"Heidel von Hymack."
He shook his head.
"Never heard of him, sir."
"Yes you did. Only you called him Hyneck--the man Pels was looking for."
"Oh, him. Yes."
"Ever hear of a man called H?"
"It seems to me that I have, though I forget the circumstances. It was not as a disease-carrier, though. Doesn't he have a rare blood type or something?"
"Something. I will send some articles to your room later."
"Thank you."
He glanced at Jackara and returned to his sherbet.
God! It's like looking down into hell! she decided. It has been an entire week, and this is the first time I have seen it at night.
She stared into the smoldering place, nearer-seeming now that night had come.
I wonder how far down it has to go to find those fires? she thought. I will not ask. It would show my ignorance. No volcanoes on Deiba. Too old, perhaps. Dust and rain. I remember descriptions, pictures of volcanoes. Never realized they were like this ...
The building trembled, slightly, and she smiled. It was good living so close to so much power, to dwell on the periphery of chaos.
Will he allow me to remain when this is all over? she wondered. Perhaps. If I prove useful on Summit. I could learn to help with things around here. I will make myself useful. He will come to rely on me.
She looked about.
He must know I am out here, she thought. He knows everything that happens in his home. I never walked alone up here before, but I don't suppose it would bother him. No. He told me to make myself at home. He would have said something if he did not want--
"Hello. What are you doing up this late?"
"John! --Oh, I couldn't sleep."
"Neither could I. So I decided to get up and take a walk. --Pretty spectacular, isn't it?"
"Yes. It is the first time I have seen it at night."
He moved near to her and pretended to study the flames.
"All set for the trip?"
"Yes," she said. "Malacar told me it would only take about eight days, sub-time."
"That sounds right. Are you related?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you and Malacar relatives?"
"No. We're just--friends."
"I see. I'd like to be your friend too."
She seemed not to have heard him.
He turned then and stared down, and the smoke arced to the right and the left, came together, formed a great sparkshot heart in the midst of which her name appeared, then his. An arrow of flame pierced its center.
"Be my valentine," he said.
She laughed. Turning, he took her shoulders quickly and kissed her on the mouth. For a moment she relaxed, then struggled with surprising strength and pushed him away.
"Don't do that!"
Her voice was shrill, her face twisted.
He stepped back.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean-- Look! Don't be angry. It's just that you looked so pretty standing there . I hope my beard didn't tickle too much. I-- Oh hell! I'm sorry."
He turned and regarded the dissolving heart.
"You surprised me," she said. "That's all."
He glanced at her again, and she was nearer to him.
"Thanks for the valentine," she said, and she smiled.
He hesitated, then reached forward slowly and touched her cheek. He moved his hand down it, traced her chin, her throat, then around to the back of her neck, rested it there a moment, then drew her toward him. She stiffened then, and he relaxed but did not remove his hand.
"If you don't have a man just now," he said, "and you might be interested ... If you and Malacar are _just_--friends--I would like to be considered in the running. That is all I was trying to find out and to say."
"I can't," she said. "It's too late. Thanks, though."
"What do you mean 'too late'? All I know is now, and now is all I care about."
"You don't understand."
"... And I don't care either. If you and Malacar are not really together, well, perhaps, you and I ... You know. For a while, at least ... If you decide you don't like it-- Well, no hard feelings. I was thinking along those lines. Say something."
"No, not yet. Not now."
He marked the "yet" and, "Of course," he said, "I expected as much. Think about it, though. Yes, do that. Think about it. Please."
"All right. I'll think."
"Then I'll shut up. Whatever--at least--I hope that you will consider me a--friend."
She smiled, nodded, drew away.
"I think I had better be going now," she said.
He nodded.
She left him then, and he watched the exploding night.
That's something, anyway, he said to himself.
The heart had long ago turned to vapor.
Heidel burst upon the city like a pod spreading seeds. He pointed his finger and people fell.
Enough, he said to the thing within him. They go now the way of all the others.
As he departed, before he entered the place of mists, he encountered a boy with a hammer in his hand.
Standing well back, he inquired, "What are you doing, boy?"
The youth turned and said, "Collecting stones, sir."
He laughed, then, "Chop into that yellow place on your left," he said. "There should be blue crystals there."
The boy turned and obeyed him.
"Sir!" he cried out, after perhaps ten minutes. "There are indeed blue crystals!"
He continued to dig and chip.
Heidel shook his head and contorted his face.
"I had better be away," he said. He hurried off toward the mists.
Hammering at the hillside, the boy did not notice him go.
CHAPTER 5
Matching his orbital velocity with Summit's rotation, he hung starlike above the area in question.
"... A single individual," he repeated. "I am sorry that I cannot be more explicit. I am convinced he is the focus of the infections. You have to do more than simply quarantine the area. You have to locate this man and immobilize him. He should be moving somewhat in advance of the contagion course, as we must allow for an incubation period. From what you have told me so far, he seems to be headed southwest. I recommend you assume continuing movement in that direction, most likely on foot, and begin searching immediately. And get me more data! If possible, I would like to be in direct communication with the searchers."
"I will of course have to get authorization for all this, Dr. Pels, but I am certain it will not take long. In the meantime, there should be more reports coming in shortly. I will get them up to you as soon as we have them."
"Very good. I will be waiting."
Pels broke the connection.
Indeed, he said to himself, I am used to waiting. But this time-- The news came so quickly, and I made it in time to be right on top. I know he is down there. These people will let me direct things. I know it. Nothing like this has ever happened here before. He seems to be getting worse. But I will find him this time. Time.
... Three, four, five.
"Hold it!" he said, but she had already tossed the sixth coin.
It hung there a moment, turning, jerking, then moved to join the other five in a slow figure-of-eight procession in the middle of the air.
"Just wait until I stabilize the thing ... There! All right, add another--carefully."
Jackara ffipped another coin upward. It overshot the group by several feet, froze as if suddenly transformed to a photograph, then commenced a tadpole-like wiggling that took it in the direction of the pattern. Moments later, it had joined the flow.