“We get all the stones,” he said. “That ring also.”
My fingers had found the ring on Eet’s limb; now they closed about it tightly. Not that! But Eet’s head once more bumped my chin. He dared not use mind reach intelligible to Hory, but he was trying in this way to communicate. Without the ring – I could not-
I saw Hory’s eyes glitter in rising triumph, and knew that he believed he had found my weak point and would thus regain control of the situation and us. In that moment I had the strength for our last battle of wills.
“The ring also – after an agreement is taped.”
Hory hitched himself up, reached to the control board. He used his forefinger to release a print seal, bring out a treaty com. There was no mistaking its white and gold casing. And its very presence here told me of his importance among his command.
Now he held it to his lips. But he wet those with the tip of his tongue and hesitated a long moment before he began to dictate:
“In the name of the Council, the Four Confederacies, the Twelve Systems, the Inner and Outer Planets,” he recited formally, as he must have done many times before, it came so easily to him, “this agreement shall hold by planet law and star law.” He added figures which held no meaning for me but must have been an identification code. Once more he switched to words:
“Murdoc Jern, status, assistant, gem buyer, late apprentice to Vondar Ustle, deceased, is hereby declared free of all charges made against him-“
“Erroneously,” I prompted as he paused for breath.
“Erroneously,” he agreed, not looking at me, but at the com in his hand. “In addition, free of all charges is one Eet, an alien mutant, now in association with Jern.”
So now it was officially recognized that Eet was no animal but an intelligent entity coming under the protection of laws made for the defense of such.
“In return, Murdoc Jern agrees to release to the custody of the Patrol certain information, classified” – once more he rattled off a series of code numbers – “which is his. Accepted, sealed, coded by-“ and he unemotionally gave that name which was not Hory, and certainly not on a roster of scouts.
“You have forgotten,” I broke in sharply. “The bargain is also for compensation-“
For a moment I thought he would refuse even now. His eyes caught mine and I read in them a cold enmity which I knew would exist on his side for all time. He had been humbled here as he thought I had not, or rather he felt a humbling, though I had not in any way triumphed over him. For our embroilment had been mutual and if he felt invaded, was I any the less violated? Now I added:
“Was it any worse for you than for me?”
“Yes!” He made of that an oath. “I am who I am.”
I supposed he meant his Double Star, his training, the fact that in the service he was above and beyond some regulations. But if he was a man who had climbed to that post, and the Patrol was as incorruptible as it claimed to be, then also he must be a man of some breadth of mind. I hoped that was true.
Yes, he had said, but now his eyes changed. There was still hatred for me in them, but perhaps he was a bigger man than he had been only moments earlier.
“No – perhaps it was not-“ He was just.
“And there was to be compensation.” I pressed my point. “After all whether you accept it or not, we have been battle comrades-“
“To save yourselves!” was his quick retort.
“No more than yourself.”
“Very well.” Once more he raised the treaty com. “Murdoc Jern is to receive compensation in connection with his information, this to be set by a star court, not to fall below ten thousand credits, nor rise above fifteen.”
Ten thousand credits – enough for a small ship of the older type. Again Eet’s head moved. My comrade found that acceptable.
“Agreed to by Murdoc Jern.” He held out the com and I bent my head to speak into it.
“I, Murdoc Jern, accept and agree-“
“The alien, Eet- “ For the first time during this ceremony Hory was at a loss. How could a creature without vocal communication agree on an oral recording?
Eet moved. He swung his head toward the tom and from his lips issued a weird sound, part the mew of a cat, yet holding some of the Basic “yes.”
“So be it recorded.” Hory’s tone had the solemnity of a thumb seal pressed by some planet ruler before his court.
“Now” – he reached for another taper, taken from the same recess as the treaty com- “to your part.”
I held it before my lips. “I, Murdoc Jern, do hereby surrender” – might as well get the worst done first “into the hands of a duly registered member of the Patrol a ring set with an unknown stone, the gem having unusual and as yet unexplored possibilities. In addition I do hereby state that there are two caches of similar stones on a planet unknown to me by name. These can be found as follows-“ And I launched into descriptions of the cache in the ruins and that of the vault.
The knowledge that he had been so close to both and had not realized it must have been bitter to Hory. But he did not reveal his feelings. Now that his true identity was known he was a different man, one lacking the more emotional reactions of Hory the scout. When I had described both caches and their locations to the best of my ability, I handed the tape mike back. He took it from me as if he feared to touch my fingers, as if I were unclean.
“There is a passenger cabin to the left of the galley,” he said remotely, not ordering me to it, but making his desire plain. And I wanted his company no more than he wanted mine.
I descended the ladder wearily, Eet riding in his old place on my shoulders. But before we had gone the mutant had shaken the ring loose, to leave it lying on the edge of the control board. I did not want to look at it again. Perhaps Hory locked it away with the tapes – I did not want to know.
The passenger cabin was small and bare. I lay down on the bunk. But though my body ached for rest I could not quiet my mind. I had given up the ring, the small knowledge I had of the caches. In return I had our freedom and enough to buy a ship-
Buy a ship? Why – why had I asked for that? I was no pilot, I had no reason to want a ship of my own. But ten thousand credits could be used-
“To buy a ship!” Eet answered.
“But I do not want – or need – and cannot use a ship!”
“You will – all three.” His reply was assured. “Do you think I went close to ending my being to earn us anything else? We shall have a ship-“
I was too tired to argue. “To what purpose?”
“That shall be discussed at the proper time.”
“But – who is to pilot it?”
“Do not dwell so much on the skills you have not; consider rather those you have. There is something else – look within the inner pocket where you carry what is left of your gems.”
It had been so long since I had thought of that poor store, a most meager base for the future, that I could not guess what he meant. I fingered that inner pouch and the stones in it moved under my touch. I loosed the seal to turn out the sorry collection. Among them was – I snatched at it and between thumb and forefinger I held a zero stone in its lifeless phase.
“But-!”
Eet read my thought. “You have broken no oath. You surrendered exactly what you promised – the ring and the location of the caches. If another has seen to a better bargain for you – accept it without question.”
Hory – above – could he tune in on our exchange? Would he now know what I had?
Eet was plainly alert to the same danger. “He sleeps. He was close to the end of his strength though he did not reveal that to you. But do not mention this again. Not until we are free.”
I dropped the stone among the others – all the bits from my wanderings. To the uninitiated it would certainly seem worth no more than, perhaps not as much as, the rest. Eet’s cleverness needed no comment.