Clyde Mitchell

“ Zorvash Pedrik isn't and never has been carrying a bomb."
I was careful with my expression. "You mean he's going to use some other method to blow up the Grand Capitol? Or is there some other trick he's going to try?"
The Damakoi shook his head. "That isn't it. What I mean is that Zorvash Pedrik is a lunatic—he's absolutely insane!"
"Tell me more."
"Zorvash Pedrik is a madman," the Damakoi repeated. "He's been in neuropsychiatric hospitals more than once. He likes to think of himself as a great savior of the people—any people. On Damak, he has denounced more than one person falsely. ”

“ Jedon Onomondo just looked at me, frowning.
"I have a hunch that Holdreth Khain is telling the truth; Zorvash Pedrik is a looney, all right, but now he's going to be a big hero in the proper way. If he sets off a theta bomb in the Grand Capitol Building, two-thirds of the people of Damak will hail him as a hero. They'll forget about the silly things he's done before. ”

“ I shook my head. "Neutrino radiation isn't dangerous, not even to a Damakoi. Don't worry about it."
"But how do you know it was a neutrino generator?"
"I know what those things look like," I told him. "They are expensive as hell, and no one would go to the expense of making one just to load it with ordinary radioactives."
"I hope you're right," said the Damakoi.
I drove Holdreth Khain back to the Capitol. "Look," I told him, "there are going to be plenty of trigger-happy policemen roaming around this town for a while. ”

“ I asked. "A theta bomb has to be heavily shielded; even when they're several feet apart, the radiation is enough to kill whoever's carrying it unless they're pretty heavily shielded."
The Damakoi spread his hands in a shrug. "I do not know; all I can tell you is that I know the assassin personally. I can recognize him."
It sounded good, but I still didn't trust the being. His kind were too treacherous and fanatic. Even the ones on the side of the Galactic government were a hotheaded bunch. ”

“ But in the section where we are keeping Holdreth Khain, they were all supposed to be shut off because you Damakoi are so sensitive to radiation." I turned to Ned again. "It looks as though there's not much else we can do except take Jedon Onomondo into the Grand Capitol to identify Holdreth Khain. We've got to see whether he's our killer or not." ”

“ Zorvash Pedrik. Room 706A.
I left one of my men at the desk to make sure that no one warned Room 706A, and headed for the lift tube. Holdreth Khain and I went up to the seventieth floor and looked for 6A.
I took out the key which the clerk had given me and carefully slid it into the lock, trying not to make a sound. I really didn't think anything would happen here. The Damakoi wouldn't set off the bomb this far away from the Grand Capitol; fanatics don't waste their lives on nobodies like me—not when they're out after much bigger game. ”

“ That's the sort of thing the Grand Council is working on right now. Once the proper laws are passed, we'll have Damak under our thumb and force them to be law-abiding citizens. That's why they're so anxious to blow up the Capitol before anything definite is done. ”