If Monat had not been able to get to Kazz after the revolt, he should then have told Spruce to leave the area at once. Or, at least, to wear a cloth around his head when conditions were favorable for seeing the mark.
Could Spruce not have known that they were his fellow agents? They might be so numerous that each was familiar only with a few others. But surely all would know of Monat.
He stopped, and drew in his breath.
The Mysterious Stranger had never said anything about having his own agents. Yet, he was a renegade, and he might have enlisted a few highly trusted people. Could Spruce have been one? And could Monat somehow have found this out? And so gotten rid of him by not telling him about Kazz’s visual abilities?
That did not seem probable. If Monat had found out that Spruce was on the Stranger’s side-and how would he ever be able to do that?-would he not then have hypnotized Spruce? That would enable him to identify the Stranger, supposing, of course, that Spruce knew who he was.
There was another possibility. Monat knew of Spruce’s ability to kill himself by means of the sphere on his forebrain. Thus, he was not worried that Spruce would be forced to divulge any information at all.
Also, he may have used Spruce as a messenger. He would have given him some information to pass on when Spruce was resurrected at HQ-if HQ meant headquarters.
Monat had taken part in Spruce’s inquisition. How amused he must have been at that. Also, it was Monat who had given Spruce some leading questions.
Had Spruce been prepared by Monat to give the answers he had made? Were they all lies?
If so, why should he lie? Why were all resurrectees kept in the dark?
It was quite possible that Spruce, acting on Monat’s orders, had deliberately ensured that Kazz would notice him.
By then, the three had boarded the Snark. The Neanderthals stayed above. Burton felt his way to the cabin, down the companion way, and, counting the compartment doors, stopped outside Frigate’s and Loghu’s. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside. It was a very small space, just large enough to hold two bunks against the bulkhead and room to climb down from them. The bunk-chambers were the only places where any privacy was available. Even defecation was done in them, in the bamboo chamber pots which were stored in a rack to one side.
Frigate usually slept in the top bunk. Burton moved forward, his hand outstretched. He would wake him gently, whisper that it was his watch, and then he would follow him to the deck. There Kazz would knock him out, and he would be carried to the hut.
Since it would be impossible to keep him from killing himself once he was fully conscious, Burton had decided to try to mesmerize him as he was regaining his wits. It would be a chancy procedure, but he would have to try it. Frigate, unlike Spruce, might not be so willing to commit suicide now that there were no more resurrections.
However, Burton was not sure that the Ethicals’ agents were not resurrected.
His fingertips felt the smooth sideboard of the bunk. They moved up onto the cloths that served as a mattress. They stopped.
Frigate was not in his bunk.
Burton felt along the cloths though he knew that nobody was on the bunk. They were warm. Then he stood for a minute. Had Frigate gone above to relieve himself because he did not want to awake Loghu? Or had he awakened early and decided to talk to his captain a few minutes before going on guard duty?
Or had he . . . ? Burton felt furious. Had he sneaked out of bed and now was with Alice?
Feeling ashamed of himself, he rejected that idea. Alice was honest. She would never betray him. If she wanted another lover, she would have said so. She would have told him and then left him. Nor did he believe that Frigate would ever do anything like that to him, though he may have contemplated it in his mind.