Night of Light

Carmody stepped back and raised his hand to stop the inward-swinging half. At the same time, the Kareenan male in the hallway dipped his hand into his open beltbag. Carmody did not wait. Old reflexes took over. He jumped forward, hurled himself against the side of the door moving out into the hall. The Kareenan, drawing the automatic from the bag, had started to enter on the inward-swinging side. Apparently, he had intended to run in and shoot Carmody. He must have hoped to be concealed long enough by the door to confuse his victim.

Instead, the other side of the door was impelled by Carmody’s shoulder driving against it. The entire assembly swung around much more swiftly than the assassin had pla

Then, the door swung out again as the Kareenan inside the room lunged at it, probably in a fury or panic to get to his man before he ran down the hallway. Carmody knew he could not run fast enough to reach the distant corner before the Kareenan got out. The hall was deserted, and there were no other doors open for him to take refuge behind.

He leaped in after the in-swinging section of the door. He heard a yelp of surprise and rage. Swiftly, Carmody stopped the door and shot the bolt. He was safe, for the moment, anyway. He ran to the phone and called the desk clerk. Within a minute, the hotel police were outside his door. The assassin, of course, was gone.

Carmody answered questions of the police, and, a little later, of the city police. No, he did not know the Kareenan. Yes, he had been threatened by a man named Fratt. Carmody described the letter from him and said that Tand had already promised to take care of the matter.

The police left, but two guards were posted outside the door. It was unthinkable that a Father should be exposed to attack, now it was known his life was in danger. Carmody did not care for the guards because they would hamper his movements. However, he did not think he would have much trouble in losing them.

While he calmed his nerves with another cup of wine, he puzzled. Had the Kareenan been hired by Fratt? It did not seem very likely. Fratt would want a personal revenge; his own hand would have to inflict whatever torture of death he was pla

He wondered about Lieftin. If the man was not what he seemed to be, if his diaconus speech and appearance were a disguise, if he were the assassin hired by the Earth fanatics, he might want to kidnap Carmody. He might hope to get some information from Carmody about Yess.

Carmody finished the wine and began pacing back and forth. He was not able to leave his room because he did not want to miss a call from Tand, but it made him nervous to wait.

His phone rang. He passed his hand over the screen, and it came alive. Abog, secretary to the world government head, looked out at him.

“I’m a little early, Father. But I’m very eager to talk to you. May I come up?”

Carmody consented. A few minutes later, the knocker clanged. Carmody opened the door a trifle and peeked out. The guards must have been impressed by Abog’s splendid clothes and his credentials, for they were rigid with attention.

The secretary entered, and, immediately thereafter, the phone rang again. This time, an Earthman’s face was on the screen.

“Job Gilson,” he said in English. “ETS. I was told you wanted to see me.”

Gilson was a man of middle age. He had a fair, lightly freckled complexion and brown hair. His features were so regular they made no impression. It was an easily forgotten face—valuable for an agent of Extra-Terrestrial Security.

“Can you wait? I have a visitor.”

“I’m used to waiting,” Gilson said. He smiled. “Just a glorified flatfoot.”

Carmody passed his hand over the screen, and it went brown. He offered Abog a drink; the Kareenan accepted.

“Normally, I wouldn’t rush into this,” Abog said. “Unfortunately, time does not permit the usual diplomatic delays. So, I won’t offend the Father if I come to the point?”

“On the contrary. You’d offend me if you slithered around like a snake on oil, that is to say, like a politician. I like directness.”

“Very well. However, you should know something first about the extent of the authority vested in me. Also, something about our governmental structure, and about the man at its head. I think...”

“I think your good intentions about going straight to the heart of the matter are being betrayed by your training. Never mind all the extraneous stuff.”

Abog looked upset, but he rallied with a quick show of bluish teeth. “All right. The only thing is, I wanted you to realize that my government would never pry into your personal life or your beliefs—not at any other time, that is. Now, we must ask...”

“Ask.”

Abog sucked in a deep breath, then said, “Have you or have you not come to a

“Is that all? No, I am not converting. I am firm in my faith.”

“Oh.”

Abog seemed disappointed. After a silence and a long stare past Carmody, he said, “Perhaps, you could use your influence as a Father to, uh, well, dissuade Yess.”

“I don’t know that I have any influence. Dissuade him from what?”

“Frankly, my chief, Rilg, is worried. If Yess makes the decision that all stay Awake, the effect will be catastrophic. Those who survive may be ‘good’, ‘purified’, but how many will live through the Night? The statisticians predict that over three-fourths of the population will die. Think of that, Father. Three-fourths! Kareenan civilization will be wiped out.”

“Does Yess know this?”

“He has been told. He agrees that the statisticians may be correct. But he doesn’t think they have to be. He maintains that there is a good reason why Yess usually triumphs over Algul during the Night. The majority of the Sleepers are, quote, good, unquote. Their dreaming state reflects their true desires. And these desires somehow affect those who stay Awake. Therefore, Yess wins.

“Following this reasoning, if all stay Awake, the effect will be the same as if most Slept. Only, the essentially ‘good’ will have a chance to be thoroughly purified of the evil elements present even in the best.”

“He could be right,” Carmody said.

“Yess could also be very wrong. We think he is. But even if he is right, think of what will happen! Even if the predictions are wrong, at least a fourth would be killed. What a devastation, what a slaughter! Men, women, children!”

“It does seem frightful.”

“Frightful! It’s hideous, savage! Why, even Algul could not think of anything so fiendish! If I did not know better I would say...”

He stopped, rose, and moved close to the Earthman. He whispered, “There have been rumors that it was not really Yess who was bom during that Night. It was Algul. But Algul, clever as he is, claimed to be Yess. Such a trick would be just like the Deceiver.”

Carmody smiled and said, “You can’t be serious?”

“Of course not. Do you think I’m one of those poor fools? But this kind of rumor shows the people’s confusion. They can’t understand how their great and kind god could require them to do this.”

“Your scriptures predict just such an event.”

Abog looked frightened, and there was panic in his voice.

“True, but nobody ever expected it to happen. Only a handful of the superorthodox believed in it, even prayed for it.”

“There’s something I don’t understand,” Carmody said. “What would happen to those who just refused to go through the Night?”

“Anybody who refuses to obey an order of Yess is automatically and legally classified as a follower of Algul. He can be arrested and imprisoned.”