"But he does truly indeed speak the truth," Luzelle insisted, bad Grewzian deteriorating under stress. "This is all our own property that belongs to us, if you please."

"No doubt. And the two of you are really rich travelers, disguising yourselves as dirty tramps for the sheer novelty of it all. You go to a masquerade, perhaps?"

"No, no-we are in accident, all of our clothing is lost-"

"Better and better." The officer holding the two pa.s.sports checked each. "Girays v'Alisante, Luzelle Devaire, Vonahrish citizens."

"We are," Girays concurred.

"The real v'Alisante and Devaire will soon report the theft of their property to the authorities. Perhaps the report has already been filed."

"Constable, sir, how shall I prove I am myself?" Luzelle implored.

"That is a.s.suming the owners remain alive," the officer continued as if he had not heard her. "We have here a large sum of money, worth killing for. Perhaps you found it necessary to dispose of the real v'Alisante and Devaire, yes?"

"The constable concocts fairy tales." Girays could not repress a slight curl of the lip.

"We'll see soon enough. Hands behind your back."

Girays obeyed and the constable snapped manacles on him.

"You too," the second officer informed Luzelle.

She dared not argue. The irons closed about her wrists. She jingled the short length of chain disbelievingly. One of the officers was holding her left arm above the elbow, and he pulled imperatively.

"Where do you take us?" she asked.

"West Street Station. Move," he commanded.

They marched straight through the heart of Jumo Towne, and everywhere the citizens paused to stare at the khaki officers with their outlandishly garbed, fettered captives. Luzelle's cheeks burned. Longing for invisibility, she kept her eyes fixed on the ground at first, but soon self-respect or vanity came to her rescue, and she raised her head to advance with the remote dignity of some formerly-Exalted en route to execution in the days of the revolution.

They entered the station house, its front door bearing the emblem of the Endless Fire, and the pressure of glaring sunlight and staring humanity vanished. The front office was dim, airless, and quiet. A desk clerk and a couple of guards on duty there greeted the arrival of constables and prisoners with mild interest.

"A pair of undesirable aliens," one of the arresting officers announced in Grewzian. "Caught a.s.sisting a fugitive native. Obstructed justice and a.s.saulted two officers of the law. Suspected of grand larceny or worse. Stolen property found in their possession." He slapped the confiscated wallets and pa.s.sports down on the desk.

The clerk checked the contents of the wallets and his look of boredom vanished. Carefully he entered a notation in one of his ledgers, then locked the money and doc.u.ments away in the top drawer of the desk.

"Any reports on that yet?"

"Not yet."

"Keep an eye open. This may be a big one."

"We are not thieves! This is not stolen property!" Luzelle burst out. "We have done nothing wrong!"

"Name?" the clerk demanded, pen poised above a notebook.

"Luzelle Devaire. I am Vonahrish. I compete in the Grand Ellipse. So also does M. v'Alisante. We did not mean to obstruct justice. It was an accident, and we are sorry. We-"

"Enter her as 'Anonymous female, nonresponsive,'" directed a constable. The clerk complied.

"This is not true! I am not nonresponsive. My name truly is Luzelle Devaire. I-"

"Name?" the clerk inquired of the male prisoner.

"Girays v'Alisante. Vonahrish traveler. Before you enter me as 'Anonymous, nonresponsive,' let me suggest that you allow me to speak with the captain, or whoever is in charge here. Only permit this, and all confusion will soon correct itself-"

"The confusion is yours alone, if you imagine that these lies will help you. As for the captain, rest a.s.sured that you will answer to him when he returns."

"When will that be?"

"Two days from today, at which time you will almost certainly be transferred to Central Station jail."

"Two days!" Luzelle exclaimed. "We compete in the Grand Ellipse, we cannot sit around this place for two days!"

"If you are simply thieves, you will sit around the South Ygahro Territory House of Corrections for some years to come, or else you will be a.s.signed to the road gangs, and our station house will seem a pleasure garden by comparison," an officer informed her. "If we discover that you have murdered the legitimate owners of these wallets, you will be shot. Decapitation used to be our favored local form of execution, but we are in the Imperium now, and our methods have improved. Lock them up," he instructed the guards.

Luzelle protested in vain as she and Girays were herded through a stout wooden door at the rear of the office and into the reeking lockup beyond. The place contained some half-dozen cells, one of them larger than the other five combined. The large cell alone was occupied, confining seven men, five native Ygahris and two westerners, all stinking of xussi, filth, and vomit. The ennui of the West Street Station staff now explained itself; official activity in this particular neighborhood focused largely upon the control of public inebriation.

A couple of the caged drunks eyed Luzelle with interest as she came in. One smiled and waved amiably, but most remained glazedly inert.

The manacles were removed. Luzelle and Girays were placed in adjoining unoccupied cells. The doors clanged shut, the locks snapped, and the guards exited.

Luzelle's closet-sized cell contained a pallet bolted to the wall, a slop bucket, a rusted water pannikin, many buzzing flies, and nothing else. The compartment backed against one of the supporting stone walls of the station house. The other three cell walls consisted of floor-to-ceiling iron bars that left her entirely exposed to view. Should she need to use that slop bucket, there would be an audience.

As if he could read her mind, one of the drunks in the big cell smacked his lips to draw her attention, then cheerfully began to unb.u.t.ton himself. She looked away.

Girays caught her eye. He extended his hand through the bars that separated them, and she took it. For a while they stood silently attached, until she asked, "How long do you suppose it will take these imbecilic policemen to figure out that we're not thieves and murderers?"

"Eventually it will dawn on them that no one is reporting any pertinent crimes, and then they'll reconsider. We might find help sooner if we could get word to the Vonahrish legation here in Jumo, but I'm not certain it remains open in the wake of the Grewzian invasion."

"Grewzians, again. Always the Grewzians."

"This time the offenders are colonial Aennorvis."

"Collaborators, though."

"Can't altogether fault their suspicions, in view of our present appearance."

"Well I I can fault them easily enough, and I do. Nitwits. Oh, I suppose we'll laugh about all of this someday-" can fault them easily enough, and I do. Nitwits. Oh, I suppose we'll laugh about all of this someday-"

"a.s.suming they don't shoot or decapitate us."

"But I can't laugh now. All I can think about is the time this is costing us. Every minute we spend locked up here is undermining our chances, eating away at our lead." Our chances...our lead. Our chances...our lead. She caught the slip and frowned at herself. She was forgetting their rivalry as he had forgotten it not long ago. She would not let it happen again. Aloud she continued without a break, "Tchornoi, Zavune, or a couple of the others might still catch up." One name was omitted. Suddenly self-conscious, she drew her hand from his. She caught the slip and frowned at herself. She was forgetting their rivalry as he had forgotten it not long ago. She would not let it happen again. Aloud she continued without a break, "Tchornoi, Zavune, or a couple of the others might still catch up." One name was omitted. Suddenly self-conscious, she drew her hand from his.

Girays looked at her and said flatly, "Stornzof."

17.

THE SKIES WERE DARK and the lamps alight all over Jumo Towne as Karsler Stornzof made his way along a richly carpeted corridor to Suite 303 of the Queen of Diamonds Hotel. He knocked with reluctance but without hesitation, heard a familiar voice bid him enter, opened the door, and went into a luxuriously appointed sitting room hazed with smoke. and the lamps alight all over Jumo Towne as Karsler Stornzof made his way along a richly carpeted corridor to Suite 303 of the Queen of Diamonds Hotel. He knocked with reluctance but without hesitation, heard a familiar voice bid him enter, opened the door, and went into a luxuriously appointed sitting room hazed with smoke.

The Grandlandsman Torvid Stornzof, attired in irreproachable evening wear, occupied a brocade couch. A low table before him supported a crystal ashtray, enameled cigarette box, a couple of gla.s.ses, and a silver ice bucket containing a slim black bottle. Pressed into a corner at the far side of the room cowered a radiantly blond, saucer-eyed girl, some eleven or twelve years of age.

"Ah, Nephew." Torvid nodded with measured cordiality. "You are here at last. I have been expecting your arrival this past week."

"I have encountered delays en route, Grandlandsman," Karsler reported. "The most recent involved an artificial blockage of the Ta'ahri Capillaries. The private vessel lent me by Janztoph in Xoxo was halted, and I was obliged to hire a hrukiku-tcho hrukiku-tcho and driver to carry me through the Forests of Oorex." and driver to carry me through the Forests of Oorex."

"Hrukiku-tcho-an indigenous beast reminiscent of an overgrown rat, is it not?"

"Not a bad description."

"But what an imaginative solution to the problem. A lesser strategist might have compelled the local natives to open the channels, but you have scorned the obvious and opted for the large rat. I must commend your originality."

He had all but forgotten the pleasures of intrafamilial conversation. Karsler said nothing.

"I trust the rewards of the journey will justify your efforts." Torvid glinted an icebound smile. "Jumo Towne is not altogether backward. There is entertainment to be found here." As if recalling her existence, he glanced at the child in the corner and informed her, "That will be all for today. You may go."

She exited at a run.

"The casinos are not half bad," the grandlandsman continued, "and one or two of the actresses at the Crown Theater are worth a glance. We will dine, Nephew-it is possible to find a perfectly adequate veal cutlet imperior-style here in town-and then we shall amuse ourselves."

"With your permission I will dine and retire early," Karsler returned. "I must rise at dawn to secure transportation to Dasuneville. I do not know what is locally available, and will allow time to compare options."

"No need to trouble yourself. The matter has already been arranged. The best mount at Lunune's Livery in Orchid Street has been set aside for your use. You will ride the animal to the inn halfway along the Jumo-Dasune Pa.s.sage, where a fresh horse of equal quality awaits you. Make a moderately early start in the morning, and you will reach Dasuneville before nightfall, the day after tomorrow. This is the fastest means of travel available. Your belated arrival has left me ample time to, as you put it, compare options."

"I see. I am obliged, Grandlandsman."

"A trifle, Nephew. When you arrive in Dasuneville, you will proceed to the Portside Inn, where a room has been reserved for you. The following morning you will embark for Aveshq aboard the Grewzian transport vessel Triumphant Triumphant, whose captain has awaited your coming with an impatience equaling my own. This little affair has been arranged courtesy of the Overcommander Ghonauer, leader of the occupying force, whose father, fortunately for all concerned, happens to be an old schoolfellow of mine."

"You have been thorough."

"That is my habit. Rest a.s.sured, Nephew, I am willing to exert myself on your behalf, a necessity in view of your obvious reluctance to meet all requirements of your position."

"I will not pretend to misunderstand you." The recollections of his early training enabled Karsler Stornzof to will an unexpectedly powerful rush of anger out of existence. "Our perceptions of necessity differ greatly, yet I believe we will agree that debate is pointless. Therefore, having reported my arrival in accordance with your request, I will bid you good evening."

"One moment. Be so good as to favor me with your company a little while longer."

"According to your will, Grandlandsman."

"Sit down, then."

Karsler obeyed.

Torvid poured out a couple of drinks from the black bottle and handed one to his visitor. "This is caschia, a locally produced aperitif, surprisingly decent. I trust your Promontory principles do not limit you to cold water?"

"Not at all."

"Then you will consider it no violation of conscience to drink the imperior's health?"

"His health." Calmly refusing the bait, Karsler clinked gla.s.ses with his uncle and drank.

Torvid set his gla.s.s aside. "And now I will require a full accounting of your activities since Aeshno."

Karsler concisely obliged, omitting those details most likely to draw his listener's complaint.

Torvid listened in meditative silence, observing only at the close of the narration, "It would seem that you spend a disproportionate quant.i.ty of your time in the company of the two Vonahrish racers."

"Happenstance, Grandlandsman."

"Is it? Are you quite certain? I do not discount the attractions of that shapely little actress-lecturer-ballet girl-whatever you insist is her profession. What is her name, again-La Faire?"

"Devaire," Karsler corrected shortly.

"Of course. Prominent though her bourgeois charms may be, her importance is negligible, and I cannot help but suspect the influence of a more significant force at work. I refer of course to the other Vonahrish traveler."

"V'Alisante-what of him?"

"A formerly-Exalted of the best and oldest blood, a t.i.tled seigneur but for the current regrettable ascendancy of democrats and peasants in his land. Wealthy, cultivated, well connected. All in all a personage of some consequence, a man with a personal stake in the protection of the national status quo. Just the sort of character most likely at this time to draw the desperate attention of the Vonahrish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You recall I advised you in Aeshno to observe your fellow racers closely, as it is almost certain that some serve as agents of their respective governments. You would do well to consider M. v'Alisante in such a light, and thus as a potential threat to Grewzian interests in the Low Hetz."

"There is little evidence to support your suspicions," Karsler observed. "I have spent considerable time in this Vonahrishman's company, and never at any time has he attempted to hinder, much less arrest, my progress. Quite the contrary, in fact-he has more than once offered me literally life-saving a.s.sistance."

"He has slipped within your guard, that's all too clear."

"To what purpose? I would almost certainly have been eliminated from the race, if not the world, back in Aeshno, but for v'Alisante's intervention."

"The Vonahrish are not unsubtle, Nephew. Nor, I think, do they care to brave the Imperium's wrath any sooner than they must, although their respite is brief at best. It is not essential to his purposes that M. v'Alisante eliminate you from the compet.i.tion-he need only defeat you, and if this can be accomplished by means that appear aboveboard, all the better. For now, he simply keeps you in his sights and bides his time."

"Speculation, Grandlandsman."

"Intelligent foresight, Nephew. I believe I have already directed your attention to the advantages of a preemptive strike."

"You have."

"And?"

"I am sensible of your opinion and will take your advice into consideration. Duty demands no less."

"Duty demands considerably more, a truth you seem inclined to ignore."

"Let me a.s.sure myself that I understand you correctly. You are urging me to launch a preemptive strike-in other words, to remove or incapacitate a fellow sportsman, Girays v'Alisante, to whom I am personally indebted?"

"Come, this schoolboy chatter of fellow sportsmen and personal debt begins to weary me. You are a soldier confronting the enemy. It is as simple as that. Are you a Grewzian? A Stornzof? If so, you will do what must be done to serve the Imperium."