'What kind of a masquerade is this?'
'No masquerade,' said Shorr Kan. 'Happily for me, the reports of my death were sheer fraud.' He met Zarth Arn's bitter glare with calm amusement. 'The bad penny has turned up, only this time I'm on your side. Doesn't that please you?'
Zarth Arn appeared to be too stunned to speak for the moment. Gordon seized the opportunity to make a swift explanation.
'Our lives, and quite possibly the life of the whole galaxy, may be saved because Shorr Kan got us free to bring a warning,' he said. 'Try and remember that, Highness.'
Zarth Arn's face was perfectly white, his mouth set like a vise. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mastering himself. Then he looked at Lianna and said, 'Highness, my advice is to hang that man at once.'
'Ah, but you must hang Gordon first,' said Shorr Kan smoothly. 'He gave his word to protect me.'
Hull stepped closer to the screen. 'Highness, with all due respect, the hell with Shorr Kan and what happens to him! The H'Harn... the Magellanians... may be at the throat of the galaxy!'
Zarth Arn's anger faded into something else. 'You learned something in the Marches?'
Hull told him. Gordon watched Zarth Arn's face, saw the shadow that came there grow and deepen, and when Hull was through it seemed to Gordon that Zarth Arn had aged ten years in those few moments.
'Theory,' he said. 'Only theory, and yet... The H'Harn. Strange that we never had a name for them before.' He looked at Gordon. 'This is your considered opinion?'
'Yes,' said Gordon, and Shorr Kan spoke up unbidden.
'Mine too. And whatever else I may be, Zarth Arn, you know that I am neither a fool nor a coward. I believe that this strike against Fomalhaut is nothing less than the spearhead of an attack by the H'Harn on the whole galaxy.'
After a moment Zarth Arn said, 'This must go to my brother at once, for his decision. And since this is a chance we dare not take, I think there can be only one answer. The Empire fleet must go outside the galaxy and use every possible means, either to locate the H'Harn fleet or make absolutely certain that it is not there. And I must be with it. For if we do find the H'Harn...'
A coldness came into Gordon's spine. 'You'll take the Disruptor?' Gordon remembered how he himself had once unloosed the awful power of that weapon. He remembered how space had quaked, and how stars had trembled in their orbits; how the whole fabric of the universe had seemed to twist and tear.
Zarth Arn said, 'I must.' He turned his somber gaze to Lianna. 'You know, of course, what this will mean to you?'
She nodded calmly. 'You will need every ship to sweep the Rim... including those you were sending here. I understand that. But surely the H'Harn are the ultimate enemy. We'll fight our battle here alone.' She even smiled. 'It's no matter. Captain Burrel assures me your ships could not get here in any case until after our fate has been thoroughly settled.'
The screen blanked out. They were turning to leave, Lianna silent and preoccupied, when another screen came to life. In it was a burly-browed, thickset man with scarred hands, whom Gordon had met before, Abro, Defense Minister of Fomalhaut. Abro wasted no time on protocol. 'Highness, they've come out of the Marches. The counts' fleet. They're more than twice as strong as we expected... and they're coming full speed toward Fomalhaut!'
20
Gordon felt a chilling dismay. The counts of the Marches were throwing everything they had into this. And whether their gamble succeeded or not, in the dark background brooded the unguessable purpose and menace of the H'Harn.
'They outnumber our fleet by three to two, in heavies,' Abro was saying. 'Commander Engl has planned to draw back, to cover Fomalhaut and give time for the Empire squadron to arrive.'
Lianna said calmly, 'The plan is good. But tell him not to count on any assistance from Throon. There will be no squadron.'
Abro looked stunned. 'But Highness, I myself was present when...'
'I will not discuss this on a communicator,' said Lianna. 'I am summoning the council. Get to the chamber as quickly as you can, Abro.'
The screen went dark. Lianna turned, her face icy and composed. But her eyes were tormented, and Gordon wanted to put his arm around her shoulders. He did not. He doubted that she wanted any of that kind of encouragement in public.
She smiled a little wanly at him and said, 'I must go, John Gordon. Later.'
When she had gone, Hull Burrel strode to the screens and activated those which showed the Marches and that whole region of space, studying them feverishly.
Shorr Kan shrugged. 'It doesn't look good, Gordon. Other star-kingdoms will hold back when they hear that Throon isn't sending help. I'm worried.'
'Nice of you to be concerned,' said Gordon acidly. 'About us, I mean.'
Shorr Kan looked blank. 'About you? Hell, I'm worried about myself! When I helped you and took that dispatch cruiser away from Obd Doll, I committed myself. No explanation will ever convince Cyn Cryver that I didn't betray him. If he wins out and gets his hands on me...'
He drew his fingers expressively across his throat.
Gordon admitted that this did seem to be one box that Shorr Kan couldn't talk his way out of.
'Damn right,' said Shorr Kan, and added thoughtfully, 'The transports will follow the counts' fleet, with Narath's army. They're the real danger. If the Fomalhaut commander-what's his name, Engl?-If Engl has sense enough to keep some of his heavies out of the battle, they can be used to hit the transports and cut them up as they try to land.'
Gordon thought that made good sense, and said so. Shorr Kan grunted. 'You try to propose it, Gordon. They'd never take any suggestion from me, even if it was a good one, and even though I know more strategy than any of them... as I once proved. They might take it from you.'
'I doubt it,' Gordon said. 'But I'll try.'
Hours later that night, when he had sat for a long time in an antechamber of the council room, the council broke up. When Lianna came out at the head of the worried-looking knot of men, she saw him and came to him.
'There was no need for you to wait all this time,' she said, but he thought she was glad that he had.
'I just wanted to know what's happening. That is, if you can tell me.'
Abro frowned all across his hard face, but Lianna ignored him. 'You brought the warning, and you have the right to know. The main fleet of the Empire has already left Throon, on its way out of the galaxy. With it goes every possible sensory device that might enable them to locate a H'Harn fleet, including the Empire's finest telepaths.'
Gordon did not think too hopefully of the chances of tracking the H'Harn by telepathy. The H'Harn were super telepaths, able to shield their minds from any probing.
Lianna continued, 'We've appealed for help from the smaller star-kingdoms, but they're too far from here, most of them, to come in time. We did get a reply from the barons of Hercules... they're considering the matter.'
Abro said brusquely, 'Not for love of us. The great barons are afraid the counts of the Marches are getting too big. If they help us it will be for that reason only. And they're liable to be too late in any case.'
Gordon said hesitantly, 'A possibility occurred to me, but it seems out of place for me to suggest anything.'
Lianna did not seem happy about it, but she said steadily, 'You risked your life to help us, you have the right to speak.'
Gordon outlined Shorr Kan's strategic idea of holding back a part of the fleet to hit the transports when they came.
