Gordon shook his head. "We met only two of the H'Harn. One we never even saw. Shorr Kan killed the other one, to free us... we were in deadly danger..." And I hope that guarantees your neck, Shorr Kan, he thought. "But apparently there are only a few of them in the galaxy."
"They will come," whispered Korkhann. "They will come."
Lianna spoke. "One thing at a time. Narath and his beasts, and the counts, are enough to deal with now. Korkhann, will you see that our guests are made comfortable..."
She emphasized the word "guests" but Shorr Kan never turned a hair. He made another courtly bow and said to her, "Thank you, Highness, for your welcome. I've always wanted to visit Fomalhaut, for I've been told it's one of the most beautiful of the minor star-kingdoms. Until later!"
And with that truly regal wipe in the eye, he turned and went out with Hull Burrel and Korkhann.
Gordon saw Lianna turn toward him. Her face was still stone-white and there was no expression at all now in her eyes.
She came closer to him and her small hand flashed and gave him a stinging slap across the mouth.
Then her face changed. It moved like that of a nasty little girl having a tantrum. She put her head on his shoulder, and she said, "Don't you ever leave me again, John Gordon. If you do..."
He felt the wetness of tears against his cheek.
Incredulous, caught by wonder, Gordon held her. Not Zarth Arn, he thought. John Gordon.
That long trip back across the ages had been worth it, after all.
19
The street was familiar. Gordon knew every one of the brownstone fronts. He walked on the gritty pavement toward the office building where he spent his days. In the doorway he met Keogh, who laughed at him and said, "I told you it was all a dream, that rubbish about star-kings and beautiful princesses. All a dream, and now you've awakened, you're back in the real world. The real world..."
In a panic, Gordon said, "No, no, I won't come back." And then he cried out, "Lianna!"
The cry seemed to echo down endless corridors, but it had an effect. Everything slid and tilted and flowed away, leaving him confused and giddy in a tumultuous nowhere. He floundered wildly, like a drowning swimmer, and called Lianna's name again, and suddenly he was looking in bewilderment around an unfamiliar room.
Through an open window he could see the vast orb of the setting sun, and the sun was Fomalhaut, not Sol. It threw a shaft of brilliant light into the room, and by it he saw Lianna sitting silently in a chair, watching him.
He sat up on the couch where he had fallen asleep, brushing beads of perspiration from his forehead. The echoes of that nightmare were strong in him, and for a moment he could not speak.
"You dreamed you were in that other time?" she said.
He nodded.
"I thought so. I was watching your face. I'm glad it was my name you called." She added after a moment, "I've talked to Captain Burrel. I have some idea what you two went through I'm not surprised you have bad dreams."
They were still, Gordon thought, just a little awkward with each other. He was sure now that she loved him, but the trouble was that they didn't quite know each other well enough yet.
"When the H'Harn touch you," he said, "it seems to leave a kind of mental scar. Twice I've dreamed that the one who held us there in the ship had actually carried us away to the Lesser Magellanic, and each time..."
Suddenly Gordon stopped. His mind, just aroused from sleep had abruptly perceived for the first time something that he had never thought about before.
He jumped to his feet. "There's no sign of the fleet of the counts coming out of the Marches?"
She shook her head gravely. It was not for the sovereign to Fomalhaut Kingdom to show fear, but he saw the strain in her eyes.
"Not yet," she said. "But Abro thinks that if they are going to attack they'll come soon. He agrees with Captain Burrel that they would alter their timetable in order to strike before help can get here."
Gordon said, "I think I've overlooked something that may be tremendously important. I've got to see Hull and Shorr Kan."
The softness left Lianna's eyes and little stormy lightenings gathered in them.
"Shorr Kan," she said. "The man who nearly destroyed us all... and yet you speak of him as though he were a friend!"
Patiently Gordon said, "He is not a friend. He is an ambitious opportunist who thinks only of his own ends. But since his only opportunities now lie with us, he threw in with us. He's going to try to use us, and we are going to try to use him, and time will tell who uses whom."
Liana answered nothing, but he saw the set of her small chin. He ignored it and asked, "Is there some place here where we can make some galactographic computations?"
"The royal chart room," she said. "It's linked directly with all the screens in the Defense Ministry."
"Will you take me there, Lianna? And will you have Hull and Shorr Kan brought there?"
The room was deep in the palace. It had screens on every wall, all of them dark now. An officer saluted Lianna when she entered with Gordon behind her.
Presently Hull Burrel and Shorr Kan came in, and the latter swept a deep bow to Lianna, wishing Her Highness a very good evening. She regarded him with lambent eyes and an arctic smile.
"Let me say at once, Shorr Kan," she told him, "that if I had my way you'd have been executed within five minutes after you landed here. I live in hope that you will yet do something to make that possible."
Shorr Kan grinned crookedly. He looked at Gordon, and said, "Women are realists, did you know that? If you hurt one or threaten to hurt one, she'll hate you forever. Only men can make a game of it."
"Will you for God's sake quit talking about games," said Gordon. "The counts are not playing a game. Narath Teyn is not playing a game, and for certain the H'Harn are not playing a game. Or if they are, it's a game that nearly crushed the galaxy back in Brenn Bir's day."
Shorr Kan shrugged. "I'll admit that, but there's no evidence that the H'Harn are here yet in any strength."
"Are you quite sure of that?" asked Gordon.
Shorr Kan's mocking air dropped from him like a cast-off garment. "What do you mean?"
Gordon turned to Hull Burrel, who was frowning in puzzlement. "Hull, you piloted that H'Harn ship."
"You don't have to remind me," said Hull irritably. "I remember well enough."
"All right. Now, can you remember whether or not, before we realized what was happening and began to fight the creature, you were flying at top acceleration?"
Hull frowned again. "I don't see what..."
"Were you?"
"I don't know, damn it. Everything I did was put into my mind by the H'Harn, and I..."
"Yes?"
"Well, just wait a minute. I'm trying to think... I did seem to know that I must move a certain lever to the farthest notch. I did that, and from the way the ship responded, of course it had to be the main thrust control." Hull's face cleared. He nodded, satisfied. "Yes, we were at top acceleration."
"And what would you guess that to be?"
Hull pondered a moment, then named a figure. The officer's mouth fell open, and Lianna said instantly, "But that isn't possible!"
"I'm sorry, Highness... it is. The H'Harn ships are faster than anything of ours." Hull shook his head regretfully. "I'd have given a lot to bring that ship back so we could study it. Because if we do ever have to fight them in space..."
Gordon turned to Lianna. "Can we see a detailed chart of the portion of the Marches that contains Aar?" In a belated remembrance of protocol, he added "Highness?"