The Dark Design by Phillip Jose Farmer

Firebrass shrugged and said, “There’s always a first time. After all, the resurrections have stopped, too.”

“He looks bloody cyanotic for a heart attack,” Jill said. “Could he have swallowed a poison? I didn’t see him put anything in his mouth.”

“Where would he get cyanide or prussic acid or any poison except here in Parolando?” Firebrass said. “He hasn’t been here long enough to do that.”

He looked at Smithers. “Wrap up the body and take it into one of my bedrooms. Take it out after midnight and drop it into The River. The dragonfish can have him.”

“Yes, sir,” Smithers said. “What about that cut on your forehead, sir? Should I get a doctor?”

“No, I’ll patch it up myself. And not a word about this to anybody. Have you got that, all of you? You, too, Jill. Not a word. I don’t want to upset the citizens.”

They all nodded. Smithers said, “Do you suppose that that bastard Burr sent this man, too?”

“I don’t know,” Firebrass said. “Or care. I just want you to get rid of him, okay?”

He turned to Jill. “What’re you doing here?”

“I had something important to talk about,” she said. “But I’ll do it later. You’re in no condition to talk.”

“Nonsense!” he said, grinning. “Sure I am. You don’t think this is going to shake me up, do you? Come on in, Jill, and we’ll talk after I fix up this scratch.”

Jill sat down in an overstaffed chair in the living room of the luxurious suite. Firebrass disappeared into the bathroom, returning after a few minutes with a white tape slanting across his forehead.

Smiling cheerily as if this were a typical day, he said, “What about a drink? It might settle your nerves.”

“My nerves?”

“Okay. Both our nerves. I’ll admit I’m a little shaken up. I’m no superman, no matter what people say about me.”

He poured purplish skull-bloom into two tall glasses half-filled with ice cubes. Neither the ice nor the glasses, like the band-aid, were available anywhere but in Parolando-as far as she knew.

For a minute they sipped on the cool, tangy drink, their eyes meeting but neither saying a word. Then Firebrass said, “Okay. Enough of the social amenities. What did you want to see me about?”

She could scarcely get the words out. They seemed to jam in her throat, then come tumbling out, broken by the pressure.

After pausing to take a long drink, she continued more slowly and smoothly. Firebrass did not interrupt but sat immobile, his brown eyes, flecked with green, intent on hers.

“So,” she finished, “there you are. I had to tell you about this, but it’s the hardest thing I ever did.”

“Why did you finally decide to spill it? Was it because you heard about the hypnosis?”

For a second, she thought of lying. Piscator would not betray her, and she would look so much better if she had not been forced to admit the truth.

“Yes. I heard about it. But I’d been thinking for some time that I should tell you about it. It was just… it was just that I couldn’t bear the thought of being left behind. And I really don’t think I’m a danger to the ship.”

“It would be bad if you had an attack during a crucial moment of flight. You know that, of course. Well, here’s the way I look at it, Jill. Barring Thorn, you’re the best airshipman-I mean, person- that we have. Unlike Thorn, who was a keen airman but doesn’t make aeronauting his whole life, you’re a fanatic. I honestly think you’d pass up a roll in the hay for an hour’s flight. Myself, I’d try to combine both.

“I wouldn’t want to lose you, and if I had to, I’d worry about your killing yourself. No, don’t protest, I really think you would. Which makes you unbalanced in that respect. However, I have to consider the welfare of ship and crew first, so I’d discharge you if I had to, no matter how much it would grieve me.

“So I’m putting you on probation. If you don’t have another attack or hallucination from now until the ship takes off for the big voyage, then you’ll be in.