Part 10 (1/2)

A door opened nearby and a girl looked out along the pavement under the flowering trees. Dalroi caught his breath and pressed into a shadow, but as she turned, the lamp-light glowed on her face and tresses and the name burst involuntarily from his lips.

”Berina!” The irony of the situation made his mouth go dry.”Ivan!” She gave a gasp of surprise. ”What are you doing here?”

”Looking for the reason why Failway wanted you in particular.”

”Is it you they're after?”

”n.o.body else,” said Dalroi.

She looked wildly up and down the street. n.o.body was in sight. ”Quickly, in here.”

He hesitated and then followed her through the door into an atmosphere rich with warmth and fragrant with incense. The dwelling was decorated with oriental luxury, overwhelming with its charm and grace.

Magnificent drapes, and screens of the finest hand-worked tracery contrasted brilliantly with couches and redwood furniture of such delicacy that it seemed the lightest usage would make them fly asunder. Here was a cool symphony of seductiveness, refined, poised, exquisitely timeless and unreal.

”b.i.t.c.h!” said Dalroi, looking round. ”I loved you with a different kind of love than you dispense here.”

She looked at him with a certain puzzled wonderment. ”I hadn't thought you'd remember me long.”

”Does the moon forget the sun?”

”That's rather a wonderful thing to say. Is it possible that you loved that much?”

Dalroi scowled. ”Love is a catalyst. The finest things and the worst a man discovers are already within him. Loving you was an indispensable h.e.l.l. Such an experience is a window to a new world. Even afterward the sense of longing continues to corrode the soul.”

”My G.o.d!” said Berina. ”I never even guessed you had a soul.”

”How could you, not having one of your own. That kind of pain has no physical a.n.a.logue. Nothing is ever quite the same again.”

”Stay with me.”

”No,” said Dalroi. ”That's a mistake I've made before. It cost me a great deal to learn to live with myself again. I'd sooner face what lies out there.”

She looked up, her mouth pouting with rare amus.e.m.e.nt. ”I can make you stay if I wish.”

”Not any more,” said Dalroi. ”Once I'd have fallen at your feet and wept at the opportunity. Now I can resist even the temptation - so much can a man lose of himself.”

”Poor Ivan! Do I detect another pallid romance? What's her name? Has she the charms of a sweet seductress? Is she skilled in the finer arts of love?”

”You don't understand.”

”Can she play your emotions like a harp, as I can; or give you the taste of rare sensations such as you never knew existed?”

”You don't understand!” Dalroi's anger flared. ”My present mistress is a far more constant courtesan. Her name is Vengeance: vengeance against Failway, against the pressure, the bribery and the blackmail; vengeance against the rot that has got everything, against the system that took you from me.””Stay with me,” she said. ”Don't you hear the whistles? The Security men are coming. They're combing the streets.”

”I'll take my chances. I'm getting out.”

”You don't have to. They won't search here. I can see that they leave this house alone.”

”What kind of promise is that?” asked Dalroi. ”Those men out there are killers and they're out for blood - my blood.”

”I have influence ... ”

”I'll bet you have. The influence of the cheese in the mousetrap. The oldest bait in the world.”

She struggled to her feet in fury. ”You never change, do you? No time is inappropriate for the vicious gibe or the stab to the heart.”

”You've played me false before, remember? What makes you think I'd trust you now?”

She thrust herself between him and the door. ”Don't be a fool!”

”Get out of my way!” said Dalroi.

”No, you must not go out there now.” She threw her arms about his neck and kissed him.

There was a sudden crash as the door burst open, kicked violently from outside.

”An intriguing situation,” said Peter Madden, entering, gun in hand. ”I rather thought I'd find you here.”

SEVENTEEN.

”My G.o.d!” said Peter Madden. ”You've a great deal to answer for. If killing you wasn't a matter of prime urgency I'd take you to the Security wing and extract that much vengeance from your body before you died.”

Dalroi looked at the radiation pistol and at Madden's tunic streaked with charcoal and still acrid from the lingering smoke of the ruined cepi field.

”Looking down the wrong end of your gun is becoming a habit,” he said. ”It's a vice I can afford to do without.”

”The cure is permanent and guaranteed,” said Madden. ”I shall shoot you if you dare to move an inch.

Even if I didn't kill you you'd not be much use without a chest. You're a danger to yourself and to everyone else. I can't take changes.” His finger tightened on the trigger.

The explosion of a slug pistol shattered the silence. Madden stared at his hand in disbelief and agony, and the radiation pistol clattered to the floor. Berina kept him covered with her still-smoking gun.

”Thanks!” said Dalroi. ”He was just mad enough to try it”

Madden's eyes were full of cold shock. ”That was very foolish, Berina. If I had killed him I might have overlooked the fact that you sought to harbour him. Even yet I might give you a second chance.”

”Since when did you ever give anyone any sort of chance?” asked Berina quietly. ”Live or die, your whole d.a.m.n organisation is starting to collapse. I, for one, intend to help it on its way.””You're a little premature,” said Madden. ”I'll surely break you for this. You know how well I can do that.”

”Yes.” She spat vehemently in his face. ”I've seen what you've done to the others. Do you think that ent.i.tles you to anything but hate?”

”The biter bit,” said Dalroi pleasantly. ”But now we're due for a short session of questions and answers.”

”Don't waste your breath,” said Madden. ”The squad will be here looking for me in a moment. Under no circ.u.mstances can you be permitted to escape.”

”Nevertheless,” Dalroi picked up the radiation pistol and adjusted it to low intensity meaningly, ”I think we'll try. I don't need to tell you what this weapon can do to the eyeb.a.l.l.s, so I advise you not to become tongue-tied. There's something I'd rather like to know: exactly what's the urgency to see me dead?”