"There have been additional expenses," said Gersen. "To a to- tal of SVU 437,685. This must be included in the total reckoning." Otwal started to protest, but Gersen held up his hand. "We do not care to argue this point. We are prepared to deliver the mechanism, but we insist upon payment, which is as I stated it. Of course, if your principal wishes to make further representations, we shall be glad to listen to him in person."

Otwal gave a cool laugh. "No matter: I agree. My principal is anxious to take delivery."

"Still�and no denigration intended�we would prefer to deal with your principal, in order to minimize all misunderstanding."

"Impossible. He is involved elsewhere. But why be concerned over trifles? I have full power to act on his behalf."

Patch began to make restless movements; his prerogatives were ruthlessly being accroached by this so-called partner, whose only

THE KILLING MACHINE 247

contribution to Patch Engineering and Construction was the re- scission at Interchange. Gersen kept one eye on Patch and one on Otwal; neither was predictable.

"We accept this," Gersen told Otwal. "Now we need another installment of developmental money�approximately half a million SVU."

"Impossible!" snapped Otwal. "My principal is engaged in an enterprise where he must concentrate all his resources."

Patch began to fume. "You pay me, then you�"

Gersen said hastily, "Assume that the device is completed and ready for delivery: how can we feel confident of collecting our money?"

"You have my personal reassurance," said Otwal.

"Bah!" barked Patch. "That is not enough! You cheated me before, you'd do it again if you had the chance."

Otwal looked pained and turned to Gersen. "If we fail to meet our obligations�a ridiculous speculation�you need only withhold delivery. How simple it all is."

"WTiat would we do then with a thirty-six-legged fort?" asked Gersen. "No. We must insist on one-third payment now, another third upon approval of the leg action, and the final third upon de- livery."

"I think they ought to pay punitive damages," muttered Patch. "Ten thousand isn't enough. It should be a hundred thousand. Two hundred thousand. My discomfort, my anxiety, my�"

Wrangling continued. Otwal demanded details as to the new leg action; Gersen replied in diffuse terms: "We use flexible mem- bers shaped precisely to specifications. They are actuated by hydraulic tubes of a special variety, controlled by electrical modu- lations of infinite range."

Otwal finally gave in. "We could easily take our business to another concern�but time is of the essence. Wlien will you guar- antee delivery? There must be a penalty clause in the new contract:

we have already been far too lenient."

Again disputation ensued, and at one point Patch rose to his feet, leaned forward over his desk to shake his fist; Otwal disdain- fully drew back apace.

The matter finally was adjusted. Otwal insisted upon seeing the half-completed fort, and, grumbling, Patch led the way with Gersen bringing up the rear. As he walked, Gersen studied Otwal's form:

248 THE DEMON PRINCES

a man with the light sure tread of a panther, broad in the shoulder, narrow of hip�very like Billy Windle, but also like millions of other active and muscular men.

Otwal was surprised to find technicians already hard at work. He turned to Gersen with a rueful grin. "You anticipated my agree- ment?"

"Certainly�after driving the hardest bargain possible."

Otwal laughed. "An accurate appraisal of the situation. You are a clever man, Mr. Wall. Have you ever been Beyond?"

"Never. I am orthodox and unadventurous."

"Strange," said Seuman Otwal. "There is a certain air, almost an emanation, that clings to those who have worked Beyond. I thought I sensed it in you. Of course I am often wrong in my suppositions." He turned back to the fort. "Well, everything seems to be correct, except of course for the surface finish."

"To satisfy our curiosity," said Gersen, "perhaps you can de- scribe its ultimate purpose."

"Certainly. My principal spends a good deal of time on a re- mote planet beset with barbarians. When he wishes to go abroad, they harass him severely. He wants security and this the fort will provide."

"Then the fort is purely defensive in nature?"

"Of course. My principal is a much-maligned man. I find him quite reasonable. He is daring, enterprising, even reckless, and cer- tainly the most imaginative man alive�but in all aspects reason- able."

Gersen nodded thoughtfully. "I understand that he makes an imaginative use of the force of terror."

"Far better the fear of an act," Otwal stated, "than the brutal act itself. Do you not agree?"

"Possibly. But it occurs to me that a man so obsessed with the abstract notion of terror must suffer inordinate terrors on his own account."

Otwal seemed startled. "I had not considered this," he said. "I think that I agree. An emphatic man lives a hundred lives; he senses joys, sorrows, triumphs, despairs and, yes, terrors, beyond the ho- rizon of the common man. He exults greatly, he suffers greatly, he fears greatly, but never would he arrange matters differently."

"What would you consider his supreme fear?"

THE KILLING MACHINE 249

"It is no secret; death. He fears nothing else�and in fact has taken extravagant steps to avoid it."

"You speak with great authority," mused Gersen. "You know KokorHekkuswell?"

"As well as anyone. And of course I am an imaginative man in my own right."

"I also," declared Patch, "still I do not conduct my financial business through Interchange."

Seuman Otwal laughed quietly. "A sad episode that I suggest we consign to the past, and forget forever."

"Easy for you to say," Patch complained. "You weren't locked up away from your business for over two months."

They returned to the office where Otwal, rather gloomily, so it seemed, signed a bank voucher on a numbered account for the sum of half a million SVU; then, once more gracious, departed. Gersen immediately took the money to the local branch of the Bank of Rigel, where the check was verified and the money credited to the account of Patch Construction.

When he returned to the shop, he found Patch in a belligerent mood. Patch wanted Gersen to take the advance from Otwal and relinquish his partnership, but Gersen refused to agree. Patch mut- tered darkly about agreements negotiated under duress, and spoke of closing the shop until the law set matters straight. Gersen laughed at him. "You can't close the shop. I own a controlling interest."

"I didn't realize I was dealing with thugs and bandits," blurted Patch. "I didn't realize that the good name of Patch Construction would be tainted. Monsters' Murderers! Terrorists! Thieves! Rob- bers! WTiat have I let myself in for?"

"Eventually you'll have your shop back," Gersen consoled him. "And don't forget�there'll be a handsome profit for Patch Con- struction."

"Unless I get snatched off to Interchange again," said Patch bleakly. "I expect nothing better."

Gersen uttered a soft quiet curse, and Patch looked in wonder to see Gersen evince an overt sign of emotion. "WTiat's the trou- ble?"

"Something I neglected, something I never considered."

"And what is that?"

250 THE DP MON PRINCES

"I might have put a stick-tight on Seuman Otwal�or followed him."

"Why bother7 He stays at the Halkshire Hotel Seek him there."

"Yes, of course." Gersen went to the visiphone, was connected with the Halkshire front desk. He was informed that Mr. Otwal was not in residence at the moment, but that a message would eventually reach him. Gersen turned back to Patch. "Suspicious rascal. He probably would have ducked my stick-tight"

Patch was now studying Gersen with a new and intent expres- sion. "I knew it all along."

"What?"

"You're an Ipsy agent."

Gersen laughed, shook his head. "I'm )ust ordinary Kirth Ger- sen "

"How," asked Patch with a shrewd grin, "can you get the use of a stick-tight operation if you're not police or Ipsy3"

"No great problem, if you know the right people. Let's get on with our monster."

On the following day, Seuman Otwal called by visiphone to state that he was leaving the planet. He would return in perhaps two months, when he hoped to see substantial progress.

On the day following, there was sensational news. In the course of one night, five of the wealthiest families of Cumberland had suffered the kidnaping of one or more of their members. "Such was Seuman Otwal's business on Krolonole," Gersen told Patch.

The fort progressed with satisfactory rapidity�a fact that pleased Patch but troubled Gersen. Either Seuman Otwal was Kokor Hek- kus or he was not If not, how could he be forced to reveal Kokor Hekkus' whereabouts^ Gersen's best hope was that Kokor Hekkus, in his own guise, might once more visit the shop If not. Gersen toyed with the idea of a secret capsule aboard the fort in which to stow away, but rejected the idea- the fort was far too small... Might he arrange to accompany the fort as instructor or expert3 If the fort were truly bound for Thamber, he might find himself ef- fectually exiled for life, or enslaved

An idea on a different level occurred to him, which during the next few days he took steps to implement The control pulses from the fort's cycling mechanism ran through a dorsal duct, branching

THE KILLING MACHINE 251

off right and left to the relays in each segment WTiere the duct passed back across the head, Gersen introduced a cutoff switch, activated by cells on either side of the head. If the gas within these cells were ionized�say by the impact of a weak projac beam� electricity flowing across the cell would open the switch, rendering the fort immobile for at least ten minutes.

Meanwhile the surface enamels had been applied. The engines and circuits were checked and adjusted, the leg action tested under various types of cycles and then the fort was adjudged complete. In the dim hours of early morning, it was shrouded under canvas, walked out into the street, to be grappled by a freight copter and conveyed to a wild area at the south of the Bize Parish Barrens for field trials. Patch proudly sat at the controls, Gersen rode beside him. The fort rambled smoothly over rough ground and shrubs, climbed hills without faltering. Certain maladjustments made them- selves known, and were taken note of. A few minutes before noon, the fort breasted a low ridge and scuttled down into the camp of a Natural Life Association party. A hundred nature lovers looked up from their noon meal, emitted simultaneous gasps of horror and fled screaming over the hills. "Another success," said Gersen. "We can now with candor guarantee fnghtfulness to Kokor Hekkus."

Patch halted the fort, turned it about, drove it back over the ridge At twilight it was once again draped in canvas, and carried back to the shop.

Almost as if Seuman Otwal were clairvoyant, he called on the following day to request a progress report Patch assured him that all went well; that if he so chose he could undertake a test of the fort on the following day. Otwal agreed and once again the fort was shrouded, trundled out into the predawn stillness, and conveyed into the badlands behind the Crystal Pinnacles, with Otwal follow- ing in a small nondescript air-car.

Gersen, wearing his maroon duo-tone and fashionable ac- couterments, took the controls, and once again the fort ran smartly up and down the foothills.

Weaponry, by the terms of the contract, had not been installed, however the gas sacs and odoriferous glands had been loaded with smoke-gas and colored water; they spouted and sprayed with pre- cision and accuracy Otwal alighted, stood while the fort trundled back and forth, then returned to the head compartment and took over the controls. He said very little but his attitude indicated ap-

2^2 THE DEMON PRINCES

proval. Patch, likewise silent, was clearly congratulating himself that the entire odious adventure would soon be at an end.

At dusk, the fort once more was conveyed back to Patris. Otwal, Patch, and Gersen gathered in Patch's office. Otwal walked back and forth as if in deep thought. "The fort seems to perform well enough," he said, "but to be perfectly frank, I consider the price somewhat high. I shall recommend to my principal that he inspect the mechanism only if the price is reduced to a reasonable and rational figure."

Patch reeled back and went red in the face. "What!" he roared. "Do you dare stand here and say that? After all our suffering, all we've been through to produce the damnable thing?"

Seuman Otwal inspected Patch coldly. "It serves nothing to rant. I have explained my�"

"The answer is no! Out of here! Don't come back till you bring every cursed coin we have owing!" Patch marched forward. "Get out, or I'll throw you out! Nothing could give me more pleasure. In fact�" he seized Otwal by the shoulder and hustled him about. Otwa! swayed, smiled serenely toward Gersen, as if in amusement for the playful ferocity of a kitten. Patch tugged again; Otwal moved slightly; Patch was flung across the room, to strike his head against his desk and lie blinking. Otwal turned to Gersen. "What of you? Do you care to try your luck?"

Gersen shook his head. "I only want to wind up the contract. Bring your principal for his final inspection, then if he is satisfied, take delivery. Under no circumstances will we reduce our price; in fact, we now must start to charge interest upon the amount owing."

Seuman Otwal laughed, glanced at Patch who was slowly raising himself to a sitting position. "You take a strong position. Under the circumstances I might do the same. Very well; I am forced to agree. When can the fort be delivered?"

"According to the terms of our contract, we must pack it in foam, crate it, and convey it to the spaceport�a matter of three days after final acceptance and payment."

Seuman Otwal bowed. "Very well. I will try to make contact with my principal, after which I will render the requisite notifica- tion." '

"I believe," said Gersen, "that a second payment is now due." Patch was rubbing his head, staring in virulent hate toward Seuman Otwal.

THE KILLING MACHINE 253

"Wliy bother?" said Seuman Otwal carelessly. "Let us handle these tiresome financial matters later."

Gersen refused to agree. "What good is a contract if the terms are not intended to be binding?" Patch struggled to his feet, moved with an air of purpose around behind his desk. Gersen stepped quickly past, removed the projac from the half-open drawer.

Otwal laughed negligently. "You just saved his life."

"I saved our second payment," said Gersen, "because I would have been forced to kill you as well."

"No matter, no matter. Let us not talk of death, horrid to con- sider nonbeing! You want your money: tiresome people. Another half million, I presume?"

"Correct. And a final payment of�Gersen consulted notes� "ofSVU 681,490, which will settle accounts in full with Patch Con- struction."

Otwal walked slowly back and forth. "I will have to make ar- rangements- . .. Three days to crate and foam,, you say?"

"That seems a reasonable period."

"It is too long. Here is how we shall simplify. Cover the fort with the tarpaulin; at midnight walk it out into the street. A freight- carrier will grapple to it, and take it to our cargo ship, which is by chance convenient."

"There is one difficulty," said Gersen. "The banks will be closed, and your check cannot be certified."

"I will bring the money in cash, all of it: second and third payments together."

Essentially Gersen cared not a whit for the money; but suddenly it seemed important not to let Seuman Otwal hoodwink Patch Con- struction a second time. He forced himself to consider the situation from a larger perspective. He asked cautiously, "What of your prin- cipal?"

Seuman Otwal made an impatient gesture. "I will take my chances with him. He is occupied elsewhere and has given me full competence. Come; what do you say?"

Gersen smiled sourly. Was this hawk-faced man Kokor Hek- kus�or not? Sometimes it seemed indubitably yes, and the next moment as certainly no. Gersen temporized. "One more matter� that of service. Do you expect us to provide a technical expert?"

"If it becomes necessary, you will be notified. But after all, our

254 THE DEMON PRINCES

own technical staff is at hand, and indeed is responsible for the design 1 foresee no need for any such expert "

Patch lurched upright in his chair "Get out," he muttered thickly. "Get out, both of you Murderers, thugs. You too, Wall, or Gersen, or whatever your name is I don't know what your game is, but get out "

Gersen turned him a casual glance, then ignored him. Seuman Otwal seemed amused. Gersen said, "If you want to take delivery at midnight, pay into our bank account the full sum due us We want no cash, to be fake-metered and carried around until the banks open You and your principal of course are men of probity, but knaves and scoundrels are known to exist As soon as the deposit is verified, you can take delivery of the fort."

Seuman Otwal considered gravely Then he acquiesced "It shall be as you wish " He turned a serpent's flick of a glance at his watch. "There is time Which is your bank7"

"Bank of Rigel, Patns Old-Town Main "

"In half an hour, more or less, you may make inquiry At mid- night I will arrange to take delivery "

Gersen, remembering, perhaps belatedly, his ostensible role, turned to Patch. "Does the arrangement meet your approval, Mr Patch^"

Patch growled something indistinguishable that Gersen and Seuman Otwal graciously assumed to be assent, Seuman Otwal bowed and departed Gersen turned to consider Patch, Patch glared back Gersen controlled an impulse to rake him over the coals, and seated himself "We must make plans."

"What is the needs for plans now^ As soon as the money reaches the bank, I intend to buy you out of Patch Construction if it takes every last cent, and then be damned to you "

"You show very little gratitude," said Gersen "But for me you'd still be sitting in a cell at Interchange "

Patch nodded bitterly "You rescinded my fee�for purposes of your own I have no idea what these purposes are, but they have nothing to do with me As soon as the money reaches the bank, I'll buy you out, I'll pay any additional sum you require�within rea- son�and I'll say good-bve to you with the utmost )oy "

"As you wish," said Gersen "I do not care to stay where I am not wanted \s to the additional sum�make the total an even half million "

THE KILLING MACHINE

255

Patch puffed out his cheeks "That will be eminently satisfac- tory "

Half an hour later, Patch called the area branch of the Bank of Rigel, inserted his account tab into the credit card slot Yes, he was told, the sum of SVU 1,181,490 had been deposited to his account,

"In that case," said Patch, "please open an account in the name of Kirth Gersen"�he spelled the name�"and deposit to this ac- count the sum of SVU 500,000 "

The transaction was performed, both Patch and Gersen affixing signatures and thumbpnnts to tabs Patch then turned to Gersen. "You will now write me a receipt and destroy the partnership agree- ment."

Gersen did as requested "Now," said Patch, "you will be good enough to leave the premises and never return "

"Whatever you say," replied Gersen courteously. "The asso- ciation has been stimulating I wish you and Patch Construction prosperity, and I offer you a final word of advice after the fort has been delivered, try not to be kidnaped again ""

"Have no fears on that score " Patch grinned wolfishly "I'm not an inventor and an engineer for nothing. I have devised a pro- tective harness that will blow the hands and face off anyone who touches me, let the kidnapers beware'"

Favorite dictum of Raffles, the amateur cracksman:

Money lost, little lost. Honor lost, much lost. Pluck lost, all lost.

The night of a Concourse planet was seldom completely dark. For those worlds appropriately placed in orbit, Blue Companion served as a small intense moon: the night sky of all the worlds sparkled with at least several sister planets.

Krokinole saw Blue Companion only as an evening star�a state of affairs that would persist for yet another hundred years or so, due to the vast circumference of the orbits of all the Concourse planets and the consequent sluggish annual motion; in the case of Krokinole 1642 years.

Krokinole midnight was as dark as any of the Concourse. Patris, still influenced by the old time Whitelock Injunctionary Proce- dures, had little to offer in the way ofnightHfe; what small nocturnal revelry there was centered in New Town at the riverside restau- rants. Old City was dark and damp from the estuary mist, with Patch Construction a bright island.

Half an hour before midnight, Gersen came quietly along the empty streets. Blue Companion had long departed the sky; street illumination consisted of a dim globe at far intervals, surrounded by a golden halo of mist. The air smelled of damp brick, the estuary docks, the mud flats across the estuary: a subtle rnoldering reek unique to Patris Old Town. Opposite Patch Construction stood a row of the tall high-gabled buildings, each with a deeply recessed

THE KILLING MACHINE 257

areaway filled with shadow. From one to another of these dark alcoves Gersen slipped, approaching the oblong of light projected from the open doors of Workshop B. He came as close as he thought practical, leaned back against the moldering brick, eased the various clips and straps supporting his weapons and set himself to wait. He wore black, with black skin-tone, black eye-shells to conceal the gleam of his eyes; standing quiet he was part of the misty night; a sinister shape.

Time passed. Inside the shop, the forward end of the canvas- swathed fort could be seen, and, from time to time, a technician. On one occasion. Patch's burly form appeared in the opening as he stepped out to peer up into the sky.

Gersen checked the time: five minutes to midnight. He fitted a pair of night-glasses to his forehead, slipped them down over his eyes, and instantly the street seemed bright, though with unreal shadows and tones, the chiarascuro sometimes reversed, sometimes not. The glare from the shop was compensated by a mutachrome filter, appearing as a dark blotch. Gersen scanned the sky, but saw nothing.

At a minute before midnight, Patch again stepped out into the street. Two heavy projacs ostentatiously hung in holsters at his waist and at his throat was clasped a microphone undoubtedly tuned to the police emergency band. Gersen grinned: Patch was taking no chances- After a suspicious look around the sky, Patch returned within. A minute passed; a long dismal hoot from the Mermiana monument, the female colossus standing knee deep in the sea, sig- nified midnight. High in the sky appeared the shape of a freight- carrier. It settled, then halted in mid-air. Gersen squinted up through the night-glasses, tentatively brought around his grenade rifle. The carrier was presumably manned by men in the service of Kokor Hekkus; the galaxy would profit by their deaths. . . . But where was Kokor Hekkus? And Gersen cursed the uncertainty that restrained him from pulling the trigger.

A small air-car appeared. It swooped and, ignoring the traffic laws of Patris, settled into the street, landing less than a hundred feet from Gersen's hiding place. He pressed far back into the shad- ows, flipped up the night-glasses, which now would only hinder and confuse him.

Two men alighted from the air-car. Gersen grunted in disap- pointment. Neither was Seuman Otwal; neither could possibly be

25S THE DEMON PRINCES

Kokor Hekkus. Both were short, compact, dark-skinned; both wore tight dark garments and tight black hoods. They walked with quick steps to the shop, peered into the interior and one made an impe- rious gesture. Gersen lowered his night-glasses, glanced up to the freight-carrier. It remained as before. Gersen raised the night- glasses, returned to the two men from the air-car. Patch came for- ward, marching with a swagger of unconvincing truculence. He halted and spoke; the two nodded curtly, and one said a few words into a microphone.

Patch turned, gestured; the fort walked out into the street, the canvas bulging and jerking to the motion of the legs. Down from the sky came the freight-carrier. Gersen watched with the certainty that here the chain of events that had started on the Avente Espla- nade was to dwindle and die.

Patch stepped back into the shop, one hand on each of his guns. The two men in black ignored him; down now- from the air-ship came a strong-back from which depended ten cables. The two men clambered up to the top of the fort, shackled the cables to eyebolts along the dorsal ridge. They jumped to the ground, gave a wave;

the fort was lofted away through the night. The two men went quickly to their car without a backward glance for Patch, who stood bristling and glaring defiance at their backs. The air-car swept off into the dark; Patch and his shop were left, curiously forlorn and bereft.

The doors to Workshop B closed; the street was dark and va- cant. Gersen shifted from his cramped position. He felt defeated and angry. Why, at least, had he not shot down the air-ship and the fort? Kokor Hekkus might well have been aboard. Even if such were not the case, the destruction of the fort would have infuriated him, goaded him to some kind of action.

Gersen knew very well why he had not destroyed the fort. In- decision had cramped his finger. He ached for the final confron- tation. Kokor Hekkus must know why he died and who killed him. To shoot him down in the dark was good, but not good enough.

How and where to win another opportunity? Perhaps through Seuman Otwal and the Halkshire Hotel. Gersen stepped out into the street. Three dark shapes sprang back in startlement; one gave a hoarse order, and a beam of intense white light flooded forth to blind Gersen. He snatched for his weapons; one of the shapes scrambled forward, knocked down his arm; another swung a long

THE KJLLWG MACHINE

259

length of black cable; it coiled around Gersen's body almost as if alive, to constrict his right arm and his thighs. There came another coiling length of cable, snapping around his legs; Gersen tottered, fell. His heavy weapons were kicked to the side, his knife and projac snatched away.

The man holding the light advanced, turned it down at Gersen. He chuckled. "Good enough. This one's the partner with the money."

It was the cool easy voice of Seuman Otwal. Gersen said, "You're wrong. Patch bought me out."

"Excellent. . .. Then you have money."

The light moved closer. "Search him, with care. This man might well be dangerous."

Cautious fingers probed Gersen's person, found and removed a throwing dagger, a prickle-sac half-full of anodyne, several other devices that obviously puzzled the searchers. One said in a voice of respectful wonder: "This one's a walking arsenal. I'd not like to face him alone."

"Yes," said Seuman Otwal thoughtfully. "A strange sort to be frowsting it as an artisan. A strange sort, indeed. . .. Well, no mat- ter. The universe is full of strange sorts, as well we know. He is now our guest, and we need not delay for Patch."

Down eased an air-boat. Gersen was hoisted into the hold; the craft slid off and away through the Krokinole night.

Seuman Otwal presently looked into the hold. "You're a strange man, Mr. Wall, or whatever your name is. You decked yourself out with a variety of weapons, almost as if you knew how to use them;

you concealed yourself with such stealthy patience that we, who are also stealthy and patient, had no inkling of your nearness; and then without a look over your shoulder, you swagger out into the middle of the street."

"It was a poor move," Gersen agreed.

"The initial folly was your partnership with Patch�and this is useless to deny as we have informed ourselves�when it should have been apparent that never would the bumptious Patch be paid for the fort. He was forced to disgorge at Interchange; now it is your turn. If you can tender us our SVU 1,681,490 at once, we will quickly finalize the matter; if you choose not to do so�then I fear you must make a space journey."

260 THE DEMON PRINCES

"1 don't have that much money," said Gersen. "Let me explain the circumstances�"

"No, I cannot reason with you; I have far to go and much to do. If you have no money, then you must act through the usual channels."

"Interchange?" asked Gersen with a wintry smile.

"Interchange. I wish you good fortune, Mr. Wall, or whatever your name; dealing with you has been a pleasure." Seuman Otwal departed, and Gersen saw no more of him. He was transferred to another ship, where he found himself in the company of three chil- dren, two young women, three older women, and a middle-aged man, presumably members of various wealthy Concourse families. Time passed, how long Gersen could not know. He ate and slept many times, but at last the ship became still; there was the familiar but always unsettling wait as atmospheres equalized, then the pas- sengers were led out upon the soil of Sasani, ushered into a bus, and conveyed across the desert to Interchange.

In a small auditorium, one of the Interchange functionaries gave them a briefing. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are glad to have you with us, and we hope that during your stay you will try to rest, relax, and enjoy yourselves. The facilities of Interchange are those of a sanitarium; we allow a certain degree of social intercourse, so long as decorum and courtesy is maintained. We encourage the enjoyment of your special hobbies and certain sports, such as swim- ming, chess, kalingo, tennis, the use of musical instruments, and the chromatil. There are no facilities for hiking, gliding, bird-watching, marathon-running, or exploration of the fascinating Sasani wilder- ness. We offer six classes of accommodation ranging from hyper-luxurious Class AA to the standard E, which is plain but by no means uncomfortable. The cuisine is of eight standard catego- ries, corresponding to the principal gastronomic habits of the Oik- umene peoples. For persons who are habituated to other more specialized diets, there is a special service at extra charge. We natter ourselves that anyone can eat, if not with relish, at least with nour- ishment, at Interchange.

"Our regulations are somewhat more firm than those of the average pleasure resort, and I must warn you that surreptitious and solitary ventures across the desert can only lead to inconvenience. In the first place, there are numerous carnivorous insects. Secondly, there is neither food nor water. Thirdly, the autochthonous inhab-

THE KILLING MACHINE 261

itants of Sasani, who leave their burrows only at night, are anthro- pophages. Fourthly, we are required to protect the interests of our clients, and the obstreperous individual (fortunately rare) soon finds himself deprived of all privileges.

"I will now distribute forms among you. Please indicate your choice of accommodation and cuisine. You will notice a list of reg- ulations. Please read these carefully. You will find the personnel courteous, if somewhat remote. They are well paid, so please do not attempt to press gratuities upon anyone. We regard this ten- dency with suspicion, and inquire carefully into the motives of those who offer such inducements.

"Tomorrow you will be provided with means of communication with those who might be expected to rescind your fees. That is all, and thank you."

Gersen examined the form, and selected Class B accommoda- tions, which allowed him full use of the institution's recreational activities, as well as a modicum of privacy. He had eaten the food of all the Oikumene�including Sandusk, he thought wryly, recal- ling the shopkeeper of Ard Street�and indeed was not over- fastidious. He checked the category "classic," the cuisine of Alphanor, West Earth, and perhaps a third of the population of the Oikumene.

He read the "Regulations," none of which were surprising or ominous except Item 19: "Those persons who are in residence after their period of prime rescission and who thereupon fall into the 'Available' category, must keep to their apartments during the morning period in order to allow inspection by noncommitted vis- itors who might be interested in paying rescission fees."

In due course, Gersen was taken to his apartment, which seemed comfortable enough. The parlor contained a desk, a table, several chairs, a green and black rug, a shelf stacked with periodi- cals. The walls were mauve spattered with orange, the ceiling a foxy russet. The bathroom included the usual facilities, with walls, floor, and ceiling finished in seal-brown tile. The bed was narrow and austerely padded, the infra-radiator suspended obtrusively from the ceiling as in old-fashioned country inns.

Gersen bathed, dressed in the fresh garments provided, lay down on his bed, and considered the possible directions of the fu- ture. First, it was necessary to rid himself of the depression and self-deprecation that had been his mood since Seuman Otwal's

262 THE DEMON PRINCES

white light had first flashed into his face. He had all too long con- sidered himself invulnerable, protected by destiny�merely because of the force of his motivations. It was perhaps his single supersti- tion: the solipsistic conviction that, one after another, those five individuals who had destroyed Mount Pleasant must die at his hands. Persuaded by his faith, Gersen had neglected the common- sense act of killing Seuman Otwal�and had suffered the conse- quences.

He must rearrange his patterns of thinking. He had been com- placent, doctrinaire, didactic in his approach. He had conducted himself as if the success of his ambitions were preordained; as if he were endowed with supernatural capacities. All quite wrong, Gersen told himself. Seuman Otwal had taken him with ridiculous ease. Seuman Otwal held him so cheap that he had not even bothered to question him, but had flung him into a hold with the rest of his bag. And Gersen's self-esteem was further mortified. He had not previously appreciated the full extent of his vanity. Very well then, he told himself: if absolute resourcefulness, absolute indomitability were the basic elements of his nature, it was now time to put these attributes to work.

Less angry�indeed, half-amused with his own earnestness�he took stock of the situation. Tomorrow, if he so chose, he could notify Patch of his predicament. There was nothing to be gained by this. Gersen himself had the half-million paid him by Patch� originally money supplied by Duschane Audmar�and perhaps an- other seventy or eighty thousand from the money left him by his grandfather. His rescission fee was a million SVU more than this:

a sum far beyond his ability to raise.

If Kokor Hekkus, or Seuman Otwal�the same man?�could be convinced that he and Patch had parted company, they might try to re-kidnap Patch and lower Gersen's fee to the money he had received from the sale of his partnership. But Patch, if he were wise, would take himself out of circulation. Gersen might be held at In- terchange for months, or years. Eventually Interchange fees would begin to eat into the sponsor's profit; the rescission fee would drop. As soon as it reached half a million Gersen could buy his own way out�unless an independent purchaser considered him worth more:

an unlikely circumstance.

In effect, Gersen was confined at Interchange for an indefinite period.

THE KILLING MACHINE 263

What of escape? Gersen had never heard of escape from Inter- change. If a person managed to elude the vigilance of the guards and the careful system of alarms, tattletales, and trigger-beams, where could he go? The desert was fatal by day, even more so by night. Automatic weapons barred helpful spacecraft from the area. No one departed Interchange except through death or the rescis- sion of their fees. It occurred to Gersen to wonder about Alusz Iphigenia Eperje-Tokay, the girl from Thamber. Her fee was ten billion SVU, a fantastic sum: how close had Kokor Hekkus come to paying it? How gratifying to rescind Alusz Iphigenia out from under the very nose of Kokor Hekkus! A visionary dream, when he could not rescind his own comparatively modest fee.

A gong sounded, to announce the evening meal. Gersen went to his designated dining area along a blank-walled walk topped with the tight interlacement of glass bands that characterized the avenues and walkways of Interchange. The dining room was a high- ceilinged room painted austerely gray. The guests ate at small in- dividual tables and were served from carts passing back and forth. There was a penal-colony atmosphere to the dining room that was more or less absent from the rest of Interchange; Gersen could not define its source, unless it was the isolation of the diners, the lack of gossip or banter between the tables. The food was synthetic, of poor color, not too well prepared, in quantities not too generous. Even Gersen, who took no great interest in food, found the meal unappetizing. If this was Class B cuisine, he wondered what Class E was like. Perhaps not much different.

After dinner came the so-called social hour, in a large com- pound domed against the dusty Sasani night wind. Here the entire guest population of Interchange collected after the evening meal, from boredom and curiosity: who had come, who had gone? At the central kiosk, Gersen signed a chit for beer, carried the paper con- tainer to a bench, seated himself. Perhaps two hundred other people were in view: folk of all ages and races, some walking, a few playing chess, a few conversing, others like himself drinking morosely on the benches. There was no great gregariousness; everyone displayed near-identical expressions: flat dislike for Interchange and every- thing connected with it, including their fellow guests. Even the children seemed infected by the general gloom, though they showed a greater disposition to clot into groups. Perhaps twenty young women were in evidence, even more aloof, injured, and in-

264 THE. DEMON PRINCES

dignant than the rest. Gersen inspected them with curiosity: which was Alusz Iphigenia? If Kokor Hekkus were mad to possess her, she must necessarily be extraordinarily beautiful; none here seemed to fulfill the requirements. Nearby, a tall girl with striking red hair gazed broodingly at her long fingers, each joint of which was banded with a black metal sleeve identifying her as an Eginand of Copus. Beyond, a small dark-skinned girl sipped wine; she seemed winsome and appealing, but not one who would think to value her- self at ten billion SVU.

There were others, but all seemed too old or too young, or of no particular beauty�such as the young woman at the other end of his bench who might just conceivably fit the requirements. Her skin was pale, tinged with dusky ivory; she had clear gray eyes and regular features; her hair was tawny blonde: in short she was not unattractive but hardly in the ten billion SVU class. Gersen would not have considered her a second time had it not been for a certain insolent poise to her head, a certain cool intelligence of gaze. . . . But no, for all her clear eyes and regular features, she was too ordinary, too unexceptional. . . . The attendant who had served Gersen on his previous visit crossed the compound, looking neither right nor left. What was his name? Armand Koshiel. And Gersen became more morose than before. . .. The social period ended; the guests wandered away to their various suites, apartments, and rooms.

The morning meal�tea, muffins, and compote�was served di- rectly in the apartment, after which Gersen was summoned to the central administration building, where he found himself in the com- pany of several of the persons with whom he had come to Inter- change.

Presently his name was called. He entered the office of a har- ried-looking clerk, who gave him a perfunctory salute, and delivered a well-rehearsed speech: "Mr. Wall, seat yourself, if you will. From your point of view your presence here is a misfortune; from ours, you are a guest to be treated with courtesy and dignity. We are anxious to improve the light in which we are regarded; we will take all practical means to that end. Now you are here sponsored by Mr. Kokor Hekkus. His demand is for the sum of SVU 1,681,490, and I now inquire how you propose to secure this sum." He waited expectantly.

"I wish I knew," said Gersen. "It is totally unrealistic."

THE KILLING MACHINE 265

The official nodded. "Many of our guests find their fees exces- sive. As you know, we have no control over the fees demanded; we can only advise the sponsor to moderation, and the guest to a co- operative attitude. Now then�can you raise this sum?"

"No."

"What of your family?"

"Nonexistent."

"Friends?"

"I have no friends."

"Business associates?"

"None."

The clerk sighed. "Then you must remain here until one of these events occurs: the sponsor may lower his demands to a fea- sible sum. Fifteen days after the date your associates have first had opportunity to appear in your behalf you go on an 'available' basis, and the sponsorship fee may be paid by anyone, who then receives you into custody. After a certain period, unless board and room bills are regularly met, we may be forced to release custody to a noncommitted visitor for the extent of these bills. So then?"

"I can't meet the figure. I have no one to notify."

"We will state as much to your sponsor. Do you care to name the maximum figure you can pay?"

"About half a million," said Gersen reluctantly.

"I will so inform your sponsor. In the meantime, Mr. Wall, I trust that you find your visit not too unpleasant."

"Thank you."

Gersen was conducted back to his apartment, and presently re- leased to the dining room for lunch.

During the afternoon, the recreational facilities of Interchange were made free to him. There were minor sports, crafts, games; he could exercise at a gymnasium, swim in a pool. Or he could remain in his apartment. Visiting the apartment or room of another guest was forbidden.

Several days passed. Gersen became tense and charged with the need for activity. There was no scope to release this pressure except in exercise at the gymnasium. He pondered escape. It seemed im- possible; there was no place to start.

During the social hour of the third day, Gersen, turning away from the kiosk with beer, came face to face with Armand Koshiel, whose schedule apparently brought him through the compound at

THI- DEMON PRINCES

266

about this time Koshiel murmured a polite apology, stepped aside, then turned a puz/led glance backward

Gersen grinned ruefully "Conditions have altered since our last meeting "

"So I see," said Koshiel "I remember you well It's Mr Gas- son3 Mr Gnsson7"

"Wall," said Gersen "Howard Wall "

"Of course Mr Wall " Koshiel shook his head in bemused wonder "Isn't it strange the way fate works7 But now, sir, I must be off We aren't allowed to chat with the guests "

"Tell me something Plow close to ten billion SVU has Kokor Hekkus achieved7"

"He progresses, he approaches, so I understand All of us here are interested, it's the largest fee ever to be rescinded "

Gersen felt an irrational pang of anger�or perhaps jealousy "Does the woman come down to the compound7"

"I have seen her here on occasion " Koshiel made tentative efforts to sidle away

"What does she look like7"

Koshiel knit his brows, glanced furtively over his shoulder "She's by no means what you might expect Not a clever jolly type, if you know what I mean Please excuse me, Mr Wall, I must be off, or face reprimand "

Gersen went to his usual bench, seething with a new set of dissatisfactions this unknown woman, by all logical processes, should mean nothing to him. Such was not the case Gersen puzzled over himself and his motives How and why had he become fascinated7 Because ofAlusz Iphigenia's self-appraised value often billion SVU7 The fact that Kokor Hekkus, in all his egotism and arrogance, was about to possess her7 (The thought awoke a peculiar fury in him) Because of her asserted origin, mythical Thamber7 Because of the stirrings of his own sternly repressed romanticism7 Whatever the cause, Gersen scrutinized the compound seeking the beautiful girl who might be Alusz Iphigema ofThamber She def- initely was not the small dark girl, nor the red-haired Egmand from Gopus Fhe taw nv-blonde girl with the withdrawn manner was not in evidence, but she hardly qualified 1 hough, Gersen reflected, her eyes were an exceedingly lucent grey and no exception could be taken to her figure, which was rather slight and delicate, but per-

IHL k!LH\G \1ACHl\h

267

fectly proportioned The gong sounded, he returned to his apart- ment disappointed and roiling with uneasiness

1 he next day passed, Gersen waited impatiently for the social period It finally arrived, a new woman was present She was lithe and supple, with long legs, a long patrician face, a dazzling roll of bright white hair, intricately coiffed Gersen inspected her carefully No, he decided with a feeling of relief this could not be Alusz Iphigema of Thamher, this woman was too intricate, too artificial She might well value herself at ten billion SVU, and Gersen was almost willing that Kokor Hekkus should pay such an amount and take possession The tawny-blonde girl did not appear Gersen re- turned to his apartment in disgust and vexation WT-ule he was pent and helpless, Kokor Hekkus was easing in upon his quarry To distract himself, Gersen read old magazines until midnight.

The following day was like those previous they began to merge, lose identity At lunch there were two new members to his group Gersen overheard a comment that identified the newcomers as Fy- chus Hasselberg, First Chairman of the JarneH Corporation, and Skerde Vorek, Director of Forestlands, both of Earth, both mil- lionaires several hundred times over Two steps closer to the goal, thought Gersen sourly

During the afternoon he exercised in the gymnasium At dinner the food seemed more than ordinarily tasteless Gersen went to the "social hour" in a surly mood He provided himself a mug of musty Sasani wine, and seated himself in expectation of another dreary evening. Half an hour passed, then at the entrance to the compound appeared the tawny-blonde girl Tonight she seemed even more abstracted than on the former occasion Gersen watched her in- tently actually, he thought, she was really not plain Her features were so perfect, so perfectly placed as to make her face seem un- remarkable�but certainly she was not plain He watched her pro- cure a mug of tea at the central kiosk, then she came to sit on a bench not far from Gersen He studied her with great interest, his pulse moving rather swiftly Why7 he asked himself in irritation Why did this young woman, at best conventional^ attractive, affect him to such an extent7

He rose, walked to where she sat "May I join you7" he asked

"If you care to," she said after fust sufficient hesitation to in- dicate that she'd rather sit quietly by herself Her voice had a pleas- ant archaic swing, and Gersen tried to place her accent "Excuse

268

THE DEMON PRINCES

me for being curious," he said, "but are you Alusz Iphigenia Eperje-

Tokay?"

"I am Alusz Iphigenia Eperje-Tokay," she said, correcting his

pronunciation.

Gersen drew a deep breath. His instinct had been correct! From close at hand, and looking into her face, her quiet good looks seemed somewhat less quiet. She might almost be termed hand- some. It was her eyes, he thought, that gave life to her face. Beauty? Sufficient to urge Kokor Hekkus to such flamboyant exertions? It seemed unlikely. "And your home is on the planet Thamber?" She turned him another brief incurious look. "Yes," "Do you know that to most people Thamber is an imaginary

world, a place of legend and ballad?"

"So I have learned, to my surprise. I assure you it is far from imaginary." She sipped her tea, gave Gersen another swift glance. Her eyes, large, clear, candid, were her best feature, and these were undoubtedly beautiful. But now, a subtle shift in her position in- dicated disinterest in further conversation.

"I wouldn't bother you," said Gersen stiffly, "except for the fact that your fiance Kokor Hekkus has brought me here, and I

regard him as my enemy."

Alusz Iphigenia reflected a moment. "You act unwisely in re- garding him as an enemy."

"Suppose he rescinds your fee, what then?" She shrugged. "It is a matter I do not care to discuss." Gersen thought, yes, she is beyond doubt handsome; even more than handsome: when she spoke, even when she thought, her fea- tures took on a luminosity, a vitality that transfigured even ordinary

features.

Gersen was at a loss for a means to continue the conversation.

Finally he asked, "Do you know Kokor Hekkus well?"

"Not well. He keeps for the most part to Misk, the Land Be- yond the Mountains. My home is Draszane in Gentilly."

"How were you able to come here? Do many spaceships come

to Thamber?"

"No." She turned him a sudden sharp glance. "Who are you?

Are you one of his spies?"

Gersen shook his head. Looking into her face, he thought with amazement. Did I ever think this girl plain? She is beautiful, inexpress- ibly so. He said, "If I were free, I could help you."

THE KILLING A-IACHINE 269

She laughed, rather cruelly. "How can you help me, when you can't even help yourself?" And Gersen felt an unfamiliar red flush seep across his face. He rose to his feet. "Good night."

Alusz Iphigenia said nothing; Gersen stalked off to his apart- ment. He showered and threw himself on his bed. Suppose he com- municated with Duschane Audmar? Pointless; Audmar would not even bother to send him a refusal. Myron Patch? More than point- less. Ben Zaum? He might be able to raise five or ten thousand SVU, no more. . . . Gersen picked up one of the old magazines, flicked through the pages. ... A face looked forth, one which he seemed to recognize. Gersen glanced down at the caption. The name, Daeniel Trembath, was unknown to him. .. . Strange. Ger- sen flipped the page. The face was extremely like that of�of whom? Gersen turned back to the face. He had known this man as "Mr. Hoskins"; he had brought back his corpse from Bissom's End. Gersen read the caption in full:

Daeniel Trembath, Arch-Director of the Bank ofRigel, now retiring. Fifty-one years his Excellency the Director has served the great bank and the peoples of the Concourse;

last week he announced his retirement. What are his future plans? "I will rest. I have worked hard and long; perhaps too hard and too long. Now I will take time to enjoy the aspects of life denied me by my responsibilities."

Gersen looked at the date of the magazine. It was Cosmopolis for January, 1525. Three months later Trembath disappeared: a week or so afterwards he was dead, by the act of Billy Windle� who might be Kokor Hekkus�on an unpleasant little world Be- yond. Gersen, now wide awake, thought back across the months. Why would the retired Arch-Director of the great Bank of Rigel travel so remotely, so secretly to deal with the man who called himself Billy Windle? Trembath had wanted perpetual youth: what did he have to offer in exchange? By the very nature of his career, it could be nothing but money. The meeting at Skouse had oc- curred immediately after Alusz Iphigenia had taken sanctuary at Interchange; the concatenation of places, events, and personalities was intriguing. Kokor Hekkus wanted money�ten billion SVU. Daeniel Trembath, Arch-Director (retired) of the Bank of Rigel, was the very symbol of money�and also conservative respectabil-

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270

ity. Why had the IPCC wanted his return, dead or alive? Surely Trembath had not stolen ten billion SVU? Gersen remembered the fragment of paper he had taken from Mr. Hoskins at Skouse. He strove to recall the words, now suddenly so pregnant with possi- bility:

�crimps, or more properly, bands of density. These ap- parently occur at random, though in practice they are so casual as to be imperceptible. The critical spacing is in terms of the square root of the first eleven primes. The occurrence of six or more such crimps at any of the des- ignated locations will validate�

The conclusions to be drawn were staggering. There was likewise an aspect to the situation that was the very soul of tragicomedy. Gersen jumped to his feet, paced back and forth across his apart- ment. If circumstances were as he suspected, how could he take advantage of his knowledge?

He thought for an hour, formulating and discarding var- ious schemes. The crafts and hobby shop seemed the key to the situation. The activities encouraged would be simple and easily supervised: wood-carving, puppetry, embroidery, shawl-weaving, water-colors, glass-melting. Possibly photography.. .. The morn- ing passed with a dismal slowness. Gersen sat sprawled in the most comfortable of his chairs. A delightful variation to his scheme oc- curred to him; he laughed aloud-. . . Immediately after lunch, he visited the hobby room. It was more or less as he had expected: a large room equipped with looms, pots of modeling clay, paints, beads, wire, various other paraphernalia. The attendant in charge was a corpulent man of early middle-age, bald, with small doll-like features in a round face. He answered Gersen's questions with a reasonable degree of patience. No; there were no facilities for pho- tographic work. Several years ago an effort had been made in this direction, but the project had been abandoned: the equipment re- quired too much maintenance, had occupied too much of his time. Gersen put forward a delicately phrased proposal; He, Gersen, was almost certain to be a guest for a month or perhaps two; prior to his coming he had been experimenting with certain novel art-forms involving photography, and he wished to continue his activities�

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271

to such an extent that he would be willing to purchase the necessary equipment.

The attendant considered, with a wet pursing of the mouth. The project seemed to entail a great deal of trouble�for Gersen, for himself, for everyone involved. In theory, of course, it was con- ceivable, but�he gave an eloquent shrug of the shoulders. Gersen uttered a reassuring laugh: any extra attention on the attendant's part�what was his name? Funian Lubby�would be adequately, or even, Gersen amended cautiously, generously rewarded. Lubby sighed heavily. Interchange policy dictated full cooperation with the guests, within understandable limits. If Mr. Wall insisted, Lubby could only do as he required. As to the remuneration Mr. Wall had suggested, it was against Interchange policy, but Mr. Wall must be the judge of what was right. How soon could Lubby provide the proper equipment? asked Gersen. If Mr. Wall provided a list and the necessary funds, an order could be placed at Sagbad, the largest nearby trade center: delivery could be expected tomorrow at the earliest; more likely the day following.

Excellent, said Gersen. He seated himself, wrote out a list. It was long, and included a number of items intended to obscure Ger- sen's primary purpose. Lubby pursed his lips hugely, in surprise and automatic disapprobation. Gersen said hurriedly, "I realize that this makes enormous inconvenience for you: is a hundred SVU suffi- cient compensation for your extra effort?"

"You understand," said Lubby sternly, "that regulations forbid the transfer of funds between guests and personnel. In a case of this sort, the money involved is merely a means of providing the craft shop with sorely needed equipment�since I presume you will leave these items here on your departure?"

Gersen did not wish to seem too eager. "I suppose so. Some of them at least�those that duplicate my own equipment at home." All in all, he was highly encouraged. That Lubby could speak so openly indicated that the craft shop was not under remote surveil- lance. "What do you think this material and equipment will cost?" he inquired.

Lubby appraised the list. "Megaphot camera . . . Chago en- larger and printer. . . Ball microscope. Expensive items all. . . . Tanglemat duplicator.. . . What would you be needing that for?"

"I prepare kaleidoscopic permutations of natural objects," said

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272

Gersen. "Sometimes twenty or thirty copies of a single print are needed, and I find the duplicator convenient."

"It will cost a fortune," grumbled Funian Lubby, "but if you're willing to pay for it�"

"Yes, if I must," said Gersen. "I dislike spending money, but I like two months away from my hobby even less."

"Understandable." Lubby glanced down the list. "This is an impressive list of chemicals. I hope," he said with a sardonic twist of the lips, "that you are not planning to blow up the institution, and thus destroy my livelihood."

Gersen laughed at the joke. "I'm sure you are sufficiently knowledgeable to forestall anything of this nature. No, there are no explosives, corrosives, or noxious substances here: only inks, dyes, photosensitives, and the like."

"So I see. I am by no means uninformed in these matters. I am an accredited Scientific Academician of Boomaraw College on Lor- gan, and in fact have done research on the flatfish of the Neuster Ocean, until my appointment was canceled�another regressive trick of the Institute, of that I am sure."

"Yes, a sad situation," Gersen agreed. "A person wonders where it will end. Do they want to make cavemen of us all?"

"Who knows what the wretched malcontents hope for? I have heard that they are slowly acquiring control of the Jarnel Corpo- ration, that when they finally secure their 51 percent�then pfai! no more spaceships, no more travel. What will that do to us? Where will that leave me? Without a job, if I am so unfortunate as still to be alive. No, I spit on those people."

Gersen had been inspecting the craft room. "WTiere can I work to be the least obtrusive? Preferably in some corner where I can throw up a screen to keep out the light. Naturally any effort on your part I am willing to pay for: indeed if there were a disused storeroom, or something of the sort.. . ."

"Yes." Funian Lubby heaved himself to his feet. "Let us look. The old sculpting studio is no longer in use; guests nowadays care nothing for serious work."

The studio was octagonal, the walls were native wood varnished a sour brown; the floor was stained yellow brick, the ceiling rose to a skylight through which came a grayish, almost mauve, illumina- tion. "I'll block out the light," said Gersen. "Otherwise the room is quite suitable." To test the degree of freedom from surveillance

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273

he said, "Now I understand that the rules forbid the exchange of money between guests and personnel, still rules are made to be broken, and it is not fair that you should go to extra exertion with- out reimbursement. You agree?"

"I think you have expressed my point of view exactly."

"Good. What goes on in this old studio then concerns no one but you and me. While I am not a wealthy man, I am not parsi- monious, and I am willing to pay for my pleasures." He brought forth his checkbook, wrote a draft for 3,000 SVU upon the Bank of Rigel. "This should pay for all the items of my list and leave enough to compensate you."

Lubby puffed out his cheeks. "That should do very nicely. I will give your order special attention, and who knows? the equip- ment may be here tomorrow."

Gersen went away well satisfied. His hopes might be based on a set of false premises�but checking and rechecldng, he felt secure. How could it be otherwise?

But he needed one more item, the most important of all. This job he dared not entrust to Funian Lubby, except as a last resort. He made out another draft for twenty thousand SVU, tucked it into his pocket.

That night, Alusz Iphigenia made no appearance at the social hour. Gersen did not care. He walked slowly back and forth, watch- ing, waiting, and then just as he was about to give up hope, Armand Koshiel appeared, taking a short cut through the compound. Ger- sen approached him as casually as possible. "I am going to walk past the waste-paper bin," he said. "I will drop a scrap of paper. Come behind me, pick it up. You will find a draft for twenty thou- sand SVU. Get me a ten thousand SVU note on the Bank of Rigel. Keep the remaining ten thousand." Without waiting for a reply he turned away, sauntered toward the kiosk. From the corner of his eye he saw Koshiel give a slight shrug, then continue the way he was going.

At the kiosk, Gersen bought a sack of sweets. Pausing at the waste-paper bin he tossed aside the sack into which he had tucked the bank draft, and crossing to a bench seated himself.

The crumpled bit of paper beside the bin looked large, white, and conspicuous. Here came Koshiel back across the compound. He went to the kiosk, spoke a jocular word to the attendant, se- lected a bag of sweets for himself, tossed the paper toward the bin.

THF DEMON PRINCES

274

He bent after it, picked up Gersen's bag, seemed to drop them both into the bin, and walked away.

Gersen went to his apartment, nerves tingling His scheme had been set into motion Too much optimism would be foolish, but so far all went well A hidden monitor might have observed Koshiel pick up the bank draft, Funian Lubby might impose too much su- pervision upon him, or so much new equipment might attract the attention of persons less genial than Lubby Still�so far, so good

The following day he looked briefly into the crafts room Lubby was occupied with a pair of children who in their boredom had turned to mask-making The equipment would not be delivered until the morrow, said Lubby, and Gersen departed.

The evening social hour passed with neither Koshiel nor Alusz Iphigema making an appearance On the following day, when Ger- sen returned to his apartment after breakfast he found an envelope on his desk containing a green and pink SVU 10,000 bank note Gersen tested it with his fake-meter, which, with a few other per- sonal effects, he had been allowed to keep The meter gave a sat- isfactory acknowledgment. So far, so good. Gersen dared make no further experiments; he might even then be under scrutiny. So far, so good. But his equipment still had not arrived, and Funian Lubby seemed in a bad mood, Gersen returned to his apartment seething with impatience Never had a day passed so slowly, though fortu- nately the Sasani day was only twenty-one hours long

On the afternoon following, Funian Lubby indicated a set of cartons with an affable wave of his fat hand. "There you are, Mr Wall. A fine set of equipment, and you can go about your prisms or kaleidoscopes, whatever it is you do, with all your might."

"Thank you, Mr. Lubby, I'm very pleased," said Gersen. He earned the cartons into the old sculpting studio, and with Lubby assisting and crooning m pleasure, unpacked them

"I'm anxious to see your work," said Lubby "One can always learn, and this is a creative technique I have never observed before "

"It's a very detailed process," said Gersen "Some people even find it tedious, but I enjoy slow careful work. The first step, I think, is to close off the skylight and light-seal the door "

With Lubby steadying the ladder, Gersen stapled opaque cloth across the skylight, then prepared a sign that read Photographic Darkroom�Knock before Entering, and attached it to the door

THE KILL f\G VI 1CH1\E

27-i

"Now," he said, "I'm ready to begin " He considered. "I think I'll start with a simple reiteration in green and pink "

With Lubby watching with vast interest, Gersen solemnly pho- tographed a pin, enlarged it ten diameters, prepared a master copy from which he printed thirty copies in green and thirty in pink on the autolith

"What ncxt^" asked Lubby

"Now we come to the painstaking part of the )ob Fach of these pins must be carefully cut from the background 7 hen \\ith pins and pin-shaped holes, I create the reiteration If you desire you may do the cutting while I formulate the correct color of ink "

Lubby looked dubiously at the stack of prints "All these are to be cut out^"

"Yes, very carefully "

Lubby unenthusiastically set to work Gersen watched closely, giving advice and stressing the need for absolute accuracy I'hen, borrowing Lubby's slide-rule, he calculated the square root of the first eleven prime numbers values ranging from 1 to 4 79 Lubby meanwhile had cut out three pins, making a single small mistake Gersen complained aggnevedly Lubby put down the scissors "This is extremely interesting, but I fear I must look to other mat- ters "

As soon as he had gone, Gersen compared the 10,000 SVU bank note with the pink and green pins, adiusted the colors, added a mordant and a catalyst, and printed further pins

He glanced into the outer studio, Lubby was busy with the children Gersen took the note to the microscope, and�as so many of thousands had done before him�examined it with an eye to discovering the secret of its authenticity Like the thousands before him, he discovered no such quality Now�the key experiment, upon which the success of the entire pro)ect depended He selected paper of density and weight similar to the bank note, cut a rectangle to the si/e of the note Precisely five by two and quarter inches He passed the paper through the fake-meter the alarm-light glowed Now Gersen laid off points along the length of the paper rectangle corresponding to the square roots he had computed Next he laid a straight-edge across the paper and at each pair of points scored a cross mark with the point of a nail�thus, so he hoped "crimping" and "compressing" the fibers With trembling fingers he lifted the fake-meter The door opened, into the room came Funian

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Lubby. With one motion Gersen slid fake-meter, bank note, and paper rectangle into his pocket, with another, he picked up scissors and prints, simulated intent creativity Lubby was disappointed to find that with so much equipment so little had been produced He expressed himself to this effect, Gersen explained that he had been recalculating certain aesthetic laws a tedious process If Lubby so desired, he could expedite the process by cutting out more pins, very carefully Lubby declared himself unable to be of further as- sistance. Gersen cut out a few of the pins while Lubby watched, arranged them with extreme care on the tabletop Lubby looked over the pink and green test panels that Gersen had set under a lamp "Are these the only two colors you will use^"

"At least for this present composition," said Gersen "Pink and green, though they might seem somewhat obvious or even naive, are for my purposes absolutely essential "

Lubby grunted. "They appear particularly bland: even faded." "True," said Gersen. "I have added certain agents to the pig- ments, it appears that the light tends to bleach them "

Lubby presently returned to the main room Gersen brought forth his fake-meter, passed the paper rectangle into the slot. No red light, but rather the heart-warming buzz of authenticity, the most musical sound of Gersen's existence

He looked at his watch the period was almost at an end There was no time for further work

At the social hour, Alusz Iphigema made an appearance, to stand aloofly at the back of the compound Gersen made no attempt to approach her, and, so far as he could tell, she seemed indifferent to his existence . He had thought her plain' He had considered her features uninteresting' They were perfect, she was the most entrancing thing he had ever seen Ten billion SVU3 A pittance' He could almost applaud Kokor Hekkus' discrimination Ger- sen could hardly wait to return to the craft shop

But the following afternoon found Funian Lubby at his most tiresome There were no other hobbyists present, and for two hours Lubby sat gaping with eyes protuberant and fascinated as Gersen cut paper pins, arranged and rearranged them with frowning con- centration, his whole soul aching with the wish that Lubby depart

The day was wasted Gersen left the shop seething with sup- pressed fury

The following day he fared better. Lubby was busy. Gersen

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photographed the bank note with serial number masked, printed two hundred copies with carefully prepared inks The day after, on the pretext of exposing large areas of photo-sensitive paper, he locked the door Then, contriving a )ig, he crimped the new notes, and using a to\ printing press, printed new serial numbers The notes looked about the same as the genuine, they had a somewhat different feel�but what matter3 They satisfied the fake-meter

As Gersen ate dinner he pondered his final problem how to rescind his fees without arousing suspicion If he merely presented himself at the office, the question would be raised as to how the money had come into his possession He could think of no prac- tical or feasible means to have a parcel delivered to him Certainly he could not trust Koshiel with so much money

He decided that he needed more information During the social hour, he went to the office of the assistant ordmator, a weasel-faced man wearing the dark blue Interchange uniform as if it were a privilege Gersen put on a face of worry "I have something of a problem," he told the ordinator "It has been reported to me that an old friend is coming here tomorrow to rescind one of the guests Can it be arranged that I look into the bureau when the bus arrives from the spaceport^"

The ordmator frowned. " I his is a somewhat irregular request "

"I realize this," said Gersen, "houever Interchange policy is to facilitate the rescission of fees, and such is the case here "

"Very well," said the ordinator "Be here at this office tomor- row immediately after the morning meal, and I will arrange the matter "

Gersen went to the compound, paced back and forth, drank quantities of wine to quiet his nerves The night passed, he choked down a few bites of breakfast, hurried to the office of the ordinator, who pretended to have forgotten the arrangement. Gersen patiently restated his case

"Oh, very well," said the ordinator "I suppose we can't expect every rescission to work through the proper channels " He con- ducted Gersen to an antechamber or the reception room Here they waited

'1 he archaic old bus arrived, discharged eight passengers They filed into the reception room

"WelP" asked the ordmator "Is one of- these your friend^"

"Yes indeed," said Gersen "That short man with the blue skin-

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tone. I'll just speak a word or two to him and arrange my rescis- sion." Before the ordinator could object, Gersen went out into the reception room, approached the man he had designated. "Excuse me; aren't you Myron Patch ofPatris?"

"No sir. I am no such individual."

"My mistake." Gersen returned to the ordinator, carrying an envelope. "Everything is well. He has brought my money. I am a free man."

The ordinator grunted. The event seemed rather peculiar�but weren't peculiar events part of life? "Your friend came to rescind you and someone else also?"

"Yes. He is a member of the Institute and doesn't care to dis- play too much cordiality."

The ordinator grunted again. All was explained�at least, all seemed to be explained. "Very well," he said, "if you have your money, go rescind yourself- I'll say a word to the clerk, since the process is somewhat irregular."

When the bus departed Interchange, Gersen was aboard. At Nichae he hired an air-car and was taken to the city Sagbad.

Five days later, wearing black skin-tone, black and brown tunic with black breeches, Gersen returned to Interchange aboard the antique bus. He went into the now-familiar office, submitted to the offi- ciousness of the clerk. "And whom do you wish to rescind?"

"Alusz Iphigenia Eperje-Tokay."

The clerk's eyebrows rose. "You, sir, are Kokor Hekkus?" He spoke with awe.

"No."

The clerk made nervous movements. "The fee is large. Ten

billion SVU."

Gersen opened the flat black case he was carrying, withdrew packets of bank notes in 100,000 SVU denominations: the largest in circulation. "Here is the money."

"Yes, ves. . .. But�well, I must inform you that Kokor Hekkus has already deposited with us over nine billion SVU."

"Here is ten billion. Count it."

The clerk made a flustered sound. "You are within your rights. The guest is admittedly 'available.' " With trembling fingers he touched the money. "I will need help to count so much money."

Counting and fake-metering the money occupied six men four

THE KILLING ^lACHINE 279

hours. The clerk signed a receipt with a nervous flourish. "Very well, sir; here you are. I will send for the guest whose fees you have rescinded. She will be here at once." And he muttered under his breath: "Kokor Hekkus will not enjoy this. Someone will suffer."

Ten minutes later Alusz Iphigenia arrived at the office. Her face was strained and wild; her eyes were bright with fear. She stared at Gersen without recognizing him; then went to the door as if to run out across the desert. Gersen restrained her. "Calm yourself," he told her. "I am not Kokor Hekkus; I have no designs upon you:

consider yourself safe."

She looked at him incredulously, looked again, and now Gersen thought she recognized him.

"There is another matter," said the clerk. He addressed Alusz Iphigenia. "Since you are acting in the peculiar capacity of your own sponsor, the money, minus our 12'/2 percent fee, is yours."

Alusz Iphigenia stared at him apparently without comprehen- sion. "I suggest," said Gersen, "that you prepare a bank draft, so that she need not carry around so much negotiable currency."

There was a flurry of consultation, a shrugging of shoulders, a flutter of hands; finally the bank draft was drawn upon the Planetary Bank of Sasani at Sagbad, in the sum of SVU 8,749,993,581: ten billion minus 12 Vi percent, minus charges of SVU 6,419 for special AA accommodation.

Gersen scrutinized the document with suspicion. "Presumably this is a valid draft? You have funds to cover?"

"Naturally," declared the official. "Indeed, Kokor Hekkus has deposited to our account a sum appreciably in excess of this amount."

"Very well," said Gersen, "this is acceptable." He turned to Alusz Iphigenia. "Come. The bus is waiting."

Still she hesitated, looking right and left as if again contem- plating flight across the Da'ar-Rizm. But now one of the flying black insects struck her, clung to her arm; she brushed it off with a cry of fear.

"Come," said Gersen once again. "You can have either Kokor Hekkus, the insects, or me; and I will neither violate you or eat you alive."

Without further protest, she followed him to the bus. It lurched, roared, rumbled: Interchange became a white and gray tumble dimly glimpsed through the dust.

280 THE DEMON PRINCES

They sat side by side in the lurching bus. Then Alusz turned a puzzled sidelong glance at Gersen. "Who are you?"

"No friend of Kokor Hekkus."

"What are�what are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing discreditable."

"Where are we going then? You don't understand the nature of Kokor Hekkus; he will track us to the corners of the galaxy."

Gersen had no comment to make; the conversation came to an end. In truth Gersen felt none too secure; they were still vulnerable to interception. But the journey across the barrens passed without incident.

The bus bounced into Sul Arsam; they boarded the waiting air- ship and presently came down at the Nichae spaceport. To the side stood the sleek new Armintor Starskip Gersen had bought in Sag- bad. Alusz Iphigenia hesitated before she went aboard, then gave a fatalistic shrug.

In Sagbad, there was a further delay at the Planetary Bank. Interchange provided a hesitant and worried verification, sensing something incorrect, yet at a loss to discover where. The chairman of the Planetary Bank reluctantly told Gersen, "Through a set of extraordinary circumstances, we have the sum in our vaults, rep- resenting a set of large deposits from Interchange. They are in notes of various denominations�"

"No matter; we will accept your count," said Gersen.

The money, Kokor Hekkus' laboriously accumulated hoard, was packed into four cases, carried out into the hired air-car.

Now the Head Cashier came running out into the area. "A communication from Interchange! For Mr. Wall!"

Gersen controlled his impulse to flee. He returned into the bank. On the visiphone screen appeared the face of the Director;

behind stood a man Gersen did not recognize.

"Mr. Wall," said the Director, "there have been difficulties: this is Achill Gogan, representing Kokor Hekkus. He earnestly desires that you wait at Sagbad until he is able to confer with you."

"Certainly," said Gersen. "He may look for us at the Alamut Hotel."

Gersen departed the bank, entered the air-car where Alusz Iph- igenia waited despondently with the money. "To the spaceport," he told the pilot.

THE KILLING MACHINE 281

Twenty minutes later Sasani lay behind them; engaging the in- tersplit, Gersen finally felt secure. The relief was intoxicating. He sat down on a settee and began to laugh. Alusz Iphigenia, across the cabin, watched with guarded interest. "Why do you laugh?"

"Because of how we were rescinded."

" 'We'?"

So she had not recognized him after all. Gersen came slowly across the cabin, and she moved back a distrustful half-inch. "One evening I spoke to you in the compound," said Gersen.

She studied him. "Now I remember you. The quiet man who sits in the shadows. How did you find so much money?"

"I printed it myself�and this is what amuses me."

She stared at him in bewilderment. "But they tested it! They accepted it!"

"Exactly. But here is the greatest joke of all: there is bleach in the ink. In a week they will have nothing. The money I paid Kokor Hekkus will be blank paper; the ten billion SVU will be blank pa- per. I have swindled Kokor Hekkus! I have swindled Interchange! Look: there is Kokor Hekkus' money!"

Alusz Iphigenia considered him dispassionately, then turned to look back toward Sasani. She smiled: a pensive smile. "Kokor Hek- kus will be angry. No man alive has such extravagant emotions as Kokor Hekkus." She gave Gersen a look of something like wonder. "He would spend ten billion to gain me�because I chose to make this my price. And after he bought me"�she shuddered�"he would derive ten billion SVU worth of use from me, by one means or another. WTien he gets you what he will do�is unthinkable."

"Unless I kill him first."

"You will find it difficult. Sion Trumble is the cleverest war chief of Thamber, and he has failed."

Gersen went to the galley, brought back a bottle of wine with two goblets. Alusz Iphigenia first made a negative motion, then thought better of it, and accepted the goblet. Gersen asked, "Do you know why I rescinded you?"

"No." But she fidgeted uncomfortably and a slow pink flush came into her face. Never, thought Gersen, had she seemed more beautiful. "Because you can guide me to Thamber, where I will find Kokor Hekkus and kill him."

The pink flush slowly subsided. She tasted the wine, gazed re-

282

TW DEMON PRINCFS

nectively into the goblet "I do not want to return to Thamber. I desperately fear Kokor Hekkus. He will now be insane with anger "

"Nevertheless, that is where we must go."

She shook her head pensively "I cannot help you Where Thamber lies I do not know."

The captured revolutionary Tedoro exhorts his fellow prisoners

Allow nothing' Yield not so much as a quarter-inch' Eat the food they give you, concede no more' Who are they but villains3 Shame them' Defy them' Hesitation is a crack m the steel, do you want them to bend you this way and that and snap you in two5 Give nothing, yield nothing' If the commandant permits that you may sit, prefer to stand' If he gives you lined paper on which to write, write across the lines'

Gersen stared at Alusz Iphigema incredulously Then he jumped up to the control deck, disengaged the mtersplit- The fabric of the ship exuded its almost human sigh of shock, the skin seemed to twitch along their bodies.

Motors dead, the Armintor Starskip drifted free in space. Aquila GB 1202 shone far astern, teetering at the edge of the psychological distinction between sun and star.

Gersen went into the head, showered away the black skin-tone, dressed in his usual space-garb shorts, sandals, a light singlet He returned to the saloon to find Alusz Iphigema sitting where he had left her, gazing at the floor

Gersen said nothing, but seated himself on the bench opposite, thoughtfully sipped his wine Finally she spoke "Wliy did you turn off the engines3"

"There is no point traveling at random Since we have no des- tination we might as well remain here,"

284 1 HF DEMON PRINCF S

She shrugged, scowled. "Keep the money; take me to Earth. I have no wish to hang foolishly out here in space."

Gersen shook his head. "I rescinded your fee at great risk to myself�primarily to learn the whereabouts of Thamber. Second- arily, I find you attractive as a woman. I agree with Kokor Hekkus you are worth ten billion SVU "

Alusz Iphigenia said angrily, "You do not believe me' It is a fact: I could not return to Thamber if it were the dearest wish of mv life'"

"How did you leave2"

"Sion Trumble captured a small spaceboat in a raid on Omad Island, which is Kokor Hekkus' spaceport. I read the Operator's Manual, and it seemed simple enough. When Kokor Hekkus threatened war on Gentilly unless my father gave me to him, I had two choices. I could kill myself or I could leave Thamber. I left. In the ship there was a Handbook of the Planets. It mentioned Sasam and described Interchange as the only locality m the human uni- verse safe from criminals."

She turned a scathing glance toward Gersen. "This is inaccu- rate. Interchange apparently is fair game for counterfeiters."

Gersen acknowledged the fact with a grin and by refilling his wine glass. He hesitated before drinking it the bottle had been left alone in the cabin while he showered- not inconceivably the woman had poisoned it. He put the glass aside. "And who is Sion Trum- ble?"

"The Prince of Vadrus, on the western border of Misk. We were to have been betrothed.. . . He is a brave warrior, and has done many noteworthy deeds."

"I see." Gersen ruminated. "Don't you know the way you came, from Thamber to Sasam2"

"I set the astrogation dials for Sasam, and left Thamber behind. I know only this and no more. Kokor Hekkus is the only man of Thamber to own a spaceship."

"What is the name of your sun3"

"Just'Sun.'"

"Is it somewhat orange7"

"Yes. How did you know2"

"Deduction. WTiat does the night sky look like2 Are there any unusual objects in the sky2 Any nearby double or triple stars2"

"No. Nothing unusual."

THE KILLING MACHINE 285

"Have there been any recent novae nearby?"

"What are 'novae'?"

"Stars suddenly exploding to give off great amounts of light."

"No, nothing like that."

"What of the Milky Way? Do you see it as a band around the sky, as a cloud, or how2"

"A ribbon of light streams across the night sky during winter:

is that what you mean2"

"Yes. Apparently you're out toward the fringes."

"That may be." Alusz Iphigenia was unenthusiastic.

"W^hat about tradition2" asked Gersen. "Are there old tales of Earth, or any of the other worlds2"

"Nothing very definite. ... A few legends, a few old songs." She regarded him with an expression that seemed faintly derisive. "How is it that your Star Directory and your Handbook to the Planets can't tell you what you want to know?"

"Thamber is a lost world. Whoever ruled Thamber in the an- cient days kept the secret well. There's no information now�ex- cept a nursery rhyme:

Set a course from the old Dog Star A point to the north of Achernar;

Sleight your ship to the verge extreme And dead ahead shines Thamber's gleam."

Alusz Iphigenia smiled faintly. "I know that too: all of it." "'AlP? There's more?" "Indeed. You've left out the middle. It goes:

Set a course from the old Dog Star A point to the north of Achernar;

Fare until, on the starboard beam,

Six red suns toward a blue sun stream.

Sleight your ship to where afar

A cluster hangs like a scimitar.

Under the hilt to the verge extreme

And dead ahead shines Thamber's gleam."

"Well, well," said Gersen. He rose to his feet, )umped up to the control deck, set dials, threw power back into the Jarnell System.

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286

"Where are we going?" asked Alusz Iphigenia.

"Sinus�the Dog Star."

"You take the rhyme seriously?"

"I've heard no other directions; I've got to take it seriously or do nothing whatever."

"Hmm." Alusz Iphigenia sipped the wine. "In that case, since I've told you all I know, you will put me down at Sinus or perhaps Earth?"

"No."

"But�I know no more than I've told you!"

"You know the look of Thamber's constellations. Your rhyme, if it ever gave accurate directions, is a thousand years old or more. Sinus and Achernar have both shifted. We might arrive somewhere near Thamber�hopefully within ten or twenty light years. Then we'd have to use the old trick of lost star-travelers: they scan the sky until in some quarter they find a familiar constellation. There will only be one, and this in miniature, for it will be directly behind their home planet. All other constellations will be distorted; and even this constellation will have intervening stars superimposed upon it: notably the home sun. Nevertheless�there is always the one familiar constellation to search for, and if you find it, you head for it, and presently, when it grows to its familiar size, your home world is close at hand."

"What if you can't find a familiar constellation?"

"You can still find your way home. You must fly up or down, normal to the plane of the galaxy, until you can see the whole spread of it, and then there are landmarks to be found. This re- quires much time, much energy, much wear and strain upon the Jarnell. If anything goes wrong�then you are lost indeed, for there is nothing more to do and you float in space looking down on the home galaxy spreading below like a carpet until your energy fails and then you die." Gersen shrugged. "I have never been lost." He raised his glass of wine, eyed it warily, then went to the galley and brought out a new bottle. "Tell me of Thamber."

Alusz Iphigenia spoke for two hours while Gersen leaned back on the settee sipping wine. It was a pleasant experience, watching and listening; for a period the realities of his existence were far away. . . . Alusz Iphigenia mentioned Aglabat, the city behind a wall of dark brown stone, and Gersen roused himself. Enervation was a

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danger. His stay at Interchange had done him no good. He had become pliable, easily distracted. . . . Nevertheless he relaxed again, sipping wine, listening to Alusz Iphigenia. . . .

Thamber was a wonderful world. No one knew when the first man had arrived; the time was lost in the past. There were various continents, subcontinents, peninsulas, and a great archipelago of tropical islands. Alusz Iphigenia was native to Uraszane in Gentilly, a principality on the western shore of the smallest continent. To the east was Vadrus, ruled by Sion Trumble, and beyond the Land of Misk. The remainder of the continent, except for a number of feuding states on the east coast, was wilderness inhabited by bar- barians. Similar conditions prevailed on the other continents. Alusz Iphigenia mentioned a score of peoples, each of distinctive char- acter. Certain of these produced great music and pageants of heart- stopping grandeur; others were fetishists and murderers ruled by ogres. In the mountains lived bandit chieftains and arrogant lord- lings, each secure in his castle. Everywhere were wizards and war- locks, capable of the most astounding feats, and one weird area to the north of the largest continent was ruled by fiends and demons. The native flora and fauna were complex, rich and beautiful, and sometimes dangerous; there were sea-monsters, scaled wolves of the tundra, the horrid dnazd of the mountains to the north of Misk.

Technology and the ways of modern living were unknown on Thamber. Even the Brown Bersaglers of Kokor Hekkus carried only voulgues and daggers, while the knights of Misk were armed with swords and crossbows. Between Misk and Vadrus there was intermittent strife, with Gentilly usually allied with Vadrus. Sion Trumble was a man of heroic valor, but he never had been able to overcome the Brown Bersaglers. In a tremendous battle, he had repelled the barbarians of the Skar Sakau, who had thereupon turned their full fury to the south, upon the Land of Misk, where they had been raiding villages, destroying outposts, and spreading devastation.

Gersen listened with wonder. The romantic legends regarding Thamber had not been exaggerated; if anything they were under- stated. He said as much to Alusz Iphigenia, who shrugged. "Tham- ber is a world of romantic deeds, certainly. The castles have great halls where the bards sing and pavilions where maidens dance to the music of lutes, but below are dungeons and torture chambers. The knights are a magnificent sight in their armor and their flags,

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and then in the snows of Skava Steppe their legs are hacked off by the Skodolak nomads, and they lie helpless until the wolves tear them to pieces. The witches brew philters and the wizards send up the smoke of dreams, and also infect their enemies with blights. . . . Two hundred years ago the great heroes lived. Tyier Trumble con- quered Vadrus and built the city Carrai where Sion Trumble now rules. Jadask Dousko found Misk a land of herdsmen and Aglabat a fishing village. In ten years he had created the first Brown Corps, and there has been war ever since." She sighed. "In Draszane life is relatively calm; we have four ancient colleges, hundreds of bib- liotheques. Gentilly is a peaceful old country, but Misk and Vadrus somehow are different. Sion Trumble wants me for his queen�but would there ever be peace and happiness? Or would he always be fighting Skodolaks or the Tadousko-Oi or the Sea-Helms? And always Kokor Hekkus, who now will be implacable. . . ."

Gersen was silent.

Alusz Iphigenia went on. "At Interchange I read books�of Earth and the Concourse and Aloysius. I know how you live. And at first I wondered why Kokor Hekkus stayed so long at Aglabat, why he fought with swords when he could fit out the Brown Ber- saglers with energy weapons. But there is no mystery'. He needs emotion as other men need food. He craves excitement and horror and hate and lust. He finds it in the Land of Misk. But someday he will dare too much and Sion Trumble will kill him." She laughed sadly. "Or someday Sion Trumble will attempt a particularly lu- dicrous act of valor and Kokor Hekkus will kill him�which will be a pity."

"Hmmf," said Gersen. "You are fond of this Sion Trumble?"

"Yes. He is kind and generous and brave. He would not think to rob even Interchange."

Gersen grinned sourly. "I'm more the Kokor Hekkus type. . . . What of the rest of the planet?"

"Everywhere it is different. In Birzul, the Godmus keeps a harem often thousand concubines. Every day he enlists ten maidens and discharges ten, or if he happens to he in a bad humor drowns them. In Calastang, the Divine Eye rides through the city carried on a vermilion altar forty yards long and forty yards high. The Lathcar Gentry keep racing-men�slave runners especially bred and trained for the Lath Race Meets. The Tadousko-Oi build their villages on the highest crags and steepest cliffs, and throw down

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289

the crippled and infirm. They are Thamber's fiercest warriors, the Tadousko-Oi, and they have leagued themselves to raze the walls of Aglabat. And they will succeed, because the Brown Bersaglers cannot withstand them."

"Have you ever seen Kokor Hekkus close at hand?"

"Yes."

"What does he look like?"

"Give me paper and pen; I will show you."

Gersen brought her writing materials. She made tentative marks, then worked more swiftly. Line Joined line, areas became defined: a face looked forth from the paper. It was an intelligent alert face; under a tall square forehead the eyes were wide and inquiring. The hair was rich, dark, lustrous; the nose was short and straight, the mouth rather small. Alusz Iphigenia sketched in the torso, the legs, to depict a man somewhat over average height, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs. The body might well have been that of both Billy Windle and Seuman Otwal; the face in no way resembled the keen jutting countenance of Seuman Otwal, and Gersen had never distinctly seen Billy Windle.

Alusz Iphigenia watched him as he studied the picture, and gave a shudder. "I can't understand cruelty�killing�hate. You are al- most as frightening as Kokor Hekkus."

Gersen put the sketch aside. "When 1 was small, my home was destroyed, and all my kin�except for my grandfather. Even then I knew the course of my life was arranged. I knew that I w^uld one by one kill the five men who had conducted the raid. This has been my life, I have no other. I am not evil; I am beyond good and evil� like the killing machine Kokor Hekkus built."

"And I am unlucky enough to be useful to you," said Alusz Iphigenia.

Gersen grinned. "You probably will prefer being useful to me than to Kokor Hekkus, since all I ask is that you guide me to Tham- ber."

"You are gallant," said Alusz Iphigenia, and Gersen could not decide whether her remark carried a barb or not.

Sirius burnt white ahead, with off to the side the yellow-white star that had nurtured the human race. Alusz Iphigenia contemplated it wistfully, turned to Gersen as if to plead with him, then thought better of it and held her tongue.

290 Till DFMON PRINCES

Gersen pointed to Achernar, at the source of the River Rn- danus "A point 11 '/4� north is the plane ot galactic north containing the Sinus-Achernar line But the rhyme must be a thousand years old, perhaps longer�so first we take ourselves to the position of Sinus a thousand years ago Not too difficult Then we calculate Achernar's apparent position of a thousand years ago�again not too difficult Using these two new points, then we angle north 111/4� and hope for the best And since I've already made the computa- tions " lie carefully ad)usted the verniers, Sinus swung grandly away to the side

Presently the Jarnell snapped out, the Starskip drifted in un- fractured ether Gersen turned the bow toward the point Achernar had occupied a thousand years before, then swung up 1VA� in a plane parallel to the north-south galactic axis "Here goes " He engaged the mterspht, the Starskip and its contents, deprived of inertia and Einstemian constrictions, slid with near-mstantaneity along the generated fracture "Now we must watch for six red stars They may or may not he streaming toward a blue star, they may or may not be on the starboard beam, unless the rhyme intends that the dorsal-ventral plane of the ship lie parallel to the north- south galactic axis "

Time went by Near stars slid across stars more distant, which in turn slid across the even farther specks of light behind.

Gersen became edgy He expressed doubt that Alus/ Iphigema had remembered the rhyme correctly She replied with a shrug in- dicating small concern one way or the other, and presently offered the con)ecture that Gersen had made a mistake in his computations

"How long was your trip to Interchange^" He had asked her this before, but always she had given him a vague answer, as now she did again "I slept a great deal 'lime seemed to go swiftly "

Gersen began to suspect that the rhyme had taken them on a wild goose chase, that 1 hamber lay in a different quarter of the galaxy, and that Alus/ Iphigema knew this fact \ery well.

Alusz Iphigema was aware of his dubiousness, and it was with a note of vindication that she pointed ahead to six beautihil red giants strung out in a down-curving line toward a great blue star.

Gersen's only comment was a grudging, "Well, they seem to be on our starboard beam, so rhyme and calculations both aren't

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291

too far off." He disengaged the Jarnell; the Starskip drifted. "Now a cluster shaped like a scimitar, probably a naked-eye ob)ect."

"There." Alusz Iphigema pointed. "Thamber is nearby."

"How do you know^"

"The cluster like the scimitar. In Gentilly we call it the God- Boat. Though from here it looks different."

Gersen turned the ship toward the "hilt"; once again he cut in the mterspht; the boat slipped forward. Directly through the cluster they flew, with stars all around, and then came out into a region only sparsely populated. "It's a fact," said Gersen, "We're at the edge of the galaxy: the 'verge extreme.' Somewhere, dead ahead, should be chamber's gleam.' "

Dead ahead lay a sparse scatter of stars,

"The sun is G8�orange," said Gersen. "Which is the orange sun3 . .. There. That one."

The orange star appeared something to the side and below. Gersen cut off the mterspht. He ad)usted the macroscope, which revealed a single planet. He raised the magnification, continents and seas swam into focus. "Thamber," said Alusz Iphigenia Eper)e- Tokay.

10

There is a human quality that cannot be precisely named:

possibly the most nohle of all human qualities. It includes but is larger than candor, generosity, comprehension, nice- ness of distinction, intensity, steadiness of purpose, total commitment. It is participation in all human perceptions, recollection of all human history. It is characteristic of every great creative genius and can never be learned: learning in this regard is bathos�the dissection of a butterfly, a spec- troscope turned to the sunset, the psychoanalysis of a laugh- ing girl. The attempt to learn is self-destructive; when erudition comes in, poetry departs. How common the man of intellect who cannot feel! How trifling are his judgments against those of the peasant who derives his strength, like Antaeus, from the emotional sediment of the race! Essen- tially the tastes and preferences of the intellectual elite, de- rived from learning, are false, doctrinaire, artificial, shrill, shallow, uncertain, eclectic, jejune, and insincere.

. . . Life, Volume IV, by Unspiek, Baron Bodissey

The critics discuss Baron Bodissey's Life:

A monumental work if you like monuments. . . . One is irresistibly put in mind of the Laocoon group, with the good baron contorted against the coils of common sense, and the more earnest of his readers likewise endeavoring to disengage themselves.

. . . Panct'etic Review, St. Stephen, Boniface

THE KILLING MACHINE 293

Ponderously the great machine ingests its bales of lore;

grinding, groaning, shuddering, it brings forth its product:

small puffs of acrid vari-colored vapor.

. . . Excahbur, Patris, Krokinole

Six volumes of rhodomontade and piffle.

. . . Academia, London, Earth

Egregious, ranting, boorish, unacceptable�

. . . The Rigellian, Avente, Alphanor

Sneers jealously at the careers of better men. ... Im- possible not to feel honest anger.

. . . Galactic Quarterly, Baltimore, Earth

Tempting to picture Baron Bodissey at work in the Ar- cadian habitat he promulgates, surrounded by admiring goatherds.

. . . El Orchide, Serle, Quantique

It was morning over the continent Despaz. Alusz Iphigenia pointed out the geographical divisions. "To the south, the long strip under the Skar Sakau Mountains, along the seacoast�that is the Land of Mtsk. Aglabat is hard to see; it is brown and merges with the landscape, but it is there, where the coast curves inland." She pointed.

"And where is your home?"

"To the west. First is Vadrus over that arm of mountains. You can see the city Carrai: a patch of white and gray. Then there are more mountains and Gentilly lies beyond. There, where the sun- light is just touching�Gendlly." She turned away from the macro- scope. "But naturally you will never go there. Nor to Carrai."

"Why not?"

"Because neither my father nor Sion Trumble would allow me to be your slave."

Without comment, Gersen bent over the macroscope, studied the landscape for the better part of an hour, while the planet rolled over into the sunlight.

"A number of things are clear," he said at last, "and a number of things aren't so clear. For instance, how I can approach Kokor

294 THE DEMON PRINCES

Hekkus without being killed? He undoubtedly has radar and quite possibly sky-bolts to protect his city. We must land somewhere beyond the range of detection devices, and the most convenient spot seems to be beyond those mountains."

"And after you land�what then?"

"In order to kill Kokor Hekkus, first I find him. To find him, I'll have to look for him."

"What of me?" complained Alusz Iphigenia woefully. "I left Thamber to escape Kokor Hekkus; now you bring me back. After you are killed, which is certain, what then? Must I return to Inter- change?"

"It seems that our interests coincide," said Gersen. "We both want Kokor Hekkus dead. Neither wants him aware of our presence on Thamber. We will stay together."

He turned the Starskip down toward Thamber, standing well to the north of the mountains called the Skar Sakau. After careful inspection of the terrain, he found an isolated col under a great peak and there he landed. To right and left stood other wind-lashed peaks, laced with glaciers; below and to the south spread a jumble of ridges, chasms, precipices: as wild a region as any Gersen had known, W^hile waiting for air pressure to equalize, he lowered the little air-car from its pod, armed himself with his various weapons, wrapped himself in a cape, as did Alusz Iphigenia. He opened the port, Jumped down upon the soil of Thamber. The sun was bright;

the air was cold; the wind mercifully was still. Alusz Iphigenia joined him, to stand looking around with an air of repressed exhilaration, as if in spite of her fears she was happy to be home. She turned to Gersen and spoke impulsively. "You're not an evil man, in spite of what you say about yourself. You've treated me kindly�more kindly that I could have expected. Why not give over this fantastic scheme of yours? Kokor Hekkus is secure behind the walls ofAgla- bat, not even Sion Trumble can threaten him. What can you do? To kill him you must bring him forth, you must defeat all his cruel ruses. And never forget that in all the universe he most wishes to meet you."

"I'm aware of this," said Gersen.

"And you still persist? You must be a lunatic or a sorcerer."

"No."'

"Then you have made plans?"

"How can I make plans when I have no facts? That's what we're

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going out for now. See this box?" He nudged a black metal case with his toe. "I can sit at a distance of ten miles and send a spy- cell into Aglabat, to learn whatever I need to know."

Alusz Iphigenia had no rebuttal to make. Gersen appraised the Starskip, the surrounding mountains; surely no wandering barbar- ians would come so high or so far. Divining his thoughts, Alusz Iphigenia said, "They keep to the south of the Skar, where their flocks find sustenance, where the granaries ofMisk are near at hand- If we fly south, we will see their villages. They are the most fero- cious fighters alive, using only daggers and bare hands."

Gersen packed the black case aboard the air-boat, which, unlike the flying platform carried by his old Model 9B, was equipped with a transparent dome and comfortable seats. Alusz Iphigenia stepped aboard, Gersen joined her, closed down the dome. The boat rose, skidded off down the col, then south through the soaring juts and crags. Never had Gersen seen such awesome scenery. Cliffs rose sheer from crevasse-like valleys in which wound a dim metal tendril of a river, visible only because the orange sun hung at noon. Chasm opened into chasm; winds roaring through collided and buffeted the air-car. Occasionally a waterfall plunged from the lip of a crag, to fray and wave like a wisp of white silk.

Crag after crag, ridge after ridge slipped behind, and the lay of the valleys was to the south. Far below, forests and meadows could be seen, and presently Alusz Iphigenia pointed to what seemed a complicated crumble of rock pasted to an almost sheer crag. "A village of the Tadousko-Oi. They'll think us a magic bird."

"So long as they don't shoot us down."

"They use only boulders to roll upon their enemies and bows and catapults for their hunting." Gersen nevertheless gave the vil- lage a wide berth, swinging across toward the opposite cliff wall, the surface of which seemed curiously humped and pocked. Only when within a hundred yards did he realize he was approaching another village, clinging with incredible precariousness to the bar- ren rock. He glimpsed a few dark figures; on a roof a man aimed a weapon. Gersen cursed, swerved; but a short sharp metal dart spat through the fore-part of the air-boat, which gave a jerk, a lurch, then sagged.

Alusz Iphigenia cried out, Gersen hissed between his teeth. Not two hours on Thamber and already faced with disaster! "The front

296 I HP DFMON PRINCES

lift-vanes are gone," he said, trying to speak calmly. "We're in no danger, don't be frightened We'll return to the ship."

But this was obviously impossible the air-boat hung at an alarming angle, suspended on the center and rear vanes alone

"We'll have to land," said Gersen "1 may be able to repair the damage... I thought you said these people had no weapons."

"It must have been a cross-bow captured from Kokor Hekkus. I can think of no other explanation. . . . I'm truly sorry."

"It's no fault of yours." Gersen gave his full attention to the plunging air-boat, trying to hold it on a manageable slant as they settled into the valley. At the last instant, he cut off the rear )ets, pushed the propulsion hard over, and for an instant held the craft on an even keel, and so they came down easily on a gravel terrace fifty feet above the river.

Gersen stiffly alighted, went to inspect the damage. His heart sank.

"How bad is it^" asked Alusz Iphigema anxiously.

"Very bad. I might be able to get us back to the ship, by sliding the center vane forward, or something similar. . . . Well, to work." He brought out such tools as the standard equipment afforded, and set to work. An hour passed. Noon sunlight left the valley, blue shadows collected, with them came a dank chill smelling of snow and wet stone. Alusz Iphigema tugged at Gersen's arm. "Quick' Hide! The Tadousko-Oi."

Startled, Gersen let himself be dragged into a cleft among the rocks. A moment later he saw one of the strangest sights of his lifetime. Down the valley came twenty or thirty large centipedes, each mounted by five men. The centipedes, Gersen noted, were similar to the fort built by Patch Construction, but much smaller. They ran smoothly over the stones, almost flowing. The riders were an ill-favored lot�massively muscled men whose maroon skins were burnished like old leather. Their eyes were stony and staring, their mouths harsh, their noses heavy and hooked They wore clumsy garments of black leather, helmets of crude iron and black leather; each carried a lance, an ax, and a heavy dagger.

At the sight of the disabled air-car, the band drew up in sur- prise. "At least they weren't sent out to pick us up," whispered Gersen.

Alusz Iphigema said nothing They were pressed close together

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m the cleft: even in the extremity of the circumstances he felt a tingling at the contact.

The Tadousko-Oi had surrounded the air-car. A number alighted, and conversed in a harsh mumble. They began to look up and down the valley. It was only a matter of seconds before one of them would investigate the cleft.

Gersen whispered to Alusz Iphigema, "Stay here. I'll distract them." He stepped forward, stood with thumbs hooked in his weapon harness. For a moment the warriors stood staring, then one who wore a helmet more complicated than the others came slowly forward. He spoke: harsh grumbling words apparently derived from the ancient universal tongue, but incomprehensible to Gersen. The slate-colored eyes of the chief�this seemed to be his rank�flicked past Gersen in new surprise. Alusz Iphigenia had come forward. She spoke in a rough approximation of the Tadousko-Oi language;

the chief replied. The remaining warriors sat motionless, Gersen had never seen a tableau more sinister.

Alusz Iphigenia spoke to Gersen. "I have told him that we are enemies of Kokor Hekkus, that we come from a far world to kill him. The hetman says that they are embarked on a raid, that they are to join with other bands, and that they plan to attack Aglabat."

Gersen appraised the hetman once more. "Ask him if he can provide transportation back to our ship. I'll pay him well."

Alusz Iphigenia spoke; the hetman gave a grunt of grim humor. He spoke; Alusz Iphigenia translated.

"He refuses. All the company are intent m this great raid. He says that if we like we can (om the raiding party. I told him that you preferred to repair the air-boat."

The hetman spoke: Gersen caught the word "dnazd" used sev- eral times. Alusz Iphigema turned�after a curious hesitation�to Gersen. "He says that we can't survive the night here, that the dnazd will kill us."

"What is the'dnazd'?"

"A great beast. This place is called the Valley of the Dnazd."

The hetman spoke again in his dull grumbling voice, Gersen's ear, accustomed to extracting meaning from the thousand and one dialects and variants of the universal tongue, began to penetrate the hoarseness and glottal overtones. The hetman, for all the ominous sound to his voice, did not seem hostile. Gersen gathered that it was below the dignity of a war party such as this to prey upon

298 1HF DEMON PRINCES

helpless wanderers. "You say you are enemies of Kokor Hekkus," seemed to be the essence of his words "In that case the man will be anxious to )om the war party�if, that is to say, he is a fighting man, as he may be in spite of his unhealthy pallor."

Alusz Iphigenia translated. "lie says that this is a war party. Your pale skin gives him the impression that you are sick. He says that if we wish to come, it will be in a menial capacity. There will be much work and much danger "

"Hmm. Is that what he says3"

"Words to that effect."

It was apparent that Alus? Iphigenia had no wish to join the war party. Gersen said, "Ask the hetman if there is any means by which we can return to the ship."

Alusz Iphigenia asked the question; the hetman seemed sardon- ically amused. "If you can escape the dnazd, if you can find your way over two hundred miles of mountains without food and shel-

ter.

Alusz Iphigenia translated in a hollow voice. "He says he can't help us: we can try if we like." She looked at the air-boat. "Can we repair this3"

"I don't think so Not unless I find tools. We had better go with these people�at least until something better offers."

Alusz Iphigenia reluctantly translated Gersen's words. The chieftain gave an uninterested assent; he motioned, one of the mounts that carried only four warriors approached, Gersen climbed up on the pad that served as saddle, pulled Alusz Iphigenia up into his lap. This was the closest contact he had ever made with her, it seemed amazing that he had restrained himself so long. She seemed to be thinking similar thoughts, and gave him a pensive look. For a space she held herself as rigid as possible, then gradually relaxed.

The centipedes ran smooth as oil down the valley moved the war party along an almost invisible trail that led up and down, over boulders, through gaps, cracks, and crevices. Occasionally when the valley walls closed tight together, with the Thamber sky a strip of dark blue ribbon and the water a rushing black syrup, the procession ascended the clifts. The warriors kept utter silence, the centipede- mounts made no sound, there was nothing to be heard but sigh of wind and sound of water. Gersen became ever more conscious of the warm body leaning against him. He reminded himself wistfully that indulgences of this sort were not for him, that his life was

THE A/LL/VC, MACHINE 299

predestined to grief and doom�but his cells and nerves and in- stincts protested, and his arms tightened around Alusz Iphigenia. She looked around; he saw that her face was abstracted, melancholy, that her eyes were bright with something like tears. WTly in the world is she melancholy^ Gersen wondered. The circumstances were unfortunate, vexatious, but still short of desperate; if anything the Tadousko-Oi had treated them with courtesy. . . A halt inter- rupted his thoughts. The hetman was consulting a group of lieu- tenants; their attention was fixed high above, upon a crag where Gersen made out another of the dull crumbles he now knew for a village.

Alusz Iphigenia shifted in his arms. "This is an enemy village," she told him. "The Tadousko-Oi feud among themselves."

The hetman gave a signal, three scouts dismounted, ran ahead, testing the path. A hundred yards ahead, they croaked out in gut- tural alarm, sprang back, as a slab of rock crashed across the trail.

The warriors stirred no muscle. The scouts continued along the trail, disappeared. Half an hour later they returned.

The hetman signaled. One after another the mounts surged forward. From far above, objects like gray peas appeared, falling with odd slowness, almost floating. But size and speed were illusory;

the objects were boulders that smashed to splinters along the trail. The warriors, showing no concern, avoided the fall by speeding, slowing, darting ahead, halting. WTien Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia were carried past, the fall of boulders had halted.

Beyond the village the valley broadened to a crescent-shaped meadow with a feathery forest along the river. Mere, the lead mount stopped short, and for the first time a grumble of words passed down the line: "Dnazd."

But the dnazd was not in evidence. The party, crouching low on their mounts, timorously continued across the meadow.

The day had gone dark. High above, a few wisps of cirrus burned bronze in the dying sunlight. The party presently entered a cleft in the rocks�hardly more than a crevice�along which the mounts could squeeze only by folding their legs back At times Gersen might have touched the walls to either side. The crack wid- ened, became a circular area floored with sand. All alighted; the mounts were taken to the side, shackled together. Certain warriors dipped leather buckets in a nearby pool, fed the mounts buckets of water and what looked to be powdered blood. Others made small

THE DEMON PRINCES

300

fires, hung pots on tripods, and began to boil up a rank-smelling stew.

The hetinan and his lieutenants sat together, conferring in un- dertones. The hetman glanced toward Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia, made a movement; two of the warriors set up a kind of tent of black cloth. Alusz Iphigenia exhaled a soft sigh, turned her eyes to the ground.

The stew was cooked; each warrior took an iron bowl from inside his helmet, dipped it into the pot, careless to steam and boil- ing stew. Having no bowls, Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia sat pa- tiently, while the warriors ate with fingers and slabs of hard bread. The first to finish polished his bowl with sand, brought it politely to Gersen, who accepted with thanks, dipped into the stew, brought the bowl to Alusz Iphigenia, an act which evoked an amused rumble of comment. Another bowl was forthcoming and now Gersen ate. The stew was not unpleasant, though salty and seasoned with an odd peppery spice; the bread was hard, and tasted like burning weeds. The warriors squatted around the fires without laughing or horseplay.

The hetman rose, went to the tent. Gersen looked about for a place for himself and Alusz Iphigenia. It would be a chilly night, for they had only their cloaks. The Tadousko-Oi, who had even less, evidently planned to lay themselves down before the fire. . . . The warriors were looking at Alusz Iphigenia in a puzzled manner. Gersen looked at her also. She sat staring into the fire, arms wrapped around knees: nothing to excite perplexity. In the opening to the tent the hetman appeared, frowning impatiently. He beck- oned to Alusz Iphigenia.

Gersen slowly rose to his feet. Alusz Iphigenia, without lifting her eyes from the fire, said in a soft voice: "To the Tadousko-Oi, women are a lower species. . -. They keep their women in common, and the highest ranking warrior sleeps with what is available� first."

Gersen looked toward the hetman. "Explain that this is not our custom."

Alusz Iphigenia looked slowly up at him. "We can do nothing;

we are�"

"Tell him."

Alusz Iphigenia turned to the hetman, spoke Gersen's words. The warriors sitting around the fire became still. The hetman

THE KILLING MACHINE 301

seemed startled, and came two paces forward. He spoke: "In your own land, you are obliged to observe your own customs; but this is the Skar Sakau, and here our ways must hold. Is this pale man the highest ranking warrior present? No, of course not. Therefore, you, the pale woman must come to my tent. This is the way of the Skar Sakau."

Gersen did not wait for the translation. "Tell him that I am an extremely high-ranked warrior in my own land; that if you sleep with anyone it shall be with me."

To this the hetman responded, not discourteously. "Again, this is the Skar Sakau. I am the hetman, no man can resist me; it is beyond dispute that I outrank the pale man. So come, woman, let there be an end to this undignified parley."

Gersen said, "Tell him that I am more highly ranked�that I am a Space-Admiral, a Ruler, a Lord�anything that he will un- derstand."

She shook her head, rose to her feet. "I had best obey."

"Tell him."

"You will be killed," said Alusz Iphigenia.

"Tell him."

Alusz Iphigenia spoke. The chieftain came another two steps forward, pointed to a burly young warrior. "Outrank this man, trounce him thoroughly to emphasize his lowly condition."

The warrior doffed his upper harness. The hetman spoke, "The pale man carries coward's weapons. Let him know that he must fight as a man, either with dagger or his hands. He must remove his fire-flashers."

Gersen's hand trembled toward his projac. But warriors nearby would instantly have overpowered him. Slowly he handed his weap- ons to Alusz Iphigenia, removed his jacket and singlet. His oppo- nent carried a heavy double-edged dagger; Gersen thereupon brought forth his own slim-bladed weapon.

An area of sand between three fires was cleared; warriors of the Tadousko-Oi squatted about in a circle, liver-colored faces grave, dispassionate, almost insect-like.

Gersen stepped forward, assessed his opponent. He was taller than himself, with hard muscles and quick motions. He twitched the heavy dagger as if it were a feather. Gersen held his blade loosely. The young warrior moved his dagger in a hypnotic circle, steel glimmering in the firelight.

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302

Gersen made a sudden hard motion. His blade flashed through the air, cut through the warrior's wrist, pinned it to his shoulder. The dagger fell from limp fingers; he stared in numb wonder at his helpless hand. Gersen stepped close, picked up the dropped weapon, ducked a kick, struck the warrior over the ear with the flat of the blade. The warrior tottered; Gersen struck him again; the man fell to the ground in a daze.

Gersen recovered his dagger, politely placed the young war- rior's weapon into its scabbard, returned to Alusz Iphigenia, and began to dress himself in the clothes he had removed.

For the first time there was a murmur among the spectators:

neither applause, nor disapproval: merely a mild wonder, with a hint of dissatisfaction.

All looked to the hetman, who now marched forward. He spoke in a loud voice, in a careful sing-song rhythm: "Pale man, you have defeated this young warrior. I cannot fault the unconventional method employed, though we of the Tadousko-Oi hold it the way of a weakling to stake all on a single cast. Moreover, nothing has been proved, other than the fact that you outrank the young war- rior. You must fight again." He searched among the faces, but Ger- sen spoke. "Tell the hetman," he instructed Alusz Iphigenia, "that my differences, in connection to where you shall spend the night, are solely with him, and it is he with whom I choose to fight."

Alusz Iphigenia repeated the message in a low voice, and now the audience sat stunned. The hetman was obviously surprised. "Does he so choose? Does he not realize I am champion, the master of all men I have so far faced? Explain to him that I am hetman, that since he is not of the clan, such a fight must be to the death."

Alusz Iphigenia explained; Gersen said, "Inform the hetman that I have no wish to prove my high rank; that I much prefer sleeping to fighting, so long as he does not insist on your company."

Alusz Iphigenia spoke; the hetman removed his shirt. Then he spoke. "We shall settle the question of rank quickly, for there may not be two leaders to a war party. To avoid a coward's cast, we will fight with bare hands."

Gersen appraised him: tall he stood, heavy but agile, with dark flesh that seemed as hard as horn. He glanced down at Alusz Iph- igenia who looked up at him fascinated, then slowly he stepped forward. Beside the knotted dark body his own seemed pallid and elastic. To test the hetman Gersen aimed an apparently random

THE KILLWG JVMCHINE 303

blow toward his head; instantly a hard hand seized his wrist, a foot lashed out. Gersen disengaged his wrist with a jerk; he could have seized the foot and flung the hetman over, but instead allowed the toe barely to graze his hip. And he swung another left-handed blow that landed, almost as if by accident, on the hetman's neck. It felt like a tree trunk.

The hetman hopped forward, both feet at a time, in a peculiarly disconcerting manner, both arms wide. Gersen punched at the out- thrust face. He struck the left eye, but was caught up m an arm lock, of a sort he had never experienced before, which in seconds would snap his ulna. Gersen relaxed his knees, then sprang around in a kind of mad somersault, kicking the hetman in the face and wrenching his arm free. The hetman was less confident when Ger- sen faced him next. He slowly raised both arms; Gersen struck at the left eye. Again the hetman's foot lashed out, Gersen refrained from seizing the ankle; again it grazed his hip. The hetman's eye was swollen. As he sprang back after the kick, Gersen took advan- tage of an instant's respite to scrape a hollow into the sand with his foot. The hetman circled him. Gersen moved away, feinted; his wrist was seized; a great hand hacked at the back of his neck. Gersen dived instantly forward, put his shoulder to the hetman's rock-hard belly; the blow slid off his shoulder. Gersen thrust forward; the hetman pulled up a knee battering Gersen's chest. Gersen caught the knee, shifted his position, caught the ankle, twisted; the hetman was forced to fall to protect his knee; Gersen kicked him in the right eye, jumped away from the sweep of the massive red arm. He stood panting and sobbing, his chest aching; but the hetman's right eye was closing. Gersen bent, carefully enlarged the hollow in the sand. Glaring like a boar, the hetman watched him, then, apparently casting caution aside, he rushed forward: Gersen moved aside; on occasion he had exercised the same feigned recklessness. He Jabbed at the hetman's left eye, but a dazzling fast blow of the hetman's left hand crushed his wrist, causing intense pain and leaving his left hand limp. This was a serious loss, but the hetman's right eye was shut and his left eye was swollen. Ignoring the pain, Gersen flapped his now useless left hand into the red face; again the left hand swung up to hack; but Gersen caught the left wrist in his right hand, kicked behind the left knee, butted into the hetman's neck, and the hetman let himself sag, still perfectly controlled and coordinated. Grunting, hissing bet-ween his teeth, Gersen hacked into the momentarily ex-

304 THE UFMON PRINCES

posed neck; the hetman, purple in the face, slashed out back- handed; Gersen, who now was beginning to lose his agility, caught the blow on his right forearm. It was like the impact of a sledge- hammer; left and right hands both were useless. The two men stood back, both sweating and gasping. Both of the hetman's eyes were almost shut; Gersen strove to conceal the futility of his hands; it would be fatal to display weakness. Summoning his last resources he crouched, began to stalk the hetman: his arms held as if ready to strike. The hetman roared out, made his two-footed )ump; Ger- sen lurched to meet him, drove his right elbow into the black con- tusion of the hetman's neck. The hetman's arms surrounded Gersen, he began banging the side of his head against Gersen's temple. Gersen sagged low, butted at the hetman's chin, kicked at his knees. Both toppled, the hetman trying to swing Gersen under. Gersen acceded to the impulse, augmented it, landed on top, clenched in the wet maroon arms. He butted at the chin, at the nose; the hetman tried to counter with snapping teeth, heaving and lurching to roll to the top, which Gersen prevented with outspread legs. He butted, the teeth scarred his forehead. He butted at the nose, it broke. He butted again, battered down at the chin, again the teeth lacerated his forehead�but the hetman could take no more. He loosened his grip that he might place a forearm under Gersen's neck, but Gersen had been waiting. He Jerked himself free, sat upon the hetman's abdomen, then with his last energy brought his head down against the bridge of the hetman's nose.

The hetman choked, relaxed, dazed by pain, fatigue, the blows to neck and head. Gersen staggered to his feet, arms dangling. He looked down at the great maroon body. Never had he fought so terrible an antagonist. Was the hetman dead? Lesser blows had killed lesser men.

Gersen stumbled to where Alusz Iphigenia sat sobbing. In a slurred voice he said, "Tell the warriors to care for their hetman. He is a great fighter, and the enemy of my enemy."

Alusz Iphigenia spoke. P'rom the onlookers came a dismal rum- ble. Several warriors went to look down at the unconscious hetman, then glanced toward Gersen. He stood swaying. Fires flickered cra- zily, faces were a nightmare blur. He gasped for air, and looking high glimpsed a cluster of stars shaped like a scimitar. . ..

Alusz Iphigenia had risen to her feet. "Come," she said, and led him to the tent. None barred their way.

11

From "Smell Your Best," by Rudi Thumm, article in Cosmopo/is, January, 1521:

Here is an excerpt from the catalog ofAEMISTHES:

Perfumes, Redolences, Essences, Pamfile, Zaccare, Quantique. Each category is further amplified in the body of the cata- log, with the nature and quality of the constituents exactly, even redolently, defined.

Section I: Odors for Personal Use.

Beguilements:

: For the sorcelment

of a strange

maiden ; To induce a new

gallant ; To announce a

triumph : To stupefy a noisy

child

: To welcome a lover : To hint at revulsion

At festivals:

. Promenades : Revels

: Tarantellas

In Solitude:

At gatherings:

: Small societies

: Occasions of dignified circumstance

: While discussing family secrets

: At the god-yell

�morning

�evening

�rogue

�unpremeditated

et cetera

306 THE DEMON PRINCES

Section II: Ceremonial

Private occasions:

: For the house

�various essences : For the lich-way : For the ancient tree : At water tasting

�morning

�twilight

: At occasions of grief : At occasions of

remorse : To celebrate a

murder

Public occasions:

: To lave the feet of

the Zatcoon : To cast upon an

imminent

battlefield : To facilitate flight : To scent the wind : To welcome good

fortune

et cetera

What you should learn from the foregoing is plain:

when you visit Zaccare, don't wear perfume�you may find yourself involved in circumstances you didn't bargain for. The people of this fantastic and beautiful land are as sen- sitive to odors as the Sirenese are to music, and an appar- ently insignificant daub of scent affords an astonishing amount of information. As can be seen, every occasion re- quires its correct perfume, and a mistake will seem utterly ludicrous to the folk of Zaccare. Unless advised by a local, go scentless. Better neutrality than gaucherie!

Perfume manufacture is big business in Zaccare. At Pamfile, a hundred firms have their headquarters. From all over the Oikumene, oils, extracts, and essences are im- ported, with as many more collected in the nearby Tala- langi Forest.

Here are samples of Zaccare fragrances:

(scented tabs attached to page of magazine).

Before dawn the warriors stirred, blew the coals ablaze, set their

stew a-simmer. The hetman, his head a mass of bruises, sat with his back to a rock, looking dourly across the area. No one spoke to him, nor he to anyone. From the tent came Gersen, followed by Alusz Iphigenia. She had bound his left wrist, massaged his right

THE KILLING MACHINE 307

arm; aside from a thousand bruises, aches, and the sprain ot his left wrist, he was not in bad condition. He walked to where the hetman sat, and essayed to speak in the harsh dialect of the Skar Sakau. "You tought'well."

"You fought better," mumbled the hetman. "Never since boy- hood have I been beaten. I called you a coward. I was wrong. You did not kill me; by this token you become a clan-fellow, and het- man. What are your orders?"

"Suppose I ordered the party to conduct us to our ship?"

"You would not be obeyed. The men would ride off. I was as you are now�war leader. Beyond this I had only such authority as I was willing to enforce. And no more have you."

"In that case," said Gersen, "we will consider the events of last night no more than friendly exercise. You are hetman, we are your guests. WTien it suits us we shall part company."

The hetman lurched to his feet. "If these are your wishes, so be it. We proceed against our enemy Kokor Hekkus, Ruler of Misk."

The party presently was ready to proceed. A scout went to re- connoiter the valley, but returned hurriedly. "Dnazd!"

"Dnazd!" went the subdued rumble of voices.

An hour passed; the sky brightened. The scout went forth again, returned to signal that all was clear. Out into the winding valley moved the procession, and away.

At noon the valley widened and, as the war party rounded a bend, the notch made by the rocky slopes revealed a far view over a sunny green land.

Ten minutes later they came to a spot where sixty or seventy other centipedes stood tethered with warriors squatting nearby. The hetman rode forward, conferred with others of similar rank;

without delay the entire troop moved off down the valley. An hour before sunset, they came down out of the foothills into a rolling savannah. Here grazed herds of small black ruminants, tended by men and boys riding taller animals of the same general type. At the sight of the Tadousko-Oi they fled incontinently, then finding no pursuit, halted to stare in wonder.

Gradually the land became more populated. First there were a few huts, then round low-walled houses with tall conical roofs, then villages; everywhere there was flight; none dared face the T a- dousko-Oi.

308 IHF DFMON PRINCFS

At sunset the city Aglabat appeared, rising from a level green plain Battlemented walls of brown stone surrounded the city, which seemed a compact mass of tall round towers At the center, from the tallest tower of all, flew a brown and black pennon

"Kokor Hekkus is m residence," said Aiusz Iphigenia "When he is gone, no pennon flies "

Over green sward as neat and green as the turf of a park, the warriors approached the city

Alusz Iphigenia was disturbed "Best that we part company with the Tadousko-Oi before they invest the town "

"Why^" asked Gersen

"Do you think Kokor Hekkus is to be caught nappmg? At any minute the Brown Bersaglers will sally forth. There will be a ter- rible battle, we may well be killed, or worse, captured, without once coming anywhere near Kokor Hekkus "

Gersen could not quarrel with her remarks, but by some pe- culiar circumstance he had attached himself to the war band To leave now�especially when he shared the views of Alusz Iphigenia as to the probable destruction of the Tadousko-Oi�seemed like treachery Still, he had not come to Thamber for chrvalric gestures

With the city two miles distant, the party halted Gersen ap- proached the hetman "WTiat are your battle-plans^"

"We besiege the city Sooner or later Kokor Hekkus must send forth his army Before, when this occurred, we were too few and were forced to flee We still are few, but not too few We will destroy the Brown Bersaglers, we will grind the knights into dust, we will drag Kokor Hekkus across the plain to his death, then we will possess ourselves of the riches of Aglabat "

The plan had the virtue of simplicity, thought Gersen "Sup- pose the army does not come forth3"

"Sooner or later it must, unless they prefer to starve."

The sun went down into a purple sky lights shone from the towers of Aglabat Tonight no one offered discourtesy to Alusz Iphigenia, like the night before they occupied the black, tent

The sense of her nearness finally destroyed Gersen's self- control, he took her by the shoulders, looked into the dimness of her face, kissed her, and she seemed to respond But did she7 Her expression could not be seen through the dark He kissed her again, and felt moisture on her face: she was weeping Angrily he stood back 'Why are you crying7"

7//7 hllli\G MACHIM 309

"Pent-up emotions, probably "

"Because I kissed you7"

"Of course"

Suddenly everything was unsatisfactory She was in his power, sub)ect to his orders He did not want her submission, he wanted her ardor "Suppose circumstances were different," he said "Sup- pose we were in Draszane, suppose that you had no worries Sup- pose I came to you�like this�and kissed you WTiat would you do="

"I will never see Draszane again," she said sullenly "I have many worries I am your slave. Do as you like "

Gersen sat down on the floor of the tent "Very well I will go to sleep "

The following day the Fadousko-Oi moved closer to the city, camping a mile in front of its main gate On the walls, soldiers could be seen moving back and forth At noon the gates opened, out marched six regiments of pike-men wearing brown uniforms with black armor and black helmets. The Tadousko-Oi gave a hoarse whoop, sprang to their mounts Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia watched the battle from the camp It was savage and bloody, waged without quarter. The Bersaglers fought bravely but without the wild ferocity of the mountain men, presently the remnants retreated through the gates, leaving a field strewn with dead

The following day was eventless The brown and black pennon flew from the spire of the citadel Gersen asked Alusz Iphigenia, "Where does Kokor Hekkus keep his spaceship^"

"On an island to the south He has an air-car like yours to fly back and forth Until Sion Trumble attacked the island and cap- tured the spaceship I thought Kokor Hekkus a great wizard "

Gersen was more dissatisfied than ever It was clear that under no circumstances could he make contact with Kokor Hekkus Should the Tadousko-Oi succeed in storming the city, Kokor Hek- kus would escape m his air-car It was essential that they return to the Starskip Then he would take up a position where he could see but not be seen, where he could intercept the air-car that must eventually leave Aglabat, no matter what the outcome of the battle

He told ^.lusz Iphigenia of his decision, she approved "We need only fare to Carrai Sion Trumble will escort you north of the Skar Sakau, and matters will be as you wish "

"What of you--"

THE DEMON PRINCES

310

She looked away toward the north. "Sion Trumble has long desired me for his bride. He has professed his love. I am willing."

Gersen made a contemptuous sound. Noble Sion Trumble had professed his love! Gallant Sion Trumble' Gersen went to speak to the hetinan. "There were casualties in the battle, and I notice that now there are extra mounts. If you could spare me one of these, I will try to return to my spaceship."

"It shall be as you wish. Select the mount of your choice."

"The most docile and easily managed of the group will serve."

Toward evening the mount was brought to the tent; at dawn Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia would depart for Carrai.

During the night workmen from the city stole forth to erect an enclosure a hundred feet on a side, shrouded with brown cloth to a height of twenty feet. The Tadousko-Oi were furious at the in- solence. They mounted their centipedes and sallied forth, cautiously however, because the enclosure had not been set out for nothing.

Indeed it had not. When the ranks of the centipede mounts had drawn close the brown cloth bulged: out ran an enormous centipede with thirty-six legs, eyes flashing fire.

The Tadousko-Oi recoiled, swung about in confusion. "Dnazd!" came the cry. "Dnazd!"

"No dnazd," Gersen told Alusz Iphigenia. "That is the product of Patch Engineering and Construction. And it is time we were on our way." They mounted the waiting centipede, sent it scurrying off to the north-west. On the sward before the city the fort ran back and forth, while the Tadousko-Oi scuttled frantically, finally fleeing in complete disorder. In pursuit came the fort, running with a fluid ease that gave Gersen rueful pleasure. Alusz Iphigenia was not yet convinced. "Are you sure the thing is metal?"

"Absolutely."

Certain of the Tadousko-Oi came the way Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia had traveled, and the fort followed, darting bolts of pur- ple-white fire. With every flash, a centipede shriveled and five men died; presently no more were left except that ridden by Gersen and Alusz Iphigenia, a half-mile in advance. They made frantically for the foothills, the fort swerved to cut them off. Up a swell of high ground, Gersen urged the mount, around a knob of rock; here he jumped to the ground, lifted down Alusz Iphigenia. The centipede raced away. Gersen scrambled up to a hiding-place behind an out- crop of moss-covered sandstone, with Alusz Iphigenia crawling af-

THE KILLING JV1ACH1NE 311

ter. She looked at him, started to speak; then said nothing. She was dirty and scratched and disheveled; her garments were soiled, her eyes were wide, the pupils dark with fear. Gersen had no time for reassurances. He brought forth his projac, waited.

There came a whir, a thud of thirty-six racing feet; over the rise scrambled the fort, to pause and search the landscape for its prey.

Gersen fleetingly wondered if long ago in Patch's Workshop B he had subconsciously envisioned just this sort of confrontation. He set the projac at low power, took careful aim at a spot along the fort's dorsal ridge, pulled the trigger. In the cutoff cell a relay threw a switch. The legs became limber, the segmented body sagged to the ground. Presently the hatch opened; members of the crew alighted, to walk about the fort in obvious puzzlement. Gersen counted them: nine, out of a crew of eleven. Two had remained inside. All wore brown coveralls, all carried themselves in an in- definable manner that was not of Thamber. There were two who might be Seuman Otwal, or Billy Windle, or Kokor Hekkus: from distance of fifty yards, Gersen could not be sure of their faces. One turned: his neck was too long: definitely not the man Gersen sought. The other? But he had gone back into the fort. The ioni- zation began to dissipate, the legs were recovering their strength. .. . "Listen!" Alusz Iphigenia breathed into Gersen's ear.

Gersen could hear nothing. "Listen!" she said again. Now Ger- sen heard a soft click-click click-click�a sound of vast menace. It seemed to come from behind them. Down the mountainside came the creature that the fort duplicated: a true dnazd. Gersen found it hard to understand how anyone could be deceived by the metal structure. If the Tadousko-Oi had been fooled by the fort, not so the dnazd. It came scuttling forward, stopped short, apparently from curiosity and amazement. The crew had scrambled aboard and clamped the hatch. The legs were still limp; from the eye came only a weak spatter of fire, to strike the dnazd on its rear segment. It reared high, emitted a wild whistling scream, flung itself on the fort. Both toppled to the ground, both rolled and clambered- Man- dibles chewed at the metal hull, poison-tipped prongs stabbed and scratched. Within, the crew tumbled and rolled until someone man- aged to set in motion the automatic righting sequence. Power back to normal, the fort scrambled to its feet. Once again the dnazd flung itself high to hurtle down at the metal segments. Fire spat from the

312 THE DEMON PRINCES

eye; the dnazd lost the use of a leg. Again the eye took aim A central segment was blasted, and the dnazd sagged, legs thrashing at the ground. The fort moved back; fire flared from both sides of the eyes; the dnazd became a mound of reeking flesh

Gersen inched forward Once more he turned his projac on the cutoff cell. As before, the fort swayed to the ground. Presently the hatch opened, the crew limped down the ladder to the ground. Gersen counted �nine�ten�eleven. All had come forth. They conferred, then went to inspect the dead dnazd When they turned about, Gersen stood nearby, his pro)ac trained on them.

"Face away from me," said Gersen. "Stand in a line with hands in the air. I'll kill whoever gives me trouble."

There was indecision, tentative swaying and tensing as each man calculated his chances of becoming a hero. Each decided they were poor. Gersen underscored the fact with a flash of energy that scorched the ground at their feet Grudgingly, faces contorted into masks of hate, they turned their backs. Alusz Iphigenia came to )oin Gersen, "Look inside," he said. "Make sure all are out."

She returned after a moment to report the fort empty.

"Now," said Gersen to the eleven men. "You must do exactly as I say, if you value your lives. The first man to the right back up six steps." He was sullenly obeyed. Gersen took his weapon, a small but vicious projac of a design Gersen had never seen before. "Lie down, flat on your face, put your arms to the small of your back."

One by one the eleven moved back, lay flat, were disarmed and bound with straps from their own garments.

One by one Gersen turned the men over so that they lay on their backs; one by one he searched their faces None were Seuman Ocwal.

"Which of you is Kokor Hekkus7" he asked.

There was a pause, then the man who had carried the projac spoke "He is at Aglabat."

Gersen turned to Alusz Iphigenia "You know Kokor Hekkus:

do any of these men resemble him^"

Alusz Iphigenia looked searchingly at the man who had spoken. "His face is different�but his manner, his way of carrying himself is the same."

Gersen considered the man's features. They appeared genuine, without the subtle demarcations or change of texture that indicated falseness; nor did he wear a mask. But the eyes were they the eyes