“This is a Ghruzha,” Tand said with some pride. “It is modeled after the Earth GM Stego, you’ll notice.”
Tand left the main street and drove to a residential district. He stopped the car by a children’s playground. “Don’t worry about tappers beaming in on us,” he said. “I have a scrambler working.”
Carmody told his friend of the previous night’s happenings.
Tand said, “I’ve suspected something of the sort. But there’s nothing we can do. We don’t have any concrete evidence on which to act. Now, we could confront Abog with your accusations, but what could we do with them? In the first place, you don’t really know whether or not the man in the Eeshquur costume was Abog. You may be sure, but you can’t, in the legal sense, positively identify him. Moreover, say you could. So he was talking to an Earthman in a tavern. Is that anything unusual during the pre-Night festival? And he could claim he didn’t even know that Lieftin was an Earthman.”
“No, he couldn’t,” Carmody said. “I doubt that Lieftin can speak Kareenan like a native.”
“You can’t prove anything,” Tand said in English. “However, as you Terrestrials say, forewarned is four-armed.”
Carmody laughed, for he appreciated the pun. Tand had made the sign that Kareenan children and superstitious rurals used to ward off the evil spirit Duublow, who is supposed to have four arms with which he catches unwary travelers at crossroads before devouring them.
Tand continued, “Rilg may not be an Algulist at all. He may think of himself as a very devout Yessite. But he is chief of our government, and his first concern will be the survival of the state and the welfare of Kareen. I don’t envy his position. He’ll be torn between his religious inclination to accept whatever his god says and his desire to preserve the status quo. Plus his doubts about his own ability to survive the Night. The last element is, I would say, the strongest in him, as it will be in most people.
“However, what he can’t see, as the majority can’t see, is that a purge has to be faced up to at some time. So why not now, no matter how painful? Believe me, the very resistance that so many have expressed illustrates how shallow the faith of most is. It’s easy to follow the most popular religion, to worship the victorious god. But when you’re called on to make the supreme test, that’s different.”
“Yess is separating the men from the boys?”
“That’s a good way to put it.”
“But the children!”
Tand grimaced. “I don’t relish the idea. But the whole idea would be defeated if they were not subjected to the Night.”
“That’s not logical,” the priest said. “Suppose the Night does leave none but the good to breed? What about their children? You can’t say that goodness—whatever that is by your definition—is a genetic trait.”
“ No, but children tend, generally, to be what their parents are. In any case, it won’t matter. Because, once Yess decrees a general Waking, there will be no more Sleeping. All will go through every Night.”
“All right. I can see there’s no use arguing about this particular point. So, what are you going to do about Rilg and Abog?”
“Enforce the precautions taken to guard Yess. And to guard you. I’ve already had your belongings moved to a room on the fourteenth floor. The men who were guarding you will be replaced by men I know I can trust. You won’t take a step outside your room without adequate protection.”
Carmody said, “That seems reasonable, if restricting. Oh, by the way, could you make provision for the widow and orphans of the poor taxi driver? I’m not really responsible for his death, but, if it hadn’t been for me, he’d still be alive.”
“I’ve already done that,” Tand replied. He smiled grimly. “However, the money may not do them much good. It depends on how they get through the Night. And whether or not money is worth anything afterward.”
Tand started the car and drove back toward the hotel. Carmody was silent for a long time. His cardinal had given him instructions to try to persuade Yess from forcing a universal Waking. But it looked as if that might be just the thing to desire, from the Church viewpoint. If Kareenan civilization collapsed, the Kareenans would not be doing any extensive missionary work for a long time.
From the humane point of view, however, the cardinal was correct. But Carmody doubted that the cardinal and his superior had even considered this. To them, removed a million and a half light-years from an alien culture, the results of Yess’ decision would not be apparent. They would be thinking only of what a thoroughly Yessed and doubtless zealous people would be. They were visualizing swarms of fanatics descending upon Earth and the colonial planets.
What should he urge upon Yess? That, contrary to the cardinal’s instructions, he should encourage the decision for all to pass through the Night? Or should he follow his orders and act contrary to the interests of the Church, even if the Church did not know it?
There was no doubt in Carmody’s mind. Prevent the slaughter and the pain and misery. He could not be a Christian and do otherwise. His superiors would have to understand that only a man on the spot was capable of knowing the situation well. And that such a man, if he were a man, would disobey. Should his superiors not sympathize, then they would have to punish him as they thought fit. He was ready.
He had only one doubt. What if things were not going to be as bad as Tand and so many others thought? Yess, a being superior to ordinary mortals, might know much more than they.
Tand let him off at the hotel entrance. Three Kareenans in civilian clothes hastened to the car to escort Carmody. Tand said,”I’ll send a car around to pick you up tonight. I’ll meet you outside Yess’ quarters in the Temple and brief you before you have your audience.”
Carmody thanked him and returned to his room, now on the fourteenth floor. Tand’s men stationed themselves in the hallway. He phoned Gilson’s room but got no reply. He called the desk clerk and asked if Gilson had left any message for him. The clerk replied that Mr. Gilson had not checked in since he left last night.
Carmody was worried. After making several calls and being unable to get into touch with Tand, he asked to speak to the largh, the lieutenant, in charge of the police who had previously guarded him. These had been ordered to other duties. But a largh had been detailed to continue the investigation.
Largh Piinal was in the lobby. He came up immediately, however, to talk to Carmody in his room. Piinal was a young Kareenan, very tall, thin, and solemn.
“You suspect foul play?” he said.
“There’s a chance of it,” Carmody said. He had not told Piinal all about the previous night’s incident. His story was that Gilson had located Lieftin at Tiiwit’s tavern. Carmody had come after being phoned and had watched Lieftin for a while. He did not mention his suspicions about Abog. Gilson had then followed Lieftin from the tavern, but Carmody had been unable to go with him. He had been due at the hotel to answer a call from Tand. He did not mention the incident with the policeman in the alley, either.
“I can try to put some men on the case,” Piinal said. “But you must understand that the festival strains our capacities. Also, that the streets are filled with masked people the clock around. People dance and drink and make love until they drop, then sleep a few hours and continue. So, it will be very difficult to identify anybody, even an Earthman.”
“I understand,” the priest replied. “I think I should make the search myself. I might recognize Gilson’s walk and gestures even when he has a mask on.”
“I have orders to secure your safety,” the largh said. “I can’t do that if you’re out in the crowd. I’m sorry, Father, but that’s the way it has to be.”