Only ten Aresian years passed between the discovery of the disease and the dispatch of an Aresian mercenary force into the employ of the Lord Paramount of Haven, who paid for the service with a quantity of the substance the Aresians called “long-life stuff.” Ygdale used part of the shipment for himself, and passed the rest on to his most trusted supporters. He assured them that this was only step one in Ares’s recovery from whatever ailed it, for the mercenary force that was being sent to Haven, though it was fully as reliable, strong, able, observant, and protective as represented in the prospectus, was also made up entirely of disciplined Aresians under the command of Ygdale’s elder sons and assigned the duty of finding out where the life stuff came from, how it was procured and manufactured, and how best large quantities of it could be obtained.
So it was that while the Prince of Haven wined and dined, while Genevieve wept and the Marshal preened himself in Havenor, Ogberd and Lokdren Ygdaleson, elder sons of the Chieftain of Ares, were well established in the palace at Havenor, where they might be found in the mercenaries’ quarters, lifting weights, running a treadmill, and engaging in other exercises designed to keep them fit.
Nearby was a device which erupted, from time to time, with angry words and sounds of temper.
“Where’s that listener planted?” a junior officer asked, adding a weight to his bar.
“In the office of the Mahahmbi minister of state,” Lokdren replied, panting. “Ybon Saelan. He’s the one with the best access to the Shah. If you want to know what’s being said, ask Ogberd. He understands the dialect better than I do.”
Ogberd took over Lokdren’s abandoned treadmill, leaned on its control panel and drawled, “The minister’s aggravated about some religious rite that’s coming up.”
“How did you get a listening device planted in the minister’s office?” asked one of the newer men.
Lokdren wiped his face, took a long drink from his water bottle, and replied, “Provincial sales agents go to Mahahm to sell them grain or fiber or whatnot in return for some medicine they get from there.”
“Long-life stuff?”
“Naw. Something to prevent fevers. The salesmen have to go to the minister’s office to get their residency papers, and I bribed one of the salesmen to plant the listener.”
“Why there?”
“We’ve looked everyplace we can look here on Haven for the long-life stuff, so we thought it was time to have a look at Mahahm.”
“There’s lots of places in the provinces of Haven we haven’t been to,” offered another junior officer.
“True,” Ogberd muttered. “But it’s hard to get out into the provinces unless we can get a duke or a count to hire us, and only a couple of them have, so far. We’ve been in and out of every noble house here in Havenor, though, as escorts to the Prince, and the stuff isn’t stored in any of them.” He set the dials on the treadmill and positioned himself.
“Meantime,” said Lokdren, heading for the showers, “things are gettin’ worse at home.”
Ogberd grimaced. What Lokdren said was all too true. Life expectancy dropped every year as more and more people were cut down by the stopping-sickness. None of the men who had received the life stuff from Haven had succumbed, however, which kept their concentration intact. Haven had the substance and seemed to be doing all right, Ares didn’t have the substance and was failing. Therefore, obtaining the life stuff was the key to survival.
Before turning on his machine, Ogberd reasserted this in a confident voice. “We’ve told the Chief we can conquer the planet tomorrow if we want to, but he doesn’t want to invade until we know where the stuff comes from! We’ve been here better than two years and I’m beginning to doubt His Majesty even knows where he gets the stuff.”
“So, maybe we should make him tell us who does know.”
Ogberd nodded with a grim smile. “You think we haven’t considered it? And suppose it isn’t even found here? Hmm? Suppose they get it from off-planet? Suppose it’s a compound: some stuff from here, some stuff from somewhere else? Then we’ve blown our cover over nothing!” He started the machine and began to run with great efficiency.