To search for a planet he was certain did not exist. To join them in their illusion-but to refuse would gain him nothing but their enmity.
"No, my lady," he said slowly. "I would not object."
"Then it is settled." Usan Labria reached for wine, the decanter making small chimes as it rapped against the edge of her glass. Noyoka was less precipitate.
"A moment, my dear," he said softly. "A man cannot promise to accomplish what he does not understand. Not a man I would be willing to trust And trust, in this matter, is essential."
"I trust him, Sufan!"
"And I!" Pacula looked at Dumarest. "Do you agree to help us?"
"If I can, my lady. What would it entail?"
"A journey. It may be long and it could be hard."
"We need a man." Usan Labria was more direct. "One who can kill if necessary. A special type of man to take care of what needs to be done. Tell him, Sufan. Explain." Her voice rose a little. "And for God's sake let us be on our way. Already we have waited too long!"
The room was small, filled with the musty odor of ancient books, scraps of oddly shaped material lying on the scarred surface of rough tables. Star maps hung against the walls and the desk bore a litter of papers.
"Let us talk of legends," said Sufan Noyoka. Alone he had guided Dumarest to the room, leading the way up winding stairs to the chamber set beneath the roof. "They are romantic tales embellished and adorned, things of myth and imagination, and yet each could contain a kernel of truth. Eden, for example-you have heard of it?"
"Yes."
"A world of pure joy in which men and women live gracious lives. None need to work. There is no poverty, no pain, no hurt. Each day is a spring of fabulous happiness. Once men owned it, now it is lost. Tell me, do you consider it to be real?"
"Perhaps. I have visited a world with such a name."
"And found what?" Sufan did not wait for an answer. "A desert," he said. "A barren, harsh world of arid soil and acid seas. A lie-the name used only to attract settlers. I, too, have visited Eden and there is more than one world with such a name. But does that mean that the Eden of legend did not, at one time, exist? As Earth, perhaps, once existed?"
"Earth is not a legend."
"So you say, and I will not argue with you, but if you believe in one legend then why not two?"
"Balhadorha," said Dumarest. "The Ghost World."
"Balhadorha." Sufan Noyoka moved to a table and lifted a distorted scrap of metal. "This cost me the labor of a serf for a year. A scrap of debris, you would think, but the composition is something we cannot repeat. A mystery, and there are others, perhaps-later we shall talk about them. For now let me explain what we intend."
"To take a ship and go searching for a legend," said Dumarest. "To follow a dream."
"You think I am mad?" Sufan shrugged. "There are many who think that. But consider a moment. You seek Earth- how do you go about it?" Again he did not wait for an answer. "You ask, you probe, you assemble clues, you sift evidence. From a mountain of rumor you winnow a nodule of fact. To it you add others, always sifting, checking, questioning. Decades of searching and then, with luck, you have the answer."
Light flared as he touched the switch of a projector and, on a screen, glowed the depiction of a sector of space. Stars blazing with a variety of colors, sheets and curtains of luminescence and, in the center, the sprawling blob of a cloud of interstellar dust.
"The Hichen Cloud." An adjustment and it dominated the screen. "An unusual configuration which adopts a different guise when viewed from various positions. It has never been truly explored."
And with reason. Dumarest knew of the conflicting forces which were common in such areas; the electronic vortexes which could take a vessel and render it into a mass of unrecognizable wreckage, the spacial strains which negated the drive of the generators, the psychological stresses which turned men insane.
"You expect to find Balhadorha in that?"
"The prospect disturbs you?"
"Yes." Dumarest was blunt. "I've had experience with such areas. Only a fool would venture into such a region. No sane captain would dare risk his vessel and no crew be willing to take the chance."
"A normal captain and a normal crew, I agree. But you underestimate the power of greed, my friend. Think of what could be gained. Wealth beyond imagination, the treasure of a world, gems and precious metals-" Sufan Noyoka broke off as he saw Dumarest's expression. "Such things do not tempt you?"
"Do they you?"
"No. A man can only eat so much, live in one place at a time, wear one suit of clothing. But even so, wealth has power. Think of it, my friend. The power to travel where and when you will. To buy a ship to aid you in your search. Money to ease the path to a thousand worlds. You killed a beast in order to live and risked your life in so doing. Why not risk it again for much, much more?"
The voice of temptation, and Dumarest was aware of the man's subtlety. Sufan knew more than he had admitted, in small ways he had betrayed himself and, though no threat had been made, always it was implied. A word and he would be delivered to Avorot, to be kept in jail, to wait until evidence had accumulated or the probes were brought into use.
The trap which had closed had not yet opened and would not until he left this world.
"You will need a ship," he said. "A ship and a crew."
"All has been arranged." Sufan's voice, dry as the rustle of windblown leaves, held no emotion, but his eyes, for a moment, ceased their restless dancing. "This is no casual whim. For years I have planned, each step taken with painstaking care, units assembled to form a composite whole. Only one thing was lacking and you provide it."
"A bodyguard?"
"That and more." Sufan Noyoka drew in his breath, his chest rising, his eyes blazing with a brighter shine. "Soon we shall be on our way, and think, my friend, of what you might find."
The answer to his long, long search, perhaps. The exact location of Earth. On Balhadorha, so rumor claimed, the answers to all things could be found.
Chapter Five
Each morning, now, it was harder to wake, the time in which she lay, conscious only of pain, lengthening so that the days became shorter and life ran like sand from a container, each grain another precious hour. And yet, now, there were compensations, and lying in the shade of an awning, Usan Labria considered them, savoring them as she waited for the pills to take effect.
It was good to be in the open. Good to breathe deeply of the clean air and to feel the sun. Best of all was to know that she was not alone, that with her was someone who cared. Not for herself as a woman, but for herself as a person. More she could not expect, much as she would have liked it, but later perhaps, when she was free of pain and things were as she hoped-who could tell?
A dream and she knew it, but it was a nice one and it did no harm to dream. Less to relax and to let another take care of things, and Dumarest had proved to be a good companion.
"My lady?" He stood in the opening of the shelter, limned by the sunlight, which threw a nimbus of light around him while casting his face in shadow. "Is there anything you need?"
"A little water." It was close at hand but to be served was an added pleasure.
She sipped, taking another pill, then looking up, met his eyes.
"Do you think I'm a fool?"
"No, my lady."
"Call me Usan, Earl, and be honest. Am I?"
"No. To hope is not to be foolish."
"Others would not agree with you. My cousin for one." Memory of him thinned her lips. "He can't wait for me to die so that he can inherit. Much good will it do him. My lands are mortgaged to the hilt, the beasts sold, the house needing repair. Everything I own has been turned into money and I've borrowed all I could. A last fling, Earl, and still you say I am not a fool?"