door on which was a -silver crown, indicating the room of the Queen Mother; he took a -complete set of keys to the private suites of the royal family from his -cloak, and locked her Majesty firmly in her room. At the next door, he -locked Prince Let securely in his. Then he went rapidly on. - -Tel ran till he got to the corner, rounded it, and checked the street -sign. It was correct. So he went to a doorway and sat down to wait. - - * * * * * - -At the same time, Prince Let, getting ready for bed and wearing nothing -but his undershirt, looked out the window and saw a girl with white hair -hanging head down outside the shutter. He stood very still The upside -down face smiled at him. Then the hands converged at the window lock, -did something, and the two glass panels came open. The girl rolled over -once, turned quickly, and suddenly she was crouching on the window -ledge. - -Let snatched up his pajama bottoms first, and ran to the door second. -When he couldn't open it, he whirled around and pulled on his pajama -pants. - -Alter put her finger to her lips as she stepped down into his room. -"Keep quiet," she whispered. "And relax," she added. "The Duchess of -Petra sent me. More or less." She had been instructed to use that name -to calm the prince. It seemed to work a trifle. - -"Look," explained Alter, "you're being kidnapped. It's for your own -good, believe me." She watched the blond boy come away from the door. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -"I'm a friend of yours if you'll let me be." - -"Where are you going to take me?" - -"You're going to go on a trip. But you'll come back, eventually." - -"What has my mother said?" - -"Your mother doesn't know. Nobody knows except you and the Duchess, and -the few people who're helping her." - -Let appeared to be thinking. He walked over to his bed, sat down, and -pressed his heel against the side board. There was a tiny click. Nothing -else happened. "Why won't they open the door?" he asked. - -"It's been locked," Alter said. Suddenly she looked at the clock beside -the Prince's bed, and turned to the window. Light from the crystal -chandelier caught on the shells that were strung on leather thongs -around her neck as she turned. - -Let put his hand quietly on the newel post of his bed and pressed his -thumb hard on the purple garnet that encrusted the crowning ornamental -dolphin. Nothing happened except a tiny click. - -At the window, Alter reached out her hand, just as a bundle appeared -outside on a lowered rope. She pulled them in, untied them, and shook -them out as the rope suddenly flew out the window again. "Here," she -said. "Get into these." It was a suit of rags. She tossed them to him. - -Finally Let slipped out of his pajama pants and into the suit. - -"Now look in your pocket," Alter said. - -The boy did and took out a bunch of keys. - -"You can open the door with those," Alter said. "Go on." - -Let paused, then went to the door. Before he put the key in the lock -though, he bent down and looked through the keyhole. "Hey," he said, -looking back at the girl. "Come here. Do you see anything?" - -Alter crossed the room, bent down, and looked. The only motion Let made -was to lean against one of the panels on the wall, which gave a slight -click. Nothing happened. - -"I don't see anything," Alter said. "Open the door." - -Let found the proper key, put it in the lock, and the door swung back. - -"All right, you kids," said the guard who was standing on the other side -of the door (who incidentally wore a size seventeen uniform), "you come -along with me." He took Let firmly by one arm and Alter by the other and -marched them down the hall. "I'm warning you to keep quiet," the guard -said to Let as they turned the last corner. - -Three minutes later they were outside the castle. As the guard passed -another uniformed man at the Sentry's post, he said, "More stupid kids -trying to break into the palace." - -"What a night," said the guard and scratched his head. "A girl too?" - -"Looks like it," said the guard who was escorting Alter and the Prince. -"I'm taking them to be photographed." - -"Sure," answered the guard, and saluted. - -The two children were marched down the street toward the guard house. -Before they got there, they were turned off into a side street. Then -suddenly the guard was gone. A black-haired boy with green eyes was -coming toward them. - -"Is this the Prince?" Tel asked. - -"Un-huh," said Alter. - -"Who are you?" Let asked. "Where are you taking me?" - -"My name is Tel. I'm a fisherman's son." - -"My name is Alter," Alter introduced herself. - -"She's an acrobat," Tel added. - -"I'm the Prince," Let said. "Really. I'm Prince Let." - -The two others looked at the blond boy who stood in front of them in -rags like their own. Suddenly they laughed. The Prince frowned. "Where -are you taking me?" he asked again. - -"We're taking you to get something to eat and where you can get a good -night's sleep," Alter answered. "Come on." - -"If you hurt me, my mother will put you in jail." - -"Nobody's going to hurt you, silly," Tel said. "Come on." - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - -The Duchess of Petra said, "Now, your first direct assignment will -be ..." - - * * * * * - -Then, the sudden green of beetles' wings; the red of polished carbuncle; -a web of silver fire; lightning and blue smoke. Columns of jade caught -red light through the great crack in the roof. The light across the -floor was red. Jon felt that there were others with him, but he could -not be sure. Before him, on a stone platform, three marble crescents -were filled with pulsating shadows. Jon Koshar looked at them, and then -away. There were many more columns, most broken. - -He saw a huge break in the sanctuary wall. Outside he could look down on -an immense red plain. At a scribed line, the plain changed color to an -even more luminous red. Near the temple a few geometrical buildings cast -maroon pinions of shadow over the russet expanse. Suddenly he realized -that the further half of the plain was an immense red sea, yet with a -perfectly straight shore line. Calmly it rippled toward the bright -horizon. - -At the horizon, filling up nearly a quarter of the sky, was what seemed -to be a completely rounded mountain of dull red. No, it was a segment of -a huge red disk, a great dull sun lipping the horizon of the planet. Yet -it was dim enough so that he could stare directly at it without -blinking. Above it, the atmosphere was a rich purple. - -Then there was a voice from behind him, and he turned to the triple -throne once more. - -"Hail, hosts of Earth," the voice began. The very shadows of the room -were like red bruises on the stone. "You are in the halls of an extinct -city on Creton III. Twelve million years ago this planet housed a -civilization higher than yours today. Now it is dead, and only we are -left, sitting on their thrones in the twilight of their dying, ruddy -sun." - -"Who are you?" demanded Jon, but his voice sounded strange, distorted. -As he bit the last word off, another voice broke in. - -"What do you really want from us?" - -Then a third voice. - -"What are you going to do with us?" - -Jon looked around but saw no one else. Suddenly another picture, the -picture of a world of white desert where the sky was deep blue and each -object cast double shadows, filled his mind. "This isn't the world you -took me to before ..." he exclaimed. - -"No," came the quiet voice, "this is not the world we took you to -before. Listen. We are homeless wanderers of space. Our origin was not -only in another galaxy, but in another universe, eternities ago. By way -of this universe we can move from star to star without transversing any -segment of time, unless we desire. Thus we have dwelt quietly in the -dead cities of myriad suns till now. We have never tampered with any -living species, though there is something in us that yearns for the -extinct cultures. - -"Recently according to our standards, though still much older than your -solar system, a dark force has come into the universe. It has evolved -similarly to us, and also leaps among galaxies in moments. Yet it holds -no culture sacred that it finds, and has already tampered with a score -of civilizations. It is younger than we are, and can only exist in one -individual at a time, while our entity has three lobes, so to speak. -This rival thinks nothing of completely changing the mind of its host, -giving deadly information, even new powers. We are bound only to ride -with your minds, warn you, guide you, but changing your body before your -minds, and that only to keep you from death. So it will be your own -greed, your own selflessness that will eventually win or lose this -battle. Therefore it will be won or lost within the framework of your -own civilization." - -"Then tell us this," came a voice that was not Jon's. "What is on the -other side of the radiation barrier?" - -"But we have told you already. And you have guessed. Toromon is at war -with an economic condition. Beyond the barrier is a civilization which -is controlled by the Lord of the Flames. He is only in one member of -their number, and any time he may move to another, although it is not -likely." - -"Are they our enemies?" - -"Your only enemies are yourselves. But he must be evicted none the less. -To do that, all you must do is confront the individual who is bearing -him, the three of you together. But you must all be within seeing -distance of him at once. For we work through your minds. What you cannot -perceive, we cannot affect." - -"How will we do this?" - -"One of you has already been made immune to the radiation barrier. So -will the rest of you when it becomes necessary. This is what you will do -for us, and it will also remove the threatening element of the unknown -that distracts Toromon from her own problems." - -"But why our planet?" a voice asked. - -"Yours is an ideal experimenting ground. Because of the Great Fire, your -planet has many civilizations that are now completely isolated from one -another; many, however, are on a fairly high level. The radiation -barriers that lace your planet will keep you isolated from them for some -time. When the Lord of the Flames is finished with one empire, he may -wish to try a different method on a basically similar civilization. For -all your isolated empires had the same base. Marinor, Letpar, Calcivon, -Aptor--these are all empires on your planet of which you have never -heard. But your first concern is Toromon." - -"Will we remember all this?" Jon asked. - -"You will remember enough. Good-bye; you know your task." The red haze -in the deserted temple pulsed and the jade columns flickered. Hands of -blue smoke caught him and flung him through a lightning flash. Whirled -through a net of silver, he dropped through red into the vivid green of -beetles' wings. - - * * * * * - -Jon blinked. The Duchess took a step backwards. The green carpet, the -rich wood-paneled walls, the glass-covered desk: they were in a sitting -room of his father's house, again. - -Finally Jon asked, "Now just what am I supposed to do, again? And -explain it very carefully." - -"I was going to say," said the Duchess, "that you were to get to the -Prince, who is being kept at an inn in the Devil's Pot, and accompany -him to the forest people. I want him to stay there until this war is -over. They live a different life from any of the other people of this -empire. They will give him something he'll be able to use. I told you I -spent some time there when I was younger. I can't explain exactly what -it is, but it's a certain ruggedness, a certain strength. Maybe they -won't give it to him, but if he's got it in him, they'll bring it out." - -"What about ... the Lord of the Flames?" - -"I don't--do you have any idea, Jon?" - -"Well, assuming we get beyond the radiation barrier, assuming we find -what people we're fighting, assuming we find which one of them is -carrying around the Lord of the Flames, and assuming we can all three of -us get to him at once--assuming all that, there's no problem. But we -can't, can we? Look, I'll be going to the forest, so I'll be closest to -the radiation barrier. I'll try to get through, see what the situation -is, and then the two of you can come on. All right?" - -"Fine." - -"If nothing else, it'll put me closer to the Lord of the Flames ... and -my freedom." - -"How are you not free now, Jon Koshar?" the Duchess asked. - -Instead of answering, he said, "Give me the address of the inn at the -Devil's Pot." - - * * * * * - -Going down the hall, with the address, Jon increased his pace. His mind -carried an alien mind that had saved him from death once already. How -could he be free? The ... obligation? That couldn't be the word. - -Around the corner he heard a voice. "And now would you please explain it -to me? It's not every day that I'm called on to declare war. I think I -did it rather eloquently. Now tell my why." - -(Jon remembered the trick of acoustics which as a child enabled him to -stand in this spot and overhear his sister and her girlfriends' -conversation just as they came into the house.) - -"It's your brother," came the other voice. "He's been kidnaped." - -"He's been what?" asked the King. "And why? And by whom?" - -"We don't know," answered the official. "But the council thought it was -best to get you to declare war." - -"Oh," said the King. "So that's why I made that little speech in there. -What does mother say?" - -"It wouldn't be polite to repeat, sir. She was locked in her room, and -very insulted." - -"She would be," said Uske. "So, the enemy has infiltrated and gotten my -silly brother." - -"Well," said the voice, "they can't be sure. But what with the planes -this morning, they thought it was best." - -"Oh, well," said the King. There were footsteps. Then silence. - -Coming round the corner, Jon saw the coat closet was ajar. He opened the -door, took out a great cape and hood, and wrapped it around him, pulling -the hood close over his head. He stepped into the foyer and went out -past the doorman. - - * * * * * - -At the edge of the Devil's Pot, the woman with the birthmark on the left -side of her face was tapping a cane and holding out a tin cup. She had -put on a pair of dark glasses and wandered up one street and down -another. "Money for a poor blind woman," she said in a whiny voice. -"Money for the blind." As a coin clinked into her cup, she nodded, -smiled, and said, "Welcome to the New World. Good luck in the Island of -Opportunity." - -The man who had given her the coin walked a step, and then turned back. -"Hey," he said to Rara. "If you're blind, how do you know I'm new here?" - -"Strangers are generous," Rara explained, "while those who live here are -too frozen to give." - -"Look," said the man, "I was told to watch out for blind beggars who -weren't blind. My cousin, he warned me ..." - -"Not blind!" cried Rara. "Not blind? Why my license is right here. It -permits me to beg in specified areas because of loss of sight. If you -keep this up, I'll be obliged to show it to you." She turned away with a -huff and began in another direction. The man scratched his head, then -hurried off. - -A few moments later, a man completely swathed in a gray cloak and hood -came around the corner and stopped in front of the woman. - -"Money for the blind?" - -"Can you use this?" the man said. From his cloak he held out a brocade -jacket, covered with fine metal work. - -"Of course," said Rara softly. Then she coughed. "Er ... what is it?" - -"It's a jacket," Jon said. "It's made pretty well. Maybe you can sell -it?" - -"Oh, thank you. Thank you, sir." - - * * * * * - -A few blocks later, a ragged boy, who looked completely amazed, was -handed a white silk shirt by the man in the gray cloak. In front of a -doorway two blocks on, a pair of open-toed black boots with gold disks -were left--and stolen from that doorway exactly forty seconds later by a -hairdresser who was returning to her home in Devil's Pot. She was -missing the little finger of her left hand. Once the gray cloaked figure -paused in an alley beneath a clothes line. Suddenly he flung up a ball -of gray cloth, which caught on the line, unrolled, and became -identifiable as a pair of dark gray trousers. A block later the last -minor articles of clothing were hurled unceremoniously through an open -window. As Jon turned another corner, he glimpsed a figure ducking into -a doorway down the dim street. The man was apparently following him. - -Jon walked very slowly down the next block, ambling along in the shadow. -The hoodlum crept up behind him, then grabbed his cloak, ripped it away, -and leaped forward. - -Only there wasn't anything there. The mugger stood for a moment, the -cape dangling from his hand, blinking at the place a man should have -been. Then something hit him in the jaw. He staggered back. Something -else hit him in the stomach. As he stumbled forward now, beneath the -street lamp, a transparent human figure suddenly formed in front of him. -Then it planted its quite substantial fist into his jaw again, and he -went back, down, and out. - -Jon dragged the man back to the side of the alley, fading out completely -as he did so. Then he took the hoodlum's clothes, which were ragged, -smelly, and painfully nondescript. The shoes, which were too small for -him, he had to leave off. Then he flung the cape back around his -shoulders and pulled the hood over his head. - -For the next six blocks he was lost because there were no street signs. -When he did find the next one, he realized he was only a block away from -the inn. - -As he reached the stone building, he heard a thud in the tiny alleyway -beside it. A moment later a girl's voice called softly, "There. Just -like that. Only you better do exactly as I say or you'll break your arms -or legs, or back." - -He walked to the edge of the building and peered into the alley. - -Her white hair loose, Alter stood looking up at the roof. "All right, -Tel," she called. "You next." - -Something came down from the roof, flipped over on the ground at her -feet, rolled away, and then suddenly unwound to standing position. The -black-haired boy ran his fingers through his hair. "Wow," he said. Then -he shook his head. "Wow." - -"Are you all right?" Alter asked. "You didn't pull anything, did you?" - -"No," he said. "I'm all right. I think. Yeah, everything's in place." He -looked up at the roof again, two stories above. - -"Your turn, Let," Alter called up. - -"It's high," came a childish voice from the roof. - -"Hurry up," said Alter, her voice becoming authoritative. "When I count -three. And remember, knees up, chin down, and roll quick. One, two, -three!" There was the space of a breath, and then it fell, rolled, -bounced unsteadily to its feet, and resolved into another boy, this one -blond, and slighter than the first. - -"Hey, you kids," Jon said. - -They turned. - -Jon looked at the smaller boy. His slight blond frame, less substantial -then even Alter's white-haired loveliness was definitely of the royal -family. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" Jon asked. "Especially -you, your Highness." - -All three children jumped. - -It looked like they might balk, and after that descent from the roof, he -wasn't sure where they might balk to. So he said, "Incidentally, the -Duchess of Petra sent me. How did you do that fall?" - -His Highness was the only one to relax appreciably. - -"And are you sure you're supposed to be outside?" - -"We were supposed to stay on the top floor," Tel said. "But him," he -pointed to his ragged Highness, "he got restless, and we started telling -him about the tricks, and so we went up to the roof, and Alter said she -could get us down." - -"Can you get them back up?" Jon asked. - -"Sure," said Alter, "all we do is climb ..." - -Jon held up his hand. "Wait a minute," he said. "We'll go inside and -talk to the man in charge. Don't worry. No one'll be mad." - -"You mean talk to Geryn?" said Alter. - -"I guess that's what his name is." - -They started back out of the alley. "Tell me," Jon said, "just what sort -of person is Geryn?" - -"He's a strange old man. He talks to himself all the time," said Alter. -"But he's smart." - -Talks to himself, Jon reflected, and nodded. When they reached the door -of the inn, Jon pulled his cape off and stepped into the light. A few -people at the bar turned around, and when they saw the children, they -looked askance at one another. - -"Geryn's probably upstairs," Alter said. They went to the second floor. -Jon let the children go ahead of him as they passed into the shadow of -the hall. He only stepped up to them when Alter pushed open the door at -the end of the hall and bright light from Geryn's room fell full across -them. - -"What is it?" Geryn snapped. And then, "What is it, quick?" He whirled -around in the chair at the rough wooden desk when they entered. The -giant was standing by the window. Geryn's gray eyes fidgeted back and -forth. Finally he said, "Why are you out here? And who is he? What do -you want?" - -"I'm from the Duchess of Petra," Jon said. "I've come to take Let to the -forest people." - -"Yes," said the old man. "Yes." Then suddenly his face twisted as if he -were trying to remember something. Then shook his head. "Yes." Suddenly -he stood up. "Well, go on. I've done my part, I tell you. I've done. -Every minute he's in my house he endangers my boarders, my friends. Take -him. Go on." - -The giant turned from the window. "I am to go with you. My name is -Arkor." - -Jon frowned. For the first time the scarred giant's height struck him. -"Why...?" he started. - -"It is my country that we go to," said Arkor. "I know how to get there. -I can take you through it. Geryn says it is part of the plan." - -Jon felt a sudden knot of resentment tighten inside him. These -plans--the Duchess', Geryn's, even the plans of the triple beings who -inhabited them--they trapped him. Freedom. The word went in and out of -his mind like a shadow. He said, "When do we go then, if you know how to -get there?" - -"In the morning," said Arkor. - -"Alter, take him to a room. Get him out of here. Quick. Go on." They -backed from the room and Alter hurried them up the hall. - -Jon was thinking. After delivering Let to the forest people, he was -going further. Yes. He would go on, try to get through the radiation -barrier. But all three of them had to get through if they were to do any -good. So why wasn't Geryn coming instead of sending the giant? If Geryn -came, then there'd be two people near the Lord of the Flames. But Geryn -was old. Maybe the Duchess could bring him with her when she came. -Mentally he smashed a fist into his thoughts and scattered them. Don't -think. Don't think. Thinking binds up your mind, and you can never be-- -He stopped. Then another thought wormed into his skull, the thought of -five years of glittering hunger. - -That night he slept well. Morning pried his eyes open with blades of -light that fell through the window. It was very early. He had been up -only a minute when there was a knock on his door. Then it opened, and -Arkor directed the dwarfed form of the Prince into Jon's room, then -turned and left. - -"He says to meet him downstairs in five minutes," Let said. - -"Sure," said Jon. He finished buttoning up the ragged shirt stolen from -the mugger the night before, and looked at the boy by the door. "I guess -you're not used to these sort of clothes," he said. "Once I wasn't -either. Pretty soon they begin to take." - -"Huh?" said Let. Then, "Oh." - -"Is something wrong?" - -"Who are you?" - -Jon thought for a moment. "Well," he said. "I'm sort of a friend of your -brother. An acquaintance, anyway. I'm supposed to take you to the -forest." - -"Why?" - -"You'll be safe there." - -"Could we go to the sea instead?" - -"My turn for a 'why'?" Jon asked. - -"Because Tel told me all about it last night. He said it was fun. He -said there were rocks all different colors. And in the morning, he said, -you can see the sun come up like a burning blister behind the water. He -told me about the boats, too. I'd like to work on a boat. I really -would. They don't allow me to do anything at home. Mother says I might -get hurt. Will I get a chance to work someplace?" - -"Maybe," Jon said. - -"Tel had some good stories about fishing. Do you know any stories?" - -"I don't know," Jon said. "I never tried telling any. Hey, come on. We -better get started." - -"I like stories," Let said. "Come on. I'm just trying to be friendly." - -Jon laughed, then thought a minute. "I can tell you a story, about a -prison mine. Do you know anything about the prison mines beyond the -forest?" - -"Some," said Let. - -"Well, once upon a time, there were three prisoners in that prison -camp." They started out in the hall. "They'd been there a long time, -and they wanted to get out. One was ... well, he looked like me, let's -pretend. Another had a limp ..." - -"And the third one was chubby, sort of," interrupted Let. "I know that -story." - -"You do?" asked Jon. - -"Sure," Let said. - -"Then you go on and tell it." Jon was a little annoyed. - -Let told it to him. - -They were outside waiting for Arkor when the boy finished. "See," Let -said. "I told you I knew it." - -"Yeah," said Jon quietly. He stood very still. "You say the other -two ... didn't make it?" - -"That's right," Let said. "The guards brought them back and dumped their -bodies in the mud so that ..." - -"Shut up," Jon said. - -"Huh?" asked Let. - -He was quiet for a few breaths. "Who told you that ... story?" - -"Petra," Let answered. "She told it to me. It's a good story, huh?" - -"Incidentally," Jon said. "I'm the one that got away." - -"You mean?" The boy stopped. "You mean it really happened?" - -The early light warmed the deserted street now as Arkor came to the door -of the inn and stepped into the street. - -"All right," he said. "Come on." - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - -The news service of Toromon in the city of Toron was a public address -system that flooded the downtown area, and a special printed sheet that -was circulated among the upper families of the city. On the mainland it -was a fairly accurate brigade of men and women who transported news -orally from settlement to settlement. All announced simultaneously that -morning: - - CROWN PRINCE KIDNAPED - KING DECLARES WAR! - -In the military ministry, directives were issued in duplicate and -redelivered in triplicate. At eight-forty, the 27B Communications Sector -became hopelessly snarled. This resulted in the shipment of a boatload -of prefabricated barracks foundations to a port on the mainland -sixty-two miles from the intended destination. - -Let, Jon, and Arkor were just mounting the private yacht of the Duchess -of Petra which was waiting for them at the end of the harbor. Later, as -the island of Toron slipped across the water, Let mentioned to Jon, -leaning against the railing, that there was an awful lot of commotion on -the docks. - -"It's always like that," Jon told him, remembering the time he'd gone -with his father in the morning to the pier. "They're inspecting cargoes. -But it does look awfully busy." - -Which was a euphemism. One group of military directives which had been -quite speedily and accurately delivered were the offers of contracts, -primarily for food, and secondarily for equipment. Two of the -distributors of imported fish who had absolutely no chance of receiving -the contracts sent in a bid accompanied by a letter which explained -(with completely fraudulent statistics) how much cheaper it would be to -use imported fish rather than those from the aquariums. Then they -commandeered a group of ruffians who broke into the house of old -Koshar's personal secretary, who was still sleeping after the previous -night's party which he had helped out with. (So far he has appeared in -this story only as a hand seen around the edge of a storage cabinet -door, a broad hand, with wiry black hair, on which there was a cheap, -wide, brass ring in which was set an irregular shape of blue glass.) - -They tied him to a chair, punched him in the stomach, and in the head, -and in the mouth until there was blood running down his trimmed, black -beard; and he had given the information they wanted--information that -enabled them to sink three of the Koshar cargo fleet that was just -coming into dock. - -The Duchess' private yacht made contact with a tetron-tramp returning to -the mainland and Let, Jon, and Arkor changed ships. Coming from the -yacht in bare feet and rags gave them an incongruous appearance. But on -the tramp, among those passengers who were returning for their families, -they quickly became lost. - -On Toron, the pilot of the shuttle boat that took workers from the city -to the aquariums found a clumsily put-together, but nevertheless -unmistakable, bomb hidden in the lavatory. It was dismantled. There was -no accident. But an authority, Vice-Supervisor Nitum of Koshar Synthetic -Food Concerns (whose name you do not need to remember, as he was killed -three days later in a street brawl) clenched his jaw (unshaven; he had -been called to the office a half an hour early over the sunken cargo -boats), nodded his head, and issued a few non-official directives -himself. Twenty minutes later, Koshar Synthetic Food Concerns was -officially given the government contract to supply the armies of Toromon -with food. Because the two rival bidders, the import merchants, had -ceased to exist about twelve minutes previously, having suddenly been -denied warehouse space, and their complete storage dumped into the -streets to rot (nearly seven tons of frozen fish) because the -refrigeration lockers, and the refrigeration buildings, and the -refrigeration trucks had all been rented from Rahsok Refrigeration, and -nobody had ever thought of spelling Rahsok backwards. - -In the military ministry, Captain Clemen, along with Major Tomar, was -called away from his present job of completing the evacuation of the top -four floors of an adjacent office building to accommodate the new corps -of engineers, mathematicians, and physicists that the army had just -enlisted. Apparently riots had started in the streets around the old -Rahsok Refrigeration Houses. The warehouses were just a few blocks away -from the official boundary of the Devil's Pot. - -They got there ten minutes after the report came in. "What the hell is -going on?" Clemen demanded, from the head of the City Dispersal Squad. -Behind the line of uniformed men, masses of people were pushing and -calling out. "And what's that stench?" added Clemen. He was a tiny man, -exactly a quarter of an inch over the minimum for military -acceptance--4' 10". - -"Fish, sir," the Dispersal Chief told him. "There's tons of it all over -the street. The people are trying to take it away." - -"Well, let them have it," Clemen said. "It'll clear the streets of the -mess and maybe do some good." - -"You don't understand, sir," the head of Dispersal explained. "It's been -poisoned. Just before it was dumped, it was soaked with buckets of -barbitide. Half a ton of the stuff's already been carried away." - -Clemen turned. "Tomar," he said. "You get back to headquarters and see -personally that a city-wide announcement goes out telling about the -poisoned fish. Call General Medical, find out the antidote, and get the -information all over the city. See to it personally, too." - -Tomar got back to headquarters, got General Medical, got the antidote, -which was expensive, complicated, and long, and drafted his -announcement. - - WARNING! Any citizen who has taken fish from the street in the area - of Rahsok Refrigeration is in immediate danger of death. The fish - has been treated with the fatal poison barbitide. No fish other - than that directly traceable to the Synthetic Markets should be - eaten. WARN YOUR NEIGHBORS! If fish has been eaten, go directly to - the General Medical building (address followed). Symptoms of - barbitide poisoning: intense cramps about two hours after - ingestion, followed by nausea, fever, and swollen lymph nodes. - Death results in twenty minutes after onset of cramps under normal - conditions. Foods with high calcium contents prolong spasms to a - maximum hour and a half (foods such as milk, ground egg shell). - General Medical has been alerted. There you will receive injections - of Calcium Silicate and Atropayic Acid which can counteract the - effects of the poison up until the last five or ten minutes. - -Tomar personally sent the directive through Communications Center 27B, -marked urgent and emergency. Ten minutes later he received a visiphone -call from the Communications Engineer saying that 27B had been -hopelessly snarled all morning. In fact so had 26B, 25B. In further -fact, said the engineer, the only available sectors open were 34A and -42A, none of which, incidentally, had access to complete city lines. - -Tomar made a triplicate copy of the warning and sent it out, -nonetheless, through Sectors 40A, 41A, and 42A. A half an hour later the -secretary to the Communications Engineer called and said, "Major Tomar, -I'm sorry, I just got back from my break and I didn't see your message -until just now. Because of the tie-ups, we've received instructions only -to let authorized persons have access to the available sectors." - -"Well, who the hell is authorized," Tomar bellowed. "If you don't put -that through and quick, half the city may be dead by this evening." - -The secretary paused a minute. Then he said, "I'm sorry, sir, but ... -well, look. I'll give it directly to the Communications Engineer when he -gets back." - -"When is he getting back?" Tomar demanded. - -"I ... I don't know." - -"Who is authorized?" - -"Only generals, sir, and only those directly concerned with the war -effort." - -"I see," Tomar said, and hung up. - -He had just dispatched seven copies of the announcement with an -explanatory note to seven of the fourteen generals in the ministry when -the Communications Engineer called again. "Major, what's all this about -a bushel of fish?" - -"Look, there are seven tons of the stuff all over the streets." - -"And poisoned?" - -"Exactly. Will you please see that this message gets out over every -available piece of city-wide communication as fast as possible? This is -really life and death." - -"We're just allowed to work on getting war messages through. But I guess -this takes priority. Oh, that explains some of the messages we've been -getting. I believe there's even one for you." - -"Well?" asked Tomar after a pause. - -"I'm not allowed to deliver it, sir." - -"Why not?" - -"You're not authorized, sir." - -"Look, damn it, get it right now and read it to me." - -"Well ... er ... it's right here sir. It's from the chief of the City -Dispersal Squad." - -The message was, in brief, that twenty-three men, among them Captain -Clemen, had been trampled to death by an estimated two and a half -thousand hungry residents of the Devil's Pot, most of them immigrants -from the mainland. - -A ton and a half of fish was finally removed from the streets and -disposed of. But five and a half tons had made its way through the city. -The Communications Engineer also added that while they'd been talking, a -memorandum had come through that Sectors 34A to 42A were now out of -commission, but that the major should try 27B again, because it might -have cleared up. - - * * * * * - -The second shift of workers that day was arriving at the aquariums. In -the great pontooned building, vast rows of transparent plastic tubes, -three feet in diameter, webbed back and forth among the tetron pumps. -Vibrator nets cut the tubes into twenty-foot compartments. Catwalks -strung the six-story structure, all flooded with deep red light that -came from the phosphor-rods that stuck up from the pumps. Light toward -the blue end of the spectrum disturbed the fish, who had to be visible -at all times, to be moved, or to be checked for any sickness or -deformity. In their transparent tubes, the fish floated in a state near -suspended animation, vibrated gently, were kept at a constant 82 deg., were -fed, were fattened, were sorted according to age, size, and species; -then slaughtered. The second shift of workers moved into the aquarium, -relieving the first shift. - -They had been on about two hours when a sweating hulk of a man who was -an assistant feeder reported to the infirmary, complaining of general -grogginess. Heat prostration was an occasional complaint in the -aquarium. - -The doctor told him to lie down for a little while. Five minutes later -he went into violent cramps. Perhaps the proper attention would have -been paid to him had not a few minutes later a woman fallen from a -catwalk at the top of the aquarium and broken one of the plastic -arteries and her skull, six stories below. - -In the red light the workers gathered around her broken body that lay at -the end of a jagged plastic tube. In the spread water, dozens of fish, -fat and ruddy-skinned, flapped their gills weakly. - -The woman's co-workers said she had complained of not feeling well, when -suddenly she went into convulsions while crossing one of the catwalks. -By the time the doctor got back to the infirmary, the assistant feeder -had developed a raging fever, and the nurse reported him violently -nauseated. Then he died. - -In the next two hours, out of the five thousand two hundred and eighty -people who worked at the aquariums, three hundred and eighty-seven were -taken with cramps and died in the next two hours, the only exception -being an oddball physical culture enthusiast who always drank two quarts -of milk for lunch; he lasted long enough to be gotten onto the shuttle -and back to General Medical on Toron, where he died six minutes after -admittance, one hour and seventeen minutes after the onset of the -cramps. That was the first case that General Medical actually received. -It was not until the sixteenth case that the final diagnosis of -barbitide poisoning was arrived at. Then someone remembered the query -that had come in by phone from the military ministry that morning about -the antidote. - -"Somehow," said Chief Toxologist Oona, "the stuff has gotten into some -food or other. It may be all over the city." Then he sat down at his -desk and drafted a warning to the citizens of Toron containing a -description of the effects of barbitide poisoning, antidote, and -instructions to come to the General Medical building, along with a -comment on high calcium foods. "Send this to the Military Ministry and -get it out over every available source of public communications, and -quick," he told his secretary. - -When the Assistant Communications Engineer (the first having gone off -duty at three o'clock) received the message, he didn't even bother to -see who it was from, but balled it up in disgust and flung it into a -wastepaper basket and mumbled something about unauthorized messages. Had -the janitor bothered to count that evening, he would have discovered -that there were now thirty-six copies of Major Tomar's directive in -various wastebaskets around the ministry. - -Only a fraction of the barbitide victims made it to General Medical, but -the doctors were busy. There was just one extraordinary incident, and -among the screams of cramped patients, it was not given much thought. -Two men near the beginning of the rush of patients, gained access to the -special receiving room. They managed to get a look at all the women who -arrived. One of the patients who was wheeled by them was a particularly -striking girl of about fifteen with snow white hair and a strong, lithe -body, now knotted with cramps. Sweat beaded her forehead, her eyelids, -and through her open collar you could see she wore a leather necklace of -shells. - -"That's her," one of the men said. The other nodded, then went to the -doctor who was administering the injections, and whispered to him. - -"Of course not," the doctor said indignantly in a clear voice. "Patients -need at least forty-eight hours rest and careful observation after -injection of the antidotes. Their resistance is extremely low and -complications ..." - -The man said something else to the doctor and showed him a set of -credentials. The doctor stopped, looked scared, then left the patient he -was examining and went to the bed of the new girl. Quickly he gave her -two injections. Then he said to the men, "I want you to know that I -object to this completely and I will--" - -"All right, Doctor," the first man said. Then the second hoisted Alter -from the cot and they carried her out of the hospital. - - * * * * * - -The Queen Mother had her separate throne room. She sat in it now, -looking at photographs. In bright colors, two showed the chamber of the -Crown Prince. In one picture the Prince was seated on his bed in his -pajama pants with his heel against the side board; standing by the -window was a white-haired girl with a leather necklace strung with tiny, -bright shells. The next showed the Prince still sitting on the bed, this -time with his hand on the newel dolphin. The girl was just turning -toward the open window. - -The third picture, which from the masking, seemed to have been taken -through a keyhole, showed what seemed to be an immense enlargement of a -human pupil; mistily discernible through the iris were the dottings and -tiny pathways of a retina pattern. On the broad arm of the Queen -Mother's throne was a folder marked: ALTER RONID. - -In the folder were a birth certificate, a clear photograph of the same -retina pattern, a contract in which a traveling circus availed itself of -the service of a group of child acrobats for the season, a school -diploma, copies of receipts covering a three-year period of gymnastic -instruction, a copy of a medical bill for the correction of a sprained -hip, and two change of address slips. Also there were several cross -reference slips to the files of Alia Ronid (mother, deceased) and Rara -Ronid (maternal aunt, legal guardian). - -The Queen put the photographs on top of the folder and turned to the -guards. There were thirty of them lined against the walls of the room. -She lifted up the heavy, jeweled scepter and said, "Bring her in." She -touched the two buns of white hair on the sides of her head, breathed -deeply, and straightened in the chair, as two doors opened at the other -end of the room. - -Two blocks had been set up in the middle of the room, about four feet -high and a foot apart. - -Alter stumbled once, but the guard caught her. They walked her between -the blocks, which came to just below her shoulders, spread her arms over -the surface and strapped them straight across the tops at the biceps and -wrist. - -The Queen smiled. "That's only a precaution. We want to help you." She -came down the steps of the throne, the heavy jeweled rod cradled in her -arm. "Only we know something about you. We know that you know something -which if you tell me, will make me feel a great deal better. I've been -very upset, recently. Did you know that?" - -Alter blinked and tried to get her balance. The blocks were just under -the proper height by half an inch so that she could neither stand -completely nor could she sag. - -"We know you're tired, and after your ordeal with the barbitide--you -don't feel well, do you?" asked the Queen, coming closer. - -Alter shook her head. - -"Where did you take my son?" the Queen asked. - -Alter closed her eyes, then opened them wide and shook her head. - -"Believe me," said the Queen, "we have ample proof. Look." She held up -the photographs for Alter to see. "My son took these pictures of the two -of you together. They're very clear, don't you think?" She put the -pictures back in the quilted pocket of her robe. - -"Aren't you going to tell me, now?" - -"I don't know anything," Alter said. - -"Come now. That room had as many cameras as a sturgeon has eggs. There -are dozens of hidden switches. Somehow the alarms connected with them -didn't go off, but the cameras still worked." - -Alter shook her head again. - -"You don't have to be afraid," said the Queen. "We know you're tired and -we want to get you back to the hospital as soon as possible. Now. What -happened to my son, the Prince?" - -Silence. - -"You're a very sweet girl. You're an acrobat too?" - -Alter swallowed, and then coughed. - -The Queen gave a puzzled smile this time. "Really, you don't have to be -afraid to answer me. You are an acrobat, isn't that right?" - -Alter nodded. - -The Queen reached out and slowly lifted the triplet leather necklace -with its scattering of shells in her fingers. "This is a beautiful piece -of jewelry." She lifted it from Alter's neck. "An acrobat's body must be -like a fine jewel, fine and strong. You must be very proud of it." Again -she paused and tilted her head. "I'm only trying to put you at ease, -dear, make conversation." Smiling, she lifted the necklace completely -from around Alter's neck. "Oh, this is exquisite ..." - -Suddenly the necklace clattered to the ground, the shells making an -almost miniature sound against the tiles. - -Alter's eyes followed the necklace to the floor. - -"Oh," the Queen said. "I'm terribly sorry. It would be a shame to break -something like this." With one hand the Queen drew back her robes until -her shoe was revealed. Then she moved her foot forward until her raised -toe was over the necklace. "Will you tell me where my son is?" - -There was seven, eight, ten seconds of silence. "Very well," the Queen -said, and brought her foot down. The sound of crushed shells was covered -by Alter's scream. Because the Queen had brought down the scepter, too, -the full arc of its swing, onto Alter's strapped forearm. Then she -brought it down again. The room was filled with the scream and the crack -of the jeweled scepter against the surface of the block. Then the Queen -smashed Alter's upturned elbow joint. - -When there was something like silence, the Queen said, "Now, where is my -son?" - -Alter didn't say for a long while; when she did, they were ready to -believe anything. So what she told them didn't do much good when they -had time to check it. Later, unconscious, she was carried into the -General Medical building wrapped in a gray blanket. - -"Another fish poison case?" asked the clerk. - -The man nodded. The doctor, who had been there when Alter was removed -from the hospital, had been working steadily for six hours. When he -unwrapped the blanket, he recognized the girl. When he unwrapped it -further, the breath hissed between his lips, and then hissed out again, -slowly. "Get this girl to emergency surgery," he said to the nurse. -"Quickly!" - - * * * * * - -In the Devil's Pot, Tel had just gotten over a case of the runs which -had kept him away from food all day. Feeling hungry, now, he was -foraging in the cold storage cabinet of the inn's kitchen. In the -freezing chest he found the remains of a baked fish, so he got a sharp -knife from over the sink, and cut a piece. Then the door opened and the -barmaid came in. She was nearly seventy years old and wore a red scarf -around her stringy neck. Tel had cut a slice of onion and was putting it -on top of the fish when the barmaid ran forward and knocked the dish -from his hand. - -"Ouch," Tel said, and jumped, though nothing had hurt him. - -"Are you completely crazy?" the woman asked. "You want to be carried out -of here like the rest of them?" - -Tel looked puzzled as Rara entered the kitchen. "Good grief," she -declared. "Where is everybody? I'm starved. I started selling that -homebrew tonic of mine that I made up yesterday, and around noon, -suddenly everybody was buying the stuff. They wanted something for -cramps, and I guess my Super Aqueous Tonic is as good as anything else. -I couldn't even get back to eat. Is there some sort of epidemic? Say, -that looks good," and she went for the fish. - -The old barmaid snatched up the dish and carried it to the disposal can. -"It's poisoned, don't you understand?" She dumped it into the chute. -"It's got to be the fish that's causing it. Everybody who ate it has -been carried off to General Medical with cramps. Lots of them died, too. -The woman who lives across the street and me, we figured it out. We both -bought it from the same woman this morning, and that's all it could be. - -"Well, I'm still hungry," Tel said. - -"Can we have some cheese and fruit?" asked Rara. - -"I guess that's safe," the woman said. - -"Who was carried out?" Tel wanted to know, looking back in the cabinet. - -"Oh, that's right," the barmaid said, "you've been upstairs sick all -day." And then she told him. - - * * * * * - -At about the same time, an observer in a scouting plane noticed a boat -bearing prefabricated barracks foundations some sixty miles away from -any spot that could possibly be receiving such a shipment. In fact, he -had sent a corrective order on a typographical error concerning ... yes, -it must be, that same boat. He'd sent it that morning through -Communication Sector 27B. They were near the shore, one of the few spots -away from the fishing villages and the farm communes where the great -forest had crept down to the edge of the water itself. A tiny port, -occasionally used as an embarkation for the families of emigrants going -to join people in the city, was the only point of civilization between -the rippling smoke-green sea on one side and the crinkling deep green of -the forest tree tops on the other. The observer also noted that a small -tetron tramp was about to dock also. But that transport ship ... He -called the pilot and requested contact be made. - -The pilot was shaking his head, groggily. - -The co-pilot was leaning back in his seat, his mouth opened, his eyes -closed. "I don't feel too ..." The pilot started, and then reached -forward absently to crumple a sheet of tin foil he had left on the -instrument panel, in which, a few hours ago, had been a filet sandwich -that he and the co-pilot had shared between them. - -Suddenly the pilot fell forward out of his chair, knocking the control -stick way to the left. He clutched his stomach as the plane banked -suddenly to the right. In the observation blister, the observer was -thrown from his chair and the microphone fell from his hand. - -The co-pilot woke up, belched, grabbed for the stick, which was not in -its usual place, and so missed. Forty-one seconds later, the plane had -crashed into a dock some thirty feet from the mooring tetron tramp. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - -There was a roaring in the air. Let cried out and ran forward. Then -shadow. Then water. His feet were slipping on the deck as the rail swung -by. Then thunder. Then screaming. Something was breaking in half. - -Jon and Arkor got him out. They had to jump overboard with the -unconscious Prince, swim, climb, and carry. There were sirens at the -dock when they laid him on the dried leaves of the forest clearing. - -"We'll leave him here," Arkor said. - -"Here? Are you sure?" Jon asked. - -"They will come for him. You must go on," he said softly. "We'll leave -the Prince now, and you can tell me of your plan." - -"My plan ..." Jon said. They walked off through the trees. - - * * * * * - -Dried leaves tickled one cheek, a breeze cooled the other. Something -touched him on the side, and he stretched his arms, scrunched his -eyelids, then curled himself into the comfortable dark. He was napping -in the little park behind the palace. He would go in for supper soon. -The leaf smell was fresher than it had ever.... Something touched him on -the side again. - -He opened his eyes, and bit off a scream. Because he wasn't in the park, -he wasn't going in to supper, and there was a giant standing over him. - -The giant touched the boy with his foot once more. - -Suddenly the boy scrambled away, then stopped, crouching, across the -clearing. A breeze shook the leaves like admonishing fingers before he -heard the giant speak. The giant was silent. Then the giant spoke again. - -The word the boy recognized in both sentences was, "... Quorl ..." - -The third time he spoke, he merely pointed to himself and repeated, -"Quorl." - -Then he pointed to the boy and smiled questioningly. - -The boy was silent. - -Again the giant slapped his hand against his naked chest and said, -"Quorl." Again he extended his hand toward the boy, waiting for sound. -It did not come. Finally the giant shrugged, and motioned for the boy to -come with him. - -The boy rose slowly, and then followed. Soon they were walking briskly -through the woods. - -As they walked, the boy remembered: the shadow of the plane out of -control above them, the plane striking the water, water becoming a -mountain of water, like shattered glass rushing at them across the sea. -And he remembered the fire. - -Hadn't it really started in his room at the palace, when he pressed the -first of the concealed micro-switches with his heel? The cameras were -probably working, but there had been no bells, no sirens, no rush of -guards. It had tautened when he pushed the second switch in the jeweled -dolphin on his bedpost. It nearly snapped with metallic panic when he -had to maneuver the girl into position for the retina photograph. -_Nothing_ had happened. He was taken away, and his mother stayed quietly -in her room. What was supposed to happen was pulling further and -further away from the reality. How could anybody kidnap the Prince? - -His treatment by the boy who told him about the sea and the girl who -taught him to fall pulled it even tighter. _If_ the Prince _were_ -kidnaped, certainly his jailors should not tell him stories of beautiful -mornings and sunsets, or teach him to do impossible things with his -body. - -He was sure that the girl had meant him to die when she had told him to -leap from the roof. But he had to do what he was told. He always had. -(He was following the giant through the dull leaves because the giant -had told him to.) When he had leapt from the roof, then rolled over and -sprung to his feet alive, the shock had turned the rack another notch -and he could feel the threads parting. - -Perhaps if he had stayed there, talked more to the boy and girl, he -could have loosened the traction, pulled the fabric of reality back into -the shape of expectation. But then the man with the black hair and the -scarred giant had come to take him away. He'd made one last volitional -effort to bring "is" and "suppose" together. He'd told the man the story -of the mine prisoners, the one cogent, connected thing he remembered -from his immediate past, a real good "suppose" story. But the man turned -on him and said that "suppose" wasn't "suppose" at all, but "is." A -thread snapped here, another there. - -(Over the deck of the boat there was roaring in the air. He had cried -out. Then shadow. Then water. His feet were slipping and the rail swung -by. Then thunder. Then screaming, his screaming: _I can't die! I'm not -supposed to die!_ Something tore in half.) - -The leaves were shaking, the whole earth trembled with his tired, -unsteady legs. As they walked through the forest, the last filament -went, like a thread of glass under a blow-torch flame. The last thing to -flicker out, like the fading end of the white hot strand, was the memory -of someone, somewhere, entreating him not to forget something, not to -forget it no matter what ... but what it was, he wasn't sure. - -Quorl, with the boy beside him, kept a straight path through the -forest. The ground sloped up now. Boulders lipped with moss pushed out -here and there. Once Quorl stopped short; his arm shot in front of the -boy to keep him from going further. - -Yards before them the leaves parted, and two great women walked forward. -Everything about them was identical, their blue-black eyes, flat noses, -broad cheek ridges. Twin sisters, the boy thought. Both women also bore -a triplex of scars down the left sides of their faces. They paid no -attention to either Quorl or the boy, but walked across into the trees -again. The moment they were gone, Quorl started again. - -Much later they turned onto a small cliff that looked across a great -drop to another mountain. Near a thick tree trunk was a pile of brush -and twigs. The boy watched Quorl drop to his knees and being to move the -brush away. The boy crouched to see better. - -The great brown fingers tipped with bronze-colored nails gently revealed -a cage made of sticks tied together with dried vines. Something squeaked -in the cage, and the boy jumped. - -Quorl in a single motion got the trap door opened and his hand inside. -The next protracted squeak suddenly turned into a scream. Then there was -silence. Quorl removed a furry weasel and handed it to the boy. - -The pelt was feather soft and still warm. The head hung crazily to the -side where the neck had been broken. The boy looked at the giant's hands -again. - -Veins roped across the ligaments' taut ridges. The hair on the joints of -the fingers grew up to edge of the broad, furrowed knuckles. Now the -finders were pulling the brush back over the trap. They crossed the -clearing and Quorl uncovered a second trap. When the hand went into the -trap and the knot of muscle jumped on the brown forearm -(Squeeeeee_raaaaa_!), the boy looked away, out across the great drop. - -The sky was smoke gray to the horizon where a sudden streak of orange -marked the sunset. The burning copper disk hung low in the purple gap of -the mountains. A fan of lavender drifted above the orange, and then -white, faint green.... The gray wasn't really gray, it was blue-gray. He -began to count colors, and there were twelve distinct ones (not a -thousand). The last one was a pale gold that tipped the edges of the few -low clouds that clustered near the burning circle. - -A touch on the shoulder made the boy turn back. Quorl handed him the -second animal, and they went back into the woods. Later, they had built -a small fire and had skinned and quartered the animals on the -scimitar-like blade that the giant wore. They sat in the diminishing -shell of light with the meat on forked sticks, turning it over the -flame. The boy watched the gray-maroon fibers go first shiny with juice, -and then darken, turn crisp and brown. When the meat was done, Quorl -took a piece of folded skin from his pouch and shook some white powder -onto it. Then he passed the leather envelope to the boy. - -The boy poured a scattering of white powder into his palm, then -carefully put his tongue to it. It was salt. - -When they had nearly finished eating the forest had grown cooler and -still. Fire made the leaves around them into flickering shingles on the -darkness. Quorl was cleaning the last, tiny bone with big, yellow teeth -when there was a sound. They both turned. - -Another branch broke to their left. "Tloto," Quorl called harshly, -followed by some sort of invective. - -It moved closer, the boy could hear it moving, closer until the boy saw -the tall shadow at the edge of the ring of light. - -With disgust--but without fear, the boy could see--Quorl picked up a -stick and flung it. The shadow dodged and made a small mewing sound. - -"Di ta klee, Tloto," Quorl said. "Di ta klee." - -Only Tloto didn't _di ta klee_, but came forward instead, into the -light. - -Perhaps it had been born of human parents, but to call it human now ... -It was bone naked, hairless, shell white. It had no eyes, no ears, only -a lipless mouth and slitted nostril flaps. It sniffed toward the fire. - -Now the boy saw that both the feet were clubbed and gnarled. Only two -fingers on each hand were neither misshapen or stiffly paralyzed. It -reached for Quorl's pile of bones, making the mewing sound with its -mouth. - -With a sudden sweep of his hand, Quorl knocked the paraplegic claw away -and shouted another scattering of indifferent curses. Tloto backed away, -turned to the boy, and came forward, its nostril slits widening and -contracting. - -The boy had eaten all he could and had a quarter of his meat still left. -It's only a head or two taller than I am, he thought. If it's from this -race of giants, perhaps it's still a child. Maybe it's my age. He stared -at the blank face. It doesn't know what's going on, the boy thought. It -doesn't know what's supposed to be happening. - -Perhaps it was just the sound of the word in his head that triggered off -the sudden panic. (Or was it something else that caught in his chest?) -Anyway, he took the unfinished meat and extended it toward Tloto. - -The claw jumped forward, grabbed, and snatched back. The boy tried to -make his mouth go into a smile. But Tloto couldn't see, so it didn't -matter. He turned back to the fire, and when he looked up again, Tloto -was gone. - -As Quorl began to kick dirt onto the coals, he lectured the boy, -apparently on Tloto and perhaps a few other philosophical concepts. The -boy listened carefully, and understood at least that Tloto was not worth -his concern. Then they lay down beside the little cyst of embers, the -glowing scab of light on the darkness, and slept. - -When the giant's hand came down and shook his shoulder, it was still -dark. He didn't jump this time but blinked against the night and pulled -his feet under him. It had grown colder, and dark wind brushed his neck -and fingered his hair. Then a high sound cut above the trees and fell -away. Quorl took the boy's arm and they started through the dark trees -quickly. - -Gray light filtered from the left. Was it morning? No. The boy saw it -was the rising moon. The light became white, then silver white. They -reached a cliff at last, beyond which was the dark sea. Broken rock -spilled to ledges below. Fifty feet down, but still a hundred feet above -the water, was the largest table of rock. The moon was high enough to -light the entire lithic arena as well as the small temple at its edge. - -In front of the temple stood a man in black robes who blew on a huge -curved shell. The piercing wail sliced high over the sea and the forest. -People were gathering around the edge of the arena. Some came in -couples, some with children, but most were single men and women. - -The boy started to go down, but Quorl held him back. They waited. From -sounds about them, the boy realized there were others observing from the -height also. On the water, waves began to glitter with broken images of -the moon. The sky was speckled with stars. - -Suddenly a group of people were led from the temple onto the platform. -Most of them were children. One was an old man whose beard twitched in -the light breeze. Another was a tall stately women. All of them were -bound, all of them were near naked, and all except the woman shifted -their feet and looked nervously about. - -The priest in the black robe disappeared into the temple, and emerged -again with something that looked to the boy from this distance for all -the world like a back-scratcher. The priest raised it in the moonlight, -and a murmur rose and quieted about the ring of people. The boy saw that -there were three close prongs on the handle, each snagging on the -luminous beams of the moon, betraying their metallic keenness. - -The priest walked to the first child and caught the side of her head in -his hand. Then he quickly drew the triple blade down the left side of -her face. She made an indefinite noise, but it was drowned in the rising -whisper of the crowd. He did the same to the next child who began to -cry, and to the next. The woman stood completely still and did not -flinch when the blades opened her cheek. The old man was afraid. The -boy could tell because he whimpered and backed away. - -A man and a woman stepped from the ring of people and held him for the -priest. As the blade raked the side of his face, his high senile whine -turned into a scream. The boy thought for a moment of the trapped -animals. The old man staggered away from his captors and no one paid him -any more attention. The priest raised the shell to his mouth once more, -and the high, brilliant sound flooded the arena. - -Then, as they had come, silently the people disappeared into the woods. -Quorl touched the boy's shoulder and they too went into the woods. The -boy looked at the giant with a puzzled expression, but there was no -explanation. Once the boy caught sight of a white figure darting at -their left as a shaft of moonlight slipped across a naked shoulder. -Tloto was following them. - - * * * * * - -The boy spent his days learning. Quorl taught him to pull the gut of -animals to make string. It had to be stretched a long time and then -greased with hunks of fat. Once learned it became his job; as did -changing the bait in the traps; as did cutting willow boughs to make -sleeping pallets; as did sorting the firewood into piles of variously -sized wood; as did holding together the sticks while Quorl tied them -together and made a canopy for them, the night it rained. - -He learned words, too. At least he learned to understand them. -_Tike_--trap, _Di'tika_--a sprung trap, _Tikan_--two traps. One -afternoon Quorl spent a whole six hours teaching words to the boy. There -were lots of them. Even Quorl, who did not speak much, was surprised how -many had to be learned. The boy did not speak at all. But soon he -understood. - -"There is a porcupine," Quorl would say, pointing. - -The boy would turn his eyes quickly, following the finger, and then look -back, blinking quietly in comprehension. - -They were walking through the forest that evening, and Quorl said, "You -walk as loud as a tapir." The boy had been moving over dry leaves. -Obediently he moved his bare feet to where the leaves were damp and did -not crackle. - -Sometimes the boy went alone by the edge of the stream. Once a wild pig -chased him and he had to climb a tree. The pig tried to climb after him -and he sat in the crotch of the branch looking quietly down into the -squealing mouth, the warty gray face; he could see each separate bristle -stand up and lie down as the narrow jaw opened and closed beneath the -skin. One yellow tusk was broken. - -Then he heard a mewing sound away to his left. Looking off he saw -slug-like Tloto coming towards his tree. A sudden urge to sound pushed -him closer to speech (_Stay away! Stay Back!_) than he had been since -his arrival in the woods. But Tloto could not see. Tloto could not hear. -His hands tightened until the bark burned his palm. - -Suddenly the animal turned from the tree and took off after Tloto. -Instantly the slug-man turned and was gone. - -The boy dropped from the tree and ran after the sound of the pig's -crashing in the underbrush. Twenty feet later after tearing through a -net of thick foliage, he burst onto a clearing and stopped. - -In the middle of the clearing, the pig was struggling half above ground -and half under. Only it wasn't ground. It was some sort of muckpool -covered by a floating layer of leaves and twigs. The pig was going under -fast. - -Then the boy saw Tloto on the other side of the clearing, his nostrils -quivering, his blind head turning back and forth. Somehow the slug-man -must have maneuvered the animal into the trap. He wasn't sure how, but -that must have been what had happened. - -The urge that welled in him now came too fast to be stopped. It had too -much to do with the recognition of luck, and the general impossibility -of the whole situation. The boy laughed. - -He startled himself with the sound, and after a few seconds stopped. -Then he turned. Quorl stood behind him. - -(Squeeeee ... Squeeee ... _raaaaaaa_! Then a gurgle, then nothing.) - -Quorl was smiling too, a puzzled smile. - -"Why did you--?" (The last word was new. He thought it meant laugh, but -he said nothing.) - -The boy turned back now. Tloto and the pig were gone. - -Quorl walked the boy back to their camp. As they were nearing the stream -Quorl saw the boy's footprints in the soft earth and frowned. "To leave -your footprints in wet earth is dangerous. The vicious animals come to -drink and they will smell you, and they will follow you, to eat. Suppose -that pig had smelled them and been chasing you, instead of running into -the pool? What then? If you must leave your footprints, leave them in -dry dust. Better not to leave them at all." - -The boy listened, and remembered. But that night, he saved a large piece -of meat from his food. When Tloto came into the circle of firelight, he -gave it to him. - -Quorl gave a shrug of disgust and flung a pebble at the retreating -shadow. "He is useless," Quorl said. "Why do you waste good food on him? -To throw away good food is a--." (Unintelligible word.) "You do not -understand--." (Another unintelligible word.) - -The boy felt something start up inside him again. But he would not let -it move his tongue; so he laughed. Quorl looked puzzled. The boy laughed -again. Then Quorl laughed too. "You will learn. You will learn at last." -Then the giant became serious. "You know, that is the first--sound I -have heard you make since coming here." - -The boy frowned, and the giant repeated the sentence. The boy's face -showed which word baffled him. - -The giant thought a minute, and then said, "You, me, even Tloto, are -_malika_." That was the word. Now Quorl looked around him. "The trees, -the rocks, the animals, they are not _malika_. But the laughing sound, -that was a _malika_ sound." - -The boy thought about it until perhaps he understood. Then he slept. - -He laughed a lot during the days now. Survival had come as close to -routine as it could here in the jungle, and he could turn his attention -to more _malika_ concerns. He watched Quorl when they came on other -forest people. With single men and women there was usually only an -exchange of ten or twelve friendly words. If it were a couple, -especially with children, he would give them food. But if they passed -anyone with scars, Quorl would freeze until the person was by. - -Once the boy wandered to the temple on the arena of rock. There were -carvings on much of the stone. The sun was high. The carvings -represented creatures somewhere between fish and human. When he looked -up from the rock, he saw that the priest had come from the temple and -was staring at him. The priest stared until he went away. - -Now the boy tried to climb the mountain. That was hard because the -footing was slippery and the rocks kept giving. At last he stopped on a -jutting rock that looked down the side of the mountain. He was far from -any place he knew. He was very high. He stood with hand against the -leaning trunk of a near rotten tree, breathing deep and squinting at the -sky. (Three or four times Quorl and he had taken long hunting trips: one -had taken them to the edge of a deserted meadow across which was a -crazily sagging farmhouse. There were no people there. Another had taken -them to the edge of the jungle, beyond which the ground was gray and -broken, and row after row of unsteady shacks sat among clumps of -slithering ferns. Many of the forest people living there had scars and -spent more time in larger groups.) The boy wondered if he could see to -the deserted meadow from here, or to the deadly rows of prison shacks. A -river, a snake of light, coiled through the valley toward the sea. The -sky was very blue. - -He heard it first, and then he felt it start. He scrambled back toward -firmer ground but didn't scramble fast enough. The rock tilted, tore -loose, and he was falling. (It pierced through his memory like a white -fire-blade hidden under canvas: "... knees up, chin down, and roll -quick," the girl had said a long time ago.) It was perhaps twenty feet -to the next level. Tree branches broke his fall and he hit the ground -spinning, and rolled away. Something else, the rock or a rotten log, bit -the ground a moment later where he had been. He uncurled too soon, -reaching out to catch hold of the mountain as it tore by him. Then he -hit something hard; then something hit him back, and he sailed off into -darkness in a web of pain. - -Much later he shook his head, opened his eyes, then chomped his jaws on -the pain. But the pain was in his leg, so chomping didn't help. He moved -his face across crumbling dirt. The whole left side of his body ached, -the type of ache that comes when the muscles are tensed to exhaustion -but will not relax. - -He tried to crawl forward, and went flat down onto the earth, biting up -a mouthful of dirt. He nearly tore his leg off. - -He had to be still, calm, find out exactly what was wrong. He couldn't -tear himself to pieces like the wildcat who had gotten caught in the -sprung trap and who had bled to death after gnawing off both hind legs. -He was too _malika_. - -But each movement he made, each thought he had, happened in the blurring -green haze of pain. He raised himself up and looked back. Then he lay -down again and closed his eyes. A log the thickness of his body lay -across his left leg. Once he tried to push it away but only bruised his -palm against the bark, and at last went unconscious with the effort. - -When he woke up, the pain was very far away. The air was darkening. No, -he wasn't quite awake. He was dreaming about something, something soft, -a little garden, with shadows blowing in at the edge of his vision swift -and cool, a little garden behind the-- - -Suddenly, very suddenly, it struck him what was happening, the slowing -down of thoughts, his breathing, maybe even his heart. Then he was -struggling again, struggling hard enough that had he still the strength, -he would have torn himself in half, knowing while he struggled that -perhaps the wildcat had been _malika_ after all, or not caring if he -were less, only fighting to pull himself away from the pain, realizing -that blood had begun to seep from beneath the log again, just a tiny -trickle. - -Then the shadows overtook him, the dreams, the wisps of forgetfulness -gauzing his eyes. - - * * * * * - -Tloto nearly had to drag Quorl halfway up the mountain before the giant -got the idea. When he did, he began to run. Quorl found the boy; just -before sunset. He was breathing in short gasps, his fists clenched, his -eyes closed. The blood on the dirt had dried black. - -The great brown hands went around the log, locked, and started to shift -it; the boy let out a high sound from between his teeth. - -The hands, roped with vein and ridged with ligament, strained the log -upward; the sound became a howl. - -The giant's feet braced against the dirt, slid into the dirt, and the -hands that had snapped tiny necks and bound sticks together with gut -string, pulled; the howl turned into a scream. He screamed again. Then -again. - -The log coming loose tore away nearly a square foot of flesh from the -boy's leg. Then, Quorl went over and picked him up. - -This is the best dream, the boy thought, from that dark place he had -retreated to behind the pain, because Quorl is here. The hands were -lifting him now, he was held close, warm, somehow safe. His cheek was -against the hard shoulder muscle, and he could smell Quorl too. So he -stopped screaming and turned his head a little to make the pain go away. -But it wouldn't go. It wouldn't. Then the boy cried. - -The first tears through all that pain came salty in his eyes, and he -cried until he went to sleep. - - * * * * * - -Quorl had medicine for him the next day ("From the priest," he said.) -which helped the pain and made the healing start. Quorl also had made -the boy a pair of wooden crutches that morning. Although muscle and -ligament had been bruised and crushed and the skin torn away, no bone -had broken. - -That evening there was a drizzle and they ate under the canopy. Tloto -did not come, and this time it was Quorl who saved the extra meat and -kept looking off into the wet gray trees. Quorl had told the boy how -Tloto had led him to him; when they finished eating, Quorl took the meat -and ducked into the drizzle. - -The boy lay down to sleep. He thought the meat was a reward for Tloto. -Only Quorl had seemed that night full of more than usual gravity. The -last thing he wondered before sleep flooded his eyes and ears was how -blind, deaf Tloto had known where he was anyway. - - * * * * * - -When he woke it had stopped raining. The air was damp and chill. Quorl -had not come back. - -The sound of the blown shell came again. The boy sat up and flinched at -the twinge in his leg. To his left the moon was flickering through the -trees. The sound came a third time, distant, sharp, yet clear and -marine. The boy reached for his crutches and hoisted himself to his -feet. He waited till the count of ten, hoping that Quorl might suddenly -return to go with him. - -A last he took a deep breath and started haltingly forward. The faint -moonlight made the last hundred yards easy going. Finally he reached a -vantage where he could look down through the wet leaves onto the arena -of stone. - -The sky was sheeted with mist and the moon was an indistinct pearl in -the haze. The sea was misty. People were already gathered at the edge. -The boy looked at the priest and then ran his eye around the circle of -people. One of them was Quorl! - -He leaned forward as far as he could. The priest sounded the shell again -and the prisoners came out of the temple: first three boys, then an -older girl, then a man. The next one ... Tloto! It was marble-white -under the blurred moon. Its clubbed feet shuffled on the rock. Its blind -head ducked right and left with bewilderment. - -As the priest raised the long three-pronged knife, the boy's hands went -tight around the crutches. He passed from one prisoner to the next. -Tloto cringed, and the boy sucked in a breath as the knife went down, -feeling his own flesh part under the blades. Then the murmur died, the -prisoners were unbound, and the people filed from the rock back into the -forest. - -The boy waited to see which way Quorl headed before he started through -moon-dusted bushes as fast as his crutches would let him. There were -many people on the webbing of paths that came from the temple rock. -There was Quorl! - -When he caught up, Quorl saw him and slowed down. Quorl didn't look at -him, though. Finally the giant said, "You don't understand. I had to -catch him. I had to give him to the old one to be marked. But you don't -understand." The boy hardly looked at all where they were going, but -stared up at the giant. - -"You don't understand," Quorl said again. Then he looked at the boy and -was quiet for a minute. "No, you don't," he repeated. "Come." They -turned off the main path now, going slower. "It's a ... custom. An -important custom. Yes, I know it hurt him. I know he was afraid. But it -had to be. Tloto is one of those who--." (The word was some inflection -of the verb to know.) Quorl was silent for a moment. "Let me try to tell -you why I had to hurt your friend. Yes, I know he is your friend, now. -But once I said that Tloto was _malika_. I was wrong. Tloto is more than -_malika_--he and the others that were marked. Somehow these people know -things. That was how Tloto survived. That's how he knew where you were, -when you were hurt. He knew inside your head, he heard inside your head. -Many are born like that, more of them each year. As soon as we find out, -we mark them. Many try to hide it, and some succeed for a long time. Can -you understand? Do you? When Tloto showed me where you were, he knew -that I would know, that he would be caught and marked. Do you -understand?" - -Again he paused and looked at the boy. The eyes still showed puzzled -hurt. "You want to know why. I ... we.... Long ago we killed them when -we found out. We don't any more. The mark reminds them that they are -different, and yet the same as we. Perhaps it is wrong. It doesn't hurt -that much, and it heals. Anyway, we don't kill them any more. We know -they're important...." Suddenly, having gone all through it with this -strange boy, it seemed twisted to the giant, incorrect. Then he gave the -boy what the boy had been sent to the forest to get, what the Duchess -had found and knew was necessary. "I was wrong," Quorl said. "I'm sorry. -I will speak to the priest tomorrow." - -They walked until the dawn lightened the sky behind the trees. Once -Quorl looked around and said, "I want to show you something. We are very -near, and the weather is right." - -They walked a few minutes more till Quorl pointed to a wall of leaves, -and said, "Go through there." - -As they pressed through the dripping foliage, bright light burnished -their faces. They were standing on a small cliff that looked down the -mountain. Fog the color of pale gold, the same gold the boy had seen so -rarely in the sunset, rolled across the entire sky. The center flamed -with the misty sun, and way below them through the fog was the shattered -traces of water, the color of magnesium flame on copper foil, without -edge or definition. - -"That's a lake that lies between this mountain and the next," Quorl -said, pointing to the water. - -"I thought...." the boy started softly, his tongue rough against the new -language. "I thought it was the sea." - -Beside them appeared the crouching figure of Tloto. Drops from the wet -leaves burned on his neck and back, over the drying blood. He turned his -blank face left and right in the golden light, and with all his knowing -could communicate no awe. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - -Clea Koshar had been installed in her government office for three days. -The notebook in which she had been doing her own work in inverse -sub-trigonometric functions had been put away in her desk for exactly -fifty-four seconds when she made the first discovery that gave her a -permanent place in the history of Toromon's wars as its first military -hero. Suddenly she pounded her fist on the computer keys, flung her -pencil across the room, muttered, "What the hell is this!" and dialed -the military ministry. - -It took ten minutes to get Tomar. His red-haired face came in on the -visiphone, recognized her, and smiled. "Hi," he said. - -"Hi, yourself," she said. "I just got out those figures you people sent -us about the data from the radiation barrier, and those old readings -from the time Telphar was destroyed. Tomar, I didn't even have to feed -them to the computer. I just looked at them. That radiation was -artificially created. Its increment is completely steady. At least on -the second derivative. Its build-up pattern is such that there couldn't -be more than two simple generators, or one complexed on ..." - -"Slow down," Tomar said. "What do you mean, generators?" - -"The radiation barrier, or at least most of it, is artificially -maintained. And there are not more than two generators, and possibly -one, maintaining it." - -"How do you generate radiation?" Tomar asked. - -"I don't know," Clea said. "But somebody has been doing it." - -"I don't want to knock your genius, but how come nobody else figured it -out?" - -"I just guess nobody thought it was a possibility, or thought of -gratuitously taking the second derivative, or bothered to look at them -before they fed them into the computers. In twenty minutes I can figure -out the location for you." - -"You do that," he said, "and I'll get the information to whomever it's -supposed to get to. You know, this is the first piece of information of -import that we've gotten from this whole battery of slide-rule slippers -up there. I should have figured it would have probably come from you. -Thanks, if we can use it." - -She blew him a kiss as his face winked out. Then she got out her -notebook again. Then minutes later the visiphone crackled at her. She -turned to it and tried to get the operator. The operator was not to be -gotten. She reached into her desk and got out a small pocket tool kit -and was about to attack the housing of the frequency-filterer when the -crackling increased and she heard a voice. She put the screw driver down -and put the instrument back on the desk. A face flickered onto the -screen and then flickered off. The face had dark hair, seemed perhaps -familiar. But it was gone before she was sure she had made it out. - -Crossed signals from another line, she figured. Maybe a short in the -dialing mechanism. She glanced down at her notebook and took up her -pencil when the picture flashed onto the screen again. This time it was -clear and there was no static. The familiarity, she did not realize, was -the familiarity of her own face on a man. - -"Hello," he said. "Hello, Hello, Clea?" - -"Who is this?" she asked. - -"Clea, this is Jon." - -She sat very still, trying to pull two halves of something back together -(as in a forest, a prince had felt the same things disengage). Clea -succeeded. "You're supposed to be ... dead. I mean I thought you were. -Where are you, Jon?" - -"Clea," he said. "Clea--I have to talk to you." - -There was a five-second silence. - -"Jon, Jon, how are you?" - -"Fine," he said. "I really am. I'm not in prison any more. I've been -out a long time, and I've done a lot of things. But Clea, I need your -help." - -"Of course," she said. "Tell me how? What do you want me to do?" - -"Do you want to know where I am?" he said. "What I've been doing? I'm in -Telphar, and I'm trying to stop the war." - -"In Telphar?" - -"There's something behind that famed radiation barrier, and it's a more -or less civilized race. I'm about to break through the rest of the -barrier and see what can be done. But I need some help at home. I've -been monitoring phone calls in Toron. There's an awful lot of equipment -here that's more or less mine if I can figure out how to use it. And -I've got a friend here who knows more in that line than I gave him -credit for. I've overheard some closed circuit conference calls, and I'm -talking to you by the same method. I know you've got the ear of Major -Tomar and I know he's one of the few trustworthy people in that whole -military hodge-podge. Clea, there is something hostile to Toromon behind -that radiation barrier, but a war is not the answer. The thing that's -making the war is the unrest in Toromon. And the war isn't going to -remedy that. The emigration situation, the food situation, the excess -man power, the deflation: that's what's causing your war. If that can be -stopped, then the thing behind the barrier can be dealt with quickly and -peacefully. There in Toron you don't even know what the enemy is. They -wouldn't let you know even if they knew themselves." - -"Do you know?" Clea asked. - -Jon paused. Then he said, "No, but whatever it is, it's people with -something wrong among them. And warring on them won't exorcise it." - -"Can you exorcise it?" Clea asked. - -Jon paused again. "Yes. I can't tell you how; but let's say what's -troubling them is a lot simpler than what's troubling us in Toromon." - -"Jon," Clea asked suddenly, "what's it like in Telphar? You know I'll -help you if I can, but tell me." - -The face on the visiphone was still. Then it drew a deep breath. "Clea, -it's like an open air tomb. The city is very unlike Toron. It was -planned, all the streets are regular, there's no Devil's Pot, nor could -there ever be one. Roadways wind above ground among the taller -buildings. I'm in the Palace of the Stars right now. It was a -magnificent building." The face looked right and left. "It still is. -They had amazing laboratories, lots of equipment, great silvered meeting -halls under an immense ceiling that reproduced the stars on the ceiling. -The electric plants still work. Most houses you can walk right in and -turn on a light switch. Half the plumbing in the city is out, though. -But everything in the palace still works. It must have been a beautiful -place to live in. When they were evacuating during the radiation rise, -very little marauding took place...." - -"The radiation ..." began Clea. - -Jon laughed, "Oh, that doesn't bother us. It's too complicated to -explain now, but it doesn't." - -"That's not what I meant," Clea said. "I figured if you were alive, then -it obviously wasn't bothering you. But Jon, and this isn't government -propaganda, because I made the discovery myself: whatever is behind the -barrier caused the radiation rise that destroyed Telphar. Some place -near Telphar is a projector that caused the rise, and it's still -functioning. This hasn't been released to the public yet, but if you -want to stop your war, you'll never do it if the government can -correctly blame the destruction of Telphar on the enemy. That's all they -need." - -"Clea, I haven't finished telling you about Telphar. I told you that the -electricity still worked. Well, most houses you go into, you turn on the -light and find a couple of sixty-year-old corpses on the floor. On the -roads you can find a wreck every hundred feet or so. There're almost ten -thousand corpses in the Stadium of the Stars. It isn't very pretty. -Arkor and I are the only two humans who have any idea of what the -destruction of Telphar really amounted to. And we still believe we're in -the right." - -"Jon, I can't hold back information...." - -"No, no," Jon said. "I wouldn't ask you to. Besides, I heard your last -phone call. So it's already out. I want you to do two things for me. One -has to do with Dad. The other is to deliver a message. I overheard a -conference call between Prime Minister Chargill and some of the members -of the council. They're about to ask Dad for a huge sum of money to -finance the first aggressive drive in this war effort. Try and convince -him that it'll do more harm than good. Look, Clea, you've got a -mathematical mind. Show him how this whole thing works. He doesn't mean -to be, but he's almost as much responsible for this thing as any one -individual could be. See if he can keep production from flooding the -city. And for Toromon's sake, keep an eye, a close eye on his -supervisors. They're going to tilt the island into the sea with all -their cross-purposes intrigues. All I can do is start you on the right -track, Sis, and you'll have to take it from there. - -"Now for the message. The one circuit I can't break in on is the Royal -Palace system. I can just overhear. Somehow I've got to get a message to -the Duchess of Petra. Tell her to get to Telphar in the next forty-eight -hours by way of the transit ribbon. Tell her there are two kids she owes -a favor to. And tell her the girl she owes four or five favors. She'll -be able to find out who they are." - -Clea was scribbling. "Does the transit ribbon still work?" she asked. - -"It was working when I escaped from prison," Jon said. "I don't see why -it should have stopped now." - -"You used it?" Clea said. "That means you were in Toron!" - -"That's right. And I was at your party too." - -"Then it was ..." She stopped. Then laughed, "I'm so glad, Jon. I'm so -glad it was you after all." - -"Come on, Sis, tell me about yourself," Jon said. "What's been happening -in the real world. I've been away from it a long time. Here in Telphar I -don't feel much closer. Right now I'm walking around in my birthday -suit. On our way here we got into a shadowy situation and I had to -abandon my clothes for fear of getting caught. I'll explain that later, -too. But what about you?" - -"Oh, there's nothing to tell. But to you I guess there is. I graduated, -with honors. I've grown up. I'm engaged to Tomar. Did you know that? Dad -approves, and we're to be married as soon as the war's over. I'm working -on a great project, to find the inverse sub-trigonometric functions. -Those are about the most important things in my life right now. I'm -suppose to be working on the war effort, but except for this afternoon, -I haven't done much." - -"Fine," Jon said. "That's about the right proportions." - -"Now what about you? And the clothes?" She grinned into the visaphone, -and he grinned back. - -"Well--no, you wouldn't believe it. At least not if I told it that way. -Arkor, the friend who's with me, is one of the forest people. He left -the forest to spend some time in Toron, which is where I met him. -Apparently he managed to accumulate an amazing store of information, -about all sorts of things--electronics, languages, even music. You'd -think he could read minds. Anyway, here we are, through the forest, -across the prison mines, and in Telphar." - -"Jon, what were the mines like? It always made me wonder how Dad could -use tetron when he knew that you were being whipped to get it." - -"You and I'll get drunk some evening and I'll tell you what it was -like," Jon said. "But not until. When you're trying to convince Dad, -bring that up about me and the mines." - -"Don't worry," she said. "I will." - -"Anyway," Jon went on, "we had to get through the forest without being -seen and with all those leaves it was pretty dark. Arkor could get -through because he was a forest man and nobody would stop him. But -because they'd have seen me, I had to go most of the way naked as a -jaybird." - -Clea frowned. "I don't understand. Are you sure you're all right?" - -Jon laughed. "Of course I'm all right. I can't really explain to you -just yet. I'm just so happy to see you again, to be able to talk to -you. Sis, I've wanted to be free for so long, to see you and Dad again, -and--there's nothing wrong with me except the sniffles." - -It welled up in her like a wave and the tears flooded her lower lids, -and then one overflowed and ran down the left side of her nose. "You see -what you're doing," she said. And they laughed once more. "To see you -again, Jon is so ... _fine_." - -"I love you, Sis," Jon said. "Thanks, and so long for a little while." - -"I'll get your message out. So long." The phone blinked dark and she sat -there wondering if perhaps the tension wasn't too much. But it wasn't, -and she had messages to deliver. - - - - -CHAPTER X - - -During the next couple of hours, two people died, miles apart. - - * * * * * - -"Don't be silly," Rara was saying in the inn at the Devil's Pot. "I'm a -perfectly good nurse. Do you want to see my license?" - -The white-haired old man sat very straight in his chair by the window. -Blue seeped like liquid across the glass. "Why did I do it?" he said. -"It was wrong. I--I love my country." - -Rara pulled the blanket from the back of the chair and tucked it around -the stiff, trembling shoulders. "What are you talking about?" she said, -but the birthmark over her face showed deep purple with worry. - -He shook the blanket off and flung his hand across the table where the -news directive lay. - - CROWN PRINCE KIDNAPED! - KING DECLARES WAR! - -The trembling in Geryn's shoulders became violent shaking. - -"Sit back," said Rara. - -Geryn stood up. - -"Sit down," Rara repeated. "Sit down. You're not well. Now sit down!" - -Geryn lowered himself stiffly to the chair. He turned to Rara. "Did I -start a war? I tried to stop it. That was all I wanted. Would it have -happened if ..." - -"Sit back," Rara said. "If you're going to talk to somebody, talk to me. -I can answer you. Geryn, you didn't start the war." - -Geryn suddenly rose once more, staggered forward, slammed his hands on -the table and began to cough. - -"For pity's sake," Rara cried, trying to move the old man back into his -chair, "will you sit down and relax! You're not well! You're not well at -all!" From above the house came the faint beat of helicopter blades. - -Geryn went back to his chair. Suddenly he leaned his head back, his -sharp Adam's apple shooting high in his neck and quivering. Rara jumped -forward and tried to bring his head up. "Dear heavens," she breathed. -"Stop that. Now stop it, or you'll hurt yourself." - -Geryn's head came up straight again. "A war," he said. "They made me -start the--" - -"No one made you do anything," Rara said. "And you didn't start the -war." - -"Are you sure?" he asked. "No. You can't be sure. No one can. -Nobody...." - -"Will you please try to relax," Rara repeated, tucking at the blanket. - -Geryn relaxed. It went all through his body, starting at his hands. The -stiff shoulders dropped a little, his head fell forward, the wall of -muscle quivering across his stomach loosened, the back bent; and that -frail fist of strength that had jarred life through his tautened body -for seventy years, shaking inside his chest, it too relaxed. Then it -stopped. Geryn crumpled onto the floor. - -The shifting body pulled Rara down with him. Unaware that he was dead, -she was trying to get him back into the chair, when the helicopter -blades got very loud. - -She looked up to see the window darken with a metal shadow. "Good lord," -she breathed. Then the glass shattered. - -She screamed, careened around the table, and fled through the door, -slamming it behind her. - -Over the flexible metal ramp that hooked onto the window sill two men -entered the room. Fire-blades poised, they walked to the crumpled body, -lifted it between them, and carried it back to the window. Their arm -bands showed the royal insignia of the palace guards. - - * * * * * - -Tel was running down the street because someone was following him. He -ducked into a side alley and skittered down a flight of stone steps. -Somewhere overhead he heard a helicopter. - -His heart was pounding like explosions in his chest, like the sea, like -his ocean. Once he had looked through a six-inch crevice between glassy -water and the top of a normally submerged cave and seen wet, orange -starfish dripping from the ceiling and their reflections quivering with -his own breath. Now he was trapped in the cave of the city, the tide of -fear rising to lock him in. Footsteps passed above him. - -Nearby was a ladder that led to a trap door which would put him in the -hall of a tenement. He climbed it, emerged, and then turned up the -regular steps to the roof. He walked across the tar-paper surface to the -edge, leaned over, and peered into the alley. Two men, who may have been -the people following him, approached from opposite ends of the alley. -The sky was deepening toward evening and it was cool. The two men met, -and then one pointed to the roof. - -"Damn," Tel muttered, ducked backward, and bit his tongue with surprise. -He opened his mouth and breathed hard, holding the side of his jaw. The -helicopter was coming closer. - -Then something very light fell over him. He forgot his bitten tongue and -struck out with his hands. It was strong, too. It jerked at his feet and -he fell forward. It was not until it lifted him from the roof that he -realized he was caught in a net. He was being drawn up toward the sound -of the whirling helicopter blades. - - * * * * * - -Just about that time the order came through. He didn't even have time to -say good-bye to Clea. Two other mathematicians in the corps had shown -appropriate awe at Clea's discovery and proceeded to locate the -generator. The next-in-charge general, working on a strategy Tomar did -not quite understand, decided that now was the time for an active -strike. "Besides," he added, "if we don't give them some combat soon, -we'll lose--and I mean lose as in 'misplace'--the war." - -The shadow of the control tower fell through the windshield and slipped -across Tomar's face. He pulled up his goggles and sighed. Active combat. -What the hell would they be combating? The disorder, the disorganization -was beginning to strike him as farcical. Though after the poisoned fish, -the farcical was no longer funny. - -The buildings on the airfield sunk back and down. The transit ribbon -fell below him and the six other planes in the formation pulled up -behind him. A moment later the island was a comb of darkness on the -glittering foil of the evening sea. - -Clouds banded the deep blue at the horizon. There were three stars out, -the same stars that he had looked at as a boy when his sunup to sundown -work day had ended. Between hunger and hunger there had been some times -when you could look at the stars and wonder, as there were now between -times of work and work. - -The controls were set. There was nothing to do but wait for land to rise -up over the edge of the world. - - * * * * * - -As the end of the metal ribbon was a transparent crystal sphere, -fifteen feet in diameter which hovered above the receiving stage. A -dozen small tetron units sat around the room. By one ornate window a -bank of forty-nine scarlet knobbed switches pointed to off. Two men -stood on the metal catwalk that ran above the receiving stage, one young -man with black hair, the other a dark giant with a triplex of scars down -the left side of his face. - -In another room, the corpses of the elders of Telphar sat stiff and -decomposed on green velvet seats. - - * * * * * - -It was evening in the solarium on top of the General Medical building. -The patients were about to be herded from their deck chairs and game -tables under the glass roof back to their wards, when a woman screamed. -Then there was the sound of breaking glass. More people screamed. - -Alter heard the roar of helicopter blades. People were running around -her. Suddenly the crowd of bathrobed patients broke from in front of -her. She touched the cast that covered her left shoulder and arm. People -cried out. Then she saw. - -The glass dome had been shattered at the edge, and the flexible metal -ramp ran a dark ribbon from the copter to the edge of the solarium. The -men that marched across had the insignia of the royal guards. She -clamped her jaws together and moved behind the nurse. The men marched -in, fire-blades high, among the overturned deck chairs. There were three -stars visible, she noted irrelevantly, through the bubble dome. - -Good lord! They were coming toward her! - -The moment the guards recognized her, she realized the only way to get -out was to cross the suddenly immense span of metal flooring to the -stairwell. She ducked her head, broke from the crowd of patients and -ran, wondering why she had been fool enough to wait this long. The guard -tackled her and she heard screams again. - -She fell to the hard floor and felt pain explode along the inside of her -cast. The guard tried to lift her, and with her good arm she struck at -his face. Then she held her palm straight and brought the edge down on -the side of his neck. - -She staggered and she felt herself slip to the floor. Then someone -grabbed a handful of her hair and her head was yanked back. At first she -closed her eyes. Then she had to open them. Night was moving above her -through the dome of the solarium. Then the cracked edge of the glass -passed over her, and it was colder, and the blur and roar of helicopter -blades was above. - - * * * * * - -"On course?" - -"Dead on course," said Tomar back into the microphone. Below, the rim of -land slipped back under them. The moon bleached the edges of the -vari-colored darknesses beneath them; then went down. - -"What are you thinking about, Major?" came the voice from the speaker -again. - -"Not thinking about anything," Tomar said. "Just thinking about waiting. -It's funny, that's most of what you do in this army: wait. You wait to -go out and fight. And once you go out, then you start waiting to turn -around and come back." - -"Wonder what it'll be like." - -"A few bombs over that generator, then we'll have had active combat, and -everyone will be happy." - -A laugh, mechanical, through the speaker. "Suppose they 'active' back?" - -"If they cripple our planes like they've done before, we'll make it to -the island again." - -"I had to leave a hot cup of coffee back at the hangar, Major. I wish it -was light so we could see what we were doing." - -"Stop bitching." - -"Hey, Major." - -"What?" - -"I've invented a new kind of dice." - -"You would." - -"What you do is take fifteen centiunit pieces and arrange them in a -four-by-four square with one corner missing. Then you take a sixteenth -one and shoot it within forty-five degrees either way of the diagonal -into the missing corner. It works out that no matter how you do it, if -all the coins in the square are touching, two coins will fly off of the -far edge. Each of those has a number and the two numbers that fly off -are like the two numbers that come up on the dice. It's better than -regular dice because the chances are up on some combinations. And -there's a certain amount of skill involved too. The guys call it -Randomax. That's for _random numbers_ and _matrix_." - -"I'll play you a game someday," Tomar said. "You know, if you used a -smaller coin than a centiunit for the one you fire into the missing -corner, say a deciunit, the chances that it would hit both corner coins -would go up, that is your randomness." - -"Really?" - -"Sure," Tomar said. "My girl friend's a mathematician, and she was -telling me all about probability a few weeks ago. I bet she'd be -interested in the game." - -"You know what, Major?" - -"What?" - -"I think you're the best officer in the damn army." - -Such was the conversation before the first battle of the war. - - * * * * * - -Such was the conversation Jon Koshar monitored in the laboratory tower -of the Palace of the Stars in Telphar. "Oh damn," he said. "Come on, -Arkor. We'd better get going. If the Duchess doesn't get here with Geryn -soon.... Well, let's not think about it." He scribbled a note, set it in -front of one visiphone and dialed the number of another that was on a -stand in front of the receiving platform of the transit ribbon. - -"There," he said. "That's got instructions to follow us as soon as she -gets here. And she better not miss it." They went down the metal steps -to a double doorway that opened onto a road. - -Two mechanical vehicles stood there, both with pre-controls set for -similar destinations. Jon and Arkor climbed into one, pushed the -ignition button, and the car shot forward along the elevated roadway. -White mercury lights flooded the elevated strip as it wound through the -city. - -The road dipped and houses got wider and lower on each side. The horizon -glowed purple and above that, deep yellow clouds dropped into late -evening. There was a sound of planes overhead. - -As the car halted at the barren limit of the last suburb of Telphar, a -sudden white streak speared from the horizon. "Uh-oh," said Jon. "That's -what I was afraid of." - -Something caught fire in the air, twisted wildly through the sky, and -then began to circle down, flaming. - - * * * * * - -"Major! Major! What happened to D-42?" - -"Something got him. Pull over. Pull over everybody!" - -"We can't spot it. Where'd it come from?" - -"All right, everybody. Break formation. Break formation, I said!" - -"Major, I'm going to drop a bomb. Maybe we can see where that came from -in the light. I thought you said cripple." - -"Never mind what I said. Drop it." - -"Major Tomar. This is B-6. We've been--" (Unintelligible static.) - -Someone else gave a slow whistle through the microphone. - -"Break formation, I said. Damn it, break formation." - -Over the plain, a sheet of red fire flapped up, and Jon and Arkor pulled -back from the railing that edged the road. Another white streak left the -horizon, and for a moment, in the glare, their shadows on the pavement -were doubled in white and red. - -The sound of the explosion reached them a moment later, as broken rocks -leapt into visibility like a rotted jaw swung up through red fire. - -Another sound behind them made them turn. The lighted roadways of -Telphar looped the city like strands of pearls on skeletal fingers. A -car came toward them. - -Another wailing missile took the sky, and a moment later a screaming -plane answered, tearing down the night. This one suddenly turned as its -flaming motors caught once more and careened above their heads so close -that they ducked and disappeared among the city towers: an explosion, -then falling flame drooled the side of a building. "I hope that's -nowhere near the Palace of the Stars," a voice said next to Jon. "We'll -have a great time getting back if it is." - -Jon whirled. The Duchess had gotten out of the car. The red light flared -a moment in her hair, then died. - -"No. That was nowhere near it," Jon said. "Am I glad to see you." - -Tel and Alter, still in her cast and hospital robe, followed the Duchess -out of the car. - -"Well," he said, "you brought the kids too." - -"It was better than leaving them back in Toron. Jon, Geryn is dead. I -asked what to do, but I didn't get any answer. So we lugged his body -along just in case. But what do we do now?" - -From the railing Arkor laughed. - -"It's not funny," Jon said. - -The Duchess looked overhead as another missile exploded. "I had hoped -this wouldn't happen. This means a war, Jon. A real one, and -unstoppable." - -Another plane crashed, too close this time, and they ducked behind the -cars. "Gee," breathed Alter, which was the only thing anybody said. - -Then Arkor cried, "Come on." - -"Where to?" asked Jon. - -"Follow me," Arkor repeated. "Everyone." - -"What about Geryn?" - -"Leave that corpse behind," Arkor told them. "He can't help." - -"Look, do you know what's going on?" Jon demanded. - -"More than Geryn ever did," the giant returned. "Now let's get going." -They sprinted out along the road, then ducked under the railing and made -their way across the rocky waste. - -"Where are we going?" Tel whispered. - -Jon called back over his shoulder, "That's a very good question." - - * * * * * - -The plane got tipped, and for seven seconds, while the needles swung, -he didn't know where he was going, east or west, up or down. When the -needles stopped, he saw that it hadn't been any of the first three. -Suddenly the green detector light flashed in the half darkness of the -cabin. The generator! The radiation generator was right below him. Then -he was blinded by a white flare outside the windshield. Oh, God damn! - -He felt the jerk and the air suddenly rushed in cold behind him. There -was a hell of a lot of noise and the needle quietly swung.... He was -going down! - -Land lit up outside the front window; a small block house set in the -wrecked earth. There were three whirling antennae on the roof. That must -be it! That must! - -It happened in his arms and fingers, not in his head. Because suddenly -he pushed the stick forward, and the plane, what was left of it, turned -over and he was staring straight down, straight ahead, straight, -straight below him. And coming closer. - -It must have been his arms, because his head was thinking wildly about a -time when a girl with pearls in her black hair had asked him what he had -wanted, and he had said, 'Nothing ... nothing....' and realized he had -been wrong because suddenly he wanted very much to ... (The block house -came up and hit him.) ... Nothing. - - * * * * * - -Tel and the Duchess screamed. The rest just drew breath quickly and -staggered back. "He's in there," Arkor said. "That's where your Lord of -the Flames is." - -The landscape glowed with the encroaching light of the flaming torch, -and they saw the blockhouse now with its whirling antennae on the roof. -Before the plane hit, a darkness opened in the side of the blockhouse -and three figures emerged and sprinted among the rocks. - -"The middle one," said Arkor. "That's him, face him, concentrate on -him...." - -"What do you...?" Tel began. - -"You ride along with me, kids," Arkor said, only he didn't move. Two of -the figures had fallen now, but the middle one was running toward them. -The torch hit, and his shadow was suddenly flung across the broken earth -to meet them.... - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - -The green of beetles' wings ... the red of polished carbuncle ... a web -of silver fire, and through the drifting blue smoke Jon hurled across -the sky. - -Then blackness, intense and cold. The horizon was tiny, jagged, maybe -ten feet away. He reached a metal out and crawled expertly (not -clumsily. Expertly!) across a crevice, but slowly, very slowly. The sky -was sharp with stars, though the sun was dim to his light-sensitive -rind. Like a sliding cyst, he edged over the chunk of rock that spun -somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. Now he reached out with his mind to -touch a second creature on another rock. _Petra_, he called. _Where is -he?_ - -_His orbit should take him between the three of us in a minute and a -half._ - -_Fine._ - -_Jon, who is the third one? I still don't understand._ - -Another mind joined them. _You don't understand yet? I was the third, I -always was. I was the one who directed Geryn to make the plan in the -first place for the kidnaping. What made you think that he was in -contact with the triple beings?_ - -_I don't know_, Jon said. _Some misunderstanding._ - -There was the laughter of children. Then Tel said, _Hey, everybody, -we're with Arkor._ - -_Shhh_, said Alter. _The misunderstanding was my fault, Jon. I told you -that Geryn talked to himself, and that made you think it was him._ - -_Get ready_, Petra said. _Here he comes._ - -Jon saw, or rather sensed the approach of another spinning asteroid, -whirling toward them through the blackness. But it was inhabited. Yes! -The three of them threw their thoughts across the rush of space. - -_There...._ - - * * * * * - -Roaring steam swirled above him. He raised his eye-stalks another twenty -feet and looked toward the top of the cataract some four miles up. Then -he lowered his siphon into the edge of the pool of pale green liquid -methane and drank deeply. Far away in a beryl green sky, three suns -rushed madly about one another and gave a little heat to this farthest -of their six planets. - -Now Jon flapped his slitherers down and began to glide away from the -methane falls and up the nearly vertical mountain slope. Someone was -coming toward him, with shiny red eye-stalks waving in greeting. -"Greetings to the new colony," the eye-stalks signaled. - -Jon started to signal back. But suddenly he recognized (a feeling way at -the back of his slitherers) who this was. He leaped forward and flung -the double flaps of leathery flesh across his opponent and began to -scramble back up the rocks. Jon had his tight, but was wondering where -the hell were.... - -Suddenly his eye-stalk caught the great form that he knew must be Arkor -coming down over the rocks (with Alter and Tel. Yes, definitely; because -the creature suddenly did a flying leap between two crags that could -have only been under the girl-acrobat's control), and a moment later -that Petra had arrived at the other shore of the methane river. Using -her slitherers for paddles, she struck out across the foaming current. - -Think at him, concentrate.... _There...._ - - * * * * * - -The air was water-clear. The desert was still, and he lay in the warm -sand, under the light of the crescent moon. He was growing, adding -facets; he let the pale illumination seep into his transparent body, -decreasing his polarization cross-frequencies. The light was beautiful, -too beautiful--dangerous! He began to tingle, to glow red-hot. His base -burned with white heat and another layer of sand beneath him melted, -fused, ran, and became part of his crystalline body. - -He stepped up the polarization, his body clouded, and cooled once more. -Music sang through him, and his huge upper facet reflected the stars. - -Once more he lessened his polarization, and the light crept further and -further into his being. His temperature rose. Vibrations suffused his -transparency and the pulsing music made the three dust particles that -had settled on his coaxial face seven hundred and thirty years ago dance -above him. He felt their reflection deep in his prismatic center. - -He felt it coming, suddenly, and tried to stop it. But the polarization -index suddenly broke down completely. For one terrific moment of ecstasy -the light of the moon and the stars poured completely through him. Chord -after chord rang out in the desert night. Back and forth along his axis, -colliding, shaking his substance, jarring him, pommeling him, came the -vibrations. For one instant he was completely transparent. The next, he -was white-hot. Before he could melt, he felt the crack start. - -It shot the length of his forty-two mile, super-heated body. He was in -two pieces! The radio disturbance alone covered a third of a galaxy. -Twelve pieces fell away. The chord crashed again, and the crack whipped -back and forth vivisecting him. Already he was nearly thirty-six -thousand individual crystals, all of which had to grow again, thirty-six -thousand minds. He was no more. - -_Jon_, the voice sang through drumbled silicate. - -_Right over here, Petra_, he hummed back. (The note was a perfect -quarter tone below A-flat. Perfect! Not clumsy. _Perfect_!) - -_Where's Arkor?_ - -To their left the triple notes of an E-flat minor chord (Arkor, Tel, and -Alter) sounded: _Right here._ - -Just as they had made contact, before the music stopped (and once more -their thoughts would become separate, individual, and they would lose -awareness of each other and of the hundreds of other crystals that lay -over the desert, under the clear perpetual night)--just then a strident -dissonance pierced among them. - -_There_, sang Petra. - -_There_, hummed Jon. - -_There_, came the triad in E-flat minor. They concentrated, tuned, -turned their thoughts against the dissonance. _There...._ - - * * * * * - -Jon rolled over and pushed the silk from his white shoulders and -stretched. Through the blue pillars, the evening sky was yellow. Music, -very light and fast, was coming from below the balcony. Suddenly a voice -sounded beside him: "Your Majesty, your Majesty! You shouldn't be -resting now. They're waiting for you downstairs. Tltltrlte will be -furious if you're late." - -"What do I care?" Jon responded. "Where's my robe?" - -The serving maid hastened away and returned with a sheer, shimmering -robe, netted through with threads of royal black. The drape covered -Jon's shoulders, draped across his breasts, and fell to his thighs. - -"My mirror," said Jon. - -The serving maid brought the mirror and Jon looked. Long, slightly -oriental eyes sat wide-spaced in the ivory face over high cheekbones. -Full breasts pushed tautly beneath the transluscent material, and the -slender waist spread to sensual, generous hips. Jon almost whistled at -his reflection. - -The maid slipped clear plastic slippers on his feet, and Jon rose and -walked toward the stairs. In the lobby, the throng hissed appreciatively -as he descended. On one column hung a bird cage in which a three-headed -cockatoo was singing to beat the band. Which was difficult to do, -because the band was composed of fourteen copper-headed drums. (Fourteen -was the royal number.) - -Across the lobby wind instruments wailed, and Jon paused on the stairs. -"Don't worry," the maid said, "I'm right behind you." - -Jon felt the terror rise. _Hey_, he called out mentally, _is that you, -Petra?_ - -_Like I said, right behind you._ - -_Incidentally, how did I come up with this body?_ - -_I don't know, dear, but you look devastating._ - -_Gee, thanks_, he said, projecting a mental sneer. _Where's Arkor and -Company?_ - -The music had stopped. There was only the sound of the three-headed -bird. - -_There they are._ - -The winds screeched again, and at the entrance of the lobby, the people -fell away from the door. There was Tltltrlte. He was tall, and dark, in -a cloak in which there were many more black threads than in Jon's. He -unsheathed a sword, and began to come forward. "Your reign is through, -Daughter of the Sun," he announced. "It is time for a new cycle." - -"Very well," said Jon. - -As Tltltrlte advanced, the throng that crowded the lobby clapped their -hands in terror and moved back further. Jon stood very straight. - -As Tltltrlte came forward, his shoulders narrowed. He pushed back the -hood of his cloak and a mass of ebony hair cascaded down his shoulders. -With each step, his hips broadened and his waist narrowed. A very -definite bulge of mammary glands now pushed up beneath his black silk -tunic. As Tltltrlte reached the bottom of the steps, she raised her -sword. - -_Think at him_, came Arkor from the bird cage. - -_Think at him_, came from Petra. - -Jon saw the blade flash forward and then felt it slide into his abdomen. -_At her_, he corrected. - -_At her_, they answered. - -As Jon toppled down the steps, dying, he asked, _What the hell is this -anyway?_ - -_We're inhabiting a very advanced species of moss_, Arkor explained, -with the calmness that only a telepath can muster in certain confusing -situations. _Each individual starts off male, but eventually changes to -female at the desired time._ - -_Moss?_ asked Jon as he hit his head on the bottom step and died. - -_There...._ - - * * * * * - -The wave came again and thundered on the beach. He staggered backwards, -just as the froth spumed up the sand. The sky was blue-black. He raised -his fingers to his lips (seven long tines webbed together) and whined -into the night. He lifted his transparent eyelids from his huge, -luminous eyes to see if there wasn't some faint trace of the boat. Spray -fell on them, stung the rims, and he snapped all three lids over them, -one after another. He whined again, and once more the wave grew before -him. - -He opened the two opaque lids, and this time thought he saw them far off -through the greenish spray. The pentagonal sail rode above a -billow-blue, wet, and full. It dipped, rose, and he pulled back his -transparent eyelid again, this time when the wave was down, and thought -he saw figures on the fibrous hammock of the boat. On the blue sail was -the white circle of a Master Fisherman's boat. His parent was a Master -Fisherman. Yes, it was his parent coming to get him. - -Another billow exploded and he crouched in the froth, digging his hind -feet deep into the pebbly beach. - -The crosshatch of planking scudded onto the shore, and they swarmed off. -One wore a chain around his neck with the Master Fisherman's seal. -Another carried a seven-pronged fork. The two others were just -boat-hands and wore identifying black belts of Kelpod shells. - -"My offspring," said the one with the seal. "My fins have smarted for -you. I thought we would never swim together again." He reached down and -lifted Jon into his arms. Jon put his head against his parent's chest -and watched water beading down the pentagonal scales. - -"I was frightened," Jon said. - -His parent laughed. "I was frightened too. Why did you swim out so far?" - -"I wanted to see the island. But when I was swimming, I saw...." - -"What?" - -Jon closed his eyelids. - -His parent smiled again. "You're sleepy. Come." Now Jon felt himself -carried to the water and into the waves. The spray fell warmly on his -face now, and unafraid, he relaxed his gill slits as water fell across -him and they climbed onto the boat. - -Wind caught the sail, and the open-work of planking listed into the sea. -Long clouds swung rapidly across the twin moons like the tines of the -fishing forks the fishermen saluted the sacred phosphor fires with when -they returned from their expeditions. He dreamed of his, a little, in -the swell and drop. His parent had tied him to the boat, and so he -floated at the end of a few feet of slack. Water rolled down his -shoulders, slipped beneath his limp dorsal fin, and tickled. Then he -dreamed of something else, the thing he had seen, glowing first beneath -the water, then rising.... He whined suddenly, and shook his head. - -He heard the others on the boat, their webbed feet slipping on the wet -planks. He opened his eyes and looked up. The two boat-hands were -holding onto stays and pointing off into the water. Now his parent had -come up to them, holding a fishing spear, and they were joined by the -Second Fisherman. - -Jon scrambled from the water onto the plank. His parent put an arm -around him and drew him closer. (_Here he comes_, Arkor said.) His other -hand went to the seal of authority around his neck, as though it gave -him some sort of protection. - -"There it is," Jon suddenly cried. "That's what I saw. That's why I was -afraid to swim back." (_There it is_, Jon said.) - -A phosphorescent disk was shimmering under the surface of the water. The -Second Fisherman raised his spear higher. "What is it?" he asked. (_What -is it this time?_ Petra wanted to know.) - -Indistinct, yet nearly the size of the ship, it hovered almost three -breast strokes from them, glowing beneath the surface. - -(_I'll have a look_, said Petra.) The Second Fisherman suddenly dove -forward and disappeared. Still holding to the frame of the boat, Jon and -his parent went under the water where they could see better. - -One of Jon's eyelids, the transparent one, was actually an envelope of -tissue which he could flood with vitreous solution when he was submerged -to form a correcting lens over his pupil. - -Through the water he saw the Second Fisherman bubbling through the water -toward the immense, transluscent hemisphere that dangled ahead of them. -The Second Fisherman stopped with an underwater double-reverse and -hovered near the thing. (_It's a huge jellyfish_, Petra told them.) -"Can't figure out what it is," the Second Fisherman signaled back. Then -he extended his fork and jabbed at the membrane. The seven tines went -in, came out. - -The jellyfish moved, fast. - -The tentacles hanging from the bottom of the bag raveled upward like -snagged threads. The body bloated and surged sideways. Two tentacles -wrapped around the Second Fisherman as he tried to swim away. (_Eep_, -said Petra. _These things hurt._) - -Jon's parent was on top of deck again, shouting orders to the -boat-hands. The ship swung toward the thing which was now heaving to the -surface. - -(_Look, let's finish this thing up for good. Concentrate._ That was -Arkor. _There...._) - -(From beneath the water they felt Petra reach her mind into the pulsing -mass: _There...._) - -(As the tentacles encased her and she jammed the spear home again and -again through the leaking membrane, she felt Jon's mind join in: -There....) - -The boat rammed into the side of the jellyfish, the planks tearing away -the membrane and the thick, stinging insides fountaining over them. Now -it nearly turned over, and tentacles flapped from the water in wet, -fleshy ropes. The Second Fisherman was caught in one of the snarls. - -Their green faces were lighted from beneath by the milky glow. - -(_There...._) Suddenly it tore away from the planks, going down beneath -the water. (_There...._) The Second Fisherman's head bobbed to the -surface, shook the green fin that crested his skull, and laughed. -(_There...._) - -3 to 6, 3 to 6, (Jon's frequency oscillated from 3 to 6 as he drifted -through clouds of super-heated gas) 3 to 6, 3 to 6--7 to 10! (Someone -was coming.) U to 10, 7 to 10, (It was getting closer; suddenly:) 10 to -16! (Then:) 3 to 6, 7 to 10, 3 to 6, 7 to 10, (they had passed through -each other. _Hi_, Petra said. _Have you any idea where we are?_) - -(_The temperature is somewhere near three quarters of a million degrees. -Any ideas?_) - -9 to 27, 9 to 27, 9 to 27 (came puttering along and passed through both -Jon and Petra;) 12 to 35, 10 to 37, (and then, again) 3 to 6, 7 to 10, 9 -to 27, 9 to 27, 9 to 27 (_We are halfway between the surface and the -center of a star not unlike our sun_, said Arkor. _Note all the strange -elements around._) 9 to 27, 9 to 27, 9 to 27. - -7 to 10, 7 to 10, 7 to 10 (_They keep on turning into one another_, -Petra said.) 7 to 10, 7 to 10, 7 to 10. - -3 to 6, 3 to 6, 3 to 6 (_At this temperature you would too if you were -atomic_, Jon told her.) 3 to 6, 3 to 6, 3 to 6. - -9 to 27, 9 to 27, 9 to 27 (_Where's our friend?_ Arkor wanted to know.) - -pi to e, pi to 2e, 2pi to 4e, 4pi to 8e, 8pi to 16e, 16pi to 32e. - -(_Speak of the_ ... Jon started. _Hey, we've got to do something about -that. Not only is it transcendental, it's increasing so fast he'll -eventually shake this star apart._) 3 to 6, 3 to 6, 3 to 6. - -(_So that's what causes novas_, said Petra.) 7 to 10, 7 to 10, 7 to 10. - -(At the next oscillation, Arkor, acting as a side-coefficient, passed -through the intruder.) 32^{2}pi to 64e (Arkor got out before the second -extremity was reached. The wave cycle stuttered, having been reversed -end on end.) 642pi to 32e (It tried to right itself and couldn't because -Jon spun through the lower end divisibility) 642pi to 16/9e (then Arkor -jumped in, tail first it recovered and it resolved into:) 642pi to 4/3e, -642pi to 4/3e, 642pi to 4/3e (it quivered, its range no longer -geometric). - -(_Watch this_, said Petra, _About face...._ She gave it a sort of nudge, -not passing through it, so that when it whirled to catch her, she was -gone, and it was going the other way:) - -4/3pi to 642e, 4/3pi to 642e, 4/3pi to 642e, - -(_I hope no one ever does that to me_, said Petra. _Look, the poor thing -is contracting._) - -4/3 to 640e, 4/3pi to 622, 4/3pi to 560, 4/3pi to 499, - -(Somehow the _e_ component chanced to slip through 125. Jon moved in -like a shower of anti-theta-mazons and extracted a painless cube so fast -that the intruder oscillated on it three times before it knew what had -happened to it:) - -4/3pi to 5^{3}e, 4/3pi to 5^{3}e, 4/3pi to 5^{3}e under high -gravity--very high, that is, two to three million times that of earth, -such as inside a star--in such warped space there is a subtle difference -between 5^{3} and 125, though they represent the same number. It's like -the notes E-sharp and F, which are technically the same, but are -distinguished between when played by a good violinist with a fine ear. -When the root came loose, therefore, the variation threw the wave-length -all off balance:) 4/3pi to 5e, 4/3pi to 5e, 4/3pi to 5e.... - -(_All right, everybody, concentrate--_) - -(_There, there, there...._) - -For one moment, the intruding oscillation turned, ducked, tried to -escape, and couldn't. It contracted into a small ball with a volume of -4/3pi_e_^{3}, and disappeared. - -_There...._ - - * * * * * - -Jon Koshar shook his head, staggered forward, and went down on his knees -in white sand. He blinked. He looked up. There were two shadows in front -of him. Then he saw the city. - -It was Telphar, stuck on a desert, under a double sun. The transit -ribbon started across the desert, got the length of twelve pylons, and -then crumpled. - -As he stood up, something caught in the corner of his eye. - -His eyes moved, and he saw a woman about twenty feet away from him. Her -red hair fell straight to her shoulders in the dry heat. He blinked as -she approached. She wore a straight skirt and had a notebook under her -arm. "Petra?" he said, frowning. It was Petra, but Petra different. - -"Jon," she answered. "What happened to you?" - -He looked down at himself. He was wearing a torn, dirty uniform. A -prison uniform. His prison uniform! - -"Arkor," said Petra, suddenly. (Her voice was higher, less sure.) - -They turned. Arkor stood in the sand, his feet wide over the white -hillocks. The triple scars down his face welled bright blood in the hot -light. - -They came together now. "What's going on?" Jon asked. - -Arkor shrugged. - -"What about the kids?" asked Petra. - -"They're still right here," Arkor said, pointing to his head and -grinning. Then his finger touched the opened scars. When he drew it -away, he saw the blood and frowned. Then he looked at the City. The sun -caught on the towers and slipped like bright liquid along the looping -highways. "Hey," Jon said to Petra. (No, he realized; it was Petra with -a handful of years lopped off.) "What's the notebook?" - -She looked down at it, surprised to find it in her hands. Then she -looked at her dress. Suddenly she laughed, and began to flip through the -pages of the notebook. "Why, this is the book in which I finished my -article on shelter architecture among the forest people. In fact this is -what I was wearing the day I finished my article." - -"And you?" Jon asked Arkor. - -Arkor looked at the blood on his finger. "My mark is bleeding, like the -night the priest put it there." He paused. "That was the night that I -became Arkor, really. That was the time that I realized how the world -was, the confusion, the stupidity, the fear. It was the night I decided -to leave the forest." Now he looked up at Jon. "That was the uniform you -were wearing when you escaped from prison." - -"Yes," said Jon. "I guess it was what I was wearing when I became me, -too. That was the time when freedom seemed most bright." He paused. "I -was going to find it no matter what. Only somehow I felt I'd gotten -sideswiped. I wonder whether I have or not." - -"Have you?" asked Petra. She glanced at the City. "I guess when I -finished that essay, that's when I really became myself, too. I remember -I went through a whole sudden series of revelations about myself, and -about society, and about how I felt about society, about being an -aristocrat, even, what it meant and what it _didn't_ mean. And I suppose -that's why I'm here now." She looked at the City again. "There he is," -she nodded. - -"That's right," said Jon. - -They started across the sand, now, making toward the shadow of the -ruined transit ribbon. They reached it quicker than they thought, for -the horizon was very close. The double shadows, one a bit lighter than -the other, lay like two inked brush strokes over the page of the desert. -"But how come we're in our own bodies," the Duchess asked, as they -reached the shadow of the first pylon. "Shouldn't we be inhabiting the -forms of...." Suddenly there was a sound, the shadow moved. Jon looked -up at the ribbon above them and cried out. - -As the metal tore away, they jumped back, and a moment later a length of -the ribbon splashed down into the sand, where they had stood. They were -still for a handful of breaths. - -"You're darn right he's there," Jon said. "Come on." - -They started again. Petra shook white grains from her notebook cover and -they moved along the loose sand. A road seeped from under the desert, -now, and began to rise toward Telphar. They mounted it and followed it -toward the looming city. Before them the towers were dark streaks on the -rich blue sky. - -"You know, Petra's question is a good one," Arkor said few minutes -later. - -"Yeah," said Jon. "I've been thinking about it too. We seem to be in -our own bodies, only they're different. Different as our bodies were at -the most important moments of our lives. Maybe, somehow, we've come to a -planet in some corner of the universe, where three beings almost -identical to us, only different in that way, are doing, for some reason -we'll never know, almost exactly what we're doing now." - -"It's possible," Arkor said. "With all the myriad possibilities of -worlds, it's conceivable that one might be like that, or like this." - -"Even to the point of talking about talking about it?" asked Petra. She -answered herself. "Yes, I guess it could. But saying all this for -reasons we don't understand, and saying, 'Saying all this for reasons we -don't understand....'" She shuddered. "It's not supposed to be that way. -It gives me the creeps." - -There was another sound, and they froze. It was the low sound of some -structure tumbling, but they couldn't see anything. - -Another fifty feet, when the road had risen ten feet off the ground and -the first tower was beside them, they heard a cracking noise again. The -road swayed beneath them. "Uh-oh," Arkor said. - -Then the road fell. They cried out, they scrambled; suddenly there was -cracked concrete around them, and they had fallen. Above them was a -jagged width of blue sky between the remaining edges of the road. - -"My foot's caught," Petra cried out. - -Arkor was beside her, tugging on the concrete slab that held her. - -"Hold on a second," Jon said. He grabbed a free metal strut that still -vibrated in the rubble, and jammed it between the slab and the beam it -lay on. Using the wreck of an I-beam for a fulcrum, he pried it up. -"There, slip your foot out." - -Petra rolled away. "Is the bone broken?" he asked. "I got a friend of -mine out of a mine accident that way, once." He let the slab fall -again. (And for a moment he stopped, thinking, I knew what to do. I -wasn't clumsy, I knew....) - -Petra rubbed her ankle. "No," she said. "I just got my ankle wedged in -that crevice, and the concrete fell on top." She stood up, now, picking -up the notebook. "Ow," she said. "That hurts." - -Arkor held her arm. "Can you walk?" - -"With difficulty," Petra said, taking another step and clamping her -teeth. - -"Alter says to stand on your other foot and shake your injured one -around to get the circulation back," Arkor told her. - -Petra gritted teeth, and stepped again. "A little better," she said. -"I'm scared. This really hurts. This may be a body that looks like mine, -but it hurts, and it hurts like mine." Suddenly she looked off into the -city. "Oh hell," she said. "He's in there. Let's go." - -They went forward again, this time under the road. The sidewalks, -deserted and graying, slipped past. They passed a shopping section; -teeth of broken glass gaped in the frames of store windows. Above, two -roads veered and crossed, making a black, extended swastika on a patch -of white clouds. - -Then a sudden rumbling. - -Silence. - -They stopped. - -Now a crash, thunderous and protracted. An odor of dust reached them. -"He's there," Arkor said. - -"Yes," said Jon. - -"I can...." - -Then the City exploded. There was one instant of very real agony for Jon -as the pavement beneath his feet shot up at him, and he reached his mind -out as a shard of concrete knocked in his face (all the time crying, -_No, no, I've just become Jon Koshar, I'm not supposed to_ ... as a lost -Prince had cried out half a year and half a universe away) and at the -same time, _There...._ - -Petra got a chance to see the face of the building beside them rip off -a foot before the air blast tore the notebook from her hands, and at the -same time she welled her thoughts from behind the bone confines of her -skull. _There...._ - -And Arkor's thoughts (he never saw the explosion because he blinked just -then) tore out through his eyelids as fragmented steel tore into them. -_There...._ - - * * * * * - -It was cold, it was black. For a moment they saw with a spectrum that -reached from the star-wide waves of novas to the micro-micron skittering -of neutrinos. And it was black, and completely cold. A rarefied breeze -of ionized hydrogen (approximately two particles per cubic rod) floated -over half a light year. Once, a herd of pale photons dashed through them -from a deflected glare on some dying sun a trillion eons past. Other -than that, there was silence, save for the hum of one lone galaxy, -eternities away. They hovered, frozen, staring into nothing, above, -below, behind, contemplating what they had seen. - -Then, the green of beetles' wings, and they flailed into the blood of -sensation from the blackness, whirled into red flame the color of -polished carbuncle, smoothly through the nerves and into the brain; -then, before the blue smoke, burning blue through the lightning seared -axion of their corporate organisms, they were snared within the heat and -electric imminency of a web of silver fire. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - -In the laboratory tower of Toron, the transparent bubble above the -receiving stage brightened. In shimmering haze on the platform, the -transparent figures solidified. Then Alter and Tel slipped beneath the -rail on the stage and dropped down to the floor (Alter still wore the -hospital robe and the cast on her left arm) while Arkor, Jon, and Petra -used the metal stairway to descend. A battery of relays snapped -somewhere and the scarlet heads of forty-nine switches by the window -snapped to off. The globe faded. - -"A bit more explanation," Petra was saying. "Hey, kids, keep quiet." - -"Well, as far as the Lord of the Flames goes, on Earth anyway, it's more -or less trivial and irrelevant," said Arkor. "You're still right. This -war is in Toromon, not outside it." - -"My curiosity is still peaked," Jon said. "So give." - -"From what I gathered while I saw scanning the minds of those two who -came out of the generator building with the Lord of the Flames (I should -say the host of the Lord of the Flames), there's a tribe behind the -barrier which resembles more or less what man might have been forty or -fifty thousand years ago. Physically they're squat, thick-boned, and -have the elements of a social system. Mentally they're pretty thick and -squat too. The Lord of the Flames got into one of them just about when -he was at age four. Then he gave the kid about sixty thousand years -worth of technical information. So he began building all sorts of -goodies, forcing his people to help him, using some equipment from a -ruined city that dates from pre-Great Fire times behind the barrier. -That's how the generators and the anti-aircraft guns got constructed." - -"Our war is still going on," Jon said. - -"Well, the Lord of the Flames is no longer with us," said Petra. "We've -chased it to the other end of the universe. Now that we've removed what -external reason there was for the war, we've got to think about the -internal ones." - -"What are you going to do immediately about the kids?" Jon asked. - -"I think the best thing for them to do is to go off to my estate for a -little while," Petra said. - -"It's on an island, isn't it?" Tel asked. - -"That's right," Petra said. - -"Gee, Alter. Now I can teach you how to fish, and we'll be right by the -sea." - -"What about Uske?" Arkor asked. "You can either walk into his room and -interrupt an obscene dream he's having, and present your case and be -arrested for treason, or you can leave well enough alone at this point -and wait till the opportunity comes to do something constructive." - -Suddenly Jon grinned. "Hey, you say he's asleep?" He turned and bounded -for the door. - -"What are you going to do?" Petra called. - -Jon looked at Arkor. "Read my mind," he said. - -Then Arkor laughed. - - * * * * * - -In his bedroom, Uske rolled over through a silken rustle, opened one -eye, and thought he heard a sound. - -"Hey, stupid," someone whispered. - -Uske reached out of bed and pressed the night light. A dim orange glow -did not quite fill half the room. - -"Now don't get panicky," continued the voice. "You're dreaming." - -"Huh?" Uske leaned on one elbow, blinked, and scratched his head with -his other hand. - -A shadow approached him, then stopped, naked, faceless, transparent, -half in and half out of the light. "See," came the voice. "A figment of -your imagination." - -"Oh, I remember you," Uske said. - -"Fine," said the shadow. "Do you know what I've been doing since the -last time you saw me?" - -"I couldn't be less interested," Uske said, turning over and looking the -other way. - -"I've been trying to stop the war. Do you believe me?" - -"Look, figment, it's three o'clock in the morning. I'll believe it, but -what's it to you." - -"Just that I think I've succeeded." - -"I'll give you two minutes before I pinch myself and wake up." Uske -turned back over. - -"Look, what do you think is behind the radiation barrier?" - -"I think very little about it, figgy. It doesn't have very much to do -with me." - -"It's a primitive race that can't possibly harm us, especially now that -its--its generators have been knocked out. All of its artillery it got -from a source that is now defunct. Look, Uske, I'm your guilty -conscience. Wouldn't it be fun to really be king for a while and stop -the war? You declared war. Now declare peace. Then start examining the -country and doing something about it." - -"Mother would never hear of it. Neither would Chargill. Besides, all -this information is only a dream." - -"Exactly, Uske. You're dreaming about what you really want. So how does -this sound: make a deal with me as your guilty conscience and -representative of yourself; if this dream turns out to be correct, then -you declare peace. It's the only logical thing. Come on, stand up for -yourself, be a king. You'll go down in history as having started a war. -Wouldn't you like to go down as having stopped it too?" - -"You don't understand...." - -"Yes, I know. A war is a bigger thing that the desires of one man, even -if he is a king. But if you get things started on the right foot, you'll -have history on your side." - -"Your two minutes have been cut down to one; and it's up." - -"I'm going; I'm going. But think about it, Uske." - -Uske switched off the light and the ghost went out. A few minutes later -Jon crawled through the laboratory tower window, buttoning his shirt. -Arkor shook his head, smiling. "Well," he said. "Good try. Here's hoping -it does some good." - -Jon shrugged. - - * * * * * - -In the morning, Rara got up early to sweep off the front steps of the -inn (windows boarded, kitchen raided, but deserted now save for her; and -she had the key); she swept to the left, looking right, then swept to -the right, looked left, and said, "Dear Lord, you can't stay there like -that. Come on, now. Get on, be on your way." - -"Oh, I'm sorry." - -"For pity's sake, woman, you can't go around cluttering up the steps of -an honest woman's boarding house. We're re-opening this week, soon as we -get the broken windows repaired. Vandals didn't leave a one, after the -old owner died. Just got my license, so it's all legal. Soon as we get -the window, so you just move on." - -"I just got here, this morning.... They didn't tell us where to go, they -just turned us off the ship. And it was so dark, and I was tired.... I -didn't know the City was so big. I'm looking for my son--not so big! We -used to be fishermen back on the mainland. I did a little weaving." - -"And your son ran off to the City and you ran off after him. Good luck -in the New Land; welcome to the island of Opportunity. But just get up -and move on." - -"But my son...." - -"There are more fishermen's sons down here in the Devil's Pot than you -can shake a stick at--fishermen's sons, farmers' sons, blacksmiths' -sons, sons' sons. And all of their mothers were weavers or water -carriers, or chicken raisers. I must have talked to all of them at one -time or another. I won't even tell you to go down to the launch where -they take the workers out to the aquariums and the hydroponic's gardens. -That's what most of the young people do when they get here ... if they -can get a job. I won't even tell you to go there, because there're so -many people that work there, you might miss him a dozen days running." - -"But the war--I thought he might have joined...." - -"Somewhere in this ridiculous mess," interrupted Rara, her birthmark -deepening in color, "I have misplaced a niece who was as close to me as -any daughter or son ever was to any mother or father. All reports say -that she's dead. So you just be happy that you don't know about yours. -You be very happy, do you hear me!" - -The woman was standing up now. "You say the launches to the factory? -Which way are they?" - -"I'm telling you not to go. They're that way, down two streets, and to -your left until you hit the docks. Don't go." - -"Thank you," the woman was saying, already off down the street. "Thank -you." As she reached the middle of the block, someone rounded the corner -a moment later, sprinting. He brushed past the woman and ran toward the -door of the inn. - -"Tel," whispered Rara. "Tel!" - -"Hi, Rara." He stopped, panting. - -"Well, come in," she said. "Come inside." They stepped into the lobby of -the inn. "Tel, do you know anything about what happened to Alter? I got -a weird story from General Medical. And then you disappeared. My lord, I -feel like a crazy fool opening this place. But if somehow she wanted to -get to me, where would she go if I wasn't here? And then, what am I to -do anyway. I mean I have to eat, and--" - -"Rara," he said, and he said it so that she stopped talking. "Look I -know where Alter is. And she's safe. As far as you know, you don't know -where she is, if she's alive or dead. But you suspect she isn't alive. -I'll be going to her, but you don't know that either. I just came to -check on some things." - -"I've got all her things together right here. They gave me her clothes -at the hospital, and put them all into a bundle in case we had to make a -quick getaway. We had to do that once when we were working in a carnival -where the manager suddenly took a liking to her and made himself a pest. -She was twelve. He was a beast. Maybe you should take--" - -"The fewer things I take the better," Tel said. Then he saw the bundle -on the table by the door. On top was a leather thong to which a few -chips of colored shell still clung. "Maybe this," he said, picking it -up. "What shape is Geryn's room in?" - -"The place has been ransacked since they took him away," she said. -"Everybody and his brother has been picking at the place. What about -Geryn, how is he?" - -"Dead," Tel said. "What I really came about was to burn his plans for -the kidnaping." - -"Dead?" Rara asked. "Well, I'm not surprised. Oh, the plans! Why I -burned those myself the minute I got back into his room. They were all -over the table; why they didn't take them all up right then, I'll -never--" - -"Did you burn every last scrap?" - -"And crumbled the ashes, and disposed of them one handful at a time over -a period of three days by the docks. Every last scrap." - -"Then I guess there's nothing for me to do," he said. "You may not see -me or Alter for a long time. I'll give her your love." - -Rara bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "For Alter," she said. Then -she asked, "Tel?" - -"What?" - -"That woman you brushed by in the street when I saw you running up the -block...." - -"Yes?" - -"Did you ever see her before?" - -"I didn't look at her very carefully. I'm not sure. Why?" - -"Never mind," Rara said. "You just get on out of here before.... Well, -just get." - -"So long, Rara." He got. - - * * * * * - -Not so high as the towers of the Royal Palace of Toron, the green tile -balcony outside Clea's window caught the breeze like the hem of an -emerald woman passing the sea. There was water beyond the other houses, -deeper blue than the sky, and still. She leaned over the balcony -railing. On the white marble table were her notebook, a book on matter -transmission, and her slide rule. - -"Clea." - -She whirled at the voice, her black hair leaping across her shoulder in -the low sun. - -"Thanks for getting my message through." - -"This is you," she said slowly. "In person now." - -"Uh-huh." - -"I'm not quite sure what to say," she said, blinking. "Except I'm glad." - -"I've got some bad news," he said. - -"How do you mean?" - -"Very bad news. It'll hurt you." - -She looked puzzled, her head going to the side. - -"Tomar's dead." - -The head straightened, the black eyebrows pulled together, and her lower -lip tautened across her teeth until her jaw muscles quivered. She nodded -once, quickly, and said, "Yes." Then, as quickly, she looked down and up -at him. Her eyes were closed. "That ... that hurts so much." - -He waited a few moments, and then said, "Here, let me show you -something." - -"What?" - -"Come over to the table. Here." He took a handful of copper centiunit -pieces from his pocket, moved her books and slide rule over, and -arranged the coins in a square, four by four, only with one corner -missing. Now he took a smaller, silver deciunit and put it on the table -about a foot from the missing corner. "Shoot it into the gap there," he -said. - -She put her forefinger on the silver disk, was still, and then snapped -her finger. The silver circle shot across the foot of white marble, hit -the corner, and two pieces of copper bounced away from the other side of -the square. She looked at him, questioningly. - -"It's a gambling game, called Randomax. It's getting sort of popular in -the army." - -"Random for random numbers, max for matrix?" - -"You've heard of it?" - -"Just guessing." - -"Tomar wanted you to know about it. He said you might be interested in -some of its aspects." - -"Tomar?" - -"Just like I monitored your phone calls, I overheard him talking to -another soldier about it before he--before the crash. He just thought -you'd be interested." - -"Oh," she said. She moved the silver circle away from the others, put -the dislocated copper coins back in the square again, and flipped the -smaller coin once more. Two different coins jumped away. "Damn," Clea -said, softly. - -"Huh?" He looked up. Tears were running down her face. - -"Damn," she said. "It hurts." She blinked and looked up again. "What -about you? You still haven't told me all that's happened to you. Wait a -moment." She reached for her notebook, took a pencil up, and made a -note. - -"An idea?" he asked. - -"From the game," she told him. "Something I hadn't thought of before." - -He smiled. "Does that solve all your problems on--what were -they--sub-trigonometric functions?" - -"Inverse sub-trigonometric functions," she said. "No. It doesn't go that -simply. Did you stop your war?" - -"I tried," he said. "It doesn't go that simply." - -"Are you free?" - -"Yes." - -"I'm glad. How did it come about?" - -"I used to be a very hardheaded, head-strong, sort of stupid kid, who -was always doing things to get me into more trouble than it would get -the people I did it to. That was about my only criterion for doing -anything. Unfortunately I didn't do it very well. So now, still -head-strong, maybe not quite so stupid, I've at least picked up a little -skill. I had to do something where the main point wasn't whether it hurt -me or not. They just had to be done. I had to go a long way, see a lot -of things, and I guess it sort of widened my horizons, gave me some room -to move around-some more freedom." - -"Childhood and a prison mine doesn't give you very much, does it?" - -"No." - -"What about the war, Jon?" - -"Let's put it this way. As far as what's on the other side of the -radiation barrier, which is pretty much out of commission now, there's -no need for a war. None whatsoever. If that gets seen and understood by -the people who have to see and understand it, then fine. If not, well -then, it isn't that simple. Look, Clea, I just came by for a few -minutes. I want to get out of the house before Dad sees me. Keep on -talking to him. I'll be disappearing for a while, so you'll have to do -it. Just don't bother to tell him I'm alive." - -"Jon...." - -He smiled. "I mean I want to do it myself when I come back." - -She looked down a moment, and when she looked up he was going back into -the house. She started to say good-bye, but bit back the words. - -Instead, she sat down at the table; she opened the notebook; she cried a -little bit. Then she started writing again. - - * * * * * - -THREE AGAINST INFINITY - - -The Empire of Toromon had finally declared war. The attacks on its -planes had been nothing compared to the final insult--the kidnapping of -the Crown Prince. The enemy must be dealt with, and when they were, -Toromon would be able to get back on its economic feet. - -But how would the members of this civilization--one of the few that -survived the Great Fire--get beyond the deadly radiation barrier, behind -which the enemy lay? And assuming they got beyond the barrier, how would -they deal with that enemy--the Lord of the Flames--whose very presence -was unknown to the people among whom he lived? - - - Turn this book over for second complete novel - - * * * * * - - [Transcriber's Note: Caret symbol (^) is used to represent - superscripts. The number in {} is the exponent.] - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Captives of the Flame, by Samuel R. 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