“There’s an easy way to settle this,” he said, trying to sound calm. “I’m going to call the Hartmann Observatory.”
Smith snorted with amusement. “Good idea! Please can I have my asteroid back.”
“You’ll see.” Mellish led the way out of the hand-built dome that covered his telescope, stamped up the back garden path and went into the house. He turned on lights, ushered Smith into his library with exaggerated courtesy and picked up the telephone. The local observatory’s number was well known to him and he was able to key it in without consulting a directory. He was greeted by the steady bleeping of the engaged tone. Irritated by the delay, he was on the point of setting the instrument down when he noticed that, according to the phone’s information display, eight other callers were waiting to get through to the same number—an indication that the observatory was exceptionally busy for that time of night.
Without speaking, Mellish pointed at the glowing digit and was amply rewarded when—for the first time in the course of their disagreement—Smith met his gaze with eyes which had begun to show doubt.
Chapter Fourteen
He knew he was making a big presumption, because Vekrynn had looked directly at him only once, and only for a fraction of a second. Even when Hargate encountered people from his own culture it was not always possible for him to judge them accurately, and in this case he was dealing with a totally alien being—an awe-inspiring giant with a range of experience beyond Terran comprehension. But Vekrynn was human, nevertheless, and he had reacted as a human, and Hargate had been watching his face with all the morbid sensitivity which on occasion made him almost telepathic…
This man, he thought, is my enemy. This super-being, who was strolling from star to star at the time of Cheops, wants me dead.
The intuitive discovery was no stranger than any of the revelations that had come to him during the day, but it differed from the others in that it demanded more than wonderment. If at all possible, he had to avoid being left alone with Vekrynn—and Gretana was already raising her hand in the gesture he had come to know so well. Hargate leaned forward and called out his plea for her to stay, but his voice failed as her hand curved downwards. She disappeared on the instant, and all at once the sun-scoured plaza he shared with Vekrynn had the feel of an arena.
Hargate moved the control lever under his right hand into the drive position and sent his chair whirring across the mosaic pavement in the direction of one of the gaps in the circle of derelict buildings. Vekrynn turned immediately, eyes triangulating on Hargate, and came striding after him. The fact that he considered it unnecessary to run added to Hargate’s feelings of sick apprehension.
The chair rocked wildly as it struck clumps of yellow moss, a reminder that it was completely unsuited for rough ground. Hargate narrowed his eyes against the encroaching light as he passed through the gap. The light blazing from the amber forest was so intense that it seemed to constitute a physical barrier to his progress, but some distance to his left he saw the beginnings of a path through the trees. He made a sharp turn by momentarily stopping his left-hand wheel, then accelerated towards the track, cursing the machine’s sluggishness as he went. Its batteries, already drained by the difficult approach to Cotter’s Edge, were too weak for speeding.
He had almost reached the path when Vekrynn, still moving without haste, stepped out of a ruined doorway in front of him and stood with his arms spread wide in a nimbus of reflected light. Hargate braked violently and, realising the futility of trying to flee, brought his chair to a halt a few paces away from the Mollanian. There was a moment of throbbing silence.
“There is no need for you to be alarmed,” Vekrynn said, speaking very slowly and distinctly. “I have made provision for you.”
Hargate produced a sneer. “I’ll bet you have.”
Vekrynn paused, his eyes fixed on a point above Hargate’s head. “I want you to come with me.”
“And I,” Hargate replied, “want you to piss off.”
The silence descended again while Vekrynn considered the remark. “It is natural for you to be frightened and confused,” he said, still speaking with exaggerated care, “but I can assure you that…”
“I’m not frightened, and I’m not confused, and I’m not a moron—so you can take the marbles out of your mouth.” Having begun a verbal offensive, Hargate decided to follow through. “And I demand to be taken back to Earth.”
“Earth? Very well—if that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.”
“As you wish,” Vekrynn said. “All you have to do is return with me to the centre of the plaza. I can’t explain it to you, but it is important that you position yourself exactly at the…”
“Hold on,” Hargate said quickly. “Gretana said you wouldn’t let me go home. She said you were taking me to some place called Cialth.”
Vekrynn’s face was almost hidden in webs of light rays. “You can be properly looked after on Cialth—as some compensation for the way we have infringed your rights as an individual. However, if you prefer to go back to Earth I have no objections.”
“But…” Hargate’s suspicion that he was being manipulated grew stronger. “What if I blab everything I know?”
Vekrynn chuckled. “Who would believe you? Besides, you would be arriving at a very isolated spot at the beginning of a winter night. It is likely that within a very short time you would be…” The Mollanian transferred his gaze to another point in the distance. “In all probability you would…”
“Die is the word you’re looking for,” Hargate said, feeling a secondary stirring of intuition. According to the fantastic scenario Gretana had unfolded earlier, the luminant giant standing before him had been alive for something like fifty centuries—approaching the limit for a Mollanian. Even for the Warden of Earth there eventually had to be an ending. How would such a being regard the imminence of death? It was difficult enough for Terrans, the unwitting mayflies of the interstellar community, to come to terms with personal extinction—so how would a man like Vekrynn feel as he neared the end of his lifespan? Sated? Philosophically resigned? Perhaps that would be true for some Mollanians, but Hargate had a sudden conviction that Vekrynn felt otherwise…
“I’m neglecting important duties,” Vekrynn said, his voice growing louder. “You must go back to the centre of the plaza immediately.”
Hargate looked up at him, squinting into the light. “What if I decide to stay right here?”
“Again, the choice is entirely yours. This is an uninhabited world, with no food or water, but if it suits you to remain here…” Vekrynn turned to walk away.
“Wait!” Hargate reviewed the few options that were open to him, and reluctantly reached for his drive control. His belief that the Warden wished him dead had not altered, but on the other hand Gretana had told him the Mollanian reverence for life was so great that homicide was virtually unknown among her people. He would, regardless of how apprehensive he felt, have to trust Vekrynn would stop short of murder when it came to tidying up his affairs.
“I’ve thought things over,” Hargate said. “Earth has nothing for me—so I’ll go to Cialth.”
“A wise decision.” Vekrynn indicated the doorway from which he had emerged. “This is too narrow for you. We’ll go back through the gap in the wall.”
“Right.” Hargate looked ruefully at the forest of translucent tamber trees, wishing there had been a chance to examine them properly, then it came to him that he had become remarkably blase in a very short time. He had decided to abandon his home planet for ever, was now about to flit instantaneously to yet another remote and unknown world, and could feel almost no emotional reaction. So much had happened during the day that his mind was overloaded, his capacity for surprise diminished. What he needed now was time to rest and reflect, to process the information, and yet one personal truth was already emerging from the blur that was his consciousness. He wanted to be with Gretana again. Looking at the flawless, changeless beauty was like an excursion into the past, a return to the bright land of illusion, magic and hope.