Exiles of the Stars

'What about Maelen, Krip?'

'She fell—onto the rocks—all broken. Dying—she was dying! Told me—must freeze—freeze until I could get her home, back to Yiktor. I took her—all broken, broken—' I tried to sever the compelling stare with which he held me, to forget that nightmare of a journey, but he would not let me. 'Took her to the alien—opened the box—took the alien's body out—put her in. She was still alive—then.'

'These aliens.' Foss's voice was level, clear. He held me by it as well as by the grip on my hands and wrists. 'Do you know who they are?'

'Lukas said dead—a long time. But they are esper. And the crowned ones are not dead. Bodies—they want bodies! Griss, for sure, maybe the others. There are four of them—I saw—counting the woman.'

'He doesn't make sense!' cut in an impatient voice.

Again Foss frowned in warning. 'Where are these bodies?'

'Underground—passages—rooms. The jacks have a camp—in a cavern—ship outside. They were looting — rooms with chests.' Memories made dizzy, whirling pictures in my head. I had a bitter taste in my mouth as if the restorative was rising now to choke me.

'Where?'

'Beyond the cache. I got in through the cat's mouth.' I tried to control that nausea, to remain coherent. 'Passage there. But they—Griss—can hold men with thought alone. If the rest are like him, you have no chance. Never met an esper like him before, not even Thassa. Maelen thought they could not take me over because I am part Thassa now. But they did take me prisoner—Griss did—just by willing it. They used a tangler on me after.'

'Korde.' Foss gave a swift order. 'Scrambler on—highest frequency!'

'Yes, sir!'

Scrambler, I thought vaguely—scrambler? Oh, yes, defense against probes. But would it work against the thing in Griss's body?

'About the others.' The Patrol commander had moved around behind Foss. 'Where are the others— my men —yours?'

'I don't know. Only saw Griss, Harkon, Lidj—'

'And you think that Harkon and Lidj may also be taken over?'

'Saw them walking around in jack camp, not taking any precautions. Had the feeling they had no reason to fear discovery.'

'Did you probe them?'

'Didn't dare. Probe, and if they were taken over, they would have taken us, Maelen and me. Griss—he knew I was there even before he saw me. He made me walk out into their hands. But—they acted as if they belonged in that camp. And there was no sign of the others with them.'

I saw Foss nod. 'Perhaps the right guess. You can sense danger.'

'Take you over,' I repeated. The restorative was no longer working. I was slipping away, unable to keep my eyes open. 'Maelen—' They must help Maelen!

Chapter Fourteen

KRIP VORLUND

There was no night or day in the interior of theLydis , but I had that dazed feeling that one has when one has slept very heavily. I put up one hand to deliver the usual greeting rap on the side of the upper bunk. If Maelen had slept too—

Maelen! Her name unlocked memory and I sat up without caution, knocking my head painfully against the low-slung upper bunk. Maelen was still out there —in the freeze box! She must be brought in, put under such safeguards as the ship could give. How had I come to forget about her?

I was already on my feet, reaching for the begrimed thermo clothing dropped in a heap on the floor, when the door panel opened. I looked around to see the captain.

Foss was never one to reveal his thoughts on his face. A top Trader learns early to dissemble or to wear a mask. But there are small signs, familiar to those who live in close company, which betray strong emotions. What I saw now in Foss was a controlled anger which I had known only once or twice during the time I had shipped on board theLydis .

Deliberately he entered my cabin without invitation. That act in itself showed the gravity of the situation. For privacy is so curtailed on board a spacer that each member of the crew is overly punctilious about any invasion of another's. He pulled down one of the wall seats and sat in it, still saying nothing.

But I was in no mood to sit and talk, if that was his intention. I wanted Maelen as safe as I could make her. I had no idea how long I had slept, leaving her exposed to danger.

Since the captain seemed in no hurry to announce his business with me, I broke silence first.

'I must get Maelen. She is in an alien freeze box—up on the cliffs. I must get her into our freeze compartment—' As I spoke I sealed my thermo jacket. But Foss made no move to let me by, unless I physically pushed him aside.

'Maelen—' Foss repeated her name, but there was something so odd about the tone of his voice that he caught my attention in spite of my impatience to be gone.

'Vorlund, how did it come about that you weren't with the rest—that you found your own way into that chain of burrows? You left here in company.' His eyes held mine in intent measuring. Perhaps, had my mind not been largely on the need for reaching Maelen, I might have been uneasy, or taken partial warning from both his question and his attitude.