Closed System

the exit withGorben.

'Will you be with us, Honored One?' Gorbenasked.

'I'm not sure yet,' Pat said.

'You shouldn't miss it, Honored One. What aglorious moment it will be when we destroy allthe minions of the evil satans and demons and are, ourselves, returned to power and the glory whichwas once ours, through our godly ancestors.'

'You are expert with the weapon,' Pat said,fishing for information. 'Do you know how itfunctions?'

'Honored One,' Gorben said, 'I can take theDevil Destroyer apart piece by piece and reassem­ble it with my eyes hidden.'

'Good, very good. Can you also repair and main­tain the power source?' He was still fishing. Obvi­ously, such a weapon had to have a power source.

'I am not schooled in that phase,' Gorben said.'I know, however, that the power source camewith our godly ancestors, and that the secret iscontained within the shell in the form of minutemagic writings on thin wafers of magic. It is whathappens within the Devil Destroyer itself which is in my field of schooling.'

The other young men in Gorben's group hadhurried on, eager to be outside in the pleasantclimate of Dorchlunt. Pat and Gorben walked downa long corridor toward the exit alone.

'Let's test your schooling, young man,' Pat said.'Recite to me your lessons regarding the Devil Destroyer.'

'Sir,' Gorben said briskly, coming to a halt, standing at attention. He began to rattle off sub­atomic data, most of which was beyond Pat's understanding. He knew enough of the theory to be amazed that the scientists of Zede had been soadvanced in the field over a thousand years ago.

'Very good,' Pat said, wishing that he'd beenable to record Gorben's recitation. 'Now here's another exercise, Gorben. As you know, we willsoon be going back to the glory of Zede, where wewill encounter people not so advanced as we. Let'simagine that we have been returned to our glory,and that a new ally, a new friend who does notunderstand your learning, asks you just how the Devil Destroyer works. What would you tell him,in nontechnical language?'

'This imagined friend does not know the magicwords?'

'No. He is unschooled in the magic.'

'Ah,' Gorben said. 'That is difficult.'

'We will imagine that I am that person, and Iwill ask you questions. First, what is the source of the Devil Destroyer's power?'

'Sir,' Gorben said, 'the final emission of devil-destroying purity originates from two sources ofpower. One, the primary power source, can bedriven in several ways, by solar heat, by electricitygenerated by a nuclear reactor, or by the auxiliarypower systems of a ship. The primary power source provides accelerated-particle energy to tap the sec­ondary power source, which is mounted in theDevil Destroyer itself. Calling the power source inthe Devil Destroyer secondary is somewhat mis­leading, since it is there, in the closed system, thatthe particles are accelerated to multiples of the speed of light—'

'Whoa,' Pat said. 'Can you explain that to me?'

'Honored One, I thought I was explaining.'

'Yes, but I'm that imagined man who knowsnothing about—what was it you said, the closedsystem?'

'Sir, the magic bullets which make up the atom are caught and held, ever accelerating, in a closed system—' He paused, and his brow wrinkled inconcentration. 'As if going around in circles, un­able to escape until released by the discharge ofthe Devil Destroyer—' He paused again. He knewhis lessons well, but to put them into nonscientificlanguage was beyond his ability.

'How is it possible to have both the power andthe space to accelerate subatomic particles in so confined

an area?' Pat asked.

'Ah, Honored One, that is the magic of the godSargoff, who first tapped the binding energy of the

copper molecule.'

Ah, now he was getting somewhere. Ever sinceX&A's one risky venture into intergalactic space had resulted in the discovery of the dead Artuneecivilization and the one relic, a book in the Artuneelanguage, UP scientists had been wrestling unsuc­cessfully with a theory of a new power source of such potential destructiveness that it made a planetreducer look like a child's toy. The Artunee, or sothe book said, had discovered how to release the binding energy of the copper molecule.

He obviously needed more information. If theZede scientists had actually solved the Artuneesecret a few hundred years before X&A evenbrought back the manuscript from the collidinggalaxies in Cygnus, he'd need to get a warning, somehow, back to a UP planet.

Further questioning of Gorben produced no moreresults. The boy simply had no way of expressing himself outside the rote of his schooling. However,Pat did learn one tidbit of doubtful utility. Grasping at straws, Pat had asked, 'But why are themen of Dorchlunt the only operators of the Devil Destroyers?'

Gorben beamed proudly. 'It is our schooling,sir. We are schooled on the Devil Destroyers from childhood, as were our fathers and their fathersbefore them. Only we have the necessary skills,sir.'

'What skills are required?' Pat asked.

Gorben searched for words. 'It is difficult to explain, sir. Only we can smell the exact momentof full potential.'

Pat was at a loss. 'You smell with your nosewhen the weapon is ready to be fired?'

'Not with the nose, sir, with all the senses. Wesmell it with our hands, our bellies, our—'

'Do you feel something, some charge, some indi­cation of power?'

'You can say that, sir. Yes, we smell, feel, sense,I can't explain.'

'And why is this important?'

Gorben's face was serious. 'Should the closedsystem be allowed to accelerate beyond capacity,sir, the

results would be disastrous.'

'Explosion?'

'The Devil Destroyer would overflow and re­lease its purity in the immediate area of the Devil Destroyer

itself, and we would feel its purity in­stead of the satans.'

Pat had more questions, but two priests camewalking casually toward them, looking at Gorben questioningly.

'Honored One,' Gorben said, 'I am supposed toleave the temple immediately upon the comple­tion of my schooling.'

'Go, then,' Pat said. 'Keep up the good work.'

Pat wished for a good book on theoretical phys­ics, or the use ofSkimmer's library for an hour. Onthe surface of it, the weapon Gorben called theDevil Destroyer was just another beam weapon.Perhaps it was more powerful, but it didn't makesense that any beam weapon would be overwhelm­ing enough to justify Corinne's sincere belief thatthe Brenden's small fleet could take on and de­stroy the UP.

He started back toward Corinne's private apart­ment, took a corridor that he had not walked be­fore, discovered a golden door. The door was locked.As he tried to open it a priest came around the corner of the corridor and nodded, then halted.

'Sir,' the priest said, 'that is the private sanc­tuary of the adepts. Respectfully, sir, I must tellyou that no one other than those who have takenthe sacred oath are allowed inside.'

'Thank you,' Pat said.

'I was seeking you, sir,' the priest said. 'Thegoddess requires your presence in the rear garden.'

The priest led Pat to an exit at the rear of the temple. TheSkimmer, grand old squatting, squar­ish space tug that she was, sat in an open areapast the flowering garden. Corinne stood beside it,waiting.

'I thought you'd be more comfortable on your own ship,' she said.

'Where are we going?'

'There is a test I think you should witness,' shesaid.

Once aboard, she gave him coordinates for ashort blink, which he executed after taking theship up a few thousand feet on thrusters.

Brenden's fleet, two thousand ships strong, layin close formation in open space, Dorchlunt's sunon the left flank of the formation. Corinne estab­lished contact, spoke softly into the communica­tor, then directed Pat to