He saw nothing of Superintendent Mergan, but was recognized by Dinster the night porter, just coming on duty.
The Ectobant of the Prydania Line took Pardero to Baruilla, on Deulle, Alastor
2121, where he transferred to the Lusimar of the Gaean Trunk Line, and so was conveyed to Calypso Junction on Imber, and thence by the Wispen Argent to Numenes.
Pardero enjoyed the voyage: the multifarious sensations, incidents, and vistas amazed him. He had not imagined the variety of the Cluster: the comings and goings, the flux of faces, the gowns, robes, hats, ornaments, and bijouterie; the colors and lights and strains of strange music; the babble of voices; haunting glimpses of beautiful girls; drama, excitement, pathos; objects, faces, sounds, surprises. Could he have known all this and forgotten?
So far Pardero had not indulged in self-pity and his enemy had seemed a baleful abstraction. But how great and how callous the crime which had been performed upon him! He had been isolated from home, friends, sympathy, security; he had been rendered a neuter; his personality had been murdered.
Murder!
The word chilled his blood; he squirmed and winced. And from somewhere, from far distant, came the ghost of a sound: gusts of mocking laughter.
Approaching Numenes, the Wispen Argent first passed by Blazon, the next world out in orbit, to be cleared for landing, by the Whelm - a precaution to minimize the danger of an attack from space upon the Connatic's Palace. Having secured clearance; the Wispen Argent proceeded; Numenes slowly expanded.
At a distance of about three thousand miles that peculiar referential displacement occurred; instead of hanging off to the side, a destination across the void, Numenes became the world below, upon which the Wispen Argent descended
- a brilliant panorama of white clouds, blue air, sparkling seas.
The Central Spaceport at Commarice occupied an area three miles in diameter, surrounded by a fringe of the tall jacinth palms and the usual spaceport offices, built in that low airy style also typical of Numenes.
Alighting from the Wispen Argent, Pardero rode a slideway to the terminal, where he sought information regarding the Connatic's Hospital. He was referred first to the Traveler's Aid Station, then to an office at the side of the terminal, where he was presented to a tall spare woman of indeterminate age in a white and blue uniform. She gave Pardero a laconic greeting. "I am Matron Gundal. I understand that you wish to be admitted to the Connatic's Hospital?"
"Yes."
Matron Gundal touched buttons, evidently to activate a recording mechanism.
"Your name?"
"I am called Pardero. I do not know my true name."
Matron Gundal made no comment. "Place of origin?"
"I don't know."
"Your complaint?"
"Amnesia."
Matron Gundal gave him a noncommittal inspection, which perhaps indicated interest. "What about your physical health?"
"It seems to be good."
"An orderly will conduct you to the hospital." Matron Gundal raised her voice.
"Ariel."
A blond young woman entered the room, her uniform somewhat at discord with her sunny good looks. Matron Gundal gave her directions: "Please conduct this gentleman to the Connatic's Hospital." To Pardero: "Have you luggage?"
"No."
"I wish you a quick recovery."
The orderly smiled politely at Pardero. "This way, please."
An aircab slid them northward across the blue and green landscape of Flor Solana, with Ariel maintaining an easy flow of conversation. "Have you visited Numenes before?"
"I don't know; I don't remember anything earlier than the last two or three months."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear this!" said Ariel in confusion. "Well, in case you don't know, there are no real continents here on Numenes, just islands. Everybody who lives here owns a boat."
"That seems very pleasant."
Ariel gingerly touched upon Pardero's disability, watching sidelong to see if he evinced sensitivity or discomfort. "What a strange sensation not to know yourself! How does it feel?"
Pardero considered a moment. "Well - it doesn't hurt."
"I'm relieved to bear that! Think: you might be almost anyone - perhaps rich and important!"
"More likely I'm someone very ordinary: a road-mender, or a wandering dog-barber."
"I'm sure not!" declared Ariel. "You seem - well..." she hesitated, then continued with a half-embarrassed laugh "- a very confident and intelligent person."
"I hope you are right." Pardero looked at her and sighed, wistful that her fresh blond charm must so soon pass from his life. "What will they do with me?"
"Nothing alarming. Your case will be studied by very clever persons using the most elaborate mechanisms. Almost certainly you will be cured."
Pardero felt a pang of uneasiness. "It's quite a gamble. I might easily be someone I don't want to be."
Ariel could not restrain a grin. "As I understand it, this is the reason persons become amnesiac in the first place."
Pardero made a glum sound. "Aren't you alarmed, riding with a man who likely is a shameful criminal?"
"I'm paid to be brave. I escort persons much more alarming than you."
Pardero looked out across Flor Solana Island. Ahead he saw a pavilion constructed of pale ribs and translucent panels, whose complexity was obscured behind jacinth palms and cinniborines.
As the aircab approached, six domes became evident, with wings radiating in six directions. Pardero asked: "Is this the hospital?"
"The hospital is everything you see. The Hexad is the computative center. The smaller buildings are laboratories and surgeries. Patients are housed in the wings. That will be your home until you are restored to health."
Pardero asked diffidently: "And what of you? Will I see you again?"
Ariel's dimples deepened. "Do you want to?"
Pardero soberly considered the range of his inclinations. "Yes."
Ariel said half-teasingly: "You'll be so preoccupied that you'll forget all about me."
"I never want to forget anything again."
Ariel chewed her lip thoughtfully. "You remember nothing of your past life?"
"Nothing."
"Maybe you have a family: someone who loves you, and children."
"I suppose this is possible... Somehow I suspect otherwise."
"Most men seem to suspect otherwise... Well, I'll have to think about it."
The aircab landed; the two alighted and walked along a tree-shaded avenue toward the Hexad. Ariel glanced at him sidewise, and perhaps his obvious foreboding excited her compassion. She said in a voice which she intended to be cheerful but impersonaclass="underline" "I'm out here often and as soon as you've started your treatments I'll come to see you."
Pardero smiled wanly. "I'll look forward to the occasion."
She conducted him to the reception area, and spoke a few words to an official, then took her leave. "Don't forget!" she called over her shoulder, and the impersonality, intentionally or not, was gone from her voice. "I'll see you soon!"
"I am O.T. Kolodin," said a large rather rumpled man with an oversize nose and sparse untidy dark hair. "'O.T.' means 'Ordinary Technician'; just call me Kolodin. You're on my list, so we'll be seeing something of each other. Come along; I'll get you settled."
Pardero bathed, submitted to a physical examination, and was issued a pale blue lightweight suit. Kolodin showed him to his chamber along one of the wings, and the two took a meal on a nearby terrace. Kolodin, not too much older than Pardero but incalculably more sophisticated, took a lively interest in Pardero's condition. "I've never come in contact with such a case before. Fascinating!