The the entrance of the Foundation jumped at the noise and for his gun. He his hand when he it was only a sneeze—though a one. Brion came up, sniffling, into his coat. "I'm going out I catch pneumonia," he said. The dumbly, and after his screens he out and the portal him. The was still warm from the of the day and he and opened his coat.
This was a trip—and a way of up. There was little else he do in the building; the staff had long since retired. He had slept for a an hour, and had and to work. All of the reports he had been read and until they were memorized. He use the time now, while the of them were asleep, to with the main city of Dis.
As he walked the dark he how the Disan way of life was to he knew. This city—Hovedstad—literally meant "main place" in the native language. And that's all it was. It was only the presence of the that it into a city. Building after building, deserted, the names of companies, traders, space transporters. None of them was now. Some still had lights burning, on by apparatus, others were as dark as the Disan structures. There weren't many of these native and they out of place among the earth and buildings. Brion one that was by the light on the of VEGAN SMELTERS, LTD.[Pg 74]
It of a single large room, right on the ground. There were no windows, and the whole thing appeared to have been of some of material with stone-hard mud. Nothing was the door and he was of going in when he aware that he was being followed.
It was only a noise, almost in the night. Normally it would have been noticed, but tonight Brion was with his entire body. Someone was him, up in the of darkness. Brion against the wall. There was very little this be anyone but a Disan. He had a memory of Mervv's as it had been the door.
Ihjel had helped him train his and he out with it. It was difficult in the dark; he be sure of nothing. Was he a reaction—or just for one? Why did it have a ring of to it? A idea him.
"Ulv," he said, very softly. "This is Brion." He crouched, for any attack.
"I know," a voice said in the night. "Do not talk. Walk in the direction you were going before."
Asking questions now would nothing. Brion and did as he was bidden. The until he from the that he was in the planet-wide desert. It be a trap—he hadn't the voice the whisper—yet he had to take this chance. A shape appeared in the dark night near him, and a hand touched his arm lightly.
"I will walk ahead. Follow close me." The were louder and this time Brion the voice.
Without waiting for an answer, Ulv and his shape into the darkness. Brion moved after him, until they walked by over the of sand. The into hard-baked ground, and scarred[Pg 75] with rock-filled gulleys. They a that into a good-sized ravine. When they an of the Brion saw a weak yellow light from an opening in the hard wall.
Ulv on all and through the shoulder-wide hole. Brion him, trying to the and he felt. Crawling like this, down, he was vulnerable. He to off the feeling, it on nerves.
The was and opened into a larger chamber. A of at the same that a of him. It took to his way out of the tunnel, to roll clear and his gun up. During those he should have died. The Disan above him had the short-handled to a skull-crushing blow.
Ulv was the man's wrist, to keep the from falling. Neither said a word, the of their on the the only sound. Brion away from the men, his gun on the stranger. The Disan him with eyes, and the as soon as it was the attack had failed.
"Why did you him here?" he at Ulv. "Why didn't you kill him?"
"He is here so we can to what he says, Gebk. He is the one I told you of, that I in the desert."
"We to what he says and then we kill him," Gebk said with a grin. The wasn't meant to be humorous, but was in all seriousness. Brion this and that there was no for the present moment. He the gun away, and for the time looked around the chamber.
It was in shape and was still from the of the day. Ulv took off the length of cloth he had around his against the chill, and[Pg 76] it as a kilt, it on under his artifacts. He something and when a answer came, Brion for the time aware of the woman and the child.
The two sat against the wall, on either of a of plants. Both were nude, only in the that their shoulders. The of not be as clothing. Even the child a of her mother's. Putting a length of plant she had been chewing, the woman over to the fire that the room. A pot over it, and from this she three of food for the men. It atrocious, and Brion not to taste or the mixture while he ate it. He used his fingers, as did the other men, and did not talk while he ate. There was no way to tell if the was or habit. It gave him a for a closer look at the Disan way of living.
The was hand-made; tool marks be in the hard of the walls, in the opposite the entrance. This was with a network of roots, out of the and into the of earth above. Perhaps this was the for the cave's existence. The thin had been and together until they a single in the center, as thick as a man's arm. From this four of the vaedes: Ulv had his there he sat down. The teeth must have in, for it unsupported—another link in the Disan life cycle. This appeared to be the of the vaede's water that the people.
Brion was aware of upon him and and at the little girl. She couldn't have been over six years old, but she was already a Disan in every way. She neither returned his her expression, in its stolidity. Her hands and stopped as she on the lengths of plant her mother had her. The child them with a small tool and a pod[Pg 77] of some kind. This was peeled—partially by with a different tool, and by her teeth. It took long minutes to remove the rind; the results it. A object was which the girl swallowed. She then on the next pod.
Ulv put his bowl and belched. "I you to the city as I told you I would," he said. "Have you done as you said you would?"
"What did he promise?" Gebk asked.
"That he would stop the war. Have you stopped it?"
"I am trying to stop it," Brion said. "But it is not that easy. I'll need some help. It is your life that needs saving—yours and your families'. If you would help me—"
"What is the truth?" Ulv in savagely. "All I is difference, and there is no longer any way to tell truth. For as long as always we have done as the say. We them food and they give us the metal and sometimes water when we need it. As long as we do as they ask they do not kill us. They live the way, but I have had from them for my tools. They have told us that they are a world for us from the sky people, and that is good."
"It has always been that the sky people are in every way, and only good can come from killing them," Gebk said.
Brion at the two Disans and their hatred. "Then why didn't you kill me, Ulv?" he asked. "That time in the desert, or tonight when you stopped Gebk?"
"I have. But there was something more important. What is the truth? Can we as we have always done? Or should we to this?"
He a small of plastic to Brion, no than the of his hand. A metal was to one of the wafer, and a was in the wafer. Brion it to the light and saw a picture of a man's hand the thumb and forefinger. It was[Pg 78] a playback; pressure on the case provided to play the recorded message. The plastic vibrated, acting as a loudspeaker.
Though the voice was thin and scratchy, the were audible. It was an for the Disan people not to to the magter. It that the had started a that have only one ending—the of Dis. Only if the were and their there be any hope.
"Are these true?" Ulv asked.
"Yes," Brion said.
"They are true," Gebk said, "but there is nothing that we can do. I was with my when these word-things out of the sky and he to one and took it to the to ask them. They killed him, as he should have they would do. The kill us if they know we to the words."
"And the tell us we will die if we to the magter!" Ulv shouted, his voice cracking. Not with fear, but with at the attempt to two opposite points of view. Up until this time his world had of black and white values, with very of in between.
"There are you can do that will stop the without or the magter," Brion said, for a way to their aid.
"Tell us," Ulv grunted.
"There would be no if the be contacted, to to reason. They are killing you all. You tell me how to talk to the magter, how I them—"
"No one can talk to the magter," the woman in. "If you say something different they will kill you as they killed Gebk's brother. So they are easy to understand. That is the way they are. They do not change." She put the length of plant she had been for the child into her mouth. Her were and from a lifetime of[Pg 79] this work, her teeth at the almost to the bone.
"Mor is right," Ulv said. "You do not talk to magter. What else is there to do?"
Brion looked at the two men he spoke, and his weight. The motion his just a from his gun. "The have that will Nyjord—this is the next planet, a star in your sky. If I can where the are, I will have them taken away and there will be no war."
"You want to the in the sky against our own people!" Gebk shouted, rising. Ulv him to the ground, but there was no more in his voice as he spoke.
"You are too much. You will now."
"Will you help me, though? Will you help stop the war?" Brion asked, aware he had gone too far, but unable to stop. Their anger was making them the for his being there.
"You ask too much," Ulv said again. "Go now. We will talk about it."
"Will I see you again? How can I you?"
"We will you if we wish to talk to you," was all Ulv said. If they he was he would see them again. There was nothing he do about it.
"I have up my mind," Gebk said, to his and his cloth up until it his shoulders. "You are and this is all a of the sky people. If I see you again I will kill you." He to the and was gone.
There was nothing more to be said. Brion out next—checking to be sure that Gebk had left—and Ulv him to the spot where the lights of Hovedstad were visible. He did not speak their return and without a word. Brion in the night of the air and his more around himself. Depressed, he walked the of the city.
It was when he the Foundation[Pg 80] building; a new was at the entrance. No amount of or the man to open until Faussel came down, and with sleep. He was starting some when Brion cut him off and ordered him to and report for work at once. Still elated, Brion into his office and the who had on his air to the room again. When he it off this time he parts to keep it out of order for the duration.
When Faussel came in he was still his fist—obviously a low morning-sugar type. "Before you on your face, go out and some coffee," Brion said. "Two cups. I'll have a cup too."
"That won't be necessary," Faussel said, himself up stiffly. "I'll call the if you wish some." He said it in the he manage this early in the morning.
In his Brion had the he had against himself. "Suit yourself," he said shortly, into the role. "But the next time you there'll be a negative entry in your service record. If that's clear—you can me on this organization's visible relations with the Disans. How do they take us?"
Faussel and a yawn. "I they look on the C.R.F. people as some of simpleton, sir. They all offworlders; memory of their has been passed on for generations. So by their one-to-one logic we should either or go away. We instead. And give them food, water, medicine and artifacts. Because of this they let us on sufferance. I they us do-gooder idiots, and as long as we no trouble they'll let us stay." He was to a yawn, so Brion his and gave him a to it out.
"What about the Nyjorders? How much do they know of our work?" Brion looked out the window at buildings, in against the colors of the sunrise.[Pg 81]
"Nyjord is a planet, and has full knowledge at all executive levels. They are us all the they can."
"Well, now is the time to ask for more. Can I the of the fleet?"
"There is a right through to him. I'll set it up." Faussel over the and a number into the phone controls. The screen with the black and white patterns of the scrambler.
"That's all, Faussel," Brion said. "I want for this talk. What's the commander's name?"
"Professor Krafft—he's a physicist. They have no men at all, so they called him in for the of the and energy weapons. He's still in charge." Faussel as he out the door.
The Professor-Commander was very old, with and a network of his eyes. His image shimmered, then as the aligned.
"You must be Brion Brandd," he said. "I have to tell you how sorry we all are that your friend Ihjel and the two others—had to die, after so to help us. I'm sure you are very happy to have had a friend like that."
"Why ... yes, of course," Brion said, for the of his processes. It took an to the conflict, now that he was about the death of a planet. "It's very of you to mention it. But I would like to out a from you, if I could."
"Anything at all; we are at your disposal. Before we begin, though, I shall pass on the thanks of our for your in joining us. Even if we are to the bombs, we shall that your organization did possible to the disaster."
Once again Brion was off balance. For an he if Krafft was being insincere, then the of this thought. The of the man's was and[Pg 82] compelling. The passed through Brion's mind that now he had an additional for wanting the ended without on either side. He very much wanted to visit Nyjord and see these people on their home grounds.
Professor Krafft waited, and silently, while Brion his together and answered. "I still that this thing can be stopped in time. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to see Lig-magte and I it would be if I had a reason. Are you in with him?"
Krafft his head. "No, not in contact. When this trouble started I sent him a so we talk directly. But he has delivered his ultimatum, speaking for the magter. The only terms he will are surrender. His is on, but he has said that is the only message he will answer."
"Not much of him being told that," Brion said.
"There was—at one time. I you realize, Brion, that the to bomb Dis was not easily at. A great many people—myself included—voted for surrender. We the vote by a very small margin."
Brion was used to these and he rolled with the now. "Are there any of your people left on this planet? Or do you have any I can call on for help? This is still a possibility, but if I do out where the or the are, a would them out."
"We have no people left in Hovedstad now—all the ones who weren't were killed. But there are by here to make a landing if the are detected. The Disans must on to protect their armament, since we have the and the technology to any objective. We also have and other looking for the sites.[Pg 83] They have not been successful as yet, and most of them were killed soon after landing."
Krafft for a moment. "There is another group you should know about; you will need all the factors. Some of our people are in the of Hovedstad. We do not officially approve of them, though they have a good of popular support. They are mostly men, as raiders, killing and with very little compunction. They are attempting to the by of arms."
This was the best news yet. Brion his voice and his when he spoke. "I don't know how I can your cooperation—but you possibly tell me how to in touch with them?"
Kraft allowed himself a small smile. "I'll give you the length on which you can their radio. They call themselves the 'Nyjord army.' When you talk to them you can do me a favor. Pass on a message. Just to prove aren't enough, they've a little worse. One of our has jump-space energy in the crust. The Disans are their projector, sooner than we had estimated. Our has been by one day. I'm there are only two days left you must evacuate." His were large with compassion. "I'm sorry. I know this will make your job that much harder."
Brion didn't want to think about the of a full day from his already close deadline. "Have you told the Disans this yet?"
"No," Krafft told him. "The was a minutes your call. It is going on the radio to Lig-magte now."
"Can you the and let me take the message in person?"
"I can do that." Krafft for a moment. "But it would surely your death at their hands. They have no in killing any of our people. I would to send it by radio."
"If you do that you will be with my[Pg 84] plans, and them under the of saving my life. Isn't my life my own—to of as I will?"
For the time Professor Krafft was upset. "I'm sorry, sorry. I'm my and worry wash over into my public affairs. Of you may do as you please; I think of stopping you." He and said something offscreen. "The call is cancelled. The is yours. All our for success go with you. End of transmission."
"End of transmission," Brion said, and the screen dark.
"Faussel!" he into the intercom. "Get me the best and car we have, a driver who his way around, and two men who can a gun and know how to take orders. We're going to some positive action at last."[Pg 85]
