"You and your friends have said that many times," Kiv objected. "You used it as an excuse to steal cobalt, plant it on the Bel-rogas grounds, and destroy the School— a crime for which your hotheaded young friend will die tomorrow."
"Kris will not die," Norvis said.
"Is that the Light's Truth?" said Kiv sarcastically.
"It is. You will free Kris to continue the fight against the Earthmen."
"The Earthmen are gone," Kiv said.
"They are not gone. They are hiding in the Mountains of the Morning, biding their time. Once you've removed Kris from their path, they will reappear—-and destroy us all!"
"Hiding? What madness is this?"
Norvis grasped the old man's arm—dry, like an old stick—and peered into his deep-set eyes. "Remember, Grandfather, when my mother Sindi crossed the Mountains of the Morn, following my father, Rahn?"
"I remember," Kiv said.
"She returned—after a slight delay en route. In the Mountains of the Morning, there is a secret place where the Earthmen stay. Sindi saw strange and wonderful things there —the strangest of them being the Earthman Jones, supposedly gone to the Great Light some time before."
"Jones?" Kiv was openly incredulous. "How do you know all this, boy?"
"Sindi told me of it," said Norvis. "Of the Earthmen and their strange machines and weapons, out there in the Mountains. I have never forgotten it."
Kiv put his head in his hands. "I'm old, Norvis. I don't understand all these conflicting stories. What are you trying to tell me?"
"I'm trying to tell you," Norvis said, "that the Earthmen have been aiming for Nidor's destruction ever since they came here. That the students of the School have been carefully trained to sow havoc among us. You with your well-meant method for wiping out crop-eating pests, that caused a mild panic sixty years ago—and incidentally helped to put a large-sized crack in our social framework. Me, with my growth hormone. You can almost detail the step-by-step way in which the Earthmen have undermined us."
Kiv said nothing, but merely closed his eyes wearily.
"The Earthmen are still here," Norvis continued relentlessly. "Waiting to perform some new wickedness. And by taking Kris peKym from us, you'll be removing the last obstacle in their way."
Kiv opened his eyes suddenly. They glinted beadily at Norvis. "How do I know what you say is true?"
"Will you never believe anything?" Norvis demanded, exasperated. "I swear that all I've told you today is as true as that book you see there"—he indicated the Scripture and the Law. "I swear by the honor of my mother, Sindi iRahn, by my father, by the Scripture and the Law, by my true name of Brajjyd, by my Ancestors, and by the Great Light Himself that I have not lied to you. I—"
"Enough!" Kiv said hoarsely.
His face was pale, and Norvis saw that the old priest's breath was coming in heavy gasps. "For sixty years—ever since my days at the Bel-rogas School—I have co-operated with the Earthmen. Not since my days at Bel-rogas have I doubted the rightness of what I have done— and my doubt was only momentary."
Kiv seemed to sag. "And yet," he went on, "if what you say is true, then I have done more to aid the Earthmen than any other single man." His head slipped lower. "I have betrayed my people and my world—if what you say is true."
"Can you still doubt me?"
"I don't know," Kiv said. "Your oath ... but—"
"Free Kris peKym!" Norvis said inexorably. "Free him!"
"Norvis! How can I?"
"Free him?"
Kiv rose from his seat and wiped trembling hands over his brow. A tremendous inner struggle seemed to be going on in him.
"You couldn't have lied to me, Norvis. And yet—"
"Face the truth, Kiv peGanz!"
Kiv stood still for a moment. Suddenly, he uttered a little moan and slumped to his seat, his head falling forward over his desk. He moaned again—once—and was silent.
Norvis caught his breath. It had not been necessary to use the pistol, after all. It was just as well this way.
He glanced down at the body of the aged priest. For just a moment, a tear glistened at the corner of Norvis' eye. Angrily, he wiped it away, and started for the door.
There were footsteps in the hall, and then a tapping at the door. "Ancient Grandfather?" a voice said.
Norvis stopped, cursing himself for a fool. It was the first time in fifteen years that he had exposed himself to physical danger, and here he was, in a jam again.
"Ancient Grandfather?" Again the knock—louder this time.
Lightly, Norvis ran to the window and looked down. Below was the roof of the auditorium, and in its center was the great lens that focused the rays of the Great Light on the altar. Across from him was the gong tower. The wall was carved intricately; Dran peDran had been able to climb it easily.
But Dran peDran was a younger man; Norvis hadn't climbed the rigging of a ship for—by the Light! It was nearly twelve years! He realized suddenly that he had become middle-aged. His muscles were flabby from years of sitting behind a desk.
"Ancient Grandfather!" A pounding on the door.
There was nothing else he could do; if he were caught, everything— everything would be ruined! He swung himself over the window sill and began to work his way down the carved wall. He was less than ten feet down when he heard the door open in the Elder Grandfather's office.
Someone, an acolyte probably, came into the room. Below, Norvis hugged the wall.
"Grandfather? Grandfather! Grandfather!" A silence for a moment, then the fast patter of retreating sandals.
Moving as rapidly as he dared, taking advantage of the late afternoon dusk, Norvis went on down the wall. He dropped the last few feet, wincing as the shock of hitting the ground flashed through his legs, and ran across the roof toward the rear of the Temple. He felt a touch of panic, hard to suppress. There was still a chance he might be caught.
He swung himself over the edge of the roof, and, for a moment, his feet touched nothing. Then a sculptured gargoyle came within reach. He grasped its grinning head and eased downwards. His fingers slipped, and he dropped nine feet to the street below.
His legs took the second shock poorly; his ankles felt sore from the wrench they had been given. But he didn't dare limp. Gritting his teeth, he walked quietly down the deserted street to the corner, and then turned and walked to where his deest was tethered. His face a wooden mask that concealed searing pain, he hoisted himself aboard the animal.
He turned it toward the south, moving slowly so as not to attract attention. As the deest began to move, he heard a sudden shout behind him.
"He is dead! The Elder Grandfather is dead!"
Norvis glanced around. It was not an acolyte who shouted; it was one of the lesser priests, standing at the door of the Temple.
Then the great gong sounded— and sounded again. Norvis urged his mount forward, and the deest trotted quickly through the Square of Holy Light toward the south. And as he rode, through the night-darkened streets, Norvis peRahn Brajjyd heard the gong ring hollowly again and again over the Holy City, sounding the death knell of his grandfather.
Chapter XVII
Once out of the city, Norvis took the Tammul Road toward the river; the ships from Tammulcor should be. coming in any time now, commanded by Del peFenn's son, Ganz peDel. The ships would have to be stopped. Things had changed now— and, much as Norvis hated himself for thinking it, changed for the better.