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"No," Hindarf said. "There are none available in this area, and none anywhere who can generate white noise to compare with yours."
"This may seem irrelevant to you at this moment," Forry said, "but why doesHeepish steal from me?"
"Because he wants your stuff for the collection he intends totake to the planet of the Ogs. He's a greedy and short-sighted person, and thatis why he'sstolen a few things from you instead of waiting to take the wholecollection just before he leaves."
"What?" Forry said shrilly. "The whole collection?"
"Oh, yes," Alys Merrie said, blowing smoke at him. "He haspla
"You can visit our planet, if you wish," Hindarf said. "And youmight aswell have Heepish's collection, too. It won't do him any good afterhe's dead."
"Dead?"
Hindarf nodded and said, "Of course. We plan to kill every Og."
Forry did not like the idea of killing, even if Heepish diddeserve it. But the thought of going to an alien planet, one so far away that it wasnot even in this galaxy! He alone, of all men, would voyage to another world! Hehad wanted to be the first man on the Moon and the first man on Mars when he was a child and then that dream had glimmered away. He wouldn't even be able togo to thoseplaces as a tourist. And now, he was offered a free ticket to aplanet far morealien and weird than the Moon or Mars could ever be. Under a strangesun on an unimaginably exotic world!
"I can come back any time I wish?" he said. "I wouldn't want toleave Los Angeles forever, you know. I have my collection and all my wonderfulfriends."
"No trouble," Hindarf said.
"I must warn you, if it involves anything strenuous, I'll behandicapped," Forry said. "My heart..."
"Alys has told us all about that," Hindarf said. Forry's eyes widened. "Everything?" "Just the medical aspects," Hindarf said ambiguously. "All right then," Forry said. "I'll help you. But just as a white
noise
generator. You can't ask me to take part in any killing." The three men and Alys smiled. Forry smiled, too, but he was not sure that he was not making a
pact withthe devil. It seemed that the Ogs really were evil, but then the Tocsmight notbe so good, either. It could be one band of devils fighting another.
CHAPTER 38
Childe awoke with a feeling of emptiness and of shame. He lookedat Sybil, who was sleeping by his side, and then he stared upward for a longtime. Something had happened to him last night, or he presumed it was lastnight, since he did not know what time it was. His wristwatch was gone.
As if a key had been turned in him, unlocking a memory orreleasing aprogrammed tape, he had gone through that ceremony without a falsestep or beingtold, really, what to do next.
When he had evoked that pulsing light, he had felt an ecstasythat was superior, in some undefinable way, to that of sexual orgasm. It wasdifficult to untangle the sexual from the photonic, but a part of the glory hadbeen from that goblet.
That final incident, the one with Vivie
The hell of it was, he thought, that the next time he was seatedbefore that goblet, he was likely to do the same thing or something equallyuninhibited. He did not fool himself about that.
The worst thing about this was that he was cooperating withpeople--beings, rather--who were evil.
But when he had been placed before that goblet, he had beenunable to refuse to act. In a sense, the goblet had activated him more than he hadactivated it.
What was supposed to be the final result of this ceremony and ofothers that would undoubtedly follow it?
He decided that he would refuse to do anything more unlesseverything wasfully explained.
He thought of Sybil. Would she be tortured if he refused to carryout the Ogs' desires? Knowing what he did of them, he could not doubt thatthey would dowhatever they thought was required. And so Sybil would be...Heshuddered.
Somebody knocked on the door. It was faint because the door wasof such thick metal, but he was aware of it. His sense of hearing seemed tobe sharperafter last night's experiences. He rose, noting that he was naked andnot caring, and went to the door. He rapped on it, and the door swungoutward. Vivie
"You people are so technologically advanced, you could find someeasier wayto get my attention," he said.
"You indicated you wanted privacy in your room," Vivie
"That's nice of you," he said, thinking that they were reallytrying to sellhim on how extremely nice they were. "Show me where this intercom is, and I'll contact you when I want you. And be sure to keep the other devicesoff."
"What the Captain wishes..." Pao murmured. "What I wish now, after a good breakfast, are answers to myquestions."
Pao said, "Of course," as if he was amazed that Childe could have any reasonto think otherwise.
"I'll see you in ten minutes," he said. "You'd better tell mewhere the breakfast room is. And leave the door unlocked."
Pao looked embarrassed. He said, "I'm sorry indeed, my Captain, but you'llhave to stay in here. It's for your own safety. There are evil peoplewho want to hurt you. You ca
"The Grailing?" "Growing that goblet. The Grail." "There is to be more of that?" "There is." "Very well then," Childe said. "I'm a prisoner." Pao bowed slightly and said, "A ward, Captain. For your own
protection."
Childe closed the door in their faces and woke up Sybil. She didnot want to get out of bed, but he told her he wanted her to hear everything thatwould be said. He started towards the bathroom but stopped when he saw a hairypointedhead sticking out from under the bed. It looked vaguely like asleeping blackdog about the size of a Great Dane. He rapped it on its wet doggynose, and itopened its eyes wide.
"What the hell are you and what the hell are you doing under mybed?" he said.
The eyes were a dark brown and looked familiar. But the animalthat crawled out from under the bed was unfamiliar. Its front part resembled agiant waterspaniel, and the back part was monkeylike. It stood up on its semi- human feet and staggered over to a chair and sat down. It leaned its shaggyfloppy-earedhead on its two paws. The monkey part was hairy but not so hairy itentirelyconcealed a pair of human testicles and a warty penis.
"I was hungry," Childe said aloud. "But seeing you, whatever youare..."
He felt repulsed but not scared. The thing did not lookdangerous, not, atleast, at the moment. Its weariness and its big wet gentle eyes addedup toharmlessness.
One thing its presence did for him. It reaffirmed the sense ofalie
Sybil did not seem frightened; he would have expected her to bescreamingwith hysteria.
He said, "Was this your bed partner last night, Sybil?" "Part of the time," she said. "There was more than one?" The only one missing from the ceremony, as far as he knew, was