Part 1 (2/2)

Vickers leaned back, and Takinu looked at Kettrick. ”It is convenient for you that I speak my own tongue?”

”It is convenient,” Kettrick said.

Fear?

”Good,” said Takinu. ”That way is quicker.” Wearily, as though he had repeated these same words until he hated them, he went on, ”Our instruments picked up and recorded a change in one of the outlying stars of the Hyades-a small fringe sun with no habitable planets. It was a routine sweep of the sky and the new data was only noticed when the computers found the discrepancy in the gamma radiation level for that portion of the sweep. We pinpointed the source of emission and made very exhaustive studies.

Very exhaus-tive, Mr. Kettrick, very careful. The small star had suddenly become lethal.”

Takinu paused, frowning, and Sekma spoke.

”What he's trying to find the layman's language for, John-ny, is the explanation of how a star might suddenly, over-night, become deadly. How the solar processes might be changed, the cycle altered by some interference with the chemical balance, so that the output of gamma radiation is increased until every living thing on every planet of that star-if it had habitable planets-would be blasted out of existence. I don't think you have to go into the physics of it, Takinu. I think Johnny will accept the fact that it happened.”

”That is not difficult to accept,” said Takinu. ”It is as you say, a fact, demonstrable, actual, unarguable. What he may not so easily accept is our speculation as to the cause of this fact.”

His haunted eyes lingered on Kettrick, and now there was no doubt about the shadow. It was fear.

”I did not rely on my own judgment alone. I communi-cated with my old friend and respected colleague, Dr. Smith, of your Lunar Observatory.” Takinu gestured to Smith and said in lingua franca, ”It is your story now.”

Smith said, ”I made my own observations. Our instruments had of course detected the same aberration. My findings agree in every respect with those of Dr. Takinu.”

There was a moment of complete silence in the library. Not really silence, because Kettrick's stretched nerves were aware of every small rustle of cloth and whisper of breath-ing, the preternaturally loud noises of burning from the hearth. Then Smith said, completely without dramatics: ”We do not believe that the phenomenon was a natural one.”

Now again there was silence, and everybody seemed to be waiting for Kettrick to say something.Instead it was Sekma who spoke, in the lingua franca so that everybody could understand him.

”I'll make it plainer, Johnny. Somebody did it. Somebody has found the way to poison a star.”

”You were always a hard-headed man,” said Kettrick slowly. ”d.a.m.ned hard, as I know to my sorrow. Dr. Takinu and Dr. Smith have their particular reasons for believing this unbelievable thing. What are yours?”

”Talk,” said Sekma. ”Rumors. Myths. Whispers. In my business I hear them. On a dozen planets, Johnny-not much, just here a word and there a word, sometimes in a city dive, sometimes at a jungle fire, but the word was an odd one and always the same. The word was Doomstar.”

He let the word hang in the air for a moment, and Ket-trick heard it like the solemn clang of a distant bell.

”I don't put too much faith in talk,” said Sekma. ”Any creature, human, semihuman, or nonhuman, with an articu-late tongue, can be depended on to wag it, and most of them prefer marvels to cold truth any day of their lives. But when I read Takinu's report, the coincidence was just a little too much to accept.”

Kettrick thought about it. ”How did the tongue-waggers react to the news that an actual Doomstar had appeared?”

”Well, that's the odd part of it. They never knew it had. The occurrence was so obscure that only astronomers could be aware of it, and most of them would pa.s.s it by as a natural accident.”

”Wouldn't it be simpler,” said Kettrick, ”to a.s.sume that it is just that?”

”Oh, much simpler, Johnny. Yes. But suppose it isn't. Sup-pose there is, say, only one chance in a million that it isn't.” He smiled at Kettrick, a smile that had in it very little humor. ”To quote one of your great poets, I am myself indifferent honest. But supposing you knew, or thought, that I might just possibly have in my hands the power to poison your sun. Would you sleep easily of nights?”

Kettrick nodded. ”All right, I won't argue that.” After a minute he said, ”I won't argue that at all. My G.o.d, what blackmail! One demonstration, announced and carried through, and every solar system in the Hyades would be cringing at your feet.”

”And no need to stop with the Hyades,” said Sekma.

Kettrick frowned and shook his head. ”But there wasn't one. A demonstration would be a necessity, and there wasn't one. Just one small obscure star.”

”We believe this was a test, Johnny. Every new weapon needs a field test. And this was successful.

We believe our demonstration will come later, if...”

”If what?” asked Kettrick, knowing the answer.

”If we don't stop it.”

”And if there is, in truth and fact, a weapon.”

”This is what we have to find out. Is there a weapon-in truth and fact-and if there is, who has it, and where.”

”That could take a long time.”

”But we don't have a long time. a.s.suming that there is a weapon, we have only as much time as those who control it choose to give us. How long would you guess that to be?”

”Well,” said Kettrick, with a small edge of venom in his good-natured tone, ”I'm a little out of touch with your cal-endar, but let's see. There was a meeting of the League of Cl.u.s.ter Worlds just before I-ah-left the Hyades. So the next one should be...” He muttered and grumbled to him-self. ”Thisinterstellar arithmetic always did give me a head-ache. Say the next meeting of the League will be within six units of Universal Arbitrary Time...”

”Close enough,” Sekma nodded. ”But why pick that par-ticular event?”

”Because if I wanted to make a startling announcement, I would prefer to do it at a time when the representatives of the various solar systems were gathered together. Think of the money it would save in interstellar cables. Think of the vastly greater impact.” Kettrick shrugged. ”Of course, I'm only saying what I would do.”

”It happens that we agree with that theory, Mr. Kettrick,” said Vickers. He rose and stood before the fire, a professor with thin spread legs about to lecture his students. ”Would you like a drink now?”

Again Kettrick said, ”No, thank you.” And he noticed that the eyes in that professorial face was flint-hard and flint-cold and direct as spear points.

”Perhaps,” said Vickers, ”you are beginning to understand why you're here?”

Kettrick shook his head. He still sat easily, apparently re-laxed, in his chair, but the palms of his hands were sweating and his belly was full of hot wires.

”I'd rather have you spell it out.”

Vickers nodded. ”It's quite simple. We want you to go to the Hyades and find out what you can about the...” He hesitated very briefly before he said the word. ”The Doomstar.”

”Well,” said Kettrick softly. ”Well I'll be d.a.m.ned.” He looked around, from Vicktrs to Fersen, from Fersen to Sekma. ”Whose idea was this?”

”Not mine,” said Fersen acidly. ”I can a.s.sure you of that.”

Sekma spread his hands in an eloquent gesture. ”Johnny, who else knows the Hyades as well as you? You taught me at least a dozen places I didn't know existed, and I belong to the Cl.u.s.ter.” He smiled. ”You have a special talent, Johnny. The years I spent trying to catch up with you were the most exasperating and lively fun I've ever had. In my official ca-pacity, that is. When it became obvious that we needed some-one to undertake this mission, of course I thought of you.”

Kettrick stared at him, eyes wide-open and astonished as a child's. ”By G.o.d, that's magnificent,” he said. ”I'm not even angry, Sekma. Just awed.” He got up, looking at Vickers. ”I think I'd like that drink now.”

<script>