Interrogation of Elwar Forell, native of Planet 3-G3-9/4871.
"My Masters, I did mean no harm, but only good. I have long known that
my master was possessed of power denied to most men. When I was
apprenticed to him five years ago, I thought I would one day learn some
of the dark secrets of the hidden worlds, but never did my master
mention aught of those secrets he so surely knew. He taught me only of
those things known to the scholars. He told me of reading, of writing,
and of ciphering, and taught me many facts of our world which are known
to the learned. I wished to know of many other things, but of these he
was silent. Even so, I am grateful for his teachings, for how else could
the son of a simple peasant gain the knowledge of the scholars?
"I saw that my master often repaired to a room which I was never allowed
to enter. This room he cleaned himself. And he always entered in the
greatest of secrecy, being quite cross with me when I once betrayed
curiosity. I remained curious, however, and fell at last to watching him
in secret as he opened the door.
"He slid aside a secret panel, then turned a wheel this way and that,
finally pushing a handle. I watched, at last learning to what numbers he
did turn the wheel, and how he pushed the handle. During his absences, I
went sometimes to that room of magic, and I read the books of power,
though there was much I could not read, since much of the writing was in
strange tongues and I dared not ask my master the meanings of the
strange words. But for his own convenience, my master had written many
instructions plainly. And these, I read.
"I did learn that there were powers beyond those of men. I learned that
these strange instruments on the table did have strange ability to call
forth demons and spirits, but never until that day did I dare touch
other than the books and papers. And those I took great care to restore
to their original condition.
"For three months past, my father's land and the fields of his neighbors
have been dry. During this time, there has been no rain, nor hint of
rain, and the peasants have cried out for relief. They have appealed
even to my master, who has told them that he has no strange powers--that
he can do naught to call up rain. But they did not believe him, nor did
I, Elwar, who knew better than this. I had seen the books of power, and
I knew the demons could cause the skies to deliver water if rightly
asked. So, I visited the room of magic upon the occasions of my master's
absence. And I tried to decipher his writings that I might find the
means to ask for the skies to open. Always, when I felt my master's
presence approaching, I left the room, taking care to properly lock the
door and to hide all evidence of my entry.
"On that day of direful events, I found a paper in my master's hand. It
mentioned fire in the forests. It mentioned rain. And it had on it words
of power.
"For a time, I practiced the strange syllables. Many times did I speak
them aloud, then I pressed the bosses on the table, as shown by one of
the books. There was a light. Then, the great ball glowed with color, to
show me the first demon.
"He spoke. And I conquered my fear, to repeat the syllables I had
labored to learn. Once again, he spoke, and I could not understand him.
I could think of nothing but to say again those words which I hoped
would bring the rain we so badly needed. I took my hands from the bosses
and stood, wondering what would happen. The ball became dark.
"I stood, waiting. And nothing happened. Finally, thinking nothing was
to occur, I turned and started to leave the room. Then, a great voice
spoke. Again, the wall was alight. Within it was a fearsome demon who
glared at me ferociously and demanded something in that tongue of power.
I could not think. I stood, trembling fearfully. And he spoke again.
Then did I repeat again the words I had learned, and ran from the room.
"It became dark. The lightnings flashed, and the rain fell, and my
master came, but not as I had ever seen him before. He did not walk from
the forest as was his wont, but appeared before me from the air. I
started back in fright, for now I was certain beyond doubt that he was a
man of great wizardry. I thought he would beat me, or possibly cast me
under a spell.
"Never has he beaten me, always saying that it was wrong to beat an
apprentice, and that those who so did were lacking in their senses. And
this is but another proof of his sorcery, for who, other than a
sorcerer, could handle his servants without beating them?
"I dared do nothing other than to tell him of my misdoing, and he
rushed to the room, taking me with him. He pressed the bosses, turning
one that I had not known of, and the demon appeared again and talked
with him. Then, my master made strange passes about the instruments and
the village was shown in the ball.
"At last the rain stopped. A wind blew--hot and dry, as from the
pit--and the people came and did try by violence to enter. But they
could not. At last, the great machine came, and though we could not at
first see it, we entered and were carried away through the sky.
"The people watched the house burn, then entered, to scatter the ashes.
"And I am here, and afraid."
* * *
Doer Kweiros flipped off the playback and gazed at the unresponsive
wall. He rubbed the back of his head, looked at the viewsphere, then
checked the playback index and tapped the rewind.
"Oh, me," he complained sorrowfully, "how do we get into these things?"
He looked toward the communicator controls unhappily, then reached out
and dialed a number. The sphere lit and an alert face looked at him
inquiringly.
"How is that Forell boy?"
"Soaking up information like a sponge, sir."
Kweiros nodded. "Gathered he might," he remarked. "Send him up here,
will you? And have Jaeger come with him."
"Yes, sir."
Kweiros snapped the communicator off, sat back to drum idly on his desk,
then got up and walked over to his master file control board. He glanced
at the index, then punched out a sequence on the buttons. There was a
subdued hum and a door opened. Kweiros reached into the compartment, to
take out several tape reels. He glanced at them, nodded, and went back
to the desk, where he spread them out and looked from one to another.
Finally, he selected one of the smaller reels and started to thread it
into the playback.
There was a light tap on the door and he looked up.
"So soon? Come in."
A tall, sharp-featured guardsman entered and stood at attention. Beside
him was a boy, who looked curiously and a little fearfully at the
officer, who waved to chairs.
"Sit down, both of you. I'm not going to claw you. Just want to go over
a few things. I've some ideas, but I want to be sure of a couple of
points." The captain glanced at the reels before him.
"One thing puzzles me, Jaeger. Why did you have notes in the planetary
language in your communications room?"
Jaeger stirred uneasily. "I started doing that some time ago, sir," he
explained. "You see, their language is quite dissimilar to either my own
or to Galactica, and I have yet to learn to think in it. I wanted to
avoid any possibility of lapsing away from it, so I translated my
instructions and notes, hoping to keep myself constantly reminded to
refrain from using Galactica at any time." He spread his hands. "I
suppose--"
Kweiros waved. "Logical, I presume," he admitted. "Anyway, that's done,
and we can't do much about it now. Now for another thing." He glanced at
the tape reels. "I noticed that the villagers in your area regarded you
as a sorcerer. What cause did they have to form such an opinion?"
"None, sir, that I know of." Jaeger shook his head.