H:::4 looked around from his craft as the other entities arrived. "If I may make my supposition now: there would seem to have been an accident—or murder."
"Sapiencide!" the Antarean exclaimed.
The Nathian approached the body. "All that we understand about our sister Sphere indicates that Mirzamians are extraordinarily careful. They propel themselves by vigorous jumping, so pay extreme attention to their surroundings lest they be damaged on impact."
Impact. That reminded Flint of the three-sexed Spicans: the Undulants, the Sibilants, and the Impacts. He glanced at the Spican/Antarean, but noted no reaction. Of course he could not be sure there was any equivalence in that language. No sense in searching for clues where none existed.
"I observe no outcroppings of rock or other natural features that could account for such an accident," the Master said.
Flint remembered his experience with the power hopper on Luna. His mode of transportation there would have been rather similar to that used by the Mirzamian. There had been many rough natural features on Earth's huge moon, but he had not been in any immediate danger from them. This seemed to rule out accident.
"Yet if there has been slipshod anchorage—" the Nathian began.
"There must be a murderer among us," one of the Antareans finished. Flint observed it covertly, trying to distinguish it more certainly from the other. This was the larger, more translucent one, shot through with whitish strands Flint presumed were nerve fibers. The other, who claimed to be the Spican transferee, was milky throughout, and seemed more delicate: feminine. Not that that was applicable. How did the three-sexed Spicans react in transfer to a two-sexed form? Or were Antareans two-sexed? He should have checked that out.
The seven diverse creatures began to draw apart. "One of us"—the Mintakan flashed, paused, and resumed—"is a spy or traitor."
"Not surprising," Flint said. "News of this Ancient site has spread rapidly, and the Andromedans always have been aware of our activities. One of their agents tried to kill me in Sphere Canopus."
"Sphere Canopus resisted membership in the coalition," H:::4 said. "But we do not stoop to inter-Sphere sabotage, and are as cognizant as any of the mutual threat. Once we joined, we cooperated fully."
"I meant no criticism of Sphere Canopus," Flint said. "In fact, it was the intrusion of that Andromedan agent that brought Canopus into the coalition. My point is that we have since ascertained that it was an Andromedan agent, a female I have known as ¢le of A[th] or Llyana the Undulant, who animated those hosts, attacked me, and provided Canopus with specialized transfer information rather than betray her true identity."
"Pardon my misapprehension," the Master said.
"I trapped her for a time in Sphere Spica, but now I suspect she is one of our present number."
"You speak of a female," the Nathian tapped. "Our findings indicate that transfer cannot be made to a creature of a different sex from the original. This offers an avenue of investigation."
"But we are sexless," the Antarean objected.
"And our sexes are interchangeable," the Spican/Antarean added. "This is why this host is compatible: it is neuter. Transfer to a sexed species would be problematical."
"Neuter or interchangeable means no restriction, then," Flint said. "But Nath is correct: Where two sexes exist, sexual crossover is not possible in transfer. So a quick survey may succeed in eliminating some of us from suspicion. I, for example, am male."
"This is not circular," the Polarian said. "I too am male, but how am I to demonstrate this to those unfamiliar with my species? How can the rest of us be certain of the accuracy of statement by any one of us?"
"I am familiar with your species," Flint said. "I settled a debt as a transferee to your Sphere."
"Then you can name the defunct party of the debt-settlement," the Polarian said.
Flint snapped his spear into full length and raised it, orienting on the other. "You are in a Polarian body, but you could be an alien transferee. I believe I can puncture your spacesuit with this weapon before you can either attack me or escape—and if you attempt either, the others will know you are an impostor."
"Solarian, this is gross hook repulsion," the Nathian protested. "This entity has given no—"
"Debt-settlement is very special," Flint said, maintaining the poise of his spear. "There is no dead party."
The Polarian stood still. "That is my other point. Any or all of us could be transferees, and are therefore suspect. The Andromedans surely have male agents as well as female ones. Even if we verify sex, how may we know the true identity of each of us?"
"I assure you—" the Antarean began.
"You have not abated my suspicion," Flint said to the Polarian. "This is not based on sex, but on information. How do you settle debt?"
"This is not a matter we discuss lightly."
The Mintakan cut forward slowly. "The Solarian has challenged the Polarian. It seems likely that one or the other is false—but how should we know which one? I am familiar with neither entity, and do not know about debt settlement, so can not verify the validity of any given answer."
"I am familiar with the Polarian system," the Nathian said. "I begin to see the Solarian's point. It is a matter of—"
"Do not say it!" the Canopian Master interrupted. "You must serve to verify the answer given. It is true we have no direct way of knowing, on an individual basis, which of us is valid. But each Sphere overlaps at its fringe with one or more others. This is how we established initial contact with each other. We can employ that network to isolate the intruder... perhaps."
"I agree," Flint said. "Maybe this investigation should be handled by H:::4. We can put it to vote."
There was a general flurry of a confusion. Flint did not relax, but he realized belatedly that the Polarian's reference could have been a trap for him, unmasking him if he agreed. He really did not have much of a case, and should not have acted so rashly.
It was the Polarian who spoke. "Nath and Sol and Sador—unfortunately not present—intersect Polaris, and Nath and Sol, also intersect Canopus. Exchange of interviews should verify the reality in circular manner."
"But Sol and Nath are suspect too!" the Spican protested. "And so am I, for I am a transferee."
"We have to decide on a course of action," Flint said, growing impatient. "We can vote—"
"What is a vote?" the Mintakan asked.
Oh—so that was the source of some of the confusion. The human concept of voting was as opaque as the Polarian concept of debt.
"It means each entity says yes or no, and all abide by the decision," Flint explained.
"Impossible," the Spican said. "There must always be three sides to any question, no majority. As the maxim goes, it takes three to mate."
"Push-hook," the Nathian agreed. "No entity can decide for another."
Flint saw that they were in danger of dissolving into chaotic debate and indecision. "Then I must act unilaterally. Polarian, I accuse you of being a transferee from Andromeda, murderer of this Mirzam entity and threat to this expedition. What refutation do you offer for me and Nath?"
"Your thrust is dismaying, but typical of your kind," the Polarian replied. "Permit me to round it off. I will satisfy your query—then query you myself."
"Fair exchange," Flint said, hoping the Polarian could vindicate himself. "Now stop stalling." The others were silent, waiting too.
"My prior statement was misleading," the Polarian said. "The Sol system of thrust abates debt by conflict. It would be natural for a Solarian to assume this was true in Sphere Polaris. Thus this Solarian's challenge to me verifies his stated Polarian experience."
"This does not pull," the Nathian said. "The push is to Polaris, not Sol."
"I abate it now. Please forgive my necessary indelicacy. Debt between male and female normally is abated by the mating of the two individuals concerned, and the transfer of the male's seed-ball to the female as her new wheel. This involves—"
"I am satisf
ied," Flint said with relief, lowering his spear. "I apologize for my suspicion."
"Now I pose my return query, completing the circle. How is debt abated between Polarians of similar sex?"
Flint's mouth dropped open. "I have no idea," he said. "I never thought of that!"
"Yet you actually abated debt as a transferee?"
"I don't expect you to believe this in the circumstance," Flint said, feeling the cynosure of the eyeless creatures around him. "I was in Sphere Polaris, but I never—"
"You, Nath?" the Polarian inquired.
"Two males with debt must seek two females with similar debt," the Nathian replied promptly. "One male then makes formal exchange of obligation with one female. He now abates her debt by mating with her debt sister. The other pair proceeds similarly. This is known as 'squaring' debt, one of the few examples of non-circularity in Polarian custom, the subject of ribaldry. There are special conventions for debt between juveniles, or when one party to debt dies before abatement—"
"Obvious, now," Flint said. "I should have known—"
"Demurral," the Polarian said. "This verifies that even extended transfer cannot replace native knowledge or long-term acquaintance. A transferee cannot deceive one who is truly familiar with the culture."
"I stand ready to verify my own identity similarly," H:::4 said. "I am satisfied with this mode of—"
"I am not satisfied," Mintaka said. "Sol fouled up his own question, and Nath merely applied logic. Who would I exchange questions with? The representative of our neighbor Mirzam is dead."
"Impasse threatens," H:::4 said. "Let Sol challenge the others of us as he did Polaris. At least this accomplishes something. We cannot debate interminably, or we fail in our mutual mission through default."
"Now wait," Flint said. "This is a murder mystery, and I hardly know how to—"
"Agreement," the Polarian said. "Sol's forward thrust and linear thinking seem best here."
"Pull-hook. Sol gave us all transfer; Sol will not betray us."
"Solarian, you said you transferred also to Spica," the Spican quivered.
Flint sighed. It seemed he had been nominated, regardless. "Yes. But of course I know no more about Spican culture than about Polarian. So I can't—"
"We shall exchange questions. Please define the Spican mating system."
It always came down to sex, he thought. That was a fundamental drive in any species, and the most subject to social restrictions. So it was a good tool for verification. "That I can do. You have three sexes, the Impacts, the Sibilants, and the Undulants. The confluence of the three leads immediately to an explosive mergence. The third entity on the scene assumes the role of catalyst—"
"A moment," the Mintakan said. "Did you not say that the Andromedan also transferred to Spica?"
"Yes. In fact, the two of us became part of a mating trio."
The Canopian saucer wobbled momentarily as if suffering brief loss of control. "You met and knew the enemy—and mated with her?"
Flint spread his hands in a useless gesture. "Ridiculous as it sounds, I did. You see—"
"Then you informed the Spican authorities of her identity so they could kill her," the Nathian suggested. "No. I—well, you see the situation—"
"My point," the Mintakan said, "is that she therefore knows as much about Spica as you do—perhaps more."
"That's right!" Flint agreed, surprised again by the obvious. "So this is no—"
"In fact, you could give an accurate answer to the question and still be the Andromedan spy."
"Not that particular one," Flint said with a smile. "The spy and I are of different sexes."
"I submit that the spy could be male," the Mintakan persisted. "Spica is irrelevant, but can Canopus assure us that the spy transferee there was the female?"
The saucer wobbled again. "We cannot," H:::4 admitted. "We dealt with two transferees, but knew them only by their auras, both extremely high, and their statements. Both claimed to be from Sphere Sol."
"So the female who provided the transfer information, after the male had failed, could in fact have been the real Sol envoy. She tried to kill the impostor, who in turn sought to discredit her."
"This is possible," the Master agreed.
"Yet this Solarian is true to his type," the Polarian argued.
"Unless the Andromedan is also of that type. Do you suppose Sol is the only thrust-culture in the universe? It would be natural for the Andromedan to transfer to the most similar species."
"Pull-hook," the Nathian agreed.
"Objection," the Spican quivered. "We have observed a circumstance, and postulated an explanation, but have omitted the third aspect. There may be no murderer among us; our comrade of Sphere Mirzam may have been dispatched by the Titan."
"The Titan!" Flint exclaimed. "Surely there is no living Ancient here!" but he looked about nervously.
"We do not know what their powers were, except that they were greater than ours." the Spican pointed out. "We believe they were land-borne creatures, yet even on our Spican planets, beneath deep and long-enduring oceans, we have found their stigmata. Indeed, these formidable evidences of past life and civilization provided the incentive that took us into space to search for new waters. The Ancients could have left an inanimate guardian, a machine—"
"A robot!" Flint said. "Or boobytraps, the way the pyramidal Egyptians did on our home planet, to stop intrusions."
"We remain at an impasse," the Antarean signaled. "I suggest we give up this futile search for a guilty entity within our number and form into pairs, each entity in charge of its partner. Anyone who fails to act in a manner conducive to the welfare of our own galaxy will be suspect—and we shall all gather here before any of us leave. Perhaps the Ancients will provide the solution for us."
"Good thinking!" Flint agreed. "The Andromedans obviously think there is something here, and they're afraid of it. When we discover it, they will have to act—or let us gain the secret."
"Which connections?" the Nathian asked. "Which entities pair?"
"Random is best," H:::4 said. "Let each entity pair with the one most nearly opposite it, here in this circle."
As it happened, Nath was opposite Mintaka, Flint opposite Spica, and Polaris opposite Antares. Canopus, suspended above the corpse in his craft, was isolated. "With your agreement," H:::4 said, "I will pair with the defunct Mirzam. Were I the one who killed it, I could do no further damage, and I will not be able to interfere with your search. If the spy makes its move elsewhere, the partner can summon me for help. I will hover here and remain in radio touch."
There was no demurral. Despite the murder, all parties were weary of the fruitless quest for the criminal. The three pairs set out in three directions, at last on the trail of the secret of the Ancients.
"I really don't know what we're looking for," Flint admitted. "This may be a wild goose chase."
"There is no native life here," the Spican in Antarean guise reminded him, the bumps on its back rippling as it oozed into its forward extrusion. It was able to make fair progress. Flint had to walk slowly, but this was not burdensome. "Thus there can be no flying fish, not even untame ones."
"Figure of speech," Flint said, smiling. "I mean there may be nothing we can use."
"Yet we must search."
"Yes." The others were already out of sight, except for the high Canopian craft.
Now the ruins of the site seemed to loom larger, almost threateningly, as though haunted. Flint dismissed it as nervousness resulting from the shock of discovering the murder. His companion might be an alien agent—no, that was unlikely, for the two Antareans had come together. And how would such a creature have punctured the suit of a jumping entity? There seemed to be no weapon. In fact, his spear was the most likely prospect.
His spear. Had the killer tried to frame him? That had failed—or had it? The Mintakan obviously suspected him....
They came to a tall structure, an almost-intact dome rising out of the sand. There was j
ust one hole in it, where air had evidently blasted out at the time of decompression. Yet if the loss of pressure had been that fast, killing every creature there instantly, why weren't there any bodies? No, no mystery there; an expedition would have come to pick them up. Recovery of the dead was common to sapience; it tied in with belief in the afterlife, laying ghosts to rest. Flint did not sneer, even privately; he believed in ghosts.
"This requires exploration," the Spican said. "Yet in my present body, I hesitate to traverse such territory."
"Which sex are you?" Flint inquired.
"Impact. It was thought this would be better for land traverse than Undulant or Sibilant, and perhaps this is so, but the mode is hardly comfortable. I must admit too that it is strange indeed to come close to so many types without mergence. I remain somewhat nervous."
"I can understand that. I was an Impact too, and know the correspondence of limbs is only very general. And of course you are not using limbs at all now." Flint was now reassured that his companion was legitimate—though the Mintakan's point about the Andromedan's knowledge of the Spican system was valid. He would have to trust his intuition—and keep alert. "Since I am in my own body, and it is an athletic one, I shall climb inside, and relay news to you."
"This is kind," the creature agreed.
Flint stepped gingerly over the jagged sill. His fragile-seeming suit was tough, but he didn't want it scraping against the diamond-hard fragments. He came to stand inside the dome.
It was bare but beautiful. The complete night sky was visible through its material. No... Flint's excellent visual recall told him that it was not the sky. It was an image, painted or imprinted holographically inside the dome so cleverly that it looked authentic. As he moved, it moved, as though he were traveling at some multiple of light speed, the near stars shifting relative to the far ones. The effect was awe-inspiring, technologically and esthetically—and intellectually, for it showed a configuration similar in general but completely different in detail from anything he had viewed before. Flint knew the stars as only a Stone Age man could know them; there were no correspondences here. Was it even any part of this galaxy? He would have to check it out when he got back to Sol, if need be querying Sphere Knyfh and any other major Spheres that were now in reach. This could be extremely important.