"Yes, I want the job."
"Then don't ask questions."
Pandit nodded.
"Out through that door, then. The other new pilots are assembling."
And Pandit left the small office.
A moment later a buzzer sounded on the Denebian's desk. He spoke into a
grid: "Orkap here. Go ahead."
"The guru near the League building reports that a native Ophiuchan left
the building heading for the city."
"When was this?"
"Yesterday morning."
"And?"
"Draw your own conclusions. Natives don't go near the League
headquarters as a rule, do they?"
"No."
"And the League, of course, will want to know about the suicides?"
"Yes, but--"
"But nothing," said the radio voice, which belonged to the only other
Denebian currently on Ophiuchus IX. "We can assume this native is a spy.
For the League, Orkap."
"All right. I don't see any need to worry, though."
"Don't you? The gurus, like the other natives, can sham, but they can't
lie. Sooner or later a guru will be brought out of trance by the League,
questioned, and--"
"Tell them about us?" Orkap asked in a shocked voice.
"It could happen. Maybe it's happened already. There won't be any proof,
of course, but the League would send a spy. Suppose I describe this
native to you."
Orkap said, "Go ahead," and the radio voice did so.
In a shocked voice Orkap admitted: "I've given that Ophiuchan a pilot's
job this morning. There can't be any doubt about it."
"Ah, then you see? You see?"
"I can fix that. I can--"
"Orkap, Orkap. You'll do nothing now. Let the spy alone for now. Then,
in the Empty Places, you will merely announce to the pilots that there
is a spy among them. Don't reveal who it is." He could not believe his
ears.
"But--"
"They want work. They need work. They'll all be afraid the finger of
guilt may point at them. They'll work like dogs for you, and I wouldn't
be surprised if they uncovered the spy themselves."
"Yes," Orkap said. "Yes, I understand."
"All but one thing, Orkap. There is one thing you don't understand. The
spy's identity--"
"You already told me who the spy was."
"Yes. But there is another spy. Working for us, in the League building."
"I never knew," said Orkap.
"The spy among your pilots is more than appearance indicates. Did you
ever hear of Johnny Mayhem?"
Orkap's heart jumped into his throat. Who in the galaxy hadn't heard of
Mayhem? "But," he gasped, "a--"
"Nevertheless. It is Mayhem."
Orkap was suddenly afraid, more afraid than he had ever been in his
life. The ubiquitous Mayhem.
* * * * *
The fierce white sun of Ophiuchus IX broiled down on the Empty Places, a
featureless desert two-thousand miles across and as lividly white as
bleached bone. In all that burning emptiness, the jet cargo craft looked
very small and very insignificant, like black midges on the dead white
sand.
Midges among midges, the new pilots walked.