The Dark Design

Firebrass' secretary had told her that he had gone to his suite. She was surprised at this but did not ask Agatha why he had quit work so early. Perhaps he, too, felt like relaxing.

The door to his apartment was halfway down the hall. Before it stood the bodyguard that usually accompanied him. Two assassina­tion attempts in the last six months had made this necessary. The would-be killers had been slain themselves and thus could give no information.' No one knew for certain, but it was believed that a ruler of a hostile state down-River had sent the men. He had made no bones about his desire to get hold of Parolando's mineral wealth and rnarvelous machines and weapons. It was possible that he had hoped that, if he removed Firebrass, he might be able to invade Parolando. But this was all speculation by Firebrass.

Jill walked up to the ensign in command of four heavily armed men.

"I'd like to talk to the chief."

The ensign, Smithers said, "Sorry. He gave orders he wasn't to be disturbed."

"Why not?"

Smithers looked curiously at her. "I wouldn't know, sir."

Anger caused by her fear overcame her.

"I suppose he has a woman in there!"

The ensign said, "No, not that that is any of your business, sir."

He gri

Jill had to restrain herself from hitting him in his teeth. She knew that Smithers had never liked her, and no doubt he enjoyed needling her.

"NDELAG," she said, hating herself because her voice was trembling. ' "That could be Neue Deutsche Luftschifffahrts-Aktien-Gesellschaft."

Now her voice seemed to be coming from far away, from some­one else. "There was a Zeppelin line called DELAG in the days before World War I. It carried passengers and freight in Germany. But I never heard of an NDELAG."

"That would be because it was formed after you died,'' Smithers said. He gri

She felt sick. First Thorn and now Stem.

There was no use staying here. She squared her shoulders and said, in a firm voice, "I'll see him later."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," Smithers said, gri

Jill turned away to go back down the stairs.

She whirled around as a door banged and somebody shouted. A man had run out of Firebrass' apartment and slammed the door behind him.

He stood for several seconds, frozen, facing the guards. These were pulling their heavy pistols from their holsters. Smithers had his sword halfway from its sheath.

The man was as tall as she. He had a beautiful physique, broad shouldered, slim waisted, long legged. His face was handsome but rugged; his hair, wavy ash blond; his eyes, large and dark blue. But his skin was unhealthily pale and blood was flowing from a wound on the shoulder. He held a bloodied dagger in his left hand. Then the door opened, and Firebrass, a rapier in his hand, appeared. His face was twisted, and his forehead bled.

The ensign shouted, "Stern!"

Stern whirled and ran down the hall. There was no stairway at its end, only a tall window. Smithers cried, "Don't fire, men! He can't get away!"

"He can if he goes through the window!" Jill screamed.

At the end of the hall, Stern leaped with a shout, whirling so that his back would strike the plastic and holding an arm over his face.

The window refused to give way. Stem hit it with a thud and bounced back, falling flat with another thud on his face. He lay there while Firebrass, the ensign, and the guards behind him, ran toward Stern.

Jill followed them a second later.

Before the group could reach him, Stern got to his feet. He stared at the men racing toward him, looked at the dagger, which he had dropped on the floor when he had hit the window. Then he closed his eyes and crumpled to the floor.

35

By the time Jill got there,Firebrass was feeling the man's pulse.

"He's dead!"

"What happened, sir?" the ensign said.

Firebrass stood up.

"I wish I could say why it happened. All I can tell you is what happened. We were getting along fine, drinking and smoking, joking, and he was giving me the details of his professional career. Everything was A-okay. And then all of a sudden he leaps up, pulls a dagger, and tries to stab me!

"He must have gone crazy, although he seemed quite rational until the moment he attacked. Something went wrong in him. Otherwise, why would he drop dead of a heart attack?"

Jill said, "A heart attack? I haven't ever heard of anyone having a heart attack here. Have you?"

Firebrass shrugged and said, "There's always a first time. After all, the resurrections have stopped, too."

"He looks bloody cyanotic for a heart attack," Jill said. "Could he have swallowed a poison? I didn't see him put anything in his mouth."

"Where would he get cyanide or prussic acid or any poison except here in Parolando?" Firebrass said. "He hasn't been here long enough to do that."

He looked at Smithers. "Wrap up the body and take it into one of my bedrooms. Take it out after midnight and drop it into The River. The dragonfish can have him."

"Yes, sir," Smithers said. "What about that cut on your forehead, sir? Should I get a doctor?"

"No, I'll patch it up myself. And not a word about this to anybody. Have you got that, all of you? You, too, Jill. Not a word. I don't want to upset the citizens."

They all nodded. Smithers said, "Do you suppose that that bastard Burr sent this man, too?"

"I don't know," Firebrass said. "Or care. I just want you to get rid of him, okay?"

He turned to Jill. "What're you doing here?"

"I had something important to talk about," she said. "But I'll do it later. You're in no condition to talk."

"Nonsense!" he said, gri

Jill sat down in an overstaffed chair in the living room of the luxurious suite. Firebrass disappeared into the bathroom, returning after a few minutes with a white tape slanting across his forehead.

Smiling cheerily as if this were a typical day, he said, "What about a drink? It might settle your nerves."

"My nerves?"

"Okay. Both our nerves. I'll admit I'm a little shaken up. I'm no superman, no matter what people say about me."

He poured purplish skull-bloom into two tall glasses half-filled with ice cubes. Neither the ice nor the glasses, like the band-aid, were available anywhere but in Parolando-as far as she knew.

For a minute they sipped on the cool, tangy drink, their eyes meeting but neither saying a word. Then Firebrass said, "Okay. Enough of the social amenities. What did you want to see me about?"

She could scarcely get the words out. They seemed to jam in her throat, then come tumbling out, broken by the pressure.

After pausing to take a long drink, she continued more slowly and smoothly. Firebrass did not interrupt but sat immobile, his brown eyes, flecked with green, intent on hers.

"So," she finished, "there you are. I had to tell you about this, but it's the hardest thing I ever did."

"Why did you finally decide to spill it? Was it because you heard about the hypnosis?"

For a second, she thought of lying. Piscator would not betray her, and she would look so much better if she had not been forced to admit the truth.