by E. C. Tubb
"Usdon?"
"It seems that certain members of the Council are missing the point. We are not here to determine Eidhal's guilt, or to determine his punishment. Personally, I think the man acted with intelligent appreciation of the situation. The failure to kill is an error simple to rectify. The main object of concern, surely, is the man Dumarest and the message he claims to be carrying."
Sense at last, and Vestaler allowed himself to relax a little. Aryan and his supporters were evidence of a disturbing trend, an inward-turned concern with minutia and tradition. Blinded to the fact, though isolated, Nerth still existed in a larger universe than that of the valley.
Forgetting, too, the import of the message Dumarest might bear. If he had met Leon, and if the boy had- but that was to hope for too much.
He glanced at the photograph lying before him on the table, the smiling face. Zafra's face, younger than it was now. He hoped that she would be spared more hurt.
"Master?"
It was Byrute. He rose at Vestaler's nod.
"Why can't we summon the man and demand that he gives us the message?"
"He insists on giving it to one person only."
"We could demand-"
"And be refused." Vestaler was sharp in his interruption. "We are dealing with no ordinary man. The mere fact of his survival is proof of that."
"He could have lied," said Byrute stubbornly. "There may have been no raft, no crash as he claimed."
"I have considered the possibility, but how else could he have reached us? And there is no denying the physical condition of both of them. The woman was so near to collapse that she had to be carried on a litter. Dumarest was in need of medical attention, and the state of his body proves that he had suffered in a manner consistent with what he says happened. To question him now would gain us little. Therefore, I propose that both he and the woman be granted a limited freedom until a final resolution can be made as to their fate."
The vote was carried as he knew it would be. The entire session had, in a sense, been a waste of time. Yet, the formalities had to be observed. A commune worked, not on dictatorial lines, but on common agreement. No one man could ever be allowed to become truly the master. The title he had won was by courtesy, not by right.
Later Usdon joined him, entering the Alphanian Chamber to walk towards the altar, to stand looking at what it contained.
He said, for no apparent reason, "Three failed, Master."
"I know."
"One of them was my daughter's son."
The extension of his line, a metaphorical continuation of his body. Vestaler remembered the boy. Sharp and bright and impatient to become a man. His pinnacle had been empty at dawn.
"He wasn't weak," said Usdon fiercely. "He wasn't full of guilt. There was no reason for him to have failed."
Vestaler remained silent. At such times there was nothing to say.
"I wish-" Usdon reached out and touched the artifact before him. "Now I wish that-" He shook his head, a man hurt, helpless to ease his pain. He found refuge in a greater hurt, a more poignant loss. "Do you think it possible that Dumarest can help?"
The odds were against it and yet, hope still survived. Hope, but Vestaler could only be honest.
"I doubt it, Marl." His hand fell to the shoulder of his friend. "I can't see how he could."
Chapter Twelve
Dumarest stretched, remembering. There had been food and drink, hot water in which to bathe, a cup of something pungent, a bed in which to fall. And there had been pain, a searing agony in his scalp, hands which had held him fast, a voice which had murmured soft instructions.
His hand lifted to touch his scalp, the fingers resting on a patch of something smooth.
"Don't touch it," said a voice. "You will aggravate the wound."
Dumarest sat upright, looking at a room he barely remembered. Small, the walls of stone, the window heavily barred. A door of wooden planks held the grill of a Judas window. The bed was solid, the mattress firm, the covers of thick, patch-work material. Reds and greens and diamonds of yellow. Blue and amber squares, and triangles of puce, purple and brown.
"We had to clean and cauterize," said the voice. "The infection was deep."
She sat on a chair set hard against the wall, a position beyond the range of his vision until he turned. A woman no longer young, one with blonde hair held by a fillet of metal. The eyes were amber, the face strongly boned.
"I am Zafra Harvey."
"Leon's mother?"
"Once I had a son." Her voice was distant, as if she spoke of another life at another time. "You claimed to have something to tell me. A message."
"It can wait." Dumarest rose higher in the bed. He was naked. "Did you take care of me?"
"Yes, I am skilled in healing."
"A doctor? A nurse? How is Iduna?"
"Your woman is well. She was suffering only from exhaustion. Now that she has eaten and slept, she will be fine."
"She isn't my woman," said Dumarest. He looked at Zafra's face, seeing the mesh of tiny lines at the corners of the eyes, the aging of the lips, the neck. "How long has it been since that photograph was taken?"
"A long time. In happier days."
"Here?" And then, as she made no answer. "In the town? Do you often leave Nerth?"
"Nerth?"
"The valley. Do you?"
"We call it Ayat. No, we never leave."
The name they would use to others-and the woman had lied.
She said, "Please. The message?"
"Later."
"But Leon-"
"Your son?" Dumarest nodded as he caught her faint inclination. "What happened to him? Why did he run?"
"He is dead. We do not talk of him."
A symbolical death perhaps attended by appropriate ceremonies, his name stricken from any records there might be, his very memory erased. A name that should not be mentioned. A custom with which Dumarest was familiar, one with which he had no patience.
But she was a woman, a mother, and he had no reason to hurt her.
"I knew him," he said. "We worked together, traveled together. He told me of this place. He said that you could help me." A lie, but barely. The photograph had told him that and Leon had carried it. He added, gently, "I am sorry to tell you that he is dead."
She sat as if made of stone.
"What happened?" he urged. "Did he fail his test? Run because of shame?"
"The shame was not his. He wore the yellow, but that was understood. But then, when the time came again, he was not to be found."
"He ran," said Dumarest. "But how? With whom?"
"None went with him."
"A raft? A trader?"
She made no answer and he knew he would gain no further information at this time. Rising he stood, fighting a momentary nausea, then moved to a table which stood against a wall. It held his things, the knife, the idol he had carried tucked beneath his tunic, other things, his clothes. They had been cleaned and dipped into something which had left a purple film. He rubbed it, seeing it leave a mark on his thumb.
"Gray is the color worn by ghosts," she explained. "Green, those who are here by right. The purple will save you from embarrassment."
"That's considerate of you." Dumarest picked up the knife and scraped casually at the idol. "Am I under restraint? If so, it will give me an opportunity to work on this."
"You are free to move at will among the houses and immediate fields. No work will be demanded of you. You may eat with the single men and widowers."
"No guards?"
"You will be watched. And now, if you please, give me the message you claim to have brought."
"You've had it, a part of it at least. Leon is dead. I thought you would like to know. He died bravely, a hero to those who knew him." An unqualified lie this time, but one which could do no harm and could give comfort. Dumarest followed it with another. "He died in my arms. He mentioned you and asked me to bring you his love. The rest of what he told me is for other ears tha
n your own."
"Did he mention-" She broke off as if conscious that she was asking too much. That she could be abrogating the authority of others, demanding more than was her due.
"You were saying?"
"Nothing." Rising, she moved towards the door.
"Take care of your wound. If the pain should increase, let me know at once. If you feel fevered or dizzy, the same. It would be wise for you to conserve your strength for the next few days."
Good advice, and he might follow it-if he was allowed to live that long.
* * * * *
It was late afternoon, and Dumarest guessed that the drug he had been given had made him sleep for thirty hours or more. A long rest which he had needed, and now he was hungry.
He ate in a hut with a score of others, men who watched but said nothing. Not even the youngsters who, at least, must have been curious. The food was good, a steamed mass of beans and meat flavored with herbs. A pudding of nuts and honey, dark with small, crushed bodies. Insects perhaps, or seeds, or even maggots bred to give added protein. Dumarest ate without worrying about the nature of the food.
The meal ended with a mug of tisane, hot water which had been steeped with acrid herbs. A crude, medicinal compound, but one which apparently worked. The men he could see looked healthy as had the boys, the guards. He nodded at a familiar face.
"Hello. Are you one of my watchers?"
Varg Eidhal grunted, hesitated for a moment, then moved to plump down on the bench at Dumarest's side.
"You ate well," he commented. "That is good. A fighting man needs to build his strength."
"The boys, how many failed?"
"Three." Eidhal was grim. "Two who vanished and one who will be a ghost."
"Three-is it always that high?"
"Sometimes more, rarely less. Never is there a time when all return."
"And you don't mind?"
"It is the rule."
The rule, the law, the custom which governed their lives. One of a skein of such regulations, and Dumarest could only guess at what they were.
He said, "If you are to watch me, you had better stay close. You can show me around."
A guide in more senses than one and, perhaps, an ally in case of need. A small hope, the conditioning of a lifetime would not be thrown aside in a moment, but Dumarest could not afford to neglect any opportunity.
The houses were interesting, strongly built, solid, patterned on those he had seen in the town. All carried some form of decoration, a bow, a bull, the design of a crab, others. From a smithy came the sound of hammering, a brawny man nodding as Eidhal halted in the open doorway.
"The spear-heads will be ready soon, Varg. Now I must fashion knives for the new men."
"Couldn't they wait?"
The smith grinned as he swung his hammer. "Remember your own time, Varg. Could you?"
A knife, the badge of manhood, edged and pointed steel worn proudly in the belt for all to see. Dumarest had wondered why he had been allowed to retain his own weapon. Now he knew.
They moved on, past houses closed and snug, others with open fronts in which women sat spinning, turning pottery, grinding grain into flour with the help of men who sweated as they turned the heavy millstones. A busy, active community in which all shared the labor and the reward.
Dumarest looked thoughtfully at a long, low, heavily-shuttered building which stood apart from the others.
"What is that?"
"The Alphanian Chamber."
"And that is?"
"The special place where ceremonies are conducted. Where the past is remembered."
Where records would be kept, and items rendered sacred by rarity and time would be housed. Alphanian… alpha… a word Dumarest knew meant the beginning.
"Varg, what do you people call yourselves?"
"We are of Ayat."
"And?" Dumarest pressed the question as the man remained silent. "Are you the Original People?"
"I-let me show you the fields."
Not an admission, but admission enough. And yet, a mystery remained. The name, Ayat, a cover perhaps. But why had Leon claimed he came from Nerth?
The fields were well kept, the rows of beans clear of weeds. Others held ripening grain, root crops, bushes yielding nuts and fruit. Domestic animals would be kept at the lower end of the valley. Dumarest watched as boys and young girls shooed away birds. Only when older, and puberty exercised its demands, would they be kept apart.
Eidhal paused as a man came shambling down the path. He was tall, big, shoulders wide beneath the drab gray of his smock. His face was vacuous, the eyes empty of intelligence, his mouth wet with spittle. The lips twisted into an inane grin as he halted before Dumarest.
"Give… you give…"
"He wants something sweet," said Eidhal. He rummaged in a pocket and found a dried fruit. "Give him this."
A splayed hand snatched the morsel and thrust it into the slavering mouth.
"That's all, Odo," said Eidhal as the hand reached out again. "Get back to your work."
"Give… you give…"
"No! To work now!"
"Odo want…"
"Odo will be beaten if he does not do as he is told." Eidhal was firm, but gentle. "Come on, now, back to work."
Dumarest stood to one side as the guard conducted the idiot back into the fields.
"A ghost," Eidhal explained as he returned. "A child who will never be a man."
"How did it happen?"
"It happens." Eidhal was grim. "Sometimes a boy grows in body, but not in mind. He is given every chance, as that one is there." He pointed to where a boy wore a yellow sash. "If a lad thinks he is unready for the ordeal, he is allowed to wait and no shame comes to him, or to his parents. If still he refuses, then he wears gray."
"Do many refuse?"
"In my lifetime, only one. He was sent to clear thorn and live in isolation. He died by his own hand."
"And Odo?"
"He was a bright lad, smart, keen and eager to become a man. The pride of all who knew him. I was on duty at the time. When dawn came, he was as you see him now." He added, bleakly, "It would have been better had he vanished."
An idiot condemned to a life of unending labor, castrated to avoid the continuation of his line, a man who had become little more than an animal. Despised, rejected, yet needed as an essential source of labor. A ghost.
And yet, Eidhal had been kind. Dumarest wondered if there was some relationship between them. It was more than likely; in any closed community blood-ties had to be plentiful. His son, perhaps, or the son of a sister, a cousin.
Kind-yet he would have been more merciful had he thrust his spear into Odo's heart.
* * * * *
Iduna was waiting as they returned. She ran forward, eyes anxious as they looked at the dressing on Dumarest's scalp.
"Earl! I was so worried. Your head?"
"Is fine. And you?"
She had lost the ghastly pallor of exhaustion. Her hair was a smooth russet helmet about her skull, the eyes clear, her skin carrying the faint sheen of health.
Like himself she wore purple, new garments which accentuated the lines of her figure.
She fell into step beside him, Varg Eidhal discreetly falling back. He, like them all, thought her to be Dumarest's woman.
"I've been listening," she said. "The woman talked when they thought I was asleep. Earl, they don't intend to let us go!"
"Did they say that in so many words?"
"They didn't have to. They talked of what I could do, and how I could be fitted into their community. They even speculated on a probable mate." Her voice carried undertones of disgust. "As if I had been a brood mare-good only to provide new children. My body used to increase their numbers."
And to provide a new source of genes. A cross would produce healthy offspring.
"Earl, what are we going to do?"
"We wait."
"For how long? Don't you understand what I'm saying? They spoke of me-not you. Wheth
er I had any skills in weaving, pottery making, cooking, sewing of skins and cloth. All day they've been at it, questioning, probing, and never once did they mention you. They don't need you, Earl. I think they intend to kill you."
And, probably, her. The women had been gossiping, speculating, but the decision would not be theirs.
He said, "When they talked, did they mention a name?"
"A name?"
"That of this valley. Nerth."
"No." She was positive… "I asked them where we were and they wouldn't answer. But later, I heard one tell another that these were exciting times in Ayat." Her fingers tightened on his arm. "Earl, I'm afraid. We must escape before it is too late."
Escape into a wilderness without food, a map, or weapons. A short start with guards following, ready with their spears.
"We have to wait," he said patiently. "Take each thing as it comes. When our chance comes, we'll take it."
Empty words, but they seemed to give her courage.
"Wait," she said, brightening. "Yes, Earl, we must wait. But be careful. Don't let them hurt you. Promise them anything, do anything, but stay alive!"
An unexpected reaction, but he could guess at her latent hysteria. As a bell began to toll from the Alphanian Chamber, Eidhal edged forward.
"The curfew," he said. "And the summons. It is time for you to return to your quarters."
Them, but not others. Dumarest watched with interest as a stream of men and women made their way towards the enigmatic building. To participate in ceremonies, perhaps. To dwell on the beginning, if the name of the place meant what he suspected.
Later, he stood at the window of his room and looked at the stars. It was late and he could hear no sound of movement outside. The bars were firm and resisted his tug. The door was locked-a pail had been provided for natural needs. Only the roof remained.
Dumarest examined it as he stood on the end of the upturned bed. Thick rafters were crossed by thinner members, supports for the tiles which closed the building against the sky. With his knife he eased one free, set it gently on the floor, climbed up to remove others which he set outside. Within minutes he had a hole large enough to pass his body through, one which he could seal again from within.