"I'm very sorry," Gaunt said. "But ..
"There's always a but, isn't there?"
Gaunt coughed again. "This time, there is. We have to get to Castor fast. The organics may not have been too upset by what Castor did Tuesday, but they know now what he did on Wednesday and will probably do today. They'll launch an allout search."
Dunski said, "Rupert!"
"What?"
"My wife. She's in grave danger."
"No more than you," Gaunt said. "He's tried once to kill you, and he'll keep trying until you're dead or he's dead."
Dunski turned to face Gaunt. The man looked pale.
"Rupert has to be protected."
"I've already sent two to guard her," Gaunt said. "They'll tell her what's happened." He shook his head. "This is getting worse and worse."
"I don't know what to do. There's no sense in just roaming around hoping I'll see Castor."
"I know that," Gaunt said. "I think you should go home with Rupert and wait there. Castor may try to get to you there. The guards will be out of sight but watching."
"We'll be decoys?"
"A waiting game. Meanwhile, every immer in Manhattan and many in the neighboring cities will be here looking for Castor."
"I doubt that Castor would try to get into my apartment. There are too many other people there."
Gaunt bit his lip and said, "Yes, I know." Evidently, he did not approve of communal marriages.
Gaunt had said nothing about Tingle's dummy being disturbed, and, if he had heard anything, he would not have kept quiet about it. Castor could have removed the dummies of Caird and Tingle and so revealed to the organics that they were daybreakers. He had not done so because he wanted to kill Caird. If the organics got hold of him first, they would prevent Castor from getting his revenge and from ridding the universe of Castor's Satan.
Duriski said, "I think I'm going into shock."
"You look like it," Gaunt said. "Follow me." They went into the living room. Dunski sat down. Gaunt took a syringe from his bag and picked up the bottle of alcohol. "Lift your arm."
Dunski did so, saying, "What's that for?"
"It'll make you feel better for a while. The drug doesn't get rid of the shock; it just delays it."
The syringe shot a bluish liquid into Dunski's arm. He felt a warmth and a rush of blood. His heart pounded; the numbness evaporated. He could almost see it steaming off.
Gaunt said, "Feel better now?"
"Much better. I'm glad it wasn't a sedative. J need to be on my toes."
"It perks you up for a while," Gaunt said. "But you have to pay the price later."
Dunski thought, There's always a price. What's the price for being an immer? Why do I ask that, stupid? I'm paying it now and am a long way off from paying all of the debt.
He rose, started toward the door again, stopped, gestured at the cylinder, and said, "Does she ...
"Yes, she does," Gaunt said. "I don't know about you, Dunski. You seem to have trouble accepting the inevitable. I can understand how you must feel, I think I can, anyway, but you're not showing immer quality."
"It just doesn't seem right," Dunski murmured.
"The right way is the best way. Go on now. Your wife will be waiting for you."
Dunski opened the door and turned for a last look. Gaunt was staring hard at him. The man's will was as hard as the bodies in the cylinders. He closed the door and went down the hall to the door. Opening it, he was wetted by the rain. He stepped back in and took from the bag a yellow roll no longer or thinner than his index finger. Holding a tab at its one end between two fingers, he snapped it. The roll became a raincoat with attached hood, electric sparks crackling from its hem.
Clad in the raincoat, he stepped out into the fierce downpour. The street was deserted except for a bicyclist pedaling madly, bent over, the wheels splashing water. From far off, thunder rumbled, and lightning coursed through the dark western mass like the shining arteries of a god.
He did not have to go home at once. Rupert should be safe. Gaunt would not like his orders disobeyed, but what could he do? Not much if he, Jim Dunski, did nothing but hang around for a while here and then take his time going home. If he did what was so raging, though so vague, in his mind, he would suffer severe punishment. Perhaps, Gaunt might arrange an accident for him and so dispose of him. That, however, would cause a chain of problems for the immers. If Dunski disappeared or was killed, then Caird, Tingle, Repp, Ohm, Zurvan, and Isharashvili would also disappear.
The seven roles had put him in danger. On the other hand, they were insurance of a sort against the immers' turning against him. If the situation became desperate, though, the immers could cancel his policy and take their chances.
Chapter 18
Jim Dunski stood for a while and wondered what he would do, what he should do, when the second of decision came. He could walk away and leave Snick to die. Or he could try to rescue her. Logic, self-survival, and common sense urged him to leave here as quickly as possible. His horror at the concept of murder and his vision of Snick being murdered-no concept- this, but a vividly red image-rooted him.
Do the ends justify the means? That was an ancient question that had only one answer if you had a heart.
But if he did what was right, then he was wrong.
"I should have thought of this when I swore utter loyalty forever," he muttered. A little later, he said, "But it's not like I'm turning them in, exposing them. If I just get her away, somehow, and hide her, all of us immers will still be safe."
At that moment, he knew that he was not going to let Gaunt kill her. Not if he could help it. He did have a plan to do this, though it was wild and could easily go awry. Read for awry, his death.
He looked up and down the street. The two whom Gaunt had said would be watching him were not in sight. No doubt, they could see him. If Castor appeared, they would close in and kill him, though they might be too late to save their fellow immer, himself. For all he knew, Gaunt had decided that he should be the sacrificial victim, the throwaway decoy.
No. Gaunt would not wish Dunski to die in these circumstances. He would want a well-planned coverup before that happened.
The rain fell heavily as he walked. Behind him, thunder and lightning came nearer as if they were stalking him. He stopped at the corner of Jones and Seventh and looked up and down the broad avenue. There were no pedestrians or bicyclers, and the car traffic was much lighter than usual. Two taxis, a government limousine, and an organic patrol car. The latter was cruising at five miles an hour, its headlights on, its two occupants rain-blurry behind the windshield. They did not seem to have looked at the lone man in the yellow hood and coat.
The storm was what Gaunt should have asked for. It was blocking the sky-eyes and removing possible witnesses from the streets. Even people looking out their windows would be half-blinded.
Presently, a white van with black zebra stripes appeared north on Seventh, two blocks away. There were three thousand such in Manhattan, all vehicles of the State Cleaning Corps of all days. It slowed at the light and eased through on the yellow. Dunski was not surprised when it turned onto Jones Street. The SCC van could stop at the apartment, its corpspersons could enter the building and come out with a large package or a cart filled with something concealed by a tarpaulin, and no one would be suspicious. Any watcher might commend the Corps for doing its duty in such bad weather.
He turned to watch the van do just what he thought it would. Two men in the uniform of Thursday's SCC, green trousers with belibottom cuffs and loose scarlet coats, got out of the van. One opened the rear doors; the other reached in and pulled out a folding cart. They stood before the door a few seconds, waiting for Gaunt to identify them on the strip. As soon as they had disappeared into the building, Dunski walked slowly down the long block toward the van. i1e looked across the street at the building opposite. It was one of the modern boat-shaped structures with a large yard with many trees and bushes. He spotted a dark figure standing in a doorway under the overhang of the building. That must be one of his guards.