Now Leoh was starting to feel as gloomy as Sir Harold.
“And Hector? What about him? We can’t abandon him… Kanus could kill him.”
“I know. I’ll call Romis, the Foreign Minister. Of that whole lot around Kanus, he’s the only one who seems capable of telling the truth.”
“What can you do it they refuse to return Hector?”
’They’ll probably offer to trade him for Odal.”
“But Odal doesn’t want to go,” Leoh said. “And the Acquatainians might not surrender him. If they hold Odal and Kanus keeps Hector, then the Commonwealth will be forced into…”
“Into threatening Kerak with armed force if they don’t release Hector. Good Lord, this lieutenant could trigger off the war we’re trying to avert!”
Spencer looked as appalled as Leoh felt.
6
Minister Romis left his country villa punctually at dawn for his usual morning ride. He proceeded along the bridle path, however, only until he was out of sight of the villa and any possible spies of Kor’s. Then he turned his mount off the path and into the thick woods. After a hard climb upslope, he came to a little clearing atop a knoll.
Standing in the clearing was a small shuttle craft, its hatch flanked by a pair of armed guards. Wordlessly, Romis dismounted and went into the craft. A man dressed identically, and about the same height and build as the Foreign Minister, came out and mounted the animal and continued the ride.
Within moments, the shuttle craft rose on muffled jets and hurtled up and out of Kerak’s atmosphere. Romis entered the control compartment and sat beside the pilot.
“This is a risky business, sir,” the pilot said. “We could be spotted front the ground.”
“The nearest tracking station is manned by friends of ours,” Romis said tiredly. “At least, they were friends the last time I talked with them. One must take some risks in an enterprise of this sort, and the chief risk seems to be friends who change sides.”
The pilot nodded unhappily. Twelve minutes after liftoff, the shuttle craft made rendezvous with an orbiting star ship that bore the insignia of the Kerak space fleet. A craggy-faced captain met Romis at the air lock and guided him down a narrow passageway to a small, guarded compartment. They stepped in. Lying on the bunk built into the compartment’s curving outer bulkhead was the inert form of Star Watch Lieutenant Hector. Nearby sat one of the guards and a meditech who had been at the dueling machine. They rose and stood at attention.
“None of Kor’s people know about him?” Romis’ voice was quiet, but urgent.
“No, sir,” said the meditech. “The interrogators were all knocked unconscious by the power surge when Major Odal and the Watchman transferred with each other. We were able to get the Watchman here without being detected.”
“Hopefully,” Romis added. Then he asked, “How is he?”
The meditech replied, “Sleeping like a child, sir. We thought it best to keep him drugged.” Romis nodded.
“At my order,” the captain said, “they’ve given the Watchman several doses of truth drugs. We’ve been questioning him. No sense allowing an opportunity like this to go to waste.”
“Quite right,” said Romis. “What have you learned?” The captain’s face darkened. “Absolutely nothing. Either he knows nothing… which is hard to believe, or,” he went on, shifting his gaze to the meditech, “he can overcome the effects of the drug.”
Shrugging, Romis turned back to the meditech. “You are certain that you got away from Kor undetected.”
“Yes, sir. We went by the usual route, using only those men we know are loyal to our cause.”
“Good. Now let us pray that none of our loyal friends decide to change loyalties.”
The captain asked, “How are you going to explain Odal’s disappearance? The Leader will be told about it this morning, won’t he?”
“That is correct. And I do not intend to say a word. Kor assumes that Odal, and this meditech and guard, all escaped in the dueling machine. Let him continue to assume that; no suspicion will fall on us.”
The captain murmured approval.
There was a rap at the door. The captain opened it, and the guard outside handed him a written message. The captain scanned it, then handed it to Romis, saying, “Your tri-di link has been set up.”
Romis crumpled the message in his hand. “I had better hurry, then, before the beam leaks enough to be traceable. Here,” he handed the rolled-up paper to the meditech, “destroy this. Personally.”
Romis quickly made his way to another compartment, farther down the passageway that served as a communications center. When he and the captain entered the compartment, the communications tech rose, saluted, and discreetly stepped out into the passageway.
Romis sat down before the screen and touched a button on the panel at his side. Instantly the screen showed the bulky form of Sir Harold Spencer, sitting at a metal desk, obviously aboard his own star ship.
Spencer’s face was a thundercloud. “Minister Romis. I was going to call you when your call arrived here.”
Romis smiled easily and replied, “From the expression on your face, Commander, I believe you already know the reason for my calling.”
Sir Harold did not return the smile. “You are a well-trained diplomat, sir. I am only a soldier. Let’s come directly to the point.”
“Of course. A major in the Kerak army has disappeared, and I have reason to believe he is on Acquatainia.”
Spencer huffed. “And a Star Watch lieutenant has disappeared, and I have reason to believe he is on Kerak.”
“Your suspicions are not without foundation,” Romis fenced coolly. “And mine?”
The Star Watch Commander rubbed a hand across his massive jaw before answering. “You have been using the words ‘I’ and ‘mine’ instead of the usual diplomatic plurals. Could it be that you are not speaking on behalf of the Kerak government?”
Romis glanced up at the captain, standing by the door out of camera range; he gave only a worried frown and a gesture to indicate that time was racing.
“It happens,” Romis said to Sir Harold, “that I am not speaking for the government at this moment. If you have custody of the missing Kerak major, you can probably learn the details of my position from him.”
“I see,” Spencer said. “And should I assume that you—and not Kanus and his gang of hoodlums—have custody of Lieutenant Hector?”
Romis nodded.
“You wish to exchange him for Major Odal?”
“No, not at all. The Major is… safer… where he is, for the time being. We have no desire for his return to Kerak at the moment. Perhaps later. However, we do want to assure you that no harm will come to Lieutenant Hector—no matter what happens here on Kerak.”
Spencer sat wordlessly for several seconds. At length he said, “You seem to be saying that there will be an upheaval in Kerak’s government shortly, and you will hold Lieutenant Hector hostage to make certain that the Star Watch does not interfere. Is that correct?”
“You put it rather bluntly,” Romis said, “but, in essence, you are correct.”
“Very well,” said Spencer. “Go ahead and have your upheaval. But let me warn you: if, for any reason whatever, harm should befall a Star Watchman, you will have an invasion on your hands as quickly as star ships can reach your worlds. I will not wait for authorization from the Terran Council or any other formalities. I will crush you, one and all. Is that clear?”
“Quite clear,” Romis replied, his face reddening. “Quite clear.”
Leoh had to make his way through the length of the Acquatainian Justice Department’s longest hallway, down a lift tube to a sub-sub-basement, past four checkpoints guarded by a dozen armed and uniformed men each, into an anteroom where another pair of guards sat next to a tri-di scanner, and finally—after being stopped, photographed, questioned, and made to show his special identification card and pass each step of the way—entered Odal’s quarters.