Garan the Eternal (7 page)

The city dwellers, sated as they were with all the refinements life could offer, had lost many of the true joys of living. Their scented “pleasure palaces” were regarded with a sort of righteous horror by the sturdy country folk. And, unless the many tales we heard were ill-founded, the secret police might indeed have found much to interest them in one of those beautiful, almost dreamlike, castles.

As if he had read the thoughts passing through my mind, Anatan broke the silence.

“There is a new ‘palace’ in the Sotan quarter.”

“So,” I observed indulgently. “Did you chance upon it last night?”

He shook his head in mock regret. “It is not for the likes of me. Kanddon of Stal was entering as I passed and I saw Lord Palkun’s guards by the door.”

“High play then?” I wondered aloud as he named the two most wealthy and influential men below the rank of Learned Ones who maintained residences in Yu-Lac.

“That and other things.” He grinned in a knowing manner which ill became his boyish face. “If the Lord Garan visits there would he not be needing a companion?”

“And when, puppy, have I wasted unwise moments behind the curtains of a ‘pleasure palace’? But this I promise you” — I spoke lightly enough, not being able to read the future — “when I enter that one in the Sotan you shall be at my side.”

“Done! And that is a promise, my Lord,” he rapped out eagerly. Thus did we leave it as I clambered into the one- motor flier which was to transport me across the city to a landing stage behind the crystal walls of the Emperor’s palace.

Chapter Two

The Master of Koom

It being yet early morning, the air lanes above the bulk of the city were uncrowded by the pleasure and business craft which would hover, dart down and across, during the later hours. Save for a patrol or two that I passed, no one disputed my course until just before I swung my ship in to land upon the stage by the middle, slanting spire of the citadel.

Then it was that a slim, black two-passenger, whose rakish lines spelled both speed and ease of handling, cut ill-manneredly in before the nose of my ship and came down, with its belly hugging the very landing spot I had marked for my own.

With a hot speech ready for the impudent youngster who had so high-handedly usurped my coveted place, I brought my tiny flier in to berth it beside the shining black speeder. But it was no sprig of the court whom I confronted when I stepped out.

For, with a slight smile holding, to my mind, more than the suspicion of a sneer, curling his finely cut lips, the tall Master of Koom lingered by the entrance to the down ramp. His arrogantly held head was bare of either ceremonial crown or helmet and his crisp black hair was ruffled by the morning wind, the same wind which tugged at the heavy folds of his long orange cloak.

By his side was his air commander, sulky fellow, Japlan of Toe, who had been held in ill repute among fighting men for many years. He, at least, made no pretense of desiring my friendship, but he scowled so belligerently that the knotted skin of his forehead drew his eyebrows together to form one bushy bar.

“Our worthy Lord Gar an,” purred Kepta. “May we venture to congratulate the victor of Tarnan upon his exploit? Japlan developed a severe attack of jealousy when the news of your success reached our poor backwater. I marvel yet
at his full recovery. It is full, is it not, Japlan?” he baited his surly officer.

“Oh, aye,” growled that one, all the while making very plain to read upon his face his true opinion of me and all my works.

My training as a soldier had not fitted me for the tongue- and thought-twisting ways of court speech where one can praise a man fairly to his face when you despise him heartily. So, as my speech was apt to be as blunt as my thoughts, I did not care to play the courtier more than was necessary.

“You do me too much honor, my Lord,” I answered, with all the courtesy I could summon. “A word of praise from the Master of Koom is not to be lightly dismissed.”

His drooping eyelids lifted a fraction and his smile grew more pronounced.

“Your days at court have polished the soldier to produce the finished courtier, Lord Garan,” he observed, and now the sneer was broad and ill-concealed.

A man of my own caste and rank would have felt my fist grate against his teeth for less. His position held him above my resentment, as well he knew, yet never before had his hostility been so open. I wondered, my blood quickening in my veins, if he had uncovered some trace of my active and inquisitive distrust of him. His mask of good fellowship had cracked and I had seen the real man who was using that mask for his own purposes.

So, though my muscles tensed, I controlled my rising anger. But someday, On willing, I would face that sneering devil man to man,

“I give thanks to the Master of Koom.” My reply was as chill as I could make it but still formally polite.

He gathered his cloak closer about his broad shoulders and turned away abruptly with Japlan at his heels. I waited a moment or so, allowing them a start before following them down the ramp.

As I hesitated there, the sleek lines of the Koomian’s flier caught my eye and interest. Ships were my life and new designs always held me enthralled. Though I dared not linger to examine it closely, I knew that its shape, especially the outward appearance of its motor compartment, suggested some startling new development, something very different from our most modern product

Apparently the workmen of the dark northern island had
chanced upon some new form of propulsion, producing as a result an engine much smaller and more compact than any I had ever seen.

Reluctantly I tore myself away, knowing that Kepta would suspect if I lingered too long. But I determined, as I set foot upon the ramp, to discover the secret of the trim craft before its master whisked it away from Yu-Lac again.

The ramp ended in a single broad step and then I was out upon the green and amber pavement which led to the Hall of the Nine Princes. Towering columns of burnished copper supported the roof of the covered passage but the sides were open to the scented winds. To my left, four deep steps of dull green stone cut into the first of the wonder gardens which made the inner hold of the sprawling citadel a place of marvels and delights.

To the right, the steps leading down were steeper, giving access to a bronze landing where a half dozen or so gaily painted skiffs bobbed on the yellow, petal-strewn water of one of the five canals. As it was yet early, none save a solitary guard paced the passage. No lady, in spite of my daring hopes, swayed along the garden paths, or floated petal-wise on the canal. There was only a gentle brooding quiet.

But the Hall of the Nine Princes was occupied when I entered. One of the smaller council chambers and reception rooms of the palace, it was furnished with a massive table, hewn from a single log and treated with the famous carbonizing process of the Emperor’s laboratories until it was as hard and durable as the age-old rocks of the Imurian Sea. Precisely in the center of this board, placed so that its occupant faced the single entrance to the chamber, was a chair of the same substance and, on either side of that, backless benches.

By virtue of my position I was well-known to the Emperor and the members of his all-powerful council. For the most part the latter were just, though severe, men, requiring of those under their authority a steadfast and utterly devoted loyalty to the state. Once convinced of my trueness, they had granted me an almost free hand in my own department, asking merely for a semimonthly report. In the past, since I had assumed my high office, our relations had been friendly enough, though never growing warmer than the austere formality of the court permitted.

But now there was a change in their attitude. Long years of almost constant warfare and soldiering had supplied me
with that sixth sense permitted those who live under the thin hem of Danger’s cloak. And now I felt instantly the tension, the certain chillness, which met me even as I stepped within.

Whether I stood in personal peril of some sort, or whether some event beyond my control had aroused them, I had no means of knowing. But that same feeling, which had guided my hand to my sword that morning as I had hurried to meet the Emperor’s messenger, again twitched my fingers toward the weapon on my hip. I felt the skin across my shoulders roughen. There was trouble here.

“The Marshal of the Fleet greets the Lord of the Air, the Ruler of the Five Seas, the Beloved of On — “ I began the formal salutation.

“Enough.” The Emperor’s voice severed my greeting dryly. “Be seated, Lord Garan — there.” He motioned toward a stool some six paces to the right of where I stood. I obeyed, but now my tongue moved in a mouth suddenly gone dry. There was danger here — to me!

“You maintain a secret system of information, do you not?”

“Aye, Great One. That being part of my duties.”

“And is this also part of your duties?” He handed two metal plates to the attendant at his side. The man arose from his seat and, passing around the table, came to stand before me, holding what he bore so that I might look upon it.

Incised in the soft surface of the metal were drawings and formulas totally strange to me. Wholly bewildered, I raised my eyes to the cold mask which was the Emperor’s face.

“I have never seen these before, Sire. Nor do I understand their meaning.”

“And yet they were discovered among the private records of your intelligence office,” he answered meaningly.

I faced him squarely. “I repeat, Great One, I have not seen these before.”

Whereupon Malkus of Throt, a lean, bare bone of a man, totally devoid of all the softer emotions, cackled faintly behind his skinny hand. That evil parody of a man’s full-throated laughter aroused me, doubtless even as he had intended.

“Is the Marshal of the Fleet standing trial for wrongdoing, Great One? I beg you, my Lords, be a little plainer with your servant”

The Emperor frowned. “A complaint has been lodged against this nation and you by the men of Koom —”

Koom! The name burst red-hot in my mind. Koom ! Then I had been right in assigning some devilish meaning to Kepta’s unannounced arrival.

“Certain private matters of the Master have been spied upon —”

I started. There my conscience was not clear. I had been searching for the key to the dark riddle of Kepta. Of that I was guilty.

“And now, even as Lord Kepta had foretold, these are found among your records.” The Emperor’s mouth was grim.

“Sir, and my Lords, I can only say as I have before, these plates you show ma I have never before seen. If they were found among the records of the Fleet, I have no knowledge of how they came to be there. But I promise you” — I ended through twisted lips — “that I shall not be long in delving to the bottom of this strange matter.”

Malkus cackled again, his thin screech of indecent mirth echoing through the chamber. “Behold virtue aroused,” he mouthed in glee.

I rounded upon him swiftly. “You mock me, my Lord?”

He shrugged but vouched me no other answer. I rose to my feet. With steady hands I unfastened the buckle of my sword belt and drew it from around me.

“Since, Great One, it seems that I am no longer worthy of your trust, I will give back into your hands this symbol of my office. I was naught but a plain soldier, and a soldier am I content to be. Little do I know of government policies, but in my thoughts it is clear that a scapegoat is desired for some matter of state. If I can serve Yu-Lac best by my personal disgrace, I stand ready for orders. For I know that I have been faithful in all things to the best of my ability.”

“Now that, my Lords, can be said by few in Yu-Lac today,” a voice sped clear across the room. I turned.

In the doorway stood a man of my own years, a Learned One by his dress. But even among the Great Ones I have known but three others with his air of powerful self-control. The Lady Thrala had it, and the Emperor, and — Kepta. But the Koomian’s was an alien power unlike the others. Who this newcomer might be I did not know, but that
which is the innermost part of me, the indestructible part, recognized and hailed a leader of men.

“Greetings, Thran,” the Emperor arose.

“And to you, Sire, be peace. Let all be well with you, my Lords.”

With easy grace he crossed the room to stand beside me.

“And now what is this I have chanced upon? Why does the noble captain hand back his sword? With what may any man living reproach Garan of Yu-Lac?”

“But a short while ago,” I said bitterly, “I too might have asked an answer to that last question of yours, my Lord.”

His eyes met mine and I felt a certain warmth spread through me.

“I have watched you, Lord Garan. And speaking freely before this council I say that there is no other man within the bounds of the inner sea in whom I would sooner place my trust. Thran of Gorl says it!”

The Emperor smiled, a wintery cleft in his mask. “Take up your sword, my Lord. Where proof of wrongdoing is lacking, there can be no arguments for or against a man. But it would be well to get to the heart of this matter, for your own sake. A word spoken into the ear of a wise man is more to be heeded than the whisper of a passing breeze.”

Thoroughly bewildered by this sudden about-face, I buckled on my belt and dropped to one knee to touch the floor before the council.

“Have I your leave to depart, Great One?”

The Emperor nodded. I turned to go but somehow I knew Thran’s eyes were on my back until I stepped from the chamber. Some game, whose stake or purpose I could not fathom, had been played, or perchance the play had just begun. But that I was a piece in the game I had no doubt.

Still puzzling over that strange meeting in the Hall and the Emperor’s parting words, I turned aside into the gardens instead of returning directly to the landing stage and my flier.

Clearly I had been ordered to set my house in order and produce the person or persons responsible for the appearance of the Koomian documents among my records. I must, without delay, set in motion my secret machinery of observation and deduction.

But my thoughts kept wandering back to the idea that
someone had attempted to discredit me with the council, tried to so force me out of my position. That could mean only one thing — I was a menace. The Air Ministers, with their ever-growing power, or Kepta of Koom, from whom every drop of blood within me shrank in revulsion — which moved against me now? For the past year I had been burrowing into the secrets of both, striving to uncover the mysterious something which I knew lay there waiting to be discovered.

Somewhere on Krand there was a center of disturbance responsible for every frontier outbreak, every rising of the city mobs, even for the infrequent air accidents, of that fact I was firmly convinced. But — proof? What man may summon a shadowy feeling to testify in his behalf?

That thought brought curiosity in its wake. Why had Thran of Gorl, whom to my knowledge I had never before set eyes on, come at the exact moment when his speech in my favor could most aid me? I had thought that I was familiar with all the Lords of the Learned Ones, but he was a stranger. And yet a man of his personal magnetism and powers should be widely known. Gorl was a rocky island far to the north; it contained no cities of any importance and its population was mostly made up of needy fishermen. Who was Thran of Gorl?.

Intent upon this and other problems, I had wandered deeper into the gardens than I had intended. And now I came upon a wide, smooth lawn of thick yellow moss where were gathered a group of ladies watching the antics of a pair of those tiny creatures called Anas. I would have retreated at once but one of the maids, catching sight of me, called out: