"And you?"
"Earl, I will be honest. I came to find the treasure."
"And we may find it," said Dumarest. "But first we rest and eat."
The blue sun had risen when again they moved, a violet light blending with that of dull ruby, streamers of brilliance shrouding the dead man and reflecting from his staring eyes. His hand, extended after them, seemed to hold a silent plea, an appeal for help they could not give. The aid they carried had come centuries too late, the food and water which could have saved his life.
"That poor man," said Pacula somberly as they walked toward the end of the oval chamber. "Dying like that, alone on an alien world."
"Left by his crew." Usan paused, coughing, flecks of red staining her lips. "Damn this dust. Earl, will it be long now?"
"Not long. We must be close to the central spire."
"And after? When we've found the treasure?" She coughed again, then said, "I'm not a fool. We're in the city but how do we get out? The girl can guide us back to the wall but how do we get through it?"
"We'll get through it," said Dumarest. "The same way we came in."
"By waiting at the right place for the right time. And when will that be? A week? A month? I-"
"You worry too much," he said curtly. "Just think about staying on your feet. Can you manage?"
"I'll manage," she said. "I'm going to find that treasure even if I have to crawl. What will it be, Earl? Gems? Ingots of precious metals? Some new device? A fortune anyway. We'll all make a fortune and I'll-take care of the girl, Earl. Without Embira we're lost. Take damned good care of her."
"I will."
"Yes," she said, and then flatly, "are you in love with her?" Her smile was a grimace as he made no answer. "She's in love with you, Earl. The poor, blind bitch, I feel sorry for her and yet-" She broke off, looking at her hands. "And yet," she whispered, "I'd give my soul to have her body."
Chapter Fourteen
The chamber ended in a combination of smoothly concave surfaces blending into the mouth of a rounded opening giving on to more chambers, different this time, larger, the thin tracery of black lines almost covering the floor in their elaborate profusion. A ramp led up from the dust and again they plunged into a maze, simple this time, the walls forming broken barriers between chambers which grew higher and wider as they progressed.
Embira paused, wincing, one hand lifting to her forehead. "Close," she whispered. "Earl, it's so close!"
"In which direction?" He followed the gesture of her hand. "Blank it out, Embira, if you can. Stop hurting yourself."
"Earl, you care?"
"Need you ask?" His hand closed on her own. "We need you, girl."
From behind them Sufan Noyoka said, "Hurry. The treasure must be close. Hurry!"
"Why?" Usan Labria leaned against a wall, panting for breath. "No one is going to steal it, Sufan. No one but us."
"If there's anything to steal. Our dead captain could already have emptied the nest." Marek was cynical. "Prepare yourself for a disappointment, my friend. We could be too late."
A reminder which the man didn't appreciate. He snapped, "Don't try to be funny, Marek. Use your talent. If it has any value you should be able to tell us the location of the treasure."
"Why ask me when we have the girl? Can't she tell us, Earl?"
"She's done enough," said Dumarest. "And she has never claimed to be able to solve puzzles. That is why you are here."
"That's right, Marek, or did you come just for the ride?" Pacula, in defense of the girl, was quick to attack. "It's your turn to guide us."
"And I shall. Did you guess that I was proud? To be ignored can be hurtful to a man of talent. Given time I would have guided you, but I was not given time. And it amused me to know that, at any time, danger could have awaited in each and every chamber. A complication which, so far, we have been spared. But consider, my friends, would treasure be left unguarded?"
A question posed without need of an answer and Dumarest wondered at the spate of words. Was the man simply wasting time in order to gain an opportunity to arrange his thoughts? Or was he pressing their patience, risking anger and potential violence? A facet of his character which could never be forgotten. His whim could lead them into danger for the thrill of it. To toy with death to assuage his secret yearning.
Pacula said, "Must we have a lecture?"
"You want a simple answer?" His sudden anger was the flash of a naked blade. "There!" His hand lifted to point ahead. "At the heart of the city you will find the treasure-if it is to be found."
"You doubt?"
"Everything. Your smile, my dear, your greed, you concern. Nothing is wholly what it seems. This city, a place built for men or for what? Built to house or to hold? To guard or to retain? Every coin has two faces-must we only look at the one we find most pleasing to our eyes? Solve me a puzzle, you say, and do it now. Am I a dog to be ordered at your whim?"
An old wound opened by an unthinking comment. Dumarest said, "We need your skill, Marek."
"Have I denied it?"
"Then tell us, in your own way, what you have determined."
"Let us talk of treasure." Marek sat and took a sip of water from his canteen. From the way he tilted it Dumarest knew that the contents must be low. "What is treasure? To one it could be a bag of salt, to another a bow, a knife, a prime beast. Values vary, so what do we hope to find?"
"Money," said Usan curtly. "Or something we can turn into money."
"Works of art? A discovery which can be carried in the the mind or a heap of stone a hundred men couldn't lift?"
"You try my patience!"
"The voice of aggression," he said calmly. "Who are you not to be denied? A woman, old, dying. What challenge do you offer? None. And you Sufan. You too are old and consumed by greed. Why should I obey you? How can you make me?"
Dumarest said, "He can't. No one can. Now tell us what you know."
For a moment Marek remained silent, then he said in an altered tone of voice, "For you, Earl, yes. At least you are a man, and I think, one with understanding. Now consider this. Where in a normal city would you find the greatest concentration of treasure? On a commercial world it would be figures in a ledger or items in a computer-the interflow of credit and debit. A more primitive world and metal and gems would be stored in some vault. A religious one and the altar of the largest place of worship would be garnished with things of price. A military world would value weapons. An artistic one volumes of poetry, perhaps, or paintings."
"So?"
"The consideration determines the keeping. Now some rumors have it that the wealth of Balhadorha is the loot of a ravished world. The wealth of a planet heaped like a mass of stone, dumped and left to be found by any with the courage to look for it. We know better. It must be at the heart of this city. But is it large or small? If small then it could be anywhere within the central spire. If large then at or below ground level. Was it to be seen? Adored or examined, touched by the populace, or something hidden?"
Dumarest said, "The chambers we passed through were all devoid of ornament."
"A shrewd observation. Which leads us to the conclusion that the inhabitants of this city had no time for artistic appreciation. Perhaps they were incapable of it. And they must have left centuries ago-otherwise they would not have permitted the dead man to remain where we found him. Where did they go and why did they leave?"
"If they left at all," said Dumarest. "But we're not interested in the city as such, only the treasure."
"But all are parts of the puzzle." Marek took another drink of water. "Down," he said. "I am sure of it. Down and at the center. It will be found, I am sure, at a point below the present ground level." Smiling, he added, "If there is anything there to find."