The Asutra

Baba said peevishly, "I make a rule against discussing the affairs of my customers. I am not- "

Karazan strode forward, to loom above Baba. "Answer the question."

"I have not seen Hozman since early this morning," growled Baba.

"Aha, what's this? Early morning?"

"True! With these two hands I served his gruel while the suns clambered over the horizon."

"How can this be? " Karazan demanded in a menacing voice. "He was seen at sundown where the Vunish comes down from the Orgai. At midnight he made his presence felt. How could he have eaten breakfast here at dawn?"

The i

"Well then, what was his pacer this morning?"

"An ordinary Jerzy."

"Perhaps he changed his mount," Ifness suggested.

The Alula snorted. He turned back to Fabrache. "You can certify that Hozman chased you down the Orgai Mountains?"

"I am sure. Have I not seen Hozman Sore-throat many a time, riding with his band and alone?"

A voice spoke to their backs. "I hear my name mentioned, I trust in a kindly reference."

All swung about. Hozman Sore-throat stood in the door-hole. He came forward, a pale, stern-faced man of ordinary stature. A black cloak concealed his garments, except for the maroon scarf which muffled his neck.

The Alula said, "Last night on the river Vurush you took four of our people. We want them restored to us. The Alula are not for the slave pens; this we will make clear to every slave-taker of Caraz."

Hozman Sore-throat laughed, putting aside the threat with the ease of long practice. "Are you not over hasty? You accost me without basis."

Karazan took a slow step forward. "Hozman, your time is upon you."

The landlord bustled close. "Not in the i

The Alula thrust him aside with a sweep of his massive arm. "Where are our people?"

"Come now," said Hozman briskly. "I can't be blamed for every disappearance in the Mirkil district. At Vurush River under the Orgais? Last night? A far distance for a man who breakfasted at Shagfe."

"A not impossible distance."

Hozman smilingly shook his head. "If I owned pacers that staunch and swift, would I deal in slaves? I would breed pacers and make my fortune. As for your people, the Orgai is chumpa country; here may be the tragic truth."

Karazan, pale with rage and frustration, stood speechless, unable to find a crevice in Hozman's defense. Hozman glimpsed the black creature in the shadow of the doorway. He jerked forward, intent and startled. "What does the Ka do here? Is it now your ally?"

Ifness said evenly, "I captured it under Thrie Orgai, near where you met us yesterday afternoon."

Hozman turned away from the creature he had called a "Ka "; nevertheless his eyes strayed back toward where it stood. He spoke in easy, jocular tones, "Another voice, another accusation! If words were blades, poor Hozman would writhe on the ground in a hundred pieces."

"As he will, in any event," said Karazan menacingly, "unless he returns the four Alula girls he stole."

Hozman calculated, looking back and forth between Ifness and the Ka. He turned to Karazan. "Certain of the chumpas are my agents," he said in a voice like cream. "Perhaps they hold your Alula girls. If such is the case, will you trade four for two?"

"How do you mean, 'four for two'? " growled Karazan.

"For your four, I'll take this white-haired man and the Ka. " "I veto the proposal," said Ifness promptly. "You must put forward a better offer."

"Well, the Ka alone then. Think! A savage alien for four handsome girls."

"A remarkable offer! " declared Ifness. "Why do you want the creature?"

"I can always find customers for such a curiosity. " Hozman moved politely aside to allow newcomers into the common room: two Kash Blue-worms, drunk and ugly, the hair matted on their foreheads. The foremost jostled Hozman. "Stand back, reptile. You have brought us all to poverty and degradation; must you now block my path as well?"

Hozman moved away, his lips curling in a smile of contempt. The Kash Blue-worm stopped short and thrust forward his face. "Do you dare to mock me? Am I ludicrous?"

Baba sprang forward. "No combat in here, never in the common room! "

The Kash swung his arm in a backhanded blow, knocking Hozman to the floor, at which Baba brought forth a cudgel and with amazing dexterity drove the Kash cursing and lumbering from the i

Etzwane jumped forward. Ifness held aside Hozman's maroon scarf; Etzwane slashed the straps of the little harness, while Hozman lay thrashing and kicking. The i

Ifness, putting away his energy gun, stood grimly watching. Etzwane said in astonishment, "It hates the asutra more than we do."

"A curious exhibition," Ifness agreed.

From within the i

"What is there to learn? " roared Karazan. "He has sold our daughters into slavery; he says we will never see them again."

"Why not learn the details?" Ifness turned to where Etzwane prevented Hozman from flight. "You have much to tell us."

"What can I tell you?" said Hozman. "Why should I trouble myself? They will tear me apart like the ca

"I am nevertheless curious. You may tell your story."

"It is a dream," mumbled Hozman. "I rode through the air like a gray ghost, I spoke with monsters; I am a creature alive and dead."

"First of all," said Ifness, "where are the people you stole last night?"

Hozman threw his arm up in an unrestrained gesture which suggested imprecision in his thinking processes. "Beyond the sky! They are gone forever. No one returns after the car drops down;"

"Ah, I see. They have been taken into an aircraft."

"Better to say that they are gone from the world Durdane."

"And when does the car drop down?"

Hozman looked furtively aside, with his mouth pinched into a crafty knot. Ifness spoke sharply, "No temporizing! The Alula are waiting to torture you and we must not inconvenience them."

Hozman gave a hoarse laugh. "What do I care for torture? I know I must die by pain; so I was told by my witch-uncle. Kill me any way you like; I have no preference."

"How long have you carried the asutra?"

'It has been so long I have forgotten my old life.… When? Ten years ago, twenty years. They looked into my tent, two men in black garments; they were no men of Caraz, nor men of Durdane. I rose to meet them in fear, and they put the mentor upon me. " Hozman felt his neck with trembling fingers. He looked sidelong toward the Alula, who stood attentive, hands at the hilts of their scimitars.

"Where are the four you stole from us? " asked Karazan.

"They are gone to a far world. You are curious as to what is to be their lot? I ca