Страница 44 из 51
"That's all," panted Schwartz.
"But why won't it work?" asked Pola. She looked worried.
Shekt shrugged. "Some pretty delicate and complicated muscles are involved. It's not like yanking at the long limb muscles. Never mind, Schwartz. We may get by without."
The memory of the next two hours was something no two of those that took part in the queer odyssey could duplicate. Dr. Shekt, for instance, had acquired a queer rigidity in which all his fears were drowned in one breathless and helpless sympathy with the inwardly struggling Schwartz. Throughout he had eyes only for that round face as it slowly furrowed and twisted with effort. For the others he had hardly time for more than a moment's glance.
The guards immediately outside the door saluted sharply at the appearance of the Secretary, his green robe redolent of officialdom and power. The Secretary returned the salute in a fumbling, flat ma
It was only when they had left the great Hall that Arvardan became conscious of the madness of it all. The great, unimaginable danger to the Galaxy and the flimsy reed of safety that bridged, perhaps, the abyss. Yet even then, even then, Arvardan felt himself drowning in Pola's eyes. Whether it was the life that was being snatched from him, the future that was being destroyed about him, the eternal unavailability of the sweetness he had tasted-whatever it was, no one had ever seemed to him to be so completely and devastatingly desirable.
In aftertime she was the sum of his memories. Only the girl- And upon Pola the su
Schwartz alone knew the full cost of failure. In the enemy Mind that he controlled he could sense the unbearable humiliation, the surpassing hatred, the utterly horrible resolves. He had to search that Mind for the information that guided him-the position of the official ground car, the proper route to take-And, in searching, he also experienced the galling bitterness of the determined revenge that would lash out should his control waver for but the tenth part of the second.
The secret fastnesses of the Mind in which he was forced to rummage remained his personal possession forever. In aftertimes there came the pale gray hours of many an i
Schwartz gasped at the words when they reached the ground car. He no longer dared relax sufficiently to utter co
Shekt soothed him with a soft, clucking sound. He dared not touch him, dared not speak in an ordinary way, dared net distract Schwartz's mind for a second.
He whispered, "Just get him into the back seat, Schwartz. I'll drive. I know how. From now on just keep him still. and I'll take the blaster away."
The Secretary's ground car was a special model. Because it was special, it was different. It attracted attention. Its green headlight turned to the right and left in rhythmic swings as the light dimmed and brightened in emerald flashes. Men paused to watch. Ground cars advancing in the opposite direction moved to the side in a respectful hurry.
Had the car been less noticed, had it been less obtrusive. the occasional passer-by might have had time to note the pale, unmoving Ancient in the back seat-might have wondered-might have scented danger- But they noticed only the car, so that time passed…
A soldier blocked the way at the gleaming chromium gates that rose sheerly in the expansive, overwhelming way that marked all Imperial structures in sharp contrast to the squatly massive and brooding architecture of Earth. His huge force gun shot out horizontally in a barring gesture, and the car halted.
Arvardan leaned out. "I'm a citizen of the Empire, soldier. I'd like to see your commanding officer."
"I'll have to see your identification, sir."
"That's been taken from me. I am Bel Arvardan of Baro
The soldier lifted a wrist to his mouth and spoke softly into the transmitter. There was a pause while he waited for an answer, and then he lowered his rifle and stepped aside. Slowly the gate swung open.
19. The Deadline That Approached
The hours that followed saw turmoil within and without Fort Dibburn. More so, perhaps, in Chica itself.
It was at noon that the High Minister at Washe
Questioning followed, and the guards outside the assembly room were definite that the Secretary had left with the prisoners at ten-thirty in the morning…No, he had left no instructions. They could not say where he was going; it was, of course, not their place to ask.
Another set of guards was equally uninformed and uninformative. A general air of anxiety mounted and swirled.
At 2 P.M. the first report arrived that the Secretary's ground car had been seen that morning-no one had seen if the Secretary was within-some thought he had been driving, but had only assumed it, it turned out- By two-thirty it had been ascertained that the car had entered Fort Dibburn.
At not quite three, it was finally decided to put in a call to the commander of the fort. A lieutenant had answered.
It was impossible at that time, they learned, for information on the subject to be given. However, His Imperial Majesty's officers requested that order be maintained for the present. It was further requested that news of the absence of a member of the Society of Ancients be not generally distributed until further notice.
But that was enough to achieve the direct opposite of the Imperial desires.
Men engaged in treason ca
So word went out- And the population of Chica stirred- The professional demagogues were on the street corners. The secret arsenals were broken open and the hands that reached withdrew with weapons. There was a twisting drift toward the fort, and at 6 P.M. a new message was sent to the commandant, this time by personal envoy.
Meanwhile, this activity was matched in a smaller way by events within the fort. It had begun dramatically when the young officer meeting the entering ground car reached out a hand for the Secretary's blaster.
"I'll take that," he said curtly.
Shekt said, "Let him take it, Schwartz."
The Secretary's hand lifted the blaster and stretched out; the blaster left it, was carried away-and Schwartz, with a heaving sob of breaking tension, let go.
Arvardan was ready. When the Secretary lashed out like an insane steel coil released from compression, the archaeologist pounced upon him, fists pumping down hard.
The officer snapped out orders. Soldiers were ru