"I collect old things and new things," the man said. "But mostly I collect living things. Like you."
Jas turned to look at him and suddenly realized that the eyes were no longer soft and kind — had they really been before? And the man seemed to be staring past Jas's clothing and his skin and into his soul. Jas realized he had trusted this man without reason, and he looked behind his eyes.
The man's name was Abner Doon. (Silly name — never heard of him.)
His job was assistant minister of colonization. (Colonies again. Mother.)
He honestly believed he ruled the world. (Crazy? Or am I?)
And he knew Jas was a Swipe.
"I'm dead," Jas said, suddenly feeling despair. Why had he thought he was no longer in danger with this man?
"Very nearly," Doon said. "It depends on some decisions you make in the next few hours. You know my name, of course."
Jas shook his head to say no.
"You know my name, you know my title, you know my real function, and you know that I know what you are."
Jas took a step back. Abner Doon only smiled. "Surely you don't fear any kind of physical attack?"
"You're insane," Jas said.
"That's been said before," Abner answered mildly, "by men and women with better credentials than yours."
"I often wondered who really ruled Capitol and the Empire, but I really never supposed it was the assistant minister of colonization," Jas said, wondering how quickly he could get the door open again. He decided that he couldn't possibly do it faster than Doon could get the cockle into action.
"Well, it all depends on what you mean by rule. Mother rules us, officially. But everyone knows that the Cabinet rules Mother, and they're right. She's just a figurehead. But who rules the Cabinet?" Doon took off his jacket and tossed it to the ground. "And even more important, who owns the people who carry out the Cabinet's orders?"
Abner Boon took off his shoes.
"Walking in grass with shoes on is a waste of an opportunity," he told Jas. "Take your shoes off. Join me in a swim. Hmmm?"
Jas took his shoes off, and they walked deeper into the park. A large white bird flew nearby, then skimmed the surface of a lake, stopped, dipped its head, and flew off with something silver dangling from its mouth.
"A fish!" Jas shouted, and he hurried past Boon to the edge of the water.
"Clever deduction. What else did you learn from the bird?"
Jas turned around. The assistant minister of colonization was taking off his clothing.
"Is this a test?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Abner Boon answered. "I just thought you might have guessed from the species of bird what planet this park is modeled after." Jas watched him undress to the skin, and was mildly surprised to discover that the man wasn't stout at all — just wore layers of protective clothing.
"The water's relatively warm," Doon said. "Swim with me."
"I don't know how to swim."
"Of course not. I'm going to teach you."
Jas undressed and followed the man uncertainly into the water. They stopped when it was up to Jas's neck.
"Water is actually a very safe medium of locomotion," Doon said. Jas only noticed that it was cold. Numbing. If this was what Boon called relatively warm, Jas wondered what in the world he called cold.
"Now here, my hand is against your back. Lean back against my hand. Now let your legs just come loose from the ground, just relax, I can hold you up."
Suddenly Jas felt very light, and as he relaxed he felt his body bobbing lightly on the surface, only the gentle pressure of Boon's hand under him to remind him of gravity.
Then the world turned upside–down, Abner Boon had a back–breaking hold on him, and Jas's face suddenly plunged underwater. He gulped, swallowed water. His eyes, when he opened them, stung in the water. He hadn't taken a breath, needed one desperately. He struggled to come up, but couldn't break the hold. He struggled, he twisted, and tried to strike with his hands and feet, but he couldn't get free, and not breathing became agony.
Then he felt himself pulled to the surface. He gasped for air. Coughed.
"Don't cough, it splashes water everywhere."
"Let go!" Jas cried out, still gasping. "Let me go —"
"Never," said the man. "I'll never let you go, Jason Harper Worthing. I have collected you. I never break up my collections."
Jas looked behind his eyes, struggling to find a motive, but found only an emotion of — love? Kindness? The man was threatening his life, and yet all Jas could find in his mind was kindness.
"This," Doon said, "was an object lesson. May I assure you that you are in over your head? A figure of speech that you may not have known."
"I knew it," Jas said. "Me Gook system."
"Much older than that," Doon said, "but of course that's where it's still current. Very good. You get the point, I'm sure, even if you haven't read Aesop. Even when we step out of my lake, you'll still be deep in water, and believe me, in that water you don't know how to swim. I have only to flick a wrist —" suddenly Jas found himself dipping into the water again, and Doon's sentence was muffled and yet strangely clarified by the water " — and you will certainly drown."
This time Abner Doon let him up almost immediately, and Jas coughed and spluttered only because he knew it annoyed the man. "What are you arresting me for?"
"I'm not arresting you. Whatever gave you that idea? I said I have collected you. Like the Cabinet. Like Hartman Tork. Like Radamand Worthing. The only difference is that I'm telling you. You should be flattered — very few people know."
"I would have known anyway, Mr. Doon," Jas
Said, and that was his surrender, admitting that he had the Swipe, that Doon therefore had control over him. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Why, teach you how to swim, of course," Doon answered. "May I suggest you start by swimming on your back? Much easier, and you don't have to fuss with learning how to breathe. Just kick lightly with your legs — that's right, shallower kicks and more rapidly, very good. Arch your back. The other way. Yes, yes, very good. I'm going to let go."
Jas felt the hand go out from under him, and for a moment he felt himself sinking. But he kicked harder, and arched his back more, and floated.
"Now, one at a time, raise your arms in front of your head and draw them back down to your side, through the water. That's right, Jas. Very good. Not a champion, but you'll float." And then there was a splash, and Jas felt the water shift violently as Abner Doon swam past him, not on his back, but on his stomach in the water, breathing under his arm. Jas turned his head to watch, and was rewarded with an eyeful of water and a dunking as he lost flotation. Sputtering, he tried to find bottom with his feet, and couldn't — his swimming had carried him out where the water was deeper than his head. But his instincts were right — he splashed his way to the surface, and kicked violently, bringing himself back up into a backfloat.
A bright, golden sun passed slowly overhead. Jas saw to his surprise that it moved detectably. All the books said you couldn't see the motion of the sun. And besides — he could look right at the sun. And suddenly his vision shifted, and he realized that the sky was just what it seemed to be — a dome of blue — and the sun followed a track across it — a dazzling disc, not a sphere millions of kilometers away.
When the swim ended, the sun was nearly set, though it had barely been an hour. The man and the boy lay on the grass, drying. The sky grew dark, and reddened in the "west." The sun set.
"I've never seen a sunset before," Jas said. "Is this anything close to what a real one looks like?"