Joris glowered at him. "I'm considered fairly reliable in the
performance of my office." He nodded to the brisk young man who had
brought Trehearne and Edri from the ship. "Make out the usual interim
commitment form for suspected persons under the Port Authority Code,
Section C...."
Trehearne said, "Just a minute." He stepped forward until he was
facing Joris across the table. "You have no authority to imprison me."
Joris stared at him. Then he shook his head irritably as though he
thought his ears must be playing him tricks, and stared again. His
jowls took on a tinge of red. Trehearne went on. The time had come to
let his temper go, and he turned it loose of all restraint.
"Unless he is formally accused of a crime, no Vardda may be detained by
anyone against his will. I have committed no crime, and I have not been
accused of any."
It took Joris some time to recover his voice. When he did, it fairly
rattled the windows. "You are _not_ a Vardda!"
"No? Think a minute. What is the one distinguishing quality of a Vardda
that marks him as different from all other men?"
"All right, I'll answer that! By some freak or other you managed to
survive the flight. But that doesn't change the fact that you're an
Earthman, born and bred, and therefore not a Vardda!"
Trehearne's eyes had acquired a hard glitter. "Then suppose," he said,
"that you imprison me--an Earthman who has crossed the galaxy from Sol
to Aldebaran, and lived. That'll make quite an uproar, won't it? All
the non-Vardda peoples will be much interested. So will the Orthist
party. I don't doubt they'll spread the news all over the galaxy--_the
Vardda have admitted that they're not the only ones who can fly
interstellar space_!"
Shairn said, "That's it, Michael! Go it!" Edri had drawn back a little.
His eyes were sober and intent. Kerrel spoke, and his voice was sharp.
"You've had bad advice, Trehearne. That kind of talk won't help you."
Joris motioned him to silence. To Trehearne he said, "What do you know
about the Orthist party?"
"Enough to know that they could make a great deal of trouble. Either
I'm Vardda or I'm not. And if I'm not, I could be the start of a whole
new movement. The first non-Vardda to fly the stars, the first crack in
the monopoly."
Joris shook his head. "You can be put away so quickly and quietly that
no one will ever hear of you."
"Good," said Trehearne. "Put me away. Put away all the officers of the
ship. Put away all the passengers. Put away all the crew. That's a lot
of people to keep quiet."
Shairn broke in triumphantly. "Yes, Joris! How are you going to silence
me?"
"And," said Edri, "me."
Joris looked from one to the other and back again, his brows drawn
angrily together. But he said nothing. Kerrel leaned over the table.
"Joris," he said, "do you understand? The man is trying to blackmail
you with an open threat of treason."
"Yes," said Trehearne, "I am." His voice was suddenly very quiet, and
he spoke straight to Joris. "When I made that flight and lived I won my
right to the freedom of the stars. I won my right to fly deep space,
and I will use any weapons I can get my hands on against any man who
tries to keep me from it."
Then, for quite a long while, no one spoke.
"By God," said Joris slowly, "I take it back. There can't be any
mongrel blood in you. Only a Vardda could have that kind of insolence."
He got up and came round the table. "You, Shairn. In spite of your
political views, you'll back him up in this?"
"I will. And it's probably the only real accomplishment the Orthists
will ever make."
"And you, Edri?"
"All the way."
Kerrel swore. It was the first time Trehearne had ever heard him do it,
and it was aimed directly at Shairn. "For God's sake, watch what you're
saying! Joris, she doesn't mean it, and she won't do it. I know her
feelings on the subject too well for that."