space. There is supposed to be a city or something filled with riches. A fabulous treasure.'
'And more,' said Pacula. 'So much more.'
Stuff compounded of dreams and wistful longings. Rumors augmented in taverns and on lonely worlds by men who built a structure of fantasy. The Ghost World, the planet no one could ever find or, having found it, would never leave. The answer to all privation and hurt, a never-never place in which pain had no part and the only tears were those of happiness. Balhadorha-another name for Heaven.
'You don't believe in it,' said Usan Labria sharply. 'Why not?'
'My lady, every tavern is filled with men who will talk of fabulous worlds. Some of them will even offer to sell you the coordinates. El Dorado, Jackpot, Bonanza, Celdoris-'
'Earth?'
'Earth is not a legend, madam.'
'So you say, but who will agree? A name, a world, one in which you believe, but one not listed and totally unknown. Yet you insist that it is real. You even claim to have been born there.'
'So?'
'Balhadorha is real. The Ghost World exists. I know it!'
Faith, not knowledge. The desperate need to believe despite all evidence to the contrary. Dumarest looked at the raddled features, the veined, quivering hands, the sick, hurt look in the eyes.
Gently he said, 'You could be right, my lady. Space is huge and filled with a billion worlds. No man can know them all.'
'Then you admit it could be there?'
'Perhaps. I have heard nothing but wild rumors from those who heard them from others. I have never found it myself.'
'But you would be willing to look?' Pacula leaned forward across the table, careless of the glass she sent falling to spill a flood of ruby wine. 'You would not object to that?'
She, too, radiated a desperate intensity and Dumarest wondered why. Those who owned wealth and privilege had little cause to chase a dream. The heaven Balhadorha offered was already theirs; only to the poor and desperate did such fantasies hold magic.
Sufan Noyoka? The man was contained, leaning back in his chair, his face bland; only the eyes, bright with restless dartings, placed him at one with the others.
'A question was asked, Earl,' he said quietly. 'As yet you have made no answer.'
To search for a planet he was certain did not exist. To join them in their illusion-but to refuse would gain him nothing but their enmity.
'No, my lady,' he said slowly. 'I would not object.'
'Then it is settled.' Usan Labria reached for wine, the decanter making small chimes as it rapped against the edge of her glass. Noyoka was less precipitate.
'A moment, my dear,' he said softly. 'A man cannot promise to accomplish what he does not understand. Not a man I would be willing to trust And trust, in this matter, is essential.'
'I trust him, Sufan!'
'And I!' Pacula looked at Dumarest. 'Do you agree to help us?'
'If I can, my lady. What would it entail?'
'A journey. It may be long and it could be hard.'
'We need a man.' Usan Labria was more direct. 'One who can kill if necessary. A special type of man to take care of what needs to be done. Tell him, Sufan. Explain.' Her voice rose a little. 'And for God's sake let us be on our way. Already we have waited too long!'
* * *
The room was small, filled with the musty odor of ancient books, scraps of oddly shaped material lying on the scarred surface of rough tables. Star maps hung against the walls and the desk bore a litter of papers.
'Let us talk of legends,' said Sufan Noyoka. Alone he had guided Dumarest to the room, leading the way up winding stairs to the chamber set beneath the roof. 'They are romantic tales embellished and adorned, things of myth and imagination, and yet each could contain a kernel of truth. Eden, for example-you have heard of it?'
'Yes.'
'A world of pure joy in which men and women live gracious lives. None need to work. There is no poverty, no pain, no hurt. Each day is a spring of fabulous happiness. Once men owned it, now it is lost. Tell me, do you consider it to be real?'
'Perhaps. I have visited a world with such a name.'
'And found what?' Sufan did not wait for an answer. 'A desert,' he said. 'A barren, harsh world of arid soil and acid seas. A lie-the name used only to attract settlers. I, too, have visited Eden and there is more than one world with such a name. But does that mean that the Eden of legend did not, at one time, exist? As Earth, perhaps, once existed?'
'Earth is not a legend.'
'So you say, and I will not argue with you, but if you believe in one legend then why not two?'
'Balhadorha,' said Dumarest. 'The Ghost World.'
'Balhadorha.' Sufan Noyoka moved to a table and lifted a distorted scrap of metal. 'This cost me the labor of a serf for a year. A scrap of debris, you would think, but the composition is something we cannot repeat. A mystery, and there are others, perhaps-later we shall talk about them. For now let me explain what we intend.'
'To take a ship and go searching for a legend,' said Dumarest. 'To follow a dream.'
'You think I am mad?' Sufan shrugged. 'There are many who think that. But consider a moment. You seek Earth- how do you go about it?' Again he did not wait for an answer. 'You ask, you probe, you assemble clues, you sift evidence. From a mountain of rumor you winnow a nodule of fact. To it you add others, always sifting, checking, questioning. Decades of searching and then, with luck, you have the answer.'
Light flared as he touched the switch of a projector and, on a screen, glowed the depiction of a sector of space. Stars blazing with a variety of colors, sheets and curtains of luminescence and, in the center, the sprawling blob of a cloud of interstellar dust.
'The Hichen Cloud.' An adjustment and it dominated the screen. 'An unusual configuration which adopts a different guise when viewed from various positions. It has never been truly explored.'
And with reason. Dumarest knew of the conflicting forces which were common in such areas; the electronic vortexes which could take a vessel and render it into a mass of unrecognizable wreckage, the spacial strains which negated the drive of the generators, the psychological stresses which turned men insane.
'You expect to find Balhadorha in that?'
'The prospect disturbs you?'
'Yes.' Dumarest was blunt. 'I've had experience with such areas. Only a fool would venture into such a region. No sane captain would dare risk his vessel and no crew be willing to take the chance.'
'A normal captain and a normal crew, I agree. But you underestimate the power of greed, my friend. Think of what could be gained. Wealth beyond imagination, the treasure of a world, gems and precious metals-' Sufan Noyoka broke off as he saw Dumarest's expression. 'Such things do not tempt you?'
'Do they you?'
'No. A man can only eat so much, live in one place at a time, wear one suit of clothing. But even so, wealth has power. Think of it, my friend. The power to travel where and when you will. To buy a ship to aid you in your search. Money to ease the path to a thousand worlds. You killed a beast in order to live and risked your life in so doing. Why not risk it again for much, much more?'
The voice of temptation, and Dumarest was aware of the man's subtlety. Sufan knew more than he had admitted, in small ways he had betrayed himself and, though no threat had been made, always it was implied. A word and he would be delivered to Avorot, to be kept in jail, to wait until evidence had accumulated or the probes were brought into use.
The trap which had closed had not yet opened and would not until he left this world.
'You will need a ship,' he said. 'A ship and a crew.'
'All has been arranged.' Sufan's voice, dry as the rustle of windblown leaves, held no emotion, but his eyes, for a moment, ceased their restless dancing. 'This is no casual whim. For years I have planned, each step taken
