Leoh said, “And you would, of course, see to it that my refusal became public knowledge.”
Smiling again, Odal nodded. “You are a great celebrity. I’m sure the news media would leam about it one way or another.”
“Don’t do it,” Hector said to Leoh. “It’s a trap. Don’t agree to duel with him. I’ll….”
“You, Watchman, have already beaten me in a duel,” Odal said, his smile vanishing. “You can’t ask me to face you again. It would be unfair.”
“I’ll agree to the duel,” Leoh answered, “if you’ll agree to have the tape shown publicly.”
“Very well,” Odal said. “We will meet in three days, as is customary?”
“Make it a week,” Hector said. “Give us a chance to … uh, inspect the machine and make sure, that is….”
“Make certain that the monsters from Kerak haven’t tampered with it?” Odal laughed. “Very well, a week from today.”
Odal walked toward the door, stepped between Hector and Leoh, and left. The door clicked shut behind him.
Hector turned his eyes from the closed door to Leoh. “You shouldn’t have accepted … I mean, well, it’s a trick of some kind, I know it is.”
The Professor looked thoughtful. “Is it? Or is Odal—or Kanus, or whoever—getting desperate? I’ve been able to show the Acquatainian people that they have nothing to fear from the dueling machine, you know. They might be trying to restore the machine to its symbol of terror.”
Hector shook his head.
“But I can beat Oda! in a fair duel,” Leoh said. “After all, I’ve won every duel I’ve fought, haven’t I? And you beat Odal. The only duels he won were when he had outside help. I think I can beat him, I honestly do.”