Everett B. Cole

“ The headman faced Barra again.
“Send man,” he thought laboriously. “Be sure herd is still south.” He pointed toward the area where the projection had been.
“That not herd,” he thought. “That other herd. Never see before.”
Barra scowled furiously.
“You incapable imbecile! You dare to call your master a liar?”
He swung about, his furious gaze scanning the village. The pile of stones he had noticed before caught his attention. He focused on it. ”

“ Of course, several of the caravan masters who did regular business at Kira Barra shouted at their slaves at times. But somehow, he had never become used to it. He much preferred to do business with those few who handled their pseudomen as they did their draft beasts—quietly, and with the dignity befitting the true race.
He waited till Dar Makun had finished with his growls and hisses. One of the caravan drivers had swung down and was bringing a fiber cloth bundle toward them. Barra looked at it in annoyance. ”

“ The long-necks are squealing and bellowing. Drivers are jerking on reins. And a herd of carnivores hears the commotion. So, they drop around to see the fun. See what I mean?”
Naran nodded and Dar Girdek went on.
“Well, that’s about it. Once in a great while, some guy manages to get into a cave and hide out till the null swings away and another caravan comes along. But usually, no one sees anything but a little of the cargo and some remains of long-necks. No one’s ever come up with any part of man or pseudoman. ”

“ One must conserve one’s powers for times when they might be really needed.
Too, there was the remote possibility that some lackland wanderer might come by and find a flaw in the protection of the Estates—even somehow penetrate to the Residence. Barra shuddered at that thought, then shrugged it off. Kira Barra was well protected, of that he had made sure. Ever vigilant surrogates were deposited in all the strategic spots of the Estates—not only to allow quick observations of the condition of the lands, but also to give automatic warning of the approach of anyone of inimical turn of mind. ”

“ Wearily, Retonga, headman of Tibara, pulled himself to a sitting position. He looked over to the other side of the room. Mir was already on her [p 37] feet. She smiled at him uncertainly.
“It’s morning,” she said. “Rest day, at last.”
“Yes.” Retonga closed his eyes for an instant. It had been bad for her, too, he knew. He’d probably been pretty hard to live with these past few days. He sighed.
“Rest day,” he mused. “But it means nothing. There’s still work. There’s always work these days.” He got to his feet.
“I wish I were just a herd boy—in some other village.” ”

“ Such brutes should thrive over in the flats, where the long-necks did poorly. He would have to consider the acquisition of some breeding stock.
The caravan master drew his mount to a halt and drifted toward the trees. Barra examined the man closely as he approached.
He was a tall, slender man, perfectly at ease in his plain trail clothing. A few control jewels glinted from his fingers and he wore a small shield brooch, but there was no heavy equipment. His distorter staff, Barra noted, was a plain rod, tipped by a small jewel. Serviceable, to be sure, but rather short in range. ”

“ They won’t go far—not with those herd boys running around.”
“Sure,” Naran told him. “The master would really like spending half a day cutting out his long-necks from the village herd. And how about that Master Protector? What would he think of our caravan?”
The other looked at him disgustedly. “Aw, who cares about that? Why worry about what one of them witchmen thinks about another? Long’s we don’t get twisted around, what’s the difference?” ”

“ Abruptly, he turned away, to direct his attention to the central surrogate. It was equipped with a projector crystal.
The air in the clearing glowed and a scene formed in the open space. Unmistakably, it was the northern part of Kira Barra. The lake was shown, and sufficient landmarks to make the location obvious, even to a pseudoman. Carefully, Barra prevented any trace of the blank, swirling null from intruding on the scene. Perhaps the subhuman creature before him knew something of its properties, but there was no point in making these things too obvious. ”

“ One snap and there’s nothing left.
“When they kill a long-neck, they have a good meal and walk away from whatever’s left. But people are something else. They just can’t get enough and they don’t leave any crumbs.” He waved a hand.
“There’ve been several trains caught by those things. A swirl arm comes over at night, you see, and the caravan master loses his head. He can’t think of anything but getting out. Oh, he can yell at his drivers. They’ve got a language, and we all know it. That’s easy. But did you ever try to get a long-neck going without psionic control?” ”

“ The only trouble was Retonga. If the herds were mixed, he would be in real trouble.
“Well,” he said aloud, “I’m not about to get the master to spinning. Long’s we keep him happy, we’ll all be a lot better off. As I said, right after breakfast. I want everyone out on the herd.” He started to turn away.
“Aagh,” growled the other. “Why don’t you face it? You’re just one of those guys likes to toss orders around and make people jump. It’s about time someone showed you a few things.”
Naran turned back. Rosel had been resentful ever since the caravan had formed. ”

“ If you had to suspect someone of dirty work, pick on some of those northerners. Kio Barra’s too well known for fair dealing. I’ll make a deal with him, then we can go up to the northern swing and really look around to see if we can find any trace of that caravan of your brother’s.”
Naran kicked at the trail. Dar Girdek was a good trader and a successful caravan master. He knew goods and their value, and he was expert in handling beasts and drivers. But he had never been too sensitive. And he’d absolutely refused to wear a probe amplifier. ”

“ Dar Girdek laughed. “You don’t put a psionic on some long-neck. Lead driver’s pseudoman, just like the rest.” He sobered.
“Oh, sure. You could handle the drivers, but it just isn’t done.”
Naran smiled. “Oh, as far as the other drivers’ll know, I’m just another pseudoman. I’ve been a ship’s non-psi agent, remember? We earn our keep by dealing with the people in non-psi areas.”
“It won’t work.” The caravan master shook his head. “These drivers can get pretty rough with each other. ”

“ The slaves? He shook his head. Too simple!
He brought himself back to the present, looking thoughtfully at the drivers’ lodge ahead of him. Then he probed gently, trying to establish rapport with Dar Girdek. The man could be in real danger.
He frowned and probed with more force. There was nothing. The frown deepened.
After his talk with Retonga, he had established rapport with the caravan master, but the older man had attached no importance to his suspicions.
“No,” he had thought back, “you are seeing a robber behind every rock now. Kio Barra is a tough master, of course. ”

“ Of course, if those two hadn’t been so soft and tolerant, he would have been something other than Lord of the Mountain Lake. He would have had to find other activities elsewhere. He dropped the line of thought.
This was not taking care of the situation.
He put his full attention on the man before him, driving a demand with full power of cap amplifier.
“Why are all your people idling away their time? Where are your herdsmen and guards?”
The headman’s face tensed with effort. He waved a hand southward and made meaningless noises. Faintly, the thought came through to Barra. ”

“ Naran risked a light probe, taking advantage of Barra’s diverted attention.
He had been right, he thought. It was the “or both.” He shook his head. The guy was almost pathetic. Obviously, he wanted to be the greatest man on the planet. And equally obviously, without his amplifier jewels, he’d be little stronger psionically than one of Dar Girdek’s drivers.
As Dar Girdek followed his host toward the village, Naran turned his attention back to his drivers. He would have to make camp and then get together with that village headman. There’d be plenty of arrangements they would have to make. ”

“ Parasight was worthless beyond the borders of the null. No surrogate could penetrate it and no weapon would operate within it. It would be most unsafe for any true man to enter. There, one would be subject to gross, physical attack and unable to make proper defense against it.
Certainly, the northern null was no place for him to go. Only the pseudomen could possibly tolerate the conditions to be found there, and thus, there they had found haven and were temporarily supreme. ”

“ Dar Makun might be your weak brother, but he’d have eaten that guy for breakfast if he’d tried to be rough.”
“Psionic weakling, you mean? But how does he manage to be a master Protector of an Estate?”
Dar Girdek smiled wryly. “Father died. Brother sneaked off somewhere. That left him. Title’s too clear for anyone to try any funny business.”
“I see.” Naran leaned back. “Now, what about this null?”
“Well, of course you know about the time the pseudomen from the Fifth managed to sneak in and lay a mess of their destructors on Carnol?” ”

“ Surely, there must be some outlet for his abilities, beyond mere increase in the wealth of Kira Barra. And there must be some way to gain a companion of sorts. He would have to think that over.
He swung the boat to the pier and floated away, grandly ignoring the pseudomen who hurried to secure his lines.
He examined the village with approval as he stood in the center of the clearing. There had been a great improvement since he had taken that headman in hand. ”

“ Naran looked doubtful. “And what kind of a character is this Barra?”
“Oh, him!” Dar Girdek waved a hand. “Nothing there. In the first place, he holds one of the biggest estates in the mountain area. So what would he want to rob a freight caravan for?” He laughed.
“In the second place, the guy’s practically harmless. Oh, sure, he’s got a title. He’s Lord of the Mountain Lake. And he wears a lot of psionic crystalware. But he’s got about enough punch to knock over some varmint—if it’s not too tough. ”

“ He concentrated on the crystal, shifting the view to scan toward the nearest village.
Suddenly, he sat forward in his chair. A herd of saurians was slowly [p 17] drifting toward one of the arms the null had thrust out. Shortly, they would have ambled into a stream and beyond, out of all possible control. Perhaps they might wander for years in the wastelands. Perhaps they and their increase might furnish meat for the pseudomen who lurked inside the swirling blankness. ”

“ Zalbon, was running the swing after the null retracted. He found what was left.”
“Told me he ran into a herd of carnivores. Fifteen or twenty real big fellows. Jaws as long as a man. He killed them off and then found they’d been feeding on what was left of Dar Konil’s train.”
He shook his head. “It’s not a nice area.”
“Hold everything.” Naran leaned forward. “You said my brother went through this big estate. Anyone see him come out?”
[p 11]
Dar Girdek smiled. “Oh, sure. The Master of the Estates, Kio Barra, himself. He saw him to the border and watched him go on his way.” ”

“ Whenever the null swirls, it can cover big territory in a big hurry and most of that northern swing is null area at one time or another. One of those arms can overrun a train at night and if a man loses his head, he’s in big trouble. ”

“ He grinned.
“Arm a couple of hundred men with those things and they could go out and take the Fifth apart, bit by bit. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about those people and their mechanical gadgets.”
He dragged his attention back to the business at hand, tapping in on Dar Girdek’s thoughts.
“... And we can tour the Estates later today,” Barra was saying. “I may be able to show you some worthwhile goods, as well as a few good draft beasts to carry them.” ”

“ There, he told himself, was the result of the carelessness of those lackland fools who had been entrusted with the defense of the home planet. Their loose, poorly planned defenses had allowed the pseudomen of the Fifth to dash in and drop their destructors in a good many spots on the surface. ”

“ A lot of ’em can’t even stand the weight of a man on their necks. Breaks ’em right down.”
[p 29]
“A good carrier can handle a dozen tons without too much trouble, but some of these things have it tough to handle their own weight on dry land and you have to look ’em over pretty closely to be sure which is which. Can’t really judge by a projection.”
Barra looked at the man with slightly increased respect. At least, he knew something about his business. He shifted the viewer to the swamp.
Of course, he thought, there were draft animals over in the western sector. ”

“ Retonga looked after him for a moment, then caught the eyes of a couple of the women. He made a [p 38] sweeping motion toward the earth of the clearing, then walked back to his own door.
He turned, inspecting each detail of the village.
“Let’s see. Is there anything else for the master to find wrong?” Again, he examined each house closely. ”

“ The old one of his father’s which he had brought to the new Residence had seemed quite inadequate when the Residence was redone. This new viewer had been designed for professional use. It was a full two feet in diameter and could fill thousands of cubic feet with solid projection. ”

“ The massive crystals mounted on their supporting points weighed a couple of pounds by themselves and though the gold insulating supports were designed as finely as possible, the metal was still massive and heavy. ”