"Consider my situation, woman. I came into instantaneous existence.
I remember sitting in the laboratory under the scanner, a slight
dizziness, and then immediately I was in an alien body. Its nervous
system was stunned by the shock of my entry, I couldn't think clearly.
All I had to go on was Laird's remembered conviction that these were
deadly foes surrounding me, murderous creatures bent on killing me and
wiping out my planet. I acted half-instinctively. Also, I wanted, in my
own personality, to be a free agent, to get away and think this out for
myself. So I did. I regret the death of your men, but I think they will
be amply compensated for."
"H'm--you surrendered when we all but had you anyway."
"Yes, of course, but I had about decided to do so in all events."
Her eyes never lifted from the dials that wavered life or death. "I
was, after all, in your territory, with little or no hope of getting
clear, and you were the winning side of this war, which meant nothing
to me emotionally. Insofar as I have any convictions in this matter,
it is that the human race will best be served by a Janyard victory.
History has shown that when the frontier cultures--which the old
empire calls barbaric but which are actually new and better adapted
civilizations--when they win out over the older and more conservative
nations, the result is a synthesis and a period of unusual achievement."
He saw her visibly relaxing, and inwardly he smiled. It was so easy, so
easy. They were such children in this later age. All he had to do was
hand her a smooth lie which fitted in with the propaganda that had been
her mental environment from birth, and she could not seriously think of
him as an enemy.
The blue gaze lifted to his, and the lips were parted. "You will help
us?" she whispered.
Daryesh nodded. "I know the principles and construction and use of
those engines, and in truth there is in them the force that molds
planets. Your scientists would never work out the half of all that
there is to be found. I will show you the proper operation of them
all." He shrugged. "Naturally, I will expect commensurate rewards. But
even altruistically speaking, this is the best thing I can do. Those
energies should remain under the direction of one who understands
them, and not be misused in ignorance. That could lead to unimaginable
catastrophes."
Suddenly she picked up her gun and shoved it back into its holster. She
stood up, smiling, and held out her hand.
He shook it vigorously, and then bent over and kissed it. When he
looked up, she stood uncertain, half afraid and half glad.
_It's not fair!_ protested Laird. The poor girl has never known
anything of this sort. She's never heard of coquetry. To her love isn't
a game, it's something mysterious and earnest and decent--
I told you to shut up, answered Daryesh coldly. Look, man, even if we
do have an official safe-conduct, this is still a ship full of watchful
hostility. We have to consolidate our position by every means at hand.
Now relax and enjoy this.
* * * * *
He walked around the desk and took her hands again. "You know," he
said, and the crooked smile on his mouth reminded him that this was
more than half a truth, "you make me think of the woman I loved, a
million years ago on Vwyrdda."
She shrank back a little. "I can't get over it," she whispered.
"You--you're old, and you don't belong to this cycle of time at all,
and what you must think and know makes me feel like a child--Daryesh,
it frightens me."
"Don't let it, Joana," he said gently. "My mind is young, and very
lonely." He put a wistfulness in his voice. "Joana, I need someone to
talk to. You can't imagine what it is to wake up a million years after
all your world is dead, more alone than--oh, let me come in once in
awhile and talk to you, as one friend to another. Let's forget time and
death and loneliness. I need someone like you."
She lowered her eyes, and said with a stubborn honesty, "I think that
would be good too, Daryesh. A ship's captain doesn't have friends,
you know. They put me in this service because I had the aptitude, and
that's really all I've ever had. Oh, comets!" She forced a laugh. "To
space with all that self-pity. Certainly you may come in whenever you
like. I hope it'll be often."
They talked for quite a while longer, and when he kissed her goodnight
it was the most natural thing in the universe. He walked to his
bunk--transferred from the brig to a tiny unused compartment--with his
mind in pleasant haze.
Lying in the dark, he began the silent argument with Laird anew. "Now
what?" demanded the Solarian.
"We play it slow and easy," said Daryesh patiently--as if the fool
couldn't read it directly in their common brain. "We watch our chance,
but don't act for a while yet. Under the pretext of rigging the energy
projectors for action, we'll arrange a setup which can destroy the ship
at the flick of a switch. They won't know it. They haven't an inkling
about subspatial flows. Then, when an opportunity to escape offers
itself, we throw that switch and get away and try to return to Sol.
With my knowledge of Vwyrddan science, we can turn the tide of the war.
It's risky--sure--but it's the only chance I see. And for Heaven's sake
let me handle matters. You're supposed to be dead."
"And what happens when we finally settle this business? How can I get
rid of you?"
"Frankly, I don't see any way to do it. Our patterns have become too
entangled. The scanners necessarily work on the whole nervous system.
We'll just have to learn to live together." Persuasively: "It will be
to your own advantage. Think, man! We can do as we choose with Sol.
With the Galaxy. And I'll set up a life-tank and make us a new body to
which we'll transfer the pattern, a body with all the intelligence and
abilities of a Vwyrddan, and I'll immortalize it. Man, you'll never
die!"
It wasn't too happy a prospect, thought Laird skeptically. His own
chances of dominating that combination were small. In time, his own
personality might be completely absorbed by Daryesh's greater one.