Their groundcar glided from the parking building to the restaurant’s
entrance ramp, at the radio call of the doorman. Within minutes,
Hector and Leoh were cruising through the city, in the deepening
shadows of night.
“There’s only one man,” Leoh said, “who has faced Odal and lived
through it.”
“Dulaq,” Hector agreed. “But ... for all the information the medical
people have been able to get from him, he might as well be, uh, dead.”
“He’s still completely withdrawn?”
Hector nodded. “The medicos think that ... well, maybe in a few
months, with drugs and psychotherapy and all that ... they might be
able to bring him back.”
“It won’t be soon enough. We’ve only got four days.”
“I know.”
Leoh was silent for several minutes. Then: “Who is Dulaq’s closest
living relative? Does he have a wife?”
“I think his wife is, uh, dead. Has a daughter though. Pretty girl.
Bumped into her in the hospital once or twice—”
Leoh smiled in the darkness. Hector’s term, “bumped into,” was probably
completely literal.
“Why are you asking about Dulaq’s next-of-kin?”
“Because,” Leoh replied, “I think there might be a way to make Dulaq
tell us what happened during his duel. But it is a very dangerous way.
Perhaps a fatal way.”
“Oh.”
They lapsed into silence again. Finally he blurted, “Come on, my boy,
let’s find the daughter and talk to her.”
“Tonight?”
“Now.”
* * * * *
_She certainly is a pretty girl_, Leoh thought as he explained very
carefully to Geri Dulaq what he proposed to do. She sat quietly and
politely in the spacious living room of the Dulaq residence. The
glittering chandelier cast touches of fire on her chestnut hair. Her
slim body was slightly rigid with tension, her hands were clasped in
her lap. Her face—which looked as though it could be very
expressive—was completely serious now.
[Illustration]
“And that is the sum of it,” Leoh concluded. “I believe that it will
be possible to use the dueling machine itself to examine your father’s
thoughts and determine exactly what took place during his duel against
Major Odal!”
She asked softly, “But you are afraid that the shock might be
repeated, and this could be fatal to my father?”
Leoh nodded wordlessly.
“Then I am very sorry, sir, but I must say no.” Firmly.
“I understand your feelings,” Leoh replied, “but I hope you realize
that unless we can stop Odal and Kanus immediately, we may very well
be faced with war.”
She nodded. “I know. But you must remember that we are speaking of my
father, of his very life. Kanus will have his war in any event, no
matter what I do.”
“Perhaps,” Leoh admitted. “Perhaps.”
Hector and Leoh drove back to the University campus and their quarters
in the dueling machine chamber. Neither of them slept well that night.
The next morning, after an unenthusiastic breakfast, they found
themselves standing in the antiseptic-white chamber, before the
looming, impersonal intricacy of the machine.
“Would you like to practice with it?” Leoh asked.
Hector shook his head. “Maybe later.”
The phone chimed in Leoh’s office. They both went in. Geri Dulaq’s
face showed on the tri-di screen.
“I have just heard the news. I did not know that Lieutenant Hector has
challenged Odal.” Her face was a mixture of concern and reluctance.
“He challenged Odal,” Leoh answered, “to prevent the assassin from
challenging me.”
“Oh—You are a very brave man, lieutenant.”
Hector’s face went through various contortions and slowly turned a
definite red, but no words issued from his mouth.
“Have you reconsidered your decision?” Leoh asked.
The girl closed her eyes briefly, then said flatly, “I am afraid I
cannot change my decision. My father’s safety is my first
responsibility. I am sorry.”
They exchanged a few meaningless trivialities—with Hector still
thoroughly tongue-tied and ended the conversation on a polite but
strained note.
Leoh rubbed his thumb across the phone switch for a moment, then
turned to Hector. “My boy, I think it would be a good idea for you to
go straight to the hospital and check on Dulaq’s condition.”
“But ... why—”
“Don’t argue, son. This could be vitally important.”
Hector shrugged and left the office. Leoh sat down at his desk and
drummed his fingers on the top of it. Then he burst out of the office
and began pacing the big chamber. Finally, even that was too
confining. He left the building and started stalking through the
campus. He walked past a dozen buildings, turned and strode as far as
the decorative fence that marked the end of the main campus, ignoring
students and faculty alike.
_Campuses are all alike_, he muttered to himself, _on every human
planet, for all the centuries there have been universities. There must
be some fundamental reason for it._
Leoh was halfway back to the dueling machine facility when he spotted
Hector walking dazedly toward the same building. For once, the
Watchman was not whistling. Leoh cut across some lawn and pulled up
beside the youth.
“Well?” he asked.
Hector shook his head, as if to clear away an inner fog. “How did you
know she’d be at the hospital?”
“The wisdom of age. What happened?”
“She kissed me. Right there in the hallway of the—”
“Spare me the geography,” Leoh cut in. “What did she say?”
“I bumped into her in the hallway. We, uh, started talking ... sort
of. She seemed, well ... worried about me. She got upset. Emotional.
You know? I guess I looked pretty forlorn and frightened. I am ... I
guess. When you get right down to it, I mean.”
“You aroused her maternal instinct.”
“I ... I don’t think it was that ... exactly. Well, anyway, she said
that if I was willing to risk my life to save yours, she couldn’t
protect her father any more. Said she was doing it out of selfishness,
really, since he’s her only living relative. I don’t believe she meant
that, but she said it anyway.”
They had reached the building by now. Leoh grabbed Hector’s arm and
steered him clear of a collision with the half-open door.
“She’s agreed to let us put Dulaq in the dueling machine?”
“Sort of.”
“Eh?”
“The medical staff doesn’t want him to be moved from the hospital ...
especially not back to here. She agrees with them.”
Leoh snorted. “All right. In fact, so much the better. I’d rather not
have the Kerak people see us bring Dulaq to the dueling machine. So
instead, we shall smuggle the dueling machine to Dulaq!”