Wearily, Rynason off the interpreter, the still to the alien. He walked through the echoing, dust-filled temple and out onto the around it. It was almost dark now; the of the Hirlaj sky had almost black and the lights of the through. The wind was from the Flat; it his and it around his head. He looked up at the stars, the day when Horng had suddenly, and walked to the of a staircase. He had looked up those stairs, past where they had and fallen, past the roof, to the sky. The Hirlaji had the stars, but they might have. It had taken a god, or a from an older, race, to them. And now all they had was the and the wind.
Rynason the of that wind itself around him, to a planet-dirge among the of the Temple. And inside, the Hirlaji were dying. The and of the Earth would only complete the job; the Hirlaji were too to live. They under the … of the past. And sometimes, perhaps, of the stars.
Behind the altar, the and of and and … slowly; at random, but steadily. The brain must be self-perpetuating to have this long … its energy from some power-source Rynason only at, and repairing its time-worn when necessary. In its memory banks was the science of the which had the Hirlaji. The Outsiders had up when this was young, had their way to the and galaxies, and eventually, when of time pressed down, had in their and to this world. And they had died here, on this world, to which was ground under by the which had them to dominance. “Before time,” Horng had said; that must have meant the Hirlaji had telepathy, the period by the race-memory.
But the Outsiders were still here, alive in that brain … the science, the knowledge, the of a which had the while men still about the magic of and fire. A science was here which speak of and as discontent, but say nothing of contentment. An science? A science? Rynason didn’t know.
And the Hirlaji…. Twenty-six of their remained, under through which the at night and the of stone. Twenty-six grey, beings who had not been waiting. And the Earthmen had come.
For a moment Rynason if the Hirlaji did not a message for the Earthmen too: that was the price of peace, death the end of contentment. The Hirlaji had themselves, in the past … had taken their measure of and for thousands of years, the of their them. And this was their end.
THERE IS NO PURPOSE.
Rynason himself, and the cold wind cut through his clothing; it him. Stooping, he up of the and them with him to the of the stairs up which the must come. He those stairs, for movement below. But he couldn’t see anything.
Something about the Hirlaji still him; in the he it in his mind. It was their hopelessness, the that had over them through the centuries. No purpose? But they had in peace for thousands of years. No, their death was not one of … it was suffocation.
They had not peace; it had been upon them. The Hirlaji had been at the of their power, their still … and they had to it. The end in view didn’t matter: it had not been what they would have chosen. And, having had peace upon them they had been for it, they had been unable to it; and the of scientific that had been necessary to complete the of the war-instinct had left the Hirlaji with nothing.
But it had all been so unnecessary, Rynason thought. The Outsiders brain, from a on Earth, had been able to give only a of the situation. But the proto-Hirlaji language was not to if’s and maybe’s, and the of the brain were taken as law by the Hirlaji.
Now the Earthmen for this had itself into near-extinction would complete the job … the Hirlaji had learned their mistake too late.
Rynason his head; there was a in his stomach, a anger at the of history. It was capricious, cruel, senseless. It played millennia.
Suddenly there were on the stairs him. Rynason’s up and he saw five of the Earthmen the stairs, moving as as they from level to level, at each the of the steps. He one of the disintegrators, the up him.
There was a by his ear; the of one of the passed by him, the wall. The at the touch, but the range was too great for the to have done it any damage. They were close enough, though to Rynason if they him.
He flat, looking for the man who had fired. In a moment he him: a small, man almost over the of one of the step-levels and rolled to the next. He had got than Rynason had realized; only three them now. He see, from this in the near-dark, the lines of the man’s face. It was a harsh, dirty face, with like seams; the man’s were slits. Rynason had too many like that here on the Edge; this was a man with a hatred, looking for the to it upon anyone who got in his way. And the which Rynason saw in the man’s him momentarily.
In that moment the man to the next level, sending off a which the two from Rynason; he the against his as he flat. Slowly he the at the top of the level under which the man had for cover, and waited for his next leap. Within him he only a cold which matched the wind above him.
Again the man moved—but he had to the of the stairs he leaped, and Rynason’s into the him as he rolled to safety. Now only one level them.
Further the stairs, Rynason saw the others moving up the smaller man. Still more were moving out from the other and to the stairs. But he had no time to them back.
There was silence, for the wind.
And the man leaped, once, twice. The second took Rynason in the left and him off-balance for a moment. But he was already in return, to one side. His third took the man’s right off, and into his neck. The man two steps, trying to his again, but it to the and he on top of it. A of blood spread around him.
Rynason moved to the of the wall, and for the other men. The one had got too near; Rynason hadn’t how easily they approach in this near-darkness. He the of the nearly to his shoulder; his left arm was useless. Cursing, he the along the line of the steps and fired.
The cut through the as though it were putty, for a range of twenty feet. Rynason played the and along the steps, them to a which the would have to climb they to him.
One of them to the last Rynason cut them, but he the man in two through the chest. The parts of the man’s and rolled to the below. He had not had time to a of pain.
For a time, now, there was complete in the wind. Rynason see the of the last out over the of the third level down, and the others saw them too. They were now, of themselves. Rynason pressed to the floor, waiting. The wind in a through the upper of the building.
Another of the men over the of the stairs, the at the of the stair-wall, and slowly his way up the newly-flattened ramp. Rynason him coldly, through a of which was yet with despair. What use was all this, the killing, the blood and and pain? It him—yet by its it him too.
He cut a through the man, through and and back. A shell-like to the of the ramp.
And the men and ran. One of them rose and the of the stairs, of his exposure; with a shock, Rynason saw that it was Rene Malhomme. Another … and another. There were almost a dozen of them on the stairs; they all and ran. Rynason sent one after them, a into the them. Then they were gone.
Rynason moved from the of the stairs and against the stone. His left arm was to with returning now; he it with his good hand and if they would try the on the other of the Temple. He had one of these walls, but would they try it? Certainly they little up the stairs, unless they for a rush. And who would lead such a attack? These men were vicious, but they valued their too.
Yet he couldn’t watch the black walls. Leaving the would be the most of all.
In a minutes the hand-radio, on the him, an light which his in the dusk. That would be Manning.
Rynason the radio over to the of the stairs and on there, an on the stairway.
“Lee, do you me?”
“I you.” His voice was low and bitter.
“I’m in to talk. Hold your God fire.”
“Why should I?” said Rynason,
“Because I’m Mara with me. It’s too you don’t trust me, Lee, but if that’s the way you want it I won’t trust you either.”
“That’s a good idea,” he said, and off.
Almost he saw them come out from the of a across the street. Mara walked in of Manning; her was high, her almost expressionless. The cold wind against their as they the open space to the of the steps.
Rynason motionless, them come up. Manning still had his two stunners, but they were in their holsters. He the girl all the way, pushing her up the open at the top, then moving more closely her. Rynason with the in one hand at his side.
On the Manning the girl by her arm. He to one of the into the temple, and Rynason him inside.
As they entered Manning a and set it on the floor. The room was into relief, the of the the and with an almost physical harshness. Manning paused a moment to look at the Hirlaji, and at the across the room.
“We can each other in here,” he said at last.
“What do you want?” said Rynason. There was in his voice, and the knife-scar on his was a dark snake-line in the hard of the handlight.
Manning shrugged, a too quickly. He was nervous. “I want you out of here, Lee, and I’m not any this time.”
Rynason looked at Mara, in the older man’s grip. He at the in his hand.
Manning one of his quickly, and it at Rynason’s face. “I said no arguments. Put the down, Lee.”
Rynason couldn’t a at the man, with Mara in of him. He the on the floor.
“Slide it over here.”
Rynason it across the floor. Manning and it up, returned the to its and the on him.
“That’s better. Now we can avoid arguments—right, Lee? You’ve always liked peaceful settlements, haven’t you?”
Rynason at him, but didn’t say anything. He walked slowly into the center of the room, among the Hirlaji. They paid no attention.
“Lee, he’s going to kill them!” Mara out.
Rynason was now next to the interpreter. The which Manning had set on the across the room was upwards, and the was still in the darkness. He his as if in and on the machine with his foot.
“Is that true, Manning? Are you going to kill them?” His voice was loud and it from the walls.
“I can’t trust them,” Manning said, his voice louder in response to Rynason’s own. He forward, pushing Mara in of him. “They’re not human, Lee—you keep that, for some reason. Think of it as the area of native animal life—that comes under the of a governor, now doesn’t it?”
“And what about the men outside? Did you put it that way to them?”
“They do what I say!” Manning snapped. “They don’t give a who they kill. There’s going to be here it’s against the Hirlaji or the townsmen. As governor, I’d they took it all out on the here. Domestic tranquillity, shall we say?” He was now; he had in control.
“So that’s your purpose?” Rynason said. There was anger in his voice, or real—perhaps both. But his voice rose still higher. “Is your only in life, Manning?”
Manning toward him again, his narrowing. “Butchery? It’s than no purpose at all, Lee! It’ll me off of these eventually, if I’m a good butcher. And I to be, Lee … I to be.”
Rynason his on the man in contempt, and walked past Horng to the of the altar. He looked up at the Eye of Kor, now when not in use. He turned.
“Is it better, Manning?” he shouted. “Does it give you a right to live, while you the Hirlaji?”
Manning under his breath, and took a quick step toward Rynason; his hard, black up the wall.
“Yes! It me any right I can take!”
It quickly. Manning was now the of the alien, Horng; in his anger he had his on Mara. He the toward Rynason.
And Horng’s it from his hand.
Manning what him. Before he had that the was gone Horng had him. One hand his throat; the other his shoulder. The him and him like a stick; Rynason almost the man’s break, so final was that of the alien’s hands.
Horng the above his and it to the with such that the man’s was in and his and where it fell.
Afterwards there was in the room, save for the of the wind against the outside. Horng looking at the at his feet, his as as it had been. Mara in at the alien.
Rynason walked slowly to the the interpreter. He it.
“You can move quickly, old leather, when there’s a for it,” he said.
Horng his to him and it to one side.
Rynason the of Manning’s and it out to the top of the steps leading from the temple. Mara with him, the handlight; it on Manning’s as Rynason waited the huge, stairway. The wind at his hair, it around his … but Manning’s was with blood. In a moment, the men from the town came out from cover; they at the of the steps, indecisive.
They too were waiting for something.
Rynason the up over one and a with the hand he had freed. Slowly, then, he the steps.
When he had the the circle of men back. They were and … but they had the power of the disintegrator, and now they saw Manning’s body.
Rynason and the to the ground. He looked up at the ring of and said, “One of the Hirlaji did that with his hands. That’s all—just his hands.”
For a moment was still … and then one of the men from the crowd, snarling, with a knife in his hand. He stopped just the white circle of the handlight, the knife him. Rynason the and it on him, his into a cold mask.
The man in indecision.
And from the him another forward. It was Malhomme, and his were in disgust. He with an open hand, the of his the man’s his ear. The man to the ground, and still.
Malhomme looked at him for a moment, then he to the men him. “That’s enough!” he shouted. “Enough!” Angrily, he looked at the of Manning’s body. “Bury him!” he said.
There was still no movement from the men; Malhomme two of them and them out of the crowd. They hesitated, looking from Malhomme to the in Rynason’s hand, then to up the body.
“It’s a measure of man’s mercy,” said Malhomme acidly, “that at least we each other.” He at the men in the mob, and the in his them at last. Muttering, shrugging, their heads, they dispersed, going off in and to take from the wind-driven sand.
Malhomme to Rynason and Mara, his at last. The hard lines around his mouth into a as he put his arm around Rynason’s shoulder. “We can all take in the here for the night. You use some rest, Lee Rynason—you look like hell. And maybe I can put a temporary on your arm, woman.”
They a where the had long ago in, but the were still standing. While Malhomme to Mara he did not stop talking for a moment; Rynason couldn’t tell he was trying to keep the girl’s mind off the pain or he was his emotions.
“You know, I’ve at these men for so many years I’ve got in my throat. And one of these days maybe they’ll know what I’m talking about, so that I won’t have to shout.” He shrugged. “Well, it would be a world, where I didn’t have a good to shout. Sometimes you might ask your friends up there, Lee … what did they out of peace?”
“They didn’t choose it,” said Rynason.
Malhomme grimaced. “I wonder if anybody, anywhere, will. Maybe the Outsiders did, but they’re not around to tell us about it. It’s an question to think about, if you don’t have anything to drink … what do you do, when there’s nothing more to against, or for?”
He up; the on Mara’s arm was set now. He settled her in a of as as possible.
“I’ve got another question,” Rynason said. “What were you doing among those men who came at me on the steps earlier?”
Malhomme’s into a wide grin. “That was a on you, Lee. A … a like that is only as as the in it. All it takes is one man to and run, and else will too. So it was easy for me to it up.”
Rynason couldn’t help at that; and once he had started, the that had him for the past hours in a full, stomach-shaking laugh.
“Rene Malhomme,” he gasped, “that’s the of this needs!”
Mara up from where she lay. “You know,” she said, “now that Manning is they’ll have to someone else to be governor….”
