Telis frowned at his friend. "Of course, I refuse! And you may carry
that message back to Dorliss ... if there _is_ such a place!"
With that he turned away, but not before Gorla laid his hand on Telis'
arm and said: "Then forgive me, old friend...."
Telis wondered at that. Forgive? Forgive what? Then other matters
forced that question from his mind. So the Temple knew of the Maldia's
plan to massacre the aliens. To what extent, he wondered, would the
Temple go in striving for its own inscrutable purpose to save the
Tellurian scientists? And why? In spite of himself, Telis could not
suppress a shudder, for the Temple was powerful ... perhaps the most
powerful thing remaining on the desiccated planet of Laurr.
The ancient order of the Temple Priests dated to far before the Ten
Water Wars that had so devastated the globe with their atomic fury. Its
beginnings were lost in the dim mists of antiquity, even antedating
the building of the waterways. The membership was perhaps the one body
selected for any purpose on Laurr without consideration of family or
background, and this fact accounted for the fierce loyalty of such able
young Commoners as Gorla.
The long wars and the struggle for survival had destroyed much of the
ancient science, and what remained lay within the jurisdiction of the
Temple. As it so often happens in times of great stress, science on
the world of Laurr had taken on the vestments of religion in order to
survive. A benevolent, scientific hierarchy, the Priests of the Seven
Cycles spent their cloistered hours delving into the great knowledge
of the ancients, seeking the answers to riddles solved long ago and
forgotten in the fratricidal wars that were the direct result of the
dwindling water supply. Ostensibly, the Temple conducted the world-wide
worship of the Water Goddess, principal deity in the Laurrian Pantheon,
but actually the Priests were scientists striving frantically to
salvage what little they could from the wreckage of the ancient
civilization on a doomed and quarrelsome planet.
* * * * *
All this Telis of Lars knew only vaguely. He was a soldier, and little
concerned with the ins and outs of the scientific theocracy of the
Temple. His life up to now had been spent largely in wars and tourneys,
in love-making and the less exacting pastimes of the hedonist. Only
the coming of the Tellurians had stirred him to take a more direct
part in the doings of the court circles, for above all he loved Laurr,
and in the outlanders Telis saw the final, insupportable insult to his
beloved, prostrate home-world.
The government of the Laurr of Laurr and the Temple seldom clashed.
Each remained within its proper sphere, and both were content. But
into this peculiar age-old arrangement the Tellurian spaceship had
fallen like a disrupting bolt from the sky. And men--men like the
men of Laurr--had emerged from the vessel ... seeming to prove the
Temple's much-doubted hypothesis that both Laurr and the planet the
aliens called Terra had been colonized by a great race of interstellar
travelers. How much more could be proved or done with the Tellurians'
aid remained to be seen. The Temple was already calling them the
Redeemers of Laurr, and through its good offices a safe-conduct had
been granted by the Laurr of Laurr himself.
They had come seeking iron. They wanted to mine and later, perhaps, to
colonize, though Laurr was uncomfortable for them. But this the Maldia
found unthinkable. The Tellurians were barbarians, and the ancient
nobles of Laurr raged at their intrusion.
Telis found himself among these objectors. For many haads, Laurr had
known of its approaching doom and it wished to die, Telis thought,
as it had lived--proud and unconquered. The Tellurians were outsiders
who had no place on the barren face of his Laurr ... and it was Telis'
intention to drive them away or destroy them. For this he had been
chosen leader of the attack that the Maldia planned to mount in the
morning.
Already agents had been sent out to agitate among the degenerate tribes
of the desert--the cannibal Guski--and the Maldia was assured of at
least four thousand tribesmen in arms in return for food and plunder.
The power of the Maldia, five hundred sith-mounted nobles, added to
the mass of Guski seemed more than enough to handle a small scientific
expedition from space.
Now, as he left the guest wing of the palace and strode across the dark
courtyard that separated him from the household quarters of the ruler's
family, Telis smiled to himself. The intruding Tellurians were due for
a shock. Their safe-conduct would be voided within the hour and Laurr
would be free of them before the sun set again!
He was almost across the yard and into the gate of the household
wing when something made him pause. He had the feeling of being
watched ... followed. His sharp eyes swept the whole of the courtyard.
It was walled and heavily planted with desert shrubs so that his
inspection told him nothing. He shrugged and turned again toward the
gate.
One step he took, and no more. From overhead came the low whirring of
an air-sled's idling motor. He stopped short, searching the sky for the
craft. A sled in the air low over the Laurr's palace at this time of
night could mean nothing good.
The sharp clank of metal behind him made him swing around, his sword
hissing from its scabbard. Three hooded figures were almost upon
him, naked steel in their hands. Telis thought wildly of calling for
aid, and then he realized that these men would never dare to attack
him if they had not either bribed or killed the household guards.
Instinctively, he thought of Brand. Was this the renegade's doing? By
killing him and spiriting his body away, Brand could contend before
the Maldia that Telis had lost courage at the last moment and fled
rather than lead them in an overt act against the Tellurians....
There was no more time for thought, for the three men were upon him. He
slipped his second sword free and stood facing them, searching for some
hint as to their identity. Overhead the air-sled hovered, waiting....
With a cry, Telis lunged forward and caught one of the attackers on his
point. The man doubled up and fell to his knees as his two companions
closed in. The courtyard now echoed the ring of steel on steel, and the
labored breathing of men fighting.
Telis fought fiercely. He was fighting for his life--and for what was
even more important on Laurr--his honor as a warrior.
His blade wove a deadly, glittering web in the darkness, but his two
assailants closed in steadily. The whirring sound of the air-sled was
nearer now, and Telis glanced upward to see if he could catch a glimpse
of the aircraft. His heart sank.
The ship was a dark blot across the stars, but he could see that a rope
ladder hung down into the court and more men were pouring down, swords
in hand.
Desperately, Telis pressed forward, trying to rush the attackers and
gain a brief respite. One of the men feinted in the low lines and
followed with a thrust at the head that caught Telis a glancing blow on
the temple and set the stars to dancing before his eyes.
The fellow rushed in eagerly and Telis heard his companion hiss:
"Careful, you fool!"
Telis' attack stalled under the concerted rush of the masked man, and
he was forced to retreat until his bare back touched the roughness of
the courtyard wall. There could be no further retreat.
The assailants separated now, so that Telis was forced to strike wildly
from side to side to avert being hit. His sword made a glittering
arc as he parried a near thrust and a lightning riposte pierced the
swordarm of his nearest attacker.
Before the others who had dropped from the sled could close in on him,
Telis whirled and ran along the base of the wall. If he could reach the
gate of the household wing he would be safe, for no assassins would
dare follow him into the inner sanctum of the Laurr himself.
He heard a voice shouting hoarsely in the darkness, and other voices
replying angrily, impatiently.
"We've lost him!"
"The devil's wounded Marl and Varo!"
"Find him, you fools! He must be taken."
Telis ran breathlessly along the wall, hoping against hope that the
gate would not be covered. It was a vain hope. As he broke out of the
shrubbery, the shouts began again and he was forced to retreat into the
shelter of a towering desert plant.
He waited there, breath coming in long rasping gasps, and his head
singing from the blow he had taken.
With pounding heart he listened to the attackers beating the bushes
for him and shouting commands and advice to one another. More men must
still be coming down from the air-sled, for there were fully ten in the
dark courtyard now.
"He can't have gotten far!"
"See that the gate is covered--"
"How the young devil does fight!"
"Pierce that bush there! I saw something move!"
Telis tried to smother his labored breathing as the group drew nearer
to his hiding place. His hands cradled his two swords lovingly as the
searchers spread out into a semicircle and moved steadily towards him.
Telis tensed himself to leap. Within seconds, they would be upon him
and assassins on Laurr showed no mercy, particularly to one who had
wounded two of their craft. He doubled his legs under him and waited.
"There he is!"
Telis burst from hiding and braced himself for the rush. His back was
once again against the wall and this time, he knew, there would be no
escape.
A glittering circle of naked swords surrounded him and he lashed out
furiously, driving the attackers back by the main force of his charge.
Then it was that a stray beam of light from the closely guarded gate
caught a jewelled glyph on the harness of one of the assassins and
Telis' heart froze. The insigne was the Sword and Atom--the ensign of
the Secular Guard of the Holy Temple!
The disclosure was like a blow. It was Gorla rather than Brand, who
was trying to kill him! The bitter understanding seemed to sap his
strength. When he felt the stun-gun's tingling impact, it was almost a
relief. Blackness came ... darker than the primeval night, and he felt
himself falling....