Ruiz laughed incredulously. “Go ahead,” he told Albany.
Albany shrugged. “If you say so.” He got out a surgical laser, applied it to Publius in various spots, severing power leads, disabling sensors. When he was finished, he stepped back and leveled his big graser at the monster-maker. “All yours, Ruiz.”
Ruiz spun him around and pressed the splinter gun to Publius’s throat, angled up toward the monster-maker’s brain. “I really should kill you,” he said, and at that moment the idea appealed to him almost irresistibly.
Publius had regained his perpetual air of gracious confidence, and he smiled in what he apparently believed to be a winsome manner. “Now, now. I did nothing you wouldn’t have done, in my place.”
There was some truth in that — but that was only because Publius was Publius — or so Ruiz told himself. Yes, he’d seized the chance to commit a treachery against Publius — because he knew that Publius would be doing the same. He nodded ruefully.
“Isn’t it always the way?” Publius said.
Ruiz shook his head violently. All this musing was dangerously pointless. The universe was as it was, and he must live in it.
“Sit down,” he said, and pushed Publius toward a chair.
The monster-maker settled carefully, favoring those portions of his anatomy that Albany had treated. “What shall we do now, Ruiz? I acknowledge myself defeated — I must rely on your sense of fair play and on your desperation to be off Sook. I can still arrange it.”
“How do I know?”
Publius shrugged expressively. “Who else can help you? And I’m willing to wear the collars with you. If that isn’t sufficient guarantee of my faithfulness, there’s the matter of my puppet. At the moment, your life is only slightly less valuable to me than my own.”
Ruiz studied the collars, lying in their open case. “I’m impressed by your docility,” he said sardonically.
“Well, you’re definitely the better man, at present.” Publius spoke in a voice of mild reason.
Ruiz looked at Albany. “Fetch the old collars,” he said.
Albany nodded, smiling conspiratorially, and went aft.
The faintest hint of alarm showed in Publius’s smooth face, and Ruiz enjoyed it disproportionately. He allowed no trace of this wicked delight to show on his face.
Albany returned, bearing the madcollars that Ruiz and the Gench had worn.
Ruiz reached out and took the collar the Gench had worn. “You’re right,” he said to Publius. “We must be allies for a while. To show you that I’m reconciled to this, I’ll take the collar your Gench wore — your delicate nostrils won’t have to be offended by the stink.”
The alarm in Publius’s face increased. “Oh, no,” he said. “I won’t hear of it. I’ve brought a much finer pair, far better suited to such stylish gentlemen as we two are.”
“Put it on him,” said Ruiz.
Publius recoiled, sinking as deeply into the chair as he could. “Don’t you trust me in even the tiniest detail?”
“No.”
Publius groaned with frustration. “You’re a hard man, Ruiz.” Albany snapped the collar round his neck, and Ruiz fancied that Publius’s confidence had eroded, just a little. He found it a vastly satisfying notion. He donned the Gench’s collar, wrinkling his nose against the stench that clung strongly to the metal and plastic of the collar.
Albany handed the controller to Publius, who took it with shaking fingers. Ruiz wondered if perhaps his former collar had been fitted with some additional trap that Publius now feared. Or perhaps it was just that he was discomfitted by the turn of events, which had apparently robbed him of some crucial element of the next betrayal he had designed.
“Activate it, Emperor Publius,” Ruiz said, holding up his own controller.
“Ruiz…” began Publius in a soft reasonable voice.
“Do it now,” said Ruiz. “Or I’ll kill you and have done.”
Publius opened his mouth, shut it, nodded. They both triggered their controllers, and the collars locked on.
Ruiz clipped the controller to its loop on his collar, and holstered his splinter gun. “Now,” he said, “don’t you feel better?” He felt the easing of a vast weight; he began to hope that he could deal successfully with the monster-maker.
“Oh, certainly,” said Publius glumly. “Certainly.”
Back in the shadows, the young Gench stirred, attracting Publius’s attention. “How did you persuade it to take its collar off?” Publius asked, peering at the alien.
“It was easy,” Ruiz answered. “I told it stories about you.”
Publius adopted a sorrowful smile. “Now you’re being facetious, Ruiz. Treat me with dignity, at least.”
“All right. Go to the comm and tell your sub to withdraw. Please.”
Publius rose heavily and went to the comm board. He instructed his people; Ruiz could detect no obviously devious orders, which meant nothing. Publius turned back to Ruiz. “Now what?”
Ruiz was somewhat taken aback by the lack of bluster in Publius — it seemed an unnatural condition, as strange as if the sun should one morning rise in the west. “Now we go to fetch my slaves.”
The young Gench trundled forward. “Will you set me free? You said you would, if it was possible.”
Ruiz shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry. I may have further need of your services.” He looked speculatively at Publius.
Publius paled. “The creature is untrained; already you may have done irreparable damage to my Yubere. And….” Publius’s hand went to his collar, and he became even paler. “And, I will destroy us both, if you attempt to alter my mind.”
Ruiz sighed. He had no realistic hope that the young Gench could alter Publius in any but a severely destructive manner — certainly a form of mission-imperative that would leave Publius fully in command of his wits would be far beyond the Gench’s undeveloped skills. He would have enjoyed tormenting Publius longer, but if the monster-maker continued to believe that Ruiz’s collar was still gimmicked, he might be moved to do something desperate and unexpected. “Let me set you at ease,” he said. “We discovered the monomol layer on the Gench’s collar, and removed it, before we were able to convince it that it would best serve its own interests by aiding us.”
Publius lifted his head, an abrupt predatory movement. “How can I know if any of this is true?”
“Give him this, Albany.” Ruiz took out the record cube he’d made during his conversation with the young Gench and tossed it to Albany.
Publius manipulated the cube expertly. The light from the tiny screen flickered on his face, which twisted and trembled with concentration.
Ruiz listened to the small sound of his own voice.
Eventually Publius seemed to be satisfied that Ruiz was telling the truth, and switched off the cube. He smiled, confident again. “I’m reassured, Ruiz.”
Ruiz detected a deep foundation of contempt beneath Publius’s words. “Good. All I want is to get off Sook. Play fair with me, and you’ll get your puppet back. Try to cheat me again, and I’m likely to thwart you, out of simple spite. Remember, neither of us are men who customarily tell everything they know, so restrain your ego, force yourself to practice caution.”
“Just as you say, Ruiz.” Publius returned to his chair, face smooth and pleasant.
The Gench edged into the brighter light. “Why cannot you let me go then? The monster-maker is subdued and cooperative.”
Publius laughed. “Because Ruiz Aw is no better than I am. His promises mean nothing more than mine; he is no more merciful, no more just. You are doomed to disappointment, young Gench, if you trust this man.”
“So far he has proven trustworthy,” it said. “And he did not promise me my freedom, only said that he would do what he could. It would have been easy for him to lie to me, as you would have done.”