Koril’s eyes fixed grimly on me. “Who is this you speak of?”
“A woman who came to Charon with me,” I told him. “We lived together in Bourget until the showdown there.” Briefly I told him the rest—including her apparent involvement with the Destroyer’s group there and her dual personality. “In fact,” I added, “Korman was convinced that she was the Confederacy’s assassin.”
Koril looked at Dumonia. “Is that possible? Two of them—here?”
Dumonia shrugged. “Possibly. But nothing I know about, although, let’s face it, the Confederacy and I trust each other equally—and you know what that means.”
The sorcerer chuckled slightly. “This woman, then—she might be here.”
“I didn’t see her at Tully’s encampment, nor any time since that shoot-out,” I told him. “Still, if she’s here, it might be time to get some answers to some questions.”
Koril nodded. “I quite agree.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kira
The huge complex beneath the desert of Gamush was indeed as impressive as it had appeared at first sight. Modern, efficient, and well-staffed, it was a mighty fortress, hidden completely from visual observation and also by more than a little subterfuge. Built as a modern lab and retreat while Koril was still in power, its location was deliberately obscured on maps and charts. Those who had been to it were saddled with spells of confusion that prevented their betraying, or even finding, the place again. By the same token, the isolated technical staff in the place was really stuck without Koril’s supply missions and hardly able to betray him—or escape—even if so inclined. Tens of thousands of square kilometers of parched desert that all looked exactly the same, but in which nasty small sand predators lived—and above which the highly intelligent naril flew, ready to pounce upon and eat anything it could—were formidable barriers.
So, should Zala have been there, she was likely to be there still. Koril’s clerks quickly located her. She had entered even before me and had been assigned mostly to maintenance. Poor Zala—even in the stronghold of the rebel headquarters she was deemed fit only to scrub the floors.
“Surely there can’t be any connection between this woman and Morah,” Darva protested as we walked down a long hall. “I mean, she can’t be more than in her twenties—and Morah’s been here since fifteen or more years before she was born. Their background has got to be just coincidence.”
“That’s pretty much what “Koril figures,” I told her, “but I can’t buy it. There’s simply too many mysteries about her even without this new connection. Add to that a link between her and somebody high up in the Charonese power structure and I can’t buy coincidence. There are too many worlds out there and too few prisoners sent here for that.” “You don’t still feel anything for her, do you?” I had to laugh. “Don’t worry on that score. I never really did. Oh, at first I was fascinated—Korman’s two minds, all the mystery. But when Zala stayed simple, mousy, little Zala she became boring pretty quickly. Besides, we’re hardly even of the same race anymore.” “Still, I’d like to go in with you.”
“No! This has to be one on one. Remember, I don’t look anything like I did before, so unless she’s got some really good spies she’ll have no link between me and the Park Lacoch she knew. That gives me a big advantage. Still, we don’t know what’s going to happen, and I don’t want to have to worry about you.”
We reached our destination. I turned and kissed Darva, then smiled “Wish me luck.”
“Depends,” she responded cautiously, but let me go into the room without further protest.
The room had been set up according to my instructions, which meant one chair, a small table in front of it, and nothing else. I ducked my head, a habit I was getting used to, and entered the room.
Zala looked up. I could see a mixture of awe and fright in her face that couldn’t be faked—or so I thought. I was pretty imposing, after all. I stood there a moment, just looking at her, as the door slid shut behind me.
She looked, I had to admit, no worse for wear. Aside from the loose-fitting blue slacks and shirt which marked her as a service worker she hadn’t changed since the last time I’d seen her, there on the street so many months before. And she still had Morah’s mark on her, the horns having settled in so well that they appeared almost natural. “Zala Embuay?” I asked, sounding as officious as possible.
She nodded hesitantly, and I caught a slight gulp, but she said nothing.
“Zala, I’m going to give you some hard-fact ground rules right in the beginning,” I went on. “First of all, you might notice in the far corner there two small devices. One is a camera—what is going on here is being recorded. The other is an automatic laser weapon that will follow you no matter what. The door will not open until and unless I say so, and it can only be operated by the person on the other end of that camera. Do you understand?”
She nodded weakly, but summoned up enough courage to ask, in a trembling voice, “Wha… what’s this all about? What have I done?”
“I think you know. At first we thought you didn’t know, but now it’s been realized that you almost had to know, or at least suspect”
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about”
“I think you do. Tell me, you were a member of the cult of the Destroyer in Bourget?”
She nodded hesitantly.
“Who was the leader of the cult?”
“I—I can’t tell you that It is forbidden.”
“Zala, as you know well, we are the superiors of that organization. Hence, we already know the name.”
“Then why ask me?”
I smiled. She wasn’t quite as scared as she was pretending to be. “Because I want to see if you know.”
“Of course I know. I said I was a member, didn’t I?”
“Then tell me the name.”
I could see thinking going on behind those frightened eyes. “I—I really can’t A spell was cast to prevent us from revealing it even if we wanted to. As protection.”
Good ploy, I reflected. “You and I know that’s not really true. I want the name. You won’t leave here without giving it”
She shook her head in bewilderment. “I—I really can’t I did get a spell. I was scared…”
I smiled. “You can’t tell me, it’s true, but not because of a spell You can’t tell me. because you really don’t know. You don’t remember any of those meetings, do you?”
“I—of course I do! That’s ridiculous!”
“If you did remember, you’d know that the leader of the cult was disguised by a spell, as were most of the members. You couldn’t know Who that head was—and no spell would prevent you from telling me that. You’re lying, Zala Embuay. You were never a member of that cult.”
“I—of course I was! See?” She pointed to the horns. “How else could I get these!”
“That is the question we’re trying to answer here. You see, in the confusion there really wasn’t enough time or organization to check everybody against the membership rolls. They had to take anybody who suddenly sprouted a pair of horns. We’ve already caught a few spies.” That was a complete lie, although the thought had occurred to Koril and his staff and histories had been taken. The truth was, nobody could really be sure, so they were simply all under observation and in no case permitted to leave or even approach the cargo areas, Zala included, “They learned that death is the least punishment a spy can expect—here.”