A moment he relished, extending it as he saw Dumarest catch the scarlet of his robe, spinning, halting the movement of his hand toward the knife in his boot, lifting it instead to his chin. A casual gesture of outward calm to mask the tension within and a warning of the true nature of the man. One who had assessed the situation in a flash, recognizing the futility of violence, gaining time by talking while apparently relaxed.
'Cyber Avro. This is a surprise. I never thought to see you again.'
'Did you think the Cyclan so foolish as to believe the report of your death?'
'It was worth the chance.'
'Negated once you used your credited funds.'
'Of course.' Dumarest touched his left forearm with the fingers of his right hand. Watching as eyes followed the gesture, dropping the hand slowly to his side. 'You learned I was on Yuanka and traced me from there. And found an ally, I see. A willing accomplice. What is his price? The death of his cousin?'
Perotto said, 'Where is Wynne?'
'Enjoying the sleep she meant for me. Your idea or hers? Or did you set the trap?' Dumarest looked at the cyber. 'My guess is that you were the guiding mind.'
'You knew.' Perotto gnawed at the subject like a dog with a bone. 'About the gas. But how?'
Small items adding to form an uneasy whole, the sum triggering the instinctive reaction of a man determined to survive. A shallow answer and Avro knew there had to be more; the trait he was certain Dumarest possessed and which gave him the thing known as luck.
Dumarest said, 'She was too friendly on too short an acquaintance and too eager to show me the sights. Time gained for you to feed Angado that filth. Not just something to make him puking drunk; such sights must be common in this society. Nor to show his friends what a weakling he is; they already knew that. You wanted to arouse their disgust and win their sympathy. Left alone he would have vomited then climbed to his feet. He would have stunk and staggered and he would have had an overwhelming desire to talk. He would have babbled and revealed his innermost nature. Become maudlin, sentimental, affectionate, amorous-and we both know he has a dislike of women.'
'That is no secret.'
'As Zaremba demonstrated when he tried to stop me helping Angado. He knew you wanted him shamed.'
'That bothers you?' Perotto sneered. 'You? A common traveler? A sycophant? A criminal? A man willing to take money to kill a friend who trusts him? Do you deny that?'
'A trap to get the man wanting him dead into admitting it,' said Dumarest. 'You want him dead. That's why you're helping the Cyclan. That's why you used Cranmer.' He looked through the window at the waterfall. 'He almost got away with it.'
'He was a fool.'
'Just as you are. As any man is who works with the Cyclan. Do you imagine you can use them and then forget them? And what of your own danger? How can they allow you to live now you know so much? Soon you will begin to wonder why I am so important to them. What makes me so valuable.' Dumarest paused then added, 'Side with me and I'll tell you.'
Information which could kill; had killed for the existence of the affinity-twin must not be divulged. Perotto was as good as dead and Avro could appreciate the skill Dumarest was displaying. Attempting to drive a wedge between himself and the other; dividing so as to rule.
He said, 'You waste your time. Killing me will gain you nothing. The apartment is sealed and men are stationed outside. As an intelligent man you can recognize the inevitable and yield. Do not force me to use this.' Avro lifted his hand and displayed the weapon he had kept hidden in his wide sleeve. One which would vent a cloud of stunning vapor at the pressure of his finger.
Perotto said, 'He is armed. His knife-'
'Leave it.' Avro knew of Dumarest's speed. 'If he reaches for it I will fire.'
To stun and render unconscious but not to kill. He was too important to the Cyclan for that, which meant Perotto would not be armed with conventional weapons; Avro could never trust his aim. An advantage Dumarest assessed as, again, he rubbed thoughtfully at his chin. The cyber was making the basic mistake of talking when he should have acted. A need to mentally gloat, perhaps, but a weakness which had yielded information as to the trap he had closed on his victim.
One from which he had to escape or die.
Dumarest moved to one side, away from the door at his rear, checking distance and opportunity. Perotto faced him on one side, Avro, gun leveled, stood before him and the window. Ready now to shoot or summon help-and once he fired and the gas took effect the thing would be over.
'I yield,' said Dumarest quickly. 'You are correct-I have no choice. There is no need to use the gas. It would be inefficient. I'd have to be carried and the elevator is small. It would be better if I walked. It would give you greater credit; my capture would be yours alone.'
The truth and Avro knew it. The reason he had insisted on facing Dumarest leaving lshaq and his men on the surface. A matter of pride if not of perfect judgment but what could go wrong?
His vision blurred as, suddenly, a pain filled his skull. Pain and the realization of the mistake he had made.
Now! He must correct it while there was still time. Now! The gun aimed as he fought a rising nausea, finger tightening on the release. Now!
'No!' The voice filled the chamber as Angado threw himself into the room. 'No!'
* * *
He had waited outside, listening, an ally in reserve, now acting with speed which emulated Dumarest's own. A small, round tray left his hand, spinning across the room to strike Avro's wrist and send the vapor-gun to the floor. The cyber followed it, twitching, hands clutching at his head. Then Angado was close to Dumarest, stooping, snatching the knife from his boot, lunging toward Perotto with the blade lifted to strike.
'You lied to me. Cheated me. Wanted me shamed. You filth! You stinking filth! Die, you bastard!'
Words instead of action and time given for Perotto to spring to one side, to lift the hand adorned with the heavy ring, for something to spurt from it and land with a thin, waspish drone against Angado's skull.
As he fell Dumarest was moving.
He dived forward, low, rising as Perotto turned toward him, shoulder catching the underside of the hand aimed at his face and throwing it upward as he struck. One blow smashed into Perotto's stomach and sent him doubling forward. Another dropped him to the ground. A third sent him to sprawl, gasping, face upward as Dumarest fell to his knees beside him. As the ringed hand swung toward him he grabbed it, aimed the ring at the orifice of the gaping mouth, squeezed to release the darts held within the gemmed casing.
Two of them sang as they buried themselves deep into the soft inner tissue of the throat, creating a black crater of destruction, filling the body with toxic poisons as it filled the mouth with blood and pain.
'Earl!'
Angado was dying. The dart which had struck his head was buried deep above the left eye, already into the bone, the brain beneath. Dumarest knelt beside him, reaching for the throat, resting his fingers against the carotids.
'Earl! I-'
'Easy.' Dumarest's voice was warmly reassuring. 'Just relax, Angado. This is just a dream. A bad dream. When you wake you'll forget all about it. It's just a dream.'
'No.' Angado swallowed and then, incredibly, managed to smile. 'It's real and I know it. As I want you to know something, Earl. I love… I…' He writhed beneath Dumarest's hands, sweat dewing his face, his throat. 'You, Earl. I love…'
He stiffened and lost the smile as he lost the power of speech and the one became the rictus of death as the other grew into a silence which filled the world. One broken by the muted drone of the waterfall, the faint, insectlike scrap of a moving hand.
Avro reaching for his gun.
It lay beneath the wide window and his fingers touched it as Dumarest reared upright, closed on it as he moved forward, twisted it to aim as he approached, fired as, holding his breath, he dived toward the door.
