From the Ocean from teh Stars (89 page)

until some time later did it occur to Alvin that all this comfort might be
no vain extravagance; this little world must have been the Master's only
home on many long journeys among the stars.

There were no visible controls of any kind, but the large, oval screen which completely covered the far wall showed that this was no ordinary
room. Ranged in a half circle before it were three low couches; the rest
of the cabin was occupied by two small tables and a number of padded
chairs—some of them obviously not designed for human occupants.

When he had made himself comfortable in front of the screen, Alvin
looked around for the robot. To his surprise, it had disappeared; then he
located it, neatly stowed away in a recess beneath the curved ceiling.
It had brought the Master across space to Earth and then, as his servant,
followed him into Lys. Now it was ready, as if the intervening aeons had
never been, to carry out its old duties once again.

Alvin threw it an experimental command, and the great screen shivered into life. Before him was the Tower of Loranne, curiously foreshortened and apparently lying on its side. Further trials gave him views
of the sky, of the city, and of great expanses of desert. The definition was
brilliantly, almost unnaturally, clear, although there seemed to be no
actual magnification. Alvin experimented for a little while until he could
obtain any view he wished; then he was ready to start.

"Take me to Lys." The command was a simple one, but how could
the ship obey it when he himself had no idea of the direction? Alvin had
not considered this, and when it did occur to him the machine was already
moving across the desert at a tremendous speed. He shrugged his shoul
ders, accepting thankfully the fact that he now had servants wiser than
himself.

It was difficult to judge the scale of the picture racing up the screen,
but many miles must be passing every minute. Not far from the city the color of the ground had changed abruptly to a dull gray, and Alvin knew
that he was now passing over the bed of one of the lost oceans. Once Diaspar must have been very near the sea, though there had never been
any hint of this even in the most ancient records. Old though the city
was, the oceans must have passed away long before its founding.

Hundreds of miles later, the ground rose sharply and the desert
returned. Once Alvin halted his ship above a curious pattern of inter
secting lines, showing faintly through the blanket of sand. For a moment
it puzzled him; then he realized that he was looking down upon the ruins
of some forgotten city. He did not stay for long; it was heartbreaking to think that billions of men had left no other trace of their existence save
these furrows in the sand.

The smooth curve of the horizon was breaking up at last, crinkling
into mountains that were beneath him almost as soon as they were
glimpsed. The machine was slowing now, slowing and falling to earth in a
great arc a hundred miles in length. And then below him was Lys,
its forests and endless rivers forming a scene of such incomparable beauty
that for a while he could go no further. To the east, the land was shad
owed and the great lakes floated upon it like pools of darker night. But
toward the sunset, the waters danced and sparkled with light, throwing
back toward him such colors as he had never imagined.

It was not difficult to locate Airlee—which was fortunate, for the
robot could guide him no further. Alvin had expected this, and felt a
little glad to have discovered some limits to its powers. It was unlikely
that it would ever have heard of Airlee, so the position of the village
would never have been stored in its memory cells.

After a little experimenting, Alvin brought his ship to rest on the
hillside that had given him his first glimpse of Lys. It was quite easy to
control the machine; he had only to indicate his general desires and the
robot attended to the details. It would, he imagined, ignore dangerous or impossible orders, though he had no intention of giving any if he could avoid it. Alvin was fairly certain that no one could have seen his arrival.
He thought this rather important, for he had no desire to engage in mental
combat with Seranis again. His plans were still somewhat vague, but he
was running no risks until he had established friendly relations. The robot
could act as his ambassador, while he remained safely in the ship.

He met no one on the road to Airlee. It was strange to sit in the space
ship while his field of vision moved effortlessly along the familiar path,
and the whispering of the forest sounded in his ears. As yet he was unable
to identify himself fully with the robot, and the strain of controlling it
was still considerable.

It was nearly dark when he reached Airlee, and the little houses were
floating in pools of light. Alvin kept to the shadows and had almost reached
Seranis's home before he was discovered. Suddenly there was an angry,
high-pitched buzzing and his view was blocked by a flurry of wings. He
recoiled involuntarily before the onslaught; then he realized what had
happened. Krif was once again expressing his resentment of anything
that flew without wings.

Not wishing to hurt the beautiful but stupid creature, Alvin brought
the robot to a halt and endured as best he could the blows that seemed
to be raining upon him. Though he was sitting in comfort a mile away,
he could not avoid flinching and was glad when Hilvar came out to in
vestigate.

At his master's approach Krif departed, still buzzing balefully. In the silence that followed, Hilvar stood looking at the robot for a while. Then
he smiled.

"Hello, Alvin," he said. "I'm glad you've come back. Or are you still
in Diaspar?"

Not for the first time, Alvin felt an envious admiration for the speed
and precision of Hilvar's mind.

"No," he said, wondering as he did so how clearly the robot echoed
his voice. "I'm in Airlee, not very far away. But I'm staying here for the
present."

Hilvar laughed.

"I think that's just as well. Seranis has forgiven you, but as for the
Assembly—well, that is another matter. There is a conference going on
here at the moment—the first we have ever had in Airlee."

"Do you mean," asked Alvin, "that your councilors have actually
come here? With your telepathic powers, I should have thought that
meetings weren't necessary."

"They are rare, but there are times when they are felt desirable.
I don't know the exact nature of the crisis, but three Senators are already
here and the rest are expected soon."

Alvin could not help smiling at the way in which events in Diaspar
had been mirrored here. Wherever he went, he now seemed to be leaving
a trail of consternation and alarm behind him.

"I think it would be a good idea," he said, "if I could talk to this
Assembly of yours—as long as I can do so in safety."

"It would be safe for you to come here yourself," said Hilvar, "if the Assembly promises not to try and take over your mind again. Otherwise,
I should stay where you are. I'll lead your robot to the Senators—they'll
be rather upset to see it."

Alvin felt again that keen but treacherous sense of enjoyment and
exhilaration as he followed Hilvar into the house. He was meeting the
rulers of Lys on more equal terms now; though he felt no rancor against them, it was very pleasant to know that he was now master of the situa
tion, and in command of powers which even yet he had not fully turned
to account.

The door of the conference room was locked, and it was some time
before Hilvar could attract attention. The minds of the Senators, it seemed,
were so completely engaged that it was difficult to break into their de
liberations. Then the walls slid reluctantly aside, and Alvin moved his
robot swiftly forward into the chamber.

The three Senators froze in their seats as he floated toward them,

but only the slightest flicker of surprise crossed Seranis's face. Perhaps
Hilvar had already sent a warning, or perhaps she had expected that,
sooner or later, Alvin would return.

"Good evening," he said politely, as if this vicarious entry were the
most natural thing in the world. "I've decided to come back."

Their surprise certainly exceeded his expectations. One of the Sena
tors, a young man with graying hair, was the first to recover.

"How did you get here?" he gasped.

The reason for his astonishment was obvious. Just as Diaspar had
done, so Lys must also have put the subway out of action.

"Why, I came here just as I did last time," said Alvin, unable to resist amusing himself at their expense.

Two of the Senators looked fixedly at the third, who spread his hands
in a gesture of baffled resignation. Then the young man who had ad
dressed him before spoke again.

"Didn't you have any—difficulty?" he asked.

"None at all," said Alvin, determined to increase their confusion. He
saw that he had succeeded.

"I've come back," he continued, "under my own free will, and be
cause I have some important news for you. However, in view of our previous disagreement I'm remaining out of sight for the moment. If I
appear personally, will you promise not to try to restrict my movements
again?"

No one said anything for a while, and Alvin wondered what thoughts
were being silently interchanged. Then Seranis spoke for them all.

"We won't attempt to control you again—though I don't think we
were very successful before."

"Very well," replied Alvin. "I will come to Airlee as quickly as I can."

He waited until the robot had returned; then, very carefully, he gave
the machine its instructions and made it repeat them back to him. Seranis,
he was quite sure, would not break her word; nevertheless he preferred
to safeguard his line of retreat.

The air lock closed silently behind him as he left the ship. A moment later there was a whispering "hiss . . ." like a long-drawn gasp of surprise,
as the air made way for the rising ship. For an instant a dark shadow
blotted out the stars; then the ship was gone.

Not until it had vanished did Alvin realize that he had made a slight
but annoying miscalculation of the kind that could bring the best-laid
plans to disaster. He had forgotten that the robot's senses were more
acute than his own, and the night was far darker than he had expected.
More than once he lost the path completely, and several times he barely

avoided colliding with trees. It was almost pitch-black in the forest, and once something quite large came toward him through the undergrowth. There was the faintest crackling of twigs, and two emerald eyes were looking steadfastly at him from the level of his waist. He called softly, and an incredibly long tongue rasped across his hand. A moment later a powerful body rubbed affectionately against him and departed without a sound. He had no idea what it could be.

Presently the lights of the village were shining through the trees ahead, but he no longer needed their guidance for the path beneath his feet had now become a river of dim blue fire. The moss upon which he was walking was luminous, and his footprints left dark patches which slowly disappeared behind him. It was a beautiful and entrancing sight, and when Alvin stooped to pluck some of the strange moss it glowed for minutes in his cupped hands before its radiance died.

Hilvar met him for the second time outside the house, and for the second time introduced him to Seranis and the Senators. They greeted him with a kind of wary and reluctant respect; if they wondered where the robot had gone, they made no comment.

"I'm very sorry," Alvin began, "that I had to leave your country in such an undignified fashion. It may interest you to know that it was nearly as difficult to escape from Diaspar." He let that remark sink in, then added quickly, "I have told my people all about Lys, and I did my best to give a favorable impression. But Diaspar will have nothing to do with you. In spite of all I could say, it wishes to avoid contamination with an inferior culture."

It was most satisfying to watch the Senators' reactions, and even the urbane Seranis colored slightly at his words. If he could make Lys and Diaspar sufficiently annoyed with each other, thought Alvin, his problem would be more than half solved. Each would be so anxious to prove the superiority of its way of life that the barriers between them would soon go down.

"Why have you come back to Lys?" asked Seranis.

"Because I want to convince you, as well as Diaspar, that you have made a mistake." He did not add his other reason—that in Lys was the only friend of whom he could be certain and whose help he now needed.

The Senators were still silent, waiting for him to continue, and he knew that looking through their eyes and listening through their ears were many other unseen intelligences. He was the representative of Diaspar, and the whole of Lys was judging him by what he might say. It