Along the U-shaped table, the of and the of was out; the soft music that from the overhead louder as the diminished. The was to a close, and Dallona of Hadron with the of her as last-moment her.
The old man at right she sat noticed, and out to his hand on hers.
"My dear, you're worried," he said softly. "You, of all people, shouldn't be, you know."
"The isn't complete," she replied. "And I wish for more positive verification. I'd to think I'd got you into this—"
Garnon of Roxor laughed. "No, no!" he her. "I'd upon this long you the results of your experiments. Ask Girzon; he'll me out."
"That's true," the man who sat at Garnon's left said, forward. "Father has meant to take this step for a long time. He was waiting until after the election, and then he to do it now, to give you an opportunity to make use of it."
The man on Dallona's right added his voice. Like the others at the table, he was of medium stature, brown-skinned and dark-eyed, with a wide mouth, and a short, square jaw. Unlike the others, he was armed, with a knife and pistol on his belt, and on the of his black he a on which a pair of black wings, with a object them had been superimposed.
"Yes, Lady Dallona; the Lord Garnon and I this, oh, two years ago at the least. Really, I'm that you to from it, now. Of course, you're Venus-born, and there may be different, but with your scientific knowledge—"
"That may be the trouble, Dirzed," Dallona told him. "A scientist in the way of doubting, and one one's own most of all."
"That's the scientific attitude, I'm told," Dirzed replied, smiling. "But somehow, I cannot think of you as a scientist." His over her in a way that would have most women, scientists or otherwise, blush. It gave Dallona of Hadron a of pleasure. Men often looked at her that way, here at Darsh. Novelty had something to do with it—her skin was than usual, and there was a about the of her face. Her Venusian was as the of that, as of so many other things.
As she was about to reply, a man in dark gray, one of the upper-servants who were as social equals by the Akor-Neb nobles, approached the table. He to Garnon of Roxor.
"I to to things, sir, but the boy's ready. He's in a trance-state now," he reported, pointing to the pair of at the end of the room.
Both of the ten-foot-square plates were activated. One was a solid white; on the other was the image of a boy of twelve or fourteen, seated at a big machine. Even for the that the boy was in a trance, there was an of on his loose-lipped, slack-jawed face, a dullness.
"One of our best sensitives," a man with a beard, places the table on Dallona's right, said. "You him, Dallona; he produced that from the Assassin, Sirzim. Normally, he's a low-grade imbecile, but in trance-state he's wonderful. And there can be no that the he produces in his own mind; he doesn't have mind enough, of his own, to that machine."
Garnon of Roxor rose to his feet, the others with him. He a from the of his and it to Dallona.
"Here, my dear Lady Dallona; I want you to have this," he said. "It's been in the family of Roxor for six generations, but I know that you will and it." He a ring from his left hand and gave it to his son. He his watch and passed it across the table to the gray-clad upper-servant. He gave a pocket case, tools, and magnifier, to the man on the other of Dallona. "Something you can use, Dr. Harnosh," he said. Then he took a belt, with a knife and pistol, from a who had it to him, and gave it to the man with the red badge. "And something for you, Dirzed. The pistol's by Farnor of Yand, and the knife was and on Luna."
The man with the winged-bullet took the weapons, in appreciation. Then he his own and on the gift.
"The pistol's loaded," Garnon told him.
Dirzed it and checked—a man of his took no about without verification—then it into the holster.
"Shall I use it?" he asked.
"By all means; I'd had that in mind when I it for you."
Another man, to the left of Girzon, a cigarette case and lighter. He and Garnon and shoulders.
"Our views haven't been the same, Garnon," he said, "but I've always valued your friendship. I'm sorry you're doing this, now; I you'll be disappointed."
Garnon chuckled. "Would you to make a small on that, Nirzav?" he asked. "You know what I'm up. If I'm proven right, will you accept the Volitionalist as verified?"
Nirzav his for a moment. "Yes, Garnon, I will." He pointed toward the white screen. "If we anything on that, I'll have no other choice."
"All right, friends," Garnon said to those around him. "Will you walk with me to the end of the room?"
Servants a from the table in of him, to allow him and a others to pass through; the of the guests at the table, toward the of the room. Garnon's son, Girzon, and the gray-mustached Nirzav of Shonna, walked on his left; Dallona of Hadron and Dr. Harnosh of Hosh on his right. The gray-clad upper-servant, and two or three ladies, and a with a small chin-beard, and others, joined them; of those who had sat close to Garnon, only the man in the black with the back. He still, by the in the table, Garnon of Roxor walk away from him. Then Dirzed the Assassin the pistol he had as a gift, it in his hand, off the safety, and at the of Garnon's head.
They had nearly the end of the room when the pistol cracked. Dallona of Hadron started, almost as though the had into her own body, then herself and on walking. She closed her and a hand on Dr. Harnosh's arm for guidance, her mind upon a single question. The others on as though Garnon of Roxor were still walking among them.
"Look!" Harnosh of Hosh cried, pointing to the image in the ahead. "He's under control!"
They all stopped short, and Dirzed, his pistol, to join them. Behind, a of had approached with a and were up the that had, a moment ago, been Garnon.
A had come over the boy at the machine. His were still with the of the trance, but the had stiffened, and the mouth was in a line. As they watched, his hands out to the in of him and to move over it, and as they did, appeared on the white screen on the left.
Garnon of Roxor, discarnate, communicating, they read. The machine stopped for a moment, then again. To Dallona of Hadron: The question you asked, after I discarnated, was: What was the last book I read, the feast? While waiting for my to prepare my bath, I read the ten of the fourth Canto of "Splendor of Space," by Larnov of Horka, in my bedroom. When the was ready, I marked the page with a of message tape, a message from the of my on the Shevva River, a at the power plant, and the book on the ivory-inlaid table the big red chair.
Harnosh of Hosh looked at Dallona inquiringly; she nodded.
"I rejected the question I had in my mind, and that one, after the shot," she said.
He to the upper-servant. "Check on that, right away, Kirzon," he directed.
As the upper-servant out, the machine started again.
And to my son, Girzon: I will not use your son, Garnon, as a reincarnation-vehicle; I will until he is and has a son of his own; if he has no male child, I will in the available male child of the family of Roxor, or of some family to us by marriage. In any case, I will reincarnating.
To Nirzav of Shonna: Ten days ago, when I at your home, I took a small knife and cut three notches, two close together and one a little from the others, on the under of the table. As I remember, I sat two places on the left. If you them, you will know that I have that that I spoke of a minutes ago.
"I'll have my check on that, right away," Nirzav said. His were wide with amazement, and he had to sweat; a man not watch the of a lifetime in a moments.
To Dirzed the Assassin: the machine continued. You have me faithfully, in the last ten years, more so than with the last you in my service. After you fired, the was in your mind that you would like to take service with the Lady Dallona of Hadron, you will need the protection of a of the Society of Assassins. I you to do so, and I her to accept your offer. Her work, since she has come to Darsh, has not her popular in some quarters. No Nirzav of Shonna can me out on that.
"I won't told me in confidence, or said at the Councils of the Statisticalists, but he's right," Nirzav said. "You need a good Assassin, and there are than Dirzed."
I see that this is weary, the on the screen out. His is not for communication. I you all farewell, for the time; I will again. Good evening, my friends, and I thank you for your presence at the feast.
The boy, on the other screen, in his chair, his into its of vacancy.
"Will you accept my offer of service, Lady Dallona?" Dirzed asked. "It's as Garnon said; you've enemies."
Dallona at him. "I've not been too in my work to know that. I'm to accept your offer, Dirzed."
Nirzav of Shonna had already away from the group and was from the room, to call his home for on the on the of his table. As he out the door, he almost with the upper-servant, who was in with a book in his hand.
"Here it is," the exclaimed, up the book. "Larnov's 'Splendor of Space,' just where he said it would be. I had a of with me as witnesses; I can call them in now, if you wish." He the book to Harnosh of Hosh. "See, a of message tape in it, at the tenth of the Fourth Canto."
Nirzav of Shonna re-entered the room; he was his and to himself. As he the group in of the now dark visiplates, he his voice, them all generally.
"My the notches, just as the described," he said. "This settles it! Garnon, if you're where you can me, you've won. I can't in the Statisticalist after this, or in the political program upon them. I'll my of at the next meeting of the Executive Council, and my seat. I was elected by Statisticalist votes, and I cannot office as a Volitionalist."
"You'll need a of Assassins, too," the with the chin-beard told him. "Your and fellow-party-members are to the of those who differ with them."
"I've personal Assassins before," Nirzav replied, "but I think you're right. As soon as I home, I'll call Assassins' Hall and make the necessary arrangements."
"Better do it now," Girzon of Roxor told him, his voice. "There are over a hundred guests here, and I can't for all of them. The Statisticalists would be sure to have a planted among them. My father was one of their most opponents, when he was on the Council; they've always been he'd come out of retirement and for re-election. They'd want to make sure he was discarnate. And if that's the case, you can be sure your of is to old Mirzark of Bashad by this time. He won't allow you to make a public of Statisticalism." He to the other nobleman. "Prince Jirzyn, why don't you call the Volitionist and have a of our Assassins sent here to Lord Nirzav home?"
"I'll do that immediately," Jirzyn of Starpha said. "It's as Lord Girzon says; we can be sure there was a among the guests, and now that you've come over to our way of thinking, we're for your safety."
He left the room to make the necessary call. Dallona, by Dirzed, returned to her place at the table, where she was joined by Harnosh of Hosh and some of the others.
"There's no question about the results," Harnosh was exulting. "I'll that the boy might have up some of that from the minds present here; from the mind of Garnon, he was discarnated. But he not have up data, in that way, to make a and communication. It takes a with a powerful mind of his own to telesthesia, and that boy's almost an idiot." He to Dallona. "You asked a question, mentally, after Garnon was discarnate, and got an answer that have been only in Garnon's mind. I think it's proof that the Garnon was and communicating."
"Dirzed also asked a question, mentally, after the discarnation, and got an answer. Dr. Harnosh, we can positively that the is in the state, is sensitive, and is of with other minds," Dallona agreed. "And in view of our work with memory-recalls, we're in positively that the is of choice in vehicles."
"My father had been for a long time," Girzon of Roxor said. "Ever since the of my mother. He that step he was to the Volitionalist Party of his support. Now it would that he has done more to Statisticalism by than he did in his existence."
"I don't know, Girzon," Jirzyn of Starpha said, as he joined the group. "The Statisticalists will the whole thing as a fraud. And if they can the Lady Dallona she can record her under truth or on a detector, we're no off than we were before. Dirzed, you have a great in the Lady Dallona; some security will be needed."
In his office, in the First Level city of Dhergabar, Tortha Karf, Chief of Paratime Police, in his chair to his for his special assistant, Verkan Vall, then his own cigarette. He was a man of middle age—his three hundredth birthday was only a decade or so off—and he had to a and a at his waistline. His hair, once black, had a iron-gray and was to thin in front.
"What do you know about the Second Level Akor-Neb Sector, Vall?" he inquired. "Ever work in that paratime-area?"
Verkan Vall's more than as he the which should hypnotically-acquired knowledge into his mind. Then he his head.
"Must be a well-behaved sector, sir," he said. "Or else we've been lucky, so far. I was on an Akor-Neb operation; don't have a hypno-mech for that sector. All I know is from reading.
"Like all the Second Level, its time-lines from the of one or more of having come to Terra from Mars about seventy-five to a hundred thousand years ago, and then having been cut off from the home and to a of their own here. The Akor-Neb is of a high culture-order, for Second Level. An atomic-power, culture; gravity-counteraction, direct of energy to power, that of thing. We and from them." He the material of his smartly-cut green police uniform. "I think this cloth is Akor-Neb. We sell a of Venusian zerfa-leaf; they it, and mixed with tobacco. They have a single System-wide government, a single race, and a language. They're a dark-brown race, which in its present about fifty thousand years ago; the present is about ten thousand years old, out of the of which or through wars, of resources, et cetera. They have legends, maybe records, of their origin."
Tortha Karf nodded. "Pretty good, for knowledge," he commented. "Well, our luck's out, on that sector; we have there, now. I want you to go iron them out. I know, you've been going hard, lately—that business, on the Fourth Level Europo-American Sector, wasn't any picnic. But the is that a of my ordinary and have a little too much for the of life, and this is something that may need some action."
"Some of our people out of line?" Verkan Vall asked.
"Well, the data isn't too complete, but one of our people has into trouble on that sector, and needs rescuing—a psychic-science researcher, a lady named Hadron Dalla. I you know her, don't you?" Tortha Karf asked innocently.
"Slightly," Verkan Vall deadpanned. "I a but companionate-marriage with her, about twenty years ago. What of a jam's little Dalla got herself into, now?"
"Well, frankly, we don't know. I she's still alive, but I'm not optimistic. It that about a year ago, Dr. Hadron to the Second Level, to study proof of which the Akor-Neb people were reported to possess. She to Gindrabar, on Venus, and to the Second Paratime Level, to a station by Outtime Import & Export Trading Corporation—a just east of the High Ridge country. There she an identity as the of a planter, and took the name of Dallona of Hadron. Parenthetically, all Akor-Neb family-names are prepositional; family-names were originally place names. I that Akor-Neb relations were too to permit exact of paternity. And all Akor-Neb men's personal names have -irz- or -arn- in the middle, and women's names end in -itra- or -ona. You call Virzal of Verkan, for instance.
Illustration
"Anyhow, she the Second Level Venus-Terra on a regular liner, and at the Akor-Neb city of Ghamma, on the upper Nile. There she with the Outtime Trading Corporation representative, Zortan Brend, as Brarnend of Zorda. He couldn't call himself Brarnend of Zortan—in the Akor-Neb language, is a particularly dirty-word. Hadron Dalla a at his residence, herself on local conditions. Then she to the city, Darsh, in Europe, and as a student at something called the Independent Institute for Reincarnation Research, having a of to its director, a Dr. Harnosh of Hosh.
"Almost at once, she sending in reports to her home organization, the Rhogom Memorial Foundation of Psychic Science, here at Dhergabar, through Zortan Brend. The people there were enthusiastic. I don't have more than the intelligent—I hope—layman's knowledge of psychics, but Dr. Volzar Darv, the of Rhogom Foundation, tells me that in the present form, her reports have opened whole new in the science. It that these Akor-Neb people have actually demonstrated, as a scientific fact, that the after physical death—that your personality, and mine, have existed, as such, for ages, and will for to come. More, they have means of recovering, from almost anybody, memories of past reincarnations.
"Well, after about a month, the people at this Reincarnation Institute that this Dallona of Hadron wasn't any ordinary student. She had trouble to the local level of knowledge. So, as soon as she'd learned their techniques, she was allowed to work of her own. I she let herself out on that; as soon as she'd the Akor-Neb methods of memories of past reincarnations, she and them more than the local had been able to do in the past thousand years. I can't tell you just what she did, I don't know the subject, but she must have up properly. She got a of local publicity; not only scientific journals, but newscasts.
"Then, four days ago, she disappeared, and her to have been with an attempt on her life. We don't know as much about this as we should; all we have is Zortan Brend's account.
"It that on the of her disappearance, she had been the feast—suicide party—of a named Garnon of Roxor. Evidently when the Akor-Neb people of their they in their friends, a big party, and then do themselves in in an of conviviality. Frequently they take or gas; this had his personal man shoot him through the head. Dalla was one of the guests of honor, along with this Harnosh of Hosh. They'd preparations, and after the they got a and spirit-communication from the late Garnon. The was just a social event, it seems, but the an uproar, and top place on the System-wide newscasts, and started a of controversy.
"After the and the communication, Dalla took the gun artist, one Dirzed, into her own service. This Dirzed was spoken of as a of something called the Society of Assassins, and that'll give you an idea of what are like on that sector, and why I don't want to send who might trigger-finger at the moment. She and Dirzed left the home of the who had just had himself discarnated, for Dalla's apartment, about a hundred miles away. That's the last that's been of either of them.
"This attempt on Dalla's life while the pre-mortem were still going on. She in a six-room apartment, with three servants, on one of the upper of a three-thousand-foot tower—Akor-Neb are vertically, with units—and while she was at this feast, a was delivered at the apartment, from the Reincarnation Institute and up to look as though it record tapes. One of the it from a service employee of the apartments. The next morning, a little noon, Dr. Harnosh of Hosh called her on the and got no answer; he then called the manager, who entered the apartment. He all three of the dead, from a lethal-gas bomb which had when one of them had opened this package. However, Hadron Dalla had returned to the apartment, the night before."
Verkan Vall was motionless, his as he ran Tortha Karf's through the and of the First Level mentality. The that Hadron Dalla had been a wife of his had been to one of his and there; it was not a that would, at the moment, to the problem or to his of it.
"The was delivered while she was at this suicide party," he considered. "It must, therefore, have been sent by somebody who either did not know she would be out of the apartment, or who did not it to until after her return. On the other hand, if her was to action, it was the work of somebody who she was at the and did not want her to her again. This would to the of the bomb."
Tortha Karf nodded. He had that conclusion, himself.
"Thus," Verkan Vall continued, "if her was the work of an enemy, she must have two enemies, each in of the other's plans."
"What do you think she did to such enmity?"
"Well, of course, it just might be that Dalla's love-life had got a little more than and short-circuited on her," Verkan Vall said, out of the of personal knowledge, "but I that, at the moment. I would think that this has political implications."
"So?" Tortha Karf had not of politics as an explanation. He waited for Verkan Vall to elaborate.
"Don't you see, chief?" the special asked. "We a in on many time-lines, as a religious doctrine, but these people accept it as a scientific fact. Such would much more conviction; it would a people's entire thinking. We see it in their for death—suicide as a social function, this Society of Assassins, and the like. It would naturally color their political thinking, politics is nothing but common action to secure more conditions, and to these people, the term 'living conditions' not only the present life, but also an number of as well. I this title, 'Independent' Institute, suggestive. Independent of what? Possibly of affiliation."
"But wouldn't these people be to her for her new discoveries, which would them to plan their more intelligently?" Tortha Karf asked.
"Oh, chief!" Verkan Vall reproached. "You know than that! How many times have our people got in trouble on other time-lines they some useful scientific that with the nonsense? You me ten men who some religious or political ideology, and I'll you nine men minds are to any which their beliefs, and who the of such as a who ought to be suppressed. For instance, on the Fourth Level Europo-American Sector, where I was just working, there is a political sect, the Communists, who, in the under their control, the teaching of well-established of and heredity, those do not fit the world-picture by their political doctrines. And on the same sector, a religious tried, in some successfully, to the teaching of by natural selection."
Tortha Karf nodded. "I some my told me, about his narrow from an organization called the Holy Inquisition, when he was a on the Fourth Level, about four hundred years ago. I that thing's still operating, on the Europo-American Sector, under the name of the NKVD. So you think Dalla may have proven something that with local theories, and somebody who had a in those is trying to stop her?"
"You spoke of a over the to have with this nobleman. That would a of opinion on the manner of nature of or the state. This may mark the line the different political parties. Now, to to this Darsh place, do I have to go to Venus, as Dalla did?"
"No. The Outtime Trading Corporation has at Ravvanan, on the Nile, which is co-existent with the city of Ghamma on the Akor-Neb Sector, where Zortan Brend is. You through there, and Zortan Brend will you to Darsh. It'll take you about two days, here, your hypno-mech and having your skin pigmented, and your black. I'll Zortan Brend at once that you're through. Is there anything special you'll want?"
"Why, I'll want an of the reports Dalla sent to Rhogom Foundation. It's likely that there is some among them as to her may have antagonized. I'm going to be a Venusian zerfa-planter, a friend of her father's; I'll want full hypno-mech to me to play that part. And I'll want to myself with Akor-Neb and techniques. I think that will be all, chief."
