"But still we haven't disposed of the janitor. When he comes back and finds nobody—"
"He'll think his companion went off for fun too, yes?"
"Maybe—"
"I know," said Chuen. "We put this man to sleep, disarm the guns, nail crate back together. Then I disguise myself with this man's hat and sword like member of the boat crew. I look more like Krishnan than you. I tell watchman I'm member of the boat crew who relieved this man during night so he can have fun too. Then I leave in morning, saying I got to catch boat back to Koloft. Really I hang around to make sure Fallon get the guns. Meantime you take your buggy and ride back to Hershid like you said, catch Fallon, and turn him over to me."
"Yeah, but when the boat crew find a man missing—"
Chuen shrugged. "We hope they think he got lost in a dive and go off without. I'll be ready to duck if they come around looking for him anyway."
Hasselborg looked at his machine gun with narrowed eyes. "Chuen, how badly do you want Fallon?"
"Ah—so-so. Don't care much so long as I get Gois and other Viagens conspirators. I suppose since
Fallon conspired to break regulations, I should bring him in, too. Why?"
"I was thinking that my need may be greater than thine."
"How so?"
"I'm supposed to bring Miss Batruni back to Earth. Now, I can't drag her aboard a spaceship; the minute I get her inside the wall at Novorecife she'll be under Earth law."
"Yes?"
"If you did bring Fallon in to Novorecife, what would happen then?"
"I'd present evidence at preliminary hearing before Judge Keshavachandra, who would order a trial. If he's convicted, go to jail. That's all."
"He'd be tried on Krishna?" said Hasselborg.
"Yes."
"How about appeals?"
"Interstellar Circuit Court of Appeals take care of that. Visit Krishna every couple years to hear appeals. What are you getting at?"
"I wondered if there were any way of having him tried on Earth. You see, if he were dragged back to Earth, Julnar Batruni would probably come back to Earth without urging. Follow me?"
"No chance. Fallon's offenses were all committed on Krishna."
"In that case, chum, I think I do need him more than you do. You see, I'll need some hold on Miss Batruni, and at the moment I can't think of a better one than to leave Fallon under duress here."
"Oh. Wouldn't that get you in trouble with Terran law, being accessory to false imprisonment or something?"
"No it wouldn't, since the imprisonment would be on Krishna outside of Novorecife. If this were a planet with extradition, it might make me liable to trouble, but it isn't, since they haven't yet got habeas corpus and things like that."
"I see. But look, companheiro, maybe if Fallon is in jail at Novorecife, Miss Batruni would go back to Earth for not knowing what else to do, don't you think?"
"Might, or might not. Maybe she loves him enough to stick around Novorecife to be near him; or maybe she'd go back to her island and tell the Zambans: 'Your king's in the clink, so as queen I'm running the joint for him until he gets out.' Women rulers are fairly common on this part of Krishna. No, I think my scheme is the only one I can count on."
"How will you manage it?"
"I haven't worked it all out yet, but I've got an idea. With your help I'm sure we can put it across."
They sat looking at each other by candlelight silently for a full minute. Hasselborg hoped Chuen would accede without making an issue of the case. Chuen was a good man to work with, but by the same token would be a dangerous antagonist. He hoped he wouldn't have to resort to threats to elicit further cooperation.
Chuen finally said: "I'll—ah—make deal. I help you catch Fallon the way you said. Then if I can get deposition from him against Gois, to help my case there, I'll let him stew in own soup. If authorities at Novorecife want him, I'll try dissuade them; tell them they'd need an army to catch him, and anyway he's turned state's evidence, and things like that. If they insist I bring him in, I'll have to try. You understand?"
Hasselborg thought a while in his turn. He finally replied: "Okay. Let's go to work."
While Hasselborg forced his trance pill on the unwilling riverman, Chuen picked up the curved sword. "Thought I'd never use one of these, but since I stopped that cut with the pry bar, I begin think I'm born swordsman, too. How you say in the Old English? Ha, villain!" He swished the blade through the air.
XIII.
The keepers of the city gate at Hershid, knowing Victor Hasselborg as the savior of the Lady Fouri, waved him through without formal identification. It had rained almost continuously since he had left Majbur, and a few sneezes had filled him with more acute fear than all the fighters in Krishna. Although he wanted nothing so much as to curl up in bed with his pills until the threat of a cold disappeared, however, he drove straight to Haste's palace and dashed in.
"Your Reverence," he told the high priest, "you told me when I first arrived here that you'd do anything I asked in return for my small services to your niece. Is that right?"
"Yes, my son?"
"Well then, here's where I foreclose." He smiled disarmingly. "It won't be too terrible and it won't cost the True Faith anything. First I'd like you to send one of your flunkies over to the royal palace and tell Ferzao bad-Qe, the leader of my men-at-arms, that I want them all to report over here on the double, with their arms and their ayas and a couple of spares."
"Master Kavir, the king has been asking after you. Hadn't you better pay your respects to him? He's impatient—"
"That's just the point! I don't want the king to know I'm in town, because he'll want me to paint his picture, and I've got more urgent things to do. Second, will you have somebody go out and buy me some fireworks? The kind you light and hold out, and they shoot out colored fireballs."
"It shall be done, my son."
"Thanks. And finally, will you prepare one of those cells in your basement for an unwilling guest?"
"Master Kavir! What are you about? I trust that you seek not to lure me into sinful acts under the guise of gratitude."
The guy's beginning to waver, thought Hasselborg, remembering' King Eqrar's remark about the priest's habit of promising anything and fulfilling nothing. He decided that the way to deal with Haste was to be brisk and domineering. "You'll see. Nothing against the best interests of Gozashtand. And it's absolutely necessary; I have your promise, you know."
Fouri came out and greeted him formally. When Haste was occupied in giving orders, she murmured: "When can I see my hero alone? I'm aflame with longing for him! I cannot sleep—"
This is where I came in, thought Hasselborg. He managed to be brightly conversational and completely uninformative during the next half-hour while his preparations were being made.
He said: "If the king asks, tell him I've gone hunting with my men. It's no lie, either." And he strode out to his carriage.
Back on the road to Majbur they sped. Hasselborg, observing that the sun was lowering, hoped they would catch the invaders before sunset. He was driving one of the spare ayas he had bought for his little army, since he had nearly killed poor Avvaü to reach Hershid ahead of Fallon. They might meet the train any time, since, while the aya could outsprint the bishtar, the larger beast could keep up a higher average speed for long distances than any other domestic animal.
Presently Ferzao bad-Qe cantered up beside him and pulled down to a trot. "Master Kavir," he said, "methinks I see something far ahead on yonder track!"
Hasselborg looked. Sure enough the track, which stretched away across the plain on their left, parallel to the road, ended in a little spot. As they approached, the spot grew and grew until it became two bishtars in tandem pulling a dozen little cars.