"Pretty soon," said Malacar, drawing three large stones from the heap before him. Smaller ones rattled to the ground as he did so.
He twisted aside a metal strut which had bent downward. Taking a step back, he drove his heavy right boot forward into the top of the heap. Stones rattled to the floor inside, and dust rose about them. Jackara coughed and the light wavered.
"Sorry," he said. "I wanted to get the small stuff out of the way in a hurry. We should be able to get in in a few more minutes."
She nodded and the light nodded with her. Malacar tore into the heap.
_Commander!_
_What?_
_I made contact with his mind, to probe it. He went away_.
_What do you mean, he went away?_
_I can no longer read anything, even the fact of his existence. He detected my presence when I made the attempt. Now he is shielding. He is a tele path himself--a skillful one. What should I do?_
_Come back. We are about to go in. --Of what race is this creature?_
_Your own, I think_.
_Humans aren't telepaths_.
_There are some, you know. It seemed like the mind of a man_.
Malacar moved more masonry and twisted another strut out of the way.
"Our visitor is a telepath," he said. "He has blocked Shind. Shind is on her way back now. --There. I think we can get through that opening."
"Do you think we should? It might find us here."
"'It' is apparently a human being," he said. "If he can read us anywhere, he can find us anywhere--back in camp, say. We might as well continue."
He leaned forward and crawled across the heap, passing beneath the archway and into the foyer. He regained his footing and stood.
"Come on in," he said.
He directed the beam ahead of her and she followed. She took his hand and came to her feet in the small room.
"This way."
They moved into the pentagonal chamber, and small things rushed away from his light and vanished into the shadows. He flicked the light beam about the room. There were overturned pews, dusty pews, pews which had sagged and broken. He turned to the altar--a green stone containing many fracture lines. Then he stared at the rows of glassite plates which surrounded them, depicting the Pei'an deities. There were hundreds of them upon the walls, some shattered, some hanging loosely. A few had fallen to the floor. Turning, he raked his light across them all.
"Pretty well preserved," he said. "How old is this place supposed to be?"
"Nobody knows for certain," she told him. "This city was here and in ruins when Deiba was discovered, about nine hundred Earth years ago."
_I am here_, said Shind, and a dark form entered through the passage they had cleared.
_Good. What more of our visitor?_
_Nothing. I am going to attempt to shield us from him while you search this place_.
_Capital_.
He began to scan the floors, moving among the remains of the pews. After an hour and a half, he had covered this area and located nothing. He moved to the altar and began sifting through the pieces of ceiling that lay about it.
"I think I've found something," he heard her say, from far ahead and to his left, where she was seeking along the walls with a small light of her own.
He went to her immediately.
"What is it?"
She pointed with her weak light toward a spot on the floor. He moved his own light to cover it.
A damp-looking notebook, covered with dust, lay at their feet.
Stooping, he touched it carefully. Then he lifted it and dusted its covers. It was a cheap, plasticovered tablet, bearing only its manufacturer's name. Removing his gloves and tucking them behind his belt, he opened it. The pages were damp, the lines blurred or blotted out entirely. One by one, he turned the leaves.
"Sketches," he said, "of this place. Nothing but sketches," as he closed the tablet.
"It means that _someone_ was here," she said. "Why throw away a book you've spent so much time drawing in? Maybe this is where H was stricken."
She drew back suddenly.
"Could we catch anything from that book?"
"Not after all these years."
He shone his light about the area.
"If he left that, he may have--"
He held the beam steady. Within its spot lay something that was partly metal. Rotted cloth hung in strips and patches and there was a small container beneath it.
"Some sort of carrying case," he said, bending forward and touching it lightly.
Then he froze, seeing through the dust to the markings on the case.
Carefully, he raised it and blew upon it. Then the old visions of chaos and death swam through his mind once more, for it bore the initials _HvH_.
"This is it," he said softly. "I know who he is."
_I feel him!_ said Shind. _Your find excited him and he gave himself away!_
Malacar whirled, dropping the case and extinguishing the light. He whipped the subgun from his shoulder.
"Peace!" cried a voice from above him. "I'm not pointing anything at you!"
Jackara's light went out at that moment, and he heard the safety catch _snick_ on her pistol.
Through the hole in the ceiling, suddenly silhouetted against stars, he saw the form of a man.
"You make a good target," Malacar said.
"I exposed myself to show good faith, when I saw that you would hold your fire. I want to talk."
"Who are you?"
"What difference does it make? I know what you know now. Heidel von Hymack is the name I came here to verify."
While the man was speaking, a faint illumination appeared on the wall to the right. Malacar glanced at it. It was one of the glassite plates. It had begun glowing, giving off a faint green light. It bore the picture of a naked man, holding a thundercloud in one hand and a bow in the other. The face was partly hidden by the raised arm. At his hip hung a quiver of thunderbolts that matched the yellow sky above him.
"So you know his name," said Malacar. "What are you going to do with it?"
"Find the man it fits."
"Why?"
"He represents a very great danger to a large number of people."
"I know that. That is why I want him."
"And I know you, Malacar. You are a man I once admired very much--still admire. You are making a mistake in this matter, though. Heidel cannot be used the way you want to use him. If you try it, he will become uncontrollable. The DYNAB itself will be in danger, not just the CL."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Enrico Caruso," he replied.
_He is lying_, said Shind. _His name is Francis Sandow_.
"You are Francis Sandow," Malacar said aloud, "and I can see why you want to stop me. You are one of the wealthiest men in the galaxy. If I were to hurt the CL badly, I would be stepping on a lot of your interests, wouldn't I?"
"That is correct," said Sandow. "But that is not why I am here. I generally deal through representatives on all matters. This is an exception because of the nature of the case. You are a doctor of medicine. You are aware that there are many conditions which are not purely physical in origin."
"So?"
"You have been exploring down there for a long while. Did you find any indication that anyone else has been inside recently?"
"No, I didn't."
"All right, then. Without being able to see it, I will tell you something that I could not know by any ordinary means. --You are standing near to the place where you made your discovery, next to a wall. Have your woman keep me covered and turn your light onto that wall, up rather high. Above, or very near to the place where you located the thing, you will see a glassite plate. I will describe it: You will see the head and shoulders of a blue-skinned woman. She has two faces, one looking in either direction. The one to the left is attractive and there are flowers on that side of the picture--blue flowers. The gal on the right has pointed teeth and a sinister expression. Near to her there is a framework of blue snakes. Directly above, there will be a blue circle."