"Had I not found your headquarters tonight, then," I said, "you would have contacted me?"
"Of course," said Shaba, "tomorrow. But we speculated that you would find us tonight. We speculated that you would discover or reason out the girl's role in our business and try to use her as a lead to find us. This possibility was confirmed when you made inquiries of Kipofu, the beggar, in the Utukufu square."
"You were there," I said.
"Of course," he said, "under the cover of the ring, but I could not approach as closely as I desired. Kipofu has unusually keen hearing. When my presence was detected I simply withdrew."
"Why did you not just contact me directly?" I asked.
"For two reasons." said Shaba. "We wished, a second time, to interrogate the blond-haired slave, before making contact, and, also, we were curious to see if you could find us by yourself. You did so. You have our congratulations. You are obviously worthy of conducting business on behalf of the Kurii."
"How long have you known I was in Schendi?" I asked.
"Since the arrival of the Palms of Schendi," he said. "We could not be certain, at first, that your arrival was not a coincidence. Soon, however, it became clear that you were an object for our concern. You appeared at the market of Uchafu. You trailed Msaliti from the market You waited in the Golden Kailiauk."
"I have been under surveillance since arriving in Schendi," I said.
"Yes," said Shaba, "from time to time."
"You know, then, doubtless, my new residence," I said, "that which I acquired following my departure from the Cove of Schendi."
I had taken a large. room on the ground floor, behind a cloth-worker's shop, just off the Street of Tapestries. Wearing the aba taken from Msaliti, hooding myself with it, that my face and eyes.not be seen, Sasi on my shoulder, rolled in a blanket tied tightly closed with ropes, I had acquired the lodging. The free woman who rented me the room asked no questions. When I had given her a copper tarsk as a tip she had looked down at the tightly tied blanket, containing its helpless burden, and had looked up at me, grinning. "Enjoy yourself," she had said, slipping the tarsk into a pouch tied at her hip.
"If we knew it," said Shaba, "men, even now, would be ransacking it for the ring and notes."
"Of course," I said.
"You moved quickly," said Shaba. "By the time I had brought the blond slave here and returned to the cove of Schendi, you had already made your departure."
"I see," I said. I was pleased that I had made the haste I had.
"But now," said Shaba, "we are all friends."
"Of course," I said.
"When will you deliver the notes?" he asked.
"And the false ring," pressed Msaliti.
"Tomorrow evening," I said.
"You choose to move under the cover of darkness?" asked Shaba.
"I think it might be wise," I said.
"Very well," said Shaba. "Tomorrow evening, at the nineteenth Ahn, meet us in this place. Bring the notes and the false ring. I will have the true ring ready then for exchange.
"I shall be here," I promised.
"Our business then," said the dark-haired girl, flushing with pleasure, "will at last be well consummated."
"Let us have a drink," said Shaba, "to celebrate this long-awaited rendezvous." Then he smiled at me. "You do not fear to drink with us, I trust," he said.
I smiled. "Of course not," I said. "Do you have the paga of Ar, of the brewery of Temus?"
"Woe," smiled Shaba. "We have here only Schendi paga, but I think it is quite good. It is, of course, a matter of taste."
"Very well," I said.
"You will find it is better without sajel and gieron in it," he said.
"That is reassuring," I said.
"The symptoms induced by the paga tendered to you at the Golden Kailiauk," he said, "should have disappeared by the following morning."
"They had," I said.
"My dear," asked Shaba, of the dark-haired girl, "would you bring us paga?"
She stiffened.
"Fetch paga, Woman," said Msaliti. "You are least among us."
"Why am I least among your' she asked.
"Forgive us, my dear," said Shaba.
"I will bring the paga," she said.
In a few moments she returned with a bottle of Schendi paga and four cups. She filled these cups.
"Forgive me," I said to Shaba, taking the cup which she had placed before him.
He smiled and extended his hands. "Of course," he said.
Then the four of us lifted our cups, touching them, one to another.
"To victory," said Shaba.
"To victory." we said, and drank. I had little compunction about drinking this toast. Each of us may not have had in mind the same victory, of course.
"I have not been introduced to this lovely agent," I said, regarding the dark-haired girl.
"Forgive me," said Shaba. "It was careless of me. I did not wish to be rude." He looked at me. "You are going by the name of Tarl of Teletus, I believe," he said, "if my inquiries in Schendi have served me properly."
"That is correct," I said. "That name will do. It will serve to cover my true identity."
"Many agents use code names," said Shaba.
"Yes," I said.
"Tarl of Teletus," said he, "may I introduce Lady E. Ellis? Lady E. Ellis, Tarl of Teletus."
We inclined our heads to one another.
"Is 'E' an initial or a name?" I asked her.
"Any initial;" she said, "It stands for Evelyn. But I do not like that name. It is too feminine. Call me 'E. "
"I will call you Evelyn," I said.
"You may do as you wish, of course," she said.
"I see that you know how to treat a woman," said Shaba. "You impose your will upon her."
"Is Evelyn Ellis your real name?" I asked, smiling.
"Yes," she said, "it is. Why do you smile?"
"It is nothing," I said.
Msaliti and Shaba, too, smiled. It amused me to see that the girl thought she had a name.
"I must admire the perception of Kur recruiters," I said. "You are obviously highly intelligent and very beautiful."
"Thank you," she said.
"She has been well trained," said Msaliti.
"I have been not only well trained," she said, "but thoroughly and intensively trained, even brilliantly trained. Nothing has been left to chance. The smallest details have been attended to. In order to play my role more effectively here I have even permitted my body to be branded."
"I recall," I said. I had seen her in the Golden Kailiauk, of course, in pleasure silk.
She looked at me, angrily.
"My awe at the cleverness and thoroughness of the practices and techniques of Kur espionage knows few limits," I said, "and I must admit that my admiration for the products of their schooling, as in the present case, exceeds almost all bounds."
She flushed with pleasure, flattered and mollified.
I threw down the last of my paga.
"I would like to see further evidence of your skills," I said. "I am out of paga," I said.
She reached to the bottle, to refill the cup.
"No," I said.
She looked at me.
"Did they not teach you how to serve paga as a paga slave?" I asked.
"Of course," she said.
"Show me," I said.
"Very well," she said. She drew back, taking the bottle and cup. In most taverns no bottle is brought to the table but the paga is brought to the table, by the paga slave, a cup at a time, the cups normally being filled from a vat behind the counter. She filled the cup there, before me, and left it behind. She returned the bottle then to the table, and went beck again for the cup.
She lifted it in both hands.
"Put it down," I said.
She did so, looking at me puzzled.
"You are garbed strangely for a paga slave," I said, indicating the clogs, the black slacks and the black, buttoned top.