Part 9 (1/2)
The man wore ordinary clothing but a scarlet robe could be removed and hair allowed to grow on a shaven scalp. Emotions, too, could be counterfeited and yet his instinct told him the man was what he seemed. No cyber would ape the type of person he despised. If not pride then respect for his organization would make him cling to his robe, the fellows.h.i.+p with others of his kind.
And if Kusche was a cyber, why the wine, the delicacies, the talk? If the casket had been delivered into the hands of the Cyclan there would be no need of this charade.
And yet-why was he here?
Kusche met his eyes as, bluntly, Dumarest asked the question.
He was as blunt in his answer.
”For profit, Earl. For gain. It was obvious you are no ordinary criminal. The guards were too eager, the reward too high. If you are so valuable to those who wanted you captured it seemed advisable for me to become your partner. In helping you I would be helping myself.” His tone grew bitter. ”A simple plan-how was I to guess at the complications? All I wanted was to ride with you and be at hand when you left the casket. To talk about us making a deal. But the Huag-Chi-Tsacowa proved most uncooperative and it cost a fortune in bribes. Wasted money.”
”But you got here.””No, Earl, I was brought.” Kusche looked at his hands, at the gemmed ring adorning the left one. ”I don't remember much about it. I was asleep, then I woke up here in a room like this. A man questioned me and told me this was Zabul. Then I was taken to the casket and the rest you know.” He added, ”There's one more thing. The man I saw is coming to ask you a question.
He asked it of me and I stalled and put the answer on you. One question, Earl-they're crazy!”
”Who are?”
”The people who live here. The man I saw. That question, Earl, he meant it. One d.a.m.ned question.” Kusche reached for his wine and drank and sat staring into the empty goblet. He said dully, ”He wanted me to give him one reason why I should be allowed to stay alive.”
In the dreams there had been music: deep threnodies emulating the restless surge of mighty oceans, the wail of keening winds, the susurration of rippling gra.s.ses, the murmur of somnolent bees. Sounds captured by the sensory apparatus and translated to fit into the pattern of electronically stimulated fantasies. Now Dumarest heard it again as, rising, he paced the room.
It was small, a score of feet on a side, the roof less than half as high. A chamber decorated with the neat precision of one accustomed to regimented tidiness. One which could have belonged to a person of either s.e.x but of a narrow field of profession.
Dumarest touched the wall with the tips of his fingers, frowned, knelt to examine the floor. Without looking at Nubar Kusche, he said, ”Have you ever seen a window? Looked outside?”
”No.”
”They just told you this was Zabul?”
”He told me, Earl. Urich Volodya. The one who asked that d.a.m.ned stupid question.” He added, ”He's the only one I'veseen.”
Rising, Dumarest walked to where the outline of a door marred the smooth perfection of a wall. It was locked. The bathroom was as he had left it but the door to the room holding the casket was closed and sealed. Back with Kusche he listened again to the music, which seemed to originate in the very air-a vibration carried by a trick of acoustics or a lingering hallucination from his recent dreams.
To Kusche he said, ”How long has it been since you saw Volodya?”
”Not long. He took me to the casket to wait until it opened-that was about fifteen minutes. Then you had that bath and we talked.”
”And before that?”
”When he asked me the question? About five hours.”
”Was he serious?”
”Yes.” Kusche was emphatic. ”I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth. One question-and I couldn't think of a single answer!”
But he had talked his way out of the necessity of answering, or Volodya had spared him to cus.h.i.+on his own shock of waking. To be what he had claimed, a mentor, friend and guide. But why?
Dumarest shook his head, irritated by the music, the whispering chords with their a.s.sociations. A danger he recognized, and he forced himself to relax. Uncontrolled anger could lead to fatal errors, and if Kusche was telling the truth he would need all his wits. But there was no reason to play the game according to an opponent's rules.
He said, ”We're supposed to sit and wait and sweat. Well, to h.e.l.l with them. Got a deck?” He took the cards Kusche produced.
”What shall it be?”
”Man-in-between.”Dumarest dealt: a ten to his left, a four to his right, a lady between the two. ”High wins.” A lord to his left, a trey to his right, a seven last. ”Man-in-between.” A jester and two eights.
”High wins.” A pair of nines and a deuce. ”Low wins.”
An easy, monotonous, boring game. Before he had dealt the pack three times the door opened and Urich Volodya entered the room.
He was tall with a slender grace and a carriage dictated by position and breeding. A man with the long, flat muscles of a runner and the sharp features of a questing idol. The nose was thin, beaked, the eyes hooded beneath jutting brows. The chin was strong as was the mouth, the line of the jaw. A high forehead was made higher by a mane of fine dark hair which rested in neat curls on a peaked skull. His clothing was somber but rich.
He radiated an almost tangible sense of power and authority.
Ignoring him, Dumarest turned over another card.
”Ace,” he said. ”High wins.”
Kusche was uneasy. ”Earl, we're not alone.”
”I know that. You want to make your bet or answer a stupid question?” Dumarest finished the deal. ”Low wins.”
”Earl Dumarest,” said Volodya. ”So you think my question was stupid?”
”It is always stupid to threaten a man's life.” Dumarest dropped the cards and rose to face the visitor. ”He could take offense,” he explained mildly. ”He could even decide to do something about it.”
”Such as getting in first?”
”It could happen.”
”But not here and not to me. Surely it isn't necessary for me to point out that I am not unprotected? Lift a hand against me and those watching will burn it from your arm. Need I say more?”A possible bluff but the man could be speaking the truth; his arrogance indicated he was. He seemed to have the conviction, too, that all men held life above all other considerations-a fault which had caused many rulers to run blindly to their destruction.
”Before we continue our discussion let me point out certain facts,” continued Volodya. ”For one, you are guilty of trespa.s.s in that you used a casket not your own without permission. For another, you are here without invitation. For a third, you are both an inconvenience. Zabul is a private place and we do not welcome visitors. Still less do we relish gossip and idle conversation which could lead to unwanted curiosity. However, we try to be just. We could have destroyed you without hesitation-instead we offer a chance for survival. Do you still consider the question to be stupid?”
Dumarest said, ”You want me to give you one good reason why I should be allowed to stay alive. Is that it?”
”Why you should both be allowed to stay alive,” corrected Volodya. ”Your friend has abrogated his right of reply to you. A heavy burden, but a fair one. If a man cannot justify his existence then why should he demand the right to continue it?”
”Demand of whom? G.o.d?”
”Here, in this place, as Guardian of the Terridae, I have the power of life and death over all in the domain of Zabul. You would do well to believe that. To believe also in the seriousness of your situation.” Volodya paused. ”You have three minutes in which to think of your answer.”
Three minutes in which to prepare for death and Dumarest knew it. The answer wanted was one not even a trained philosopher could supply. Volodya was playing a game to ease his conscience or to enhance his standing in his own eyes. To act the G.o.d. To cater to a s.a.d.i.s.tic trait even though he would be the first to deny it.
From behind him Kusche whispered, ”Think of something, Earl. For G.o.d's sake-he means it!”Dumarest sagged a little, his right hand lowering, fingers nearing the hilt of the knife carried in his boot. A forlorn defense but if he was to die then he would do his best to take Volodya with him. To kill the Proud Guardian of the Terridae despite- The Terridae?
Dumarest felt the cold shock of belated recognition. The ending implied resemblance. An affinity with what went before.
Terr. Terra?
The Terra was another name for Earth!