'I should have been informed.' A map lay on the table and Dumarest studied it, noting the positions of the red dots, widely spaced, villages destroyed at apparent random. Primitive savagery might account for it, but why should they have passed villages close to the hills to attack others much farther away?
'I want a computer analysis made of these attacks,' he said. 'The times, the distances, the weather conditions, everything. Colonel Paran, I asked for rafts equipped with infrared detectors to maintain constant patrol. Did they spot anything?'
'No, but that isn't conclusive. The lofios holds warmth and baffles the scanners.'
'I was thinking of much closer to the hills.'
'Still nothing.'
Which meant little; any attacking force could have remained under cover, living on carried stores and moving under the protection of the leaves.
'Is there nothing we can do, marshal?' Stone was anxious. 'Aside from punitive expeditions and constant surveillance, I can't see how we are going to resolve this conflict.'
'Three things,' said Dumarest. 'Major Vandet, from your examination, would you say the gas was one which had to be inhaled?'
'Yes. There are no marks of burning on the skin, and in any case, that would assume sprays were used. From your own experience, I would say that it is a relatively simple vapor-natural enough if we remember their limited sources of manufacture.' He added, 'Unless, of course, they are actually buying more sophisticated material.'
'We can discount that,' said Colonel Paran. 'Every ship reaching this planet is checked and cargoes verified. The gas they use must be locally produced.'
'Then respirators and air tanks would give total protection,' said Dumarest. 'See to their manufacture. Every man in the field must be equipped, and half of them must wear the masks at all times. The second thing-in order to protect the villages, all lofios plants to the extent of a mile must be cut down.'
'Destroyed?' The merchant in Oaken forced the objection. 'Do you realize just how many plants that is? Marshal, we can't do it!'
'Thirty villages,' said Stone. 'Three hundred square miles. The economy would never stand it.'
Colonel Paran said shrewdly, 'You're thinking of cover, Earl? It makes sense, but would a mile be necessary?'
'To give complete protection, yes.'
'I see. And the third thing?'
'To make contact with the Ayutha.' Dumarest rose from the table. 'I will see to it as soon as I have enough men properly trained. And now, gentlemen, if you will excuse me?'
* * *
He heard the sound of water as he entered the suite and Zenya's voice raised in song. It was a cheerful air such as might be sung at a celebration, the words casual, hinting of love and fulfillment and eternal bliss. A dream, as all such songs were.
'Earl?' She had heard the sound of the opening door, perhaps the heavy tread of his feet. She came from the bathroom, rubbing her hair with a fluffy towel, the long lines of her body barely covered by the material. 'Darling!' Her eyes mirrored the shock in her voice. 'You look dreadful-so tired. Some wine?'
'Later.'
'After when, darling?' She saw the drawn look on his face and ceased her romantic byplay. 'A hard time?'
Times were always hard when dead men lay thick, broken bodies like discarded toys on the soft dirt. And there had been more than men-women, children, babies, even pets.
'Yes,' he said flatly. 'A hard time.'
'But it's over, and you've come back to me, and now you're safe.' She looked at the package he carried. 'A present?'
Without answering, he set the parcel on a table, ripped it open, and activated the mechanism it contained. An electronic baffle to nullify any watching device-high rank had certain conveniences.
'Your uniform came,' she said. 'I've hung it up in the wardrobe. Are you going to wear it? It would be nice for us to go out and eat somewhere and have everyone looking at us and know that you are the marshal and I am your lady. Susal-the colonel's wife-took me to a place last night for dinner. The food was fabulous, and they had a wonderful troupe of dancers. The best I've seen since we left Samalle. Earl…' She frowned. 'You aren't listening.'
He said flatly, 'Just what instructions did Chan Parect give you before we left Paiyar?'
'Earl?' She stared at him, eyes wide. 'Earl, you told me not to mention things like that.'
'You can talk now. This will baffle any listening ears.' He gestured at the mechanism softly humming on the table. 'Did he tell you why we came here?'
'Of course. To find his son, Salek.'
'And what else?' He resisted the impulse to reach out and shake her. 'What would you have done, for example, had I shipped out?'
'I'd have gone with you.'
'And if I'd left you behind?'
A veil seemed to fall over the amber of her eyes, making her suddenly appear older, more subtle, a little evil. A mask to hide nothing, perhaps, or to hide a secret she had no intention of telling. And yet, it was something he had to know.
'Earl!' She recoiled as she saw his face, the cruel set of his mouth. 'Earl, don't look at me like that!'
'You were given orders,' he said tightly. 'I want to know what they were.'
'Why bother, darling?' Her smile was soft, wanton. 'You'll find Salek, and we'll all go home, and then we'll live happily until we die. You see, it's all so simple. There is no need for you to worry at all.'
A man to find, who could be anywhere; a threat hanging over him, should he fail; a war to win before his pretense was discovered. And she said that he had nothing to worry about.
A child would have spoken like that, but Zenya was no child. With savage answer he threw the flat of his hand against her cheek.
'Damn you, woman! Tell me!'
'Earl!' She recoiled, eyes wide with shock, one hand lifted to the red welts on the bronze of her skin. 'You hit me! You hit me!'
'I'll kill you if you don't answer!'
He meant it; the need of survival overrode all gentler instincts, and his determination showed on his face, in his eyes, his voice. She recognized it, accepted it, found a warped pleasure in surrendering to his mastery.
'I was to send a message to the Cyclan telling them where you had been and where you were going if possible. And I was to send another to grandfather telling him that you had failed. That I had failed.'
'Is that all?'
'Yes, Earl. That is all.'
It was too simple, too open for the devious mind of Aihult Chan Parect, and yet he had no evidence that she spoke other than the truth. Had the old man gambled on the bait of her body and the promise of later fortune being enough to hold him? Thinking it enough when coupled with a bluff?
Wine stood on a table, and he helped himself, ignoring the girl, standing with eyes narrowed before the window. Rafts passed in the night outside, lights brilliant against the stars, each vehicle loaded with uniformed men. Fresh detachments for the field, forces accumulating for the inevitable attack, should all else fail. And other rafts, big cargo carriers, grim as they transported their loads of dead.
From behind him Zenya said softly, 'Earl?'
She had dressed in a gown of clinging golden fabric, gems bright in the mane of her hair, head held high, the marks of his fingers carried proudly like a badge.
He said, 'Tell me about Salek Parect.'
'You should bathe, Earl, and change. It will refresh you, and I want to see you in uniform.'
'Tell me about the man I'm looking for.'
'I never saw him, Earl. He left Paiyar before I was born. From what others have told me, he was a dreamer, always reading old books and studying ancient scrolls. He had a theory that men had left the right way-whatever that is supposed to mean. Cant we forget him, Earl?'
