We came to a main corridor. It had a line of armed guards, but no pedestrians or vehicles, though I thought I caught a murmur of far-off traffic. Doriza paused before a great portal, closed by a curtainlike sheet of dull metal. She spoke into a mouthpiece:
“Doriza, gentlewoman of the guard, conducts Yandro, the Conquering Stranger, to greet his lieutenants!”
I have said that the portal was closed by a curtainlike metal sheet; and like a curtain it lifted, letting us through into the auditorium.
That spacious chamber had rows of benches, with galleries above, that might have seated a thousand. However, only a dozen or so were present, on metal chairs ranged across the stage upon which we entered. They were all men but two, and wore robes of black, plum-purple or red. At sight of me, they rose together, most respectfully. They looked at me, and I looked at them.
My first thought was, that if these were people of authority and trust in the nation I seemed destined to save, my work was cut out for me.
Not that they really seemed stupid—none had the look, or the subsequent action, of stupidity. But they were not pleasant. Their dozen pairs of eyes fixed me with some steadiness, but with no frankness anywhere. One man had a round, greedy-seeming face. Another was too narrow and cunning to look it. Of the women, one was nearly as tall as I and nobly proportioned, with hair of a red that would be inspiring were it not so blatantly dyed. The other was a little wisp of a brunette, with teeth too big for her scarlet mouth and bright eyes like some sort of a rodent. They all wore jewelry. Too much jewelry.
My mind flew back to the two scrubby, venial guardsmen who had first welcomed me; to stuffy Rohbar, the commander; to Sporr, spry and clever enough, but somehow unwholesome; Doriza—no, she was not like these others, who may have lived too long in their earth-buried shelters. And Doriza now spoke to the gathering:
“Yandro, folk of the Council! He deigns to give you audience.”
“Yandro!”
They all spoke the name in chorus, and bowed toward me.
Silence then, a silence which evidently I must break. I broke it: “Friends, I am among you with no more memory or knowledge than an infant. I hear wonderful things, of which I seem to be the center. Are they true?”
“The tenth part of the wonders which concern mighty Yandro have not been told,” intoned Sporr, ducking his bearded head in a bow, but fixing me with his wise old eyes.
One of the group, called Council by Doriza, now moved a pace forward. He was the greedy-faced man, short but plump, and very conscious of the dignified folds of his purple robe. One carefully-tended hand brushed back his ginger-brown hair, then toyed with a little moustache.
“I am Gederr, senior of this Council,” he purred. “If Yandro permits, I will speak simply. Our hopes have been raised by Yandro’s return—the return presaged of old by those who could see the future, and more recently by the death in battle of the Newcomer champion, called Barak.”
“Barak!” I repeated. “I—I—” And I paused. When I had to learn my own name, how could it be that I sensed memory of another’s name?
“Barak was a brute—mighty, but a brute.” Thus Gederr continued. “Weapons in his hands were the instruments of fate. His hands alone caused fear and ruin. But it pleased our fortune-bringing stars to encompass his destruction.” He grinned, and licked his full lips. “Now, even as they are without their battle-leader, so we have ours.”
“You honor me,” I told him. “Yet I still know little. It seems that I am expected to aid and lead and save the people of this world called Dondromogon. But I must know them before I can help.”
Gederr turned his eyes upon the woman with the red hair, and gestured to her “Tell him, Elonie.” Then he faced me. “Have we Yandro’s permission to sit?”
“By all means,” I granted, a little impatiently, and sat down myself. The others followed suit—the Council on their range of chairs, Doriza on a bench near me, Sporr somewhere behind. The woman called Elonie remained upon her sandalled feet, great eyes the color of deep green water fixed upon me.
Elonie was taller than any of her fellow Council members, taller than Sporr, almost as tall as I. Her figure was mature, generous, but fine, and set off by a snugly-draped robe as red as her dyed cascade of hair. Red-dyed, too, were the tips of her fingers, and her lips were made vivid and curvy beyond nature by artificial crimson. She made a bow toward me, smiled a little, showing most perfect white teeth. She began:
“Dondromogon began with the First Comers. Many ages they ruled here, the Fifteen of them. Forever they were fifteen, for when one died, another was bred; when one was born, the oldest or least useful was eliminated. It was they who planned and began this shelter-city, found the elements that support life and give comfort.
“Others came, from far worlds. The Fifteen changed their policy of a fixed number, and became rulers of the new colonists. But after some study, it was decided to set a new limit. Seven hundred was decided upon, and seven hundred we still remain.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “You mean that, when new children are born among you, someone must die?”
She nodded. “Exactly as with the Fifteen. We eliminate the least useful. Sometimes we eliminate the child itself. More often, an older and worn-out individual.”
I thought that I sensed an uncomfortable wriggle in Sporr, behind me. “Why is this?” I demanded.
“Because, Yandro, there cannot be room and supplies enough for a greater number.”
I scowled to myself. So far I
