He found himself wondering why normal people so often speak to invalids
and cripples as though they were feeble-minded. He knew full well that
if his body had been whole and well Margaret would have been more
careful and Sin would have been much more thorough in her examination.
This tendency to discount the mentality of a cripple was particularly
strong when the victim was full of irrational fears and whining
self-pity. All Eldon's hopes rested upon this simple psychological fact.
"You must sleep now, lover," Margaret crooned. She gave him a pill and
a swallow of water. "This will make you feel better."
He let his body relax as though drifting into slumber. He could not
hear her footsteps on the deep, rich carpeting but the swish of her
gown and the soft opening and closing of a door traced her movements.
Quickly he removed the pill from his mouth and tossed it through the
open window. Sleep he needed, but drugged sleep he could not afford.
* * * * *
A murmur of voices came from the next room. Silently Eldon rose and
pressed one ear to the door.
Margaret was speaking. "Great Sasso! That thing clung to me like a
slobbering baby. But he'll be easy enough to control, especially--"
"Careful! Want him to hear us?"
"It wouldn't matter. He couldn't understand a word. Besides I gave him
a control pill."
"But we don't want to make a mindless slave of him," Wor remonstrated.
"Of course not," Margaret assured her alien lover. "He'd be useless
that way. The drug will only paralyze his will so he will believe
unquestioningly anything we tell him, and you can see that he does not
receive the mark that would make him a complete slave of the Faith."
"Ssh!" Eldon heard the big warrior whisper. "I thought I heard--" A
chair creaked and there were footsteps.
Silently but with utmost speed Eldon threw himself on the bed.
"You're nervous as an old woman," Margaret complained.
Wor's voice was deep in his throat. "One lives longer that way when
plotting against Sin," he declared.
Eldon was lying on his back, breathing raspingly through his open
mouth. Wor gave a satisfied grunt as he closed the door, and almost at
once Eldon had his ear to the panel again.
"Ugh! What an ugly sight! How can you stand having that thing near you?"
"When the stakes are the control of a world one can endure much," the
woman said evenly. "And it should not be for long."
Wor chuckled softly.
"There is one more problem," Margaret continued. "He _must_ be present
on The Night."
"An idiot Outworldling at an Observance! Impossible! Highness Sin would
never permit it," Wor objected.
Margaret's tone sharpened. "Are you or are you not commander of the
Forces? And aren't you clever enough to invent a story? Perhaps that a
mild administration of life-essence from the Vat could restore enough
of his mind to give you information on the Rebel defenses, and thus
hasten The Night."