Steppe

prevent me. I am a laser-medic in life, and rather skilled... I charge you not to betray me, as I shall not betray you.'

'I shall not betray you,' Alp said, not looking at the swordlight. 'That is inherent in the oath of fealty I made you.'

'But that was before I exchanged your weapon. I was unable then to verify—'

'I do not lie at the behest of a weapon!' Alp said angrily. 'I lie only when dealing with enemies, as is proper.'

Uga shook his head, smiling. 'That Uigur code of honor—how I admire it! But don't depend on it among Galactics. They are not made of the same stuff as you.' He paused reflectively. 'But all this is mere diversion. What is on your mind?'

'I must do well in the Game. Well enough to be able to enter another part when this one ends. And another after that, until—'

'Until the Game ends and you can enter another?' Uga frowned. 'This is perilous. Your identity would be subject to thorough scrutiny at Game's end, and you would not be allowed to continue to the next. If you really want to survive beyond Steppe, your better bet is to purchase a Galactic pardon, so that you cannot be sent back.'

'A pardon? For what?'

'For your origin. For entering our framework illegally. Since it was not entirely by your own choice, you should have some legal basis for your plea. But with enough money you can ensure success. Our governing council is forthright about such things.'

'Graft?'

'Naturally not!' Uga said with another smile. 'Merely a monetary facilitation. We are civilized!'

'How much?'

'Much, I'm afraid. Perhaps half a million Galactic points.'

'I would have to be Attila!' Alp exclaimed, appalled.

'Perhaps you can be. With foreknowledge—of course Attila is past, but there must be other conquerors coming.' He looked at Alp shrewdly. 'Surely you have something in mind.'

'I can not foresee events beyond my own time,' Alp said. 'But I think I might learn these—if I could leave the Game for a while, undetected.'

'Leave the Game? Without a stake for re-entry?'

'I leave. The part remains. When I return, with new information—'

Uga was thoughtful. 'You are an aggressive thinker—a man of my stripe, I flatter myself. You wish to maintain your part, so there is no record of your absence and the mundane police will not be alerted.'

'I also wish to play this part out to the end, for it seems to have good potential—especially if I achieve the knowledge I need.'

'How do you plan to sneak out of the Game? The Machine is a regular mother hen; it keeps close watch.'

'I think it would be better if you did not know. My attempt may fail, and if you are implicated—'

'I am already implicated! The police would have everything from your head, believe me! Even if you died before capture, they would analyze the chemistry of your brain and read off pertinent memories on a computer printout. Besides which: how can I help if I do not know?'

'I require no help. Just an understanding of my motive, and patience.'

Uga nodded. 'Spoken like a true—oh, never mind that! You have sworn service to me within the environs of the Game, and you have no proper existence outside it. So your profit is my profit, until my part terminates naturally. If you should come anywhere close to achieving an Attila, my association with you should reward me greatly. Apart from the fact that I do have a certain moral responsibility for your welfare, so long as you are my man. Suppose I send you on an isolated mission of indeterminate length, to another region of space, perhaps bearing a report to the Khagan—'

Alp shook his head negatively.

'To some foreign court, then. You could visit the fabulous Byzantine—'

Alp shook his head again.

'No,' Uga decided. 'I need you nearer to me. A mission to another section of this planet, which happens to be your own Earth, one of the springboards of humanity. Unsurprising, considering that it was a timesnatch that brought you here, not a spacesnatch! A secret mission—no company.'

'I may be gone two Days—or forever,' Alp warned.

'Two years—or indeterminate,' Uga said, unconsciously modifying the statement. 'I wonder—purely hypothetically—how a man without identity or economic resources or even any lasting knowledge of Galactic society might succeed in obtaining information made available to no other person—even those who have made it their avocation to outsmart the Game Machine? There would seem to be prohibitive obstacles.'

Alp realized that he would have to trust Uga a little further. The man was not questioning his motive or his integrity, but his ability—and had accurately identified the weakest aspect of his scheme. 'He might locate the demons—the men who brought him to this universe—and use their time machine to fetch a document from more recent history—before the Games were instituted. Such a document could reveal the historical future.'

'Clever, very clever,' Uga said appreciatively. 'But not clever enough. I might tick off several excellent reasons why this would not work.'

Alp stared at him gravely. 'What reasons?'