“Sir—,” began Jase.
“I know, I know.” The Brutogas waved his incipient protest to silence. “Being a Secondcousin, you didn’t expect Family assistance in this endeavor. Nevertheless, I want you to know that I would be disposed to give it to you, for the sake of the vital spark of ambition I see in you, if it were not for the political situation. Something perhaps you don’t know is that the selection board will be a seven-man panel, and it is a practical certainty that the Rods will have four men on it, to only three of our Hooks.”
Jase felt his stomach contract. But he kept his neck stiff and his posture erect.
“That will make my possible selection a far chance, sir,” he said.
“Yes,” said the Brutogas. “I’d say so. Wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“But you’re determined to try, anyhow?”
“I see,” said Jase, making formality a stiff armor to hold him erect in the face of this disastrous news, “no reason to change my present view about the situation, sir.”
“I guessed as much.” The Brutogas squatted back on his platform, gazing at him. “Every generation or so one like you crops up in a Family. Ninety-nine per cent of them end up as disasters. Only,” he added softly, “one in a million is… remembered, as a success.”
“Sir,” said Jase, his head spinning. He had never dreamed that his ambition would become known to the Head of his Family.
“The Brutogasi,” said the older man, “can have no official concern in this ambition of yours, and no interest in officially backing you for Keysman of this proposed expedition. But, if by some miracle you should succeed, I imagine I can trust to your Honor to give credit to the Family for counsel and guidance, and other assistance.”
“Sir—how could you think otherwise?” Jase almost cried out.
“I didn’t, really. It’s my duty to mention it, only.” The Brutogas breathed out through his nose, sighingly. “It’s also my duty to mention now that if your attempt should somehow end up with you in a scandalous or other than honorable position, you must expect that mortgage you pawned on your Family coffer-rights will be immediately called in for payment.”
The contraction of Jase’s stomach increased.
“I understand, sir,” he said.
“Well,” said the Brutogas, “that’s all. But my personal wishes go with you. Shade be yours, water be yours, peace be yours.”
“I honor the Head of my Family, now and ever,” said Jase.
Slowly he backed to the door and went out. The last sight he had of the office showed the gray head of the Brutogas bending once more above the papers on his desk.
He hardly knew how he found his way back through the sunlit marble corridors. But once away from them and once outside the palace, he took the shuttle toward the Examination Center and made a definite effort to shake off the emotion of his interview with the Head of his Family. Such emotion was an honorable thing, but he needed all his faculties for what was coming.
Twelve invitations for the post of Keysman had been sent out in response to the, naturally, hundreds of applications for interview. Only those with some claim to consideration would be allowed before the Selection Board. Jase’s claim was that it was he who had found the Artifact, and that he could therefore claim that the Random Factor favored him over all other candidates. To anyone not acquainted with politics and selection boards, this claim undoubtedly would have seemed so paramount as to make the act of selection a formality.
Actually, Jase had received only the eleventh of the twelve invitations distributed by the Board. It could, Jase told himself on the shuttle bus, be worse. He could have been the twelfth invited.
When he was finally at the Examination Center’s Headquarters Building, and had finally been summoned in to face the six-man board—in the room from which he had watched the ten previous candidates depart—he discovered the faces behind the table to be exactly as cold-eyed and gray-whiskered as he had feared.
Only one member looked at him with anything resembling approval. And that was because this member happened to be himself a Brutogasi-Ardolf Halfbrother. The other five board members were—in order from Ardolf at the extreme right behind the table—a Cheles, a Woma (both Hooks politically and therefore possibly votes for Jase), four Rods, a Gulbano, a Perth, an Achobka, and the Nelkosan himself. This last could hardly be worse. Not only did the Nelkosan, as a Family Head, outrank everyone else on the board, but it was to his family that Aton Maternaluncle, Kator’s dead scout partner, had belonged. The board of inquiry on Jase’s return had found him not chargeable with Aton’s death. But the Head of Aton’s Family could hardly in honor accept this verdict with grace. As an honorable man, it would be his duty to damage Jase if he possibly could.
Jase took a deep breath through his nose as he halted before the table behind which the six were ranked and saluted with his claws extended from his right fingers over his heart region.
“I am Kator Secondcousin Brutogas, sirs,” he said, “responding to your kind invitation to be here at this time. I trust I am among friends.”
“Here, Secondcousin,” said the Nelkosan, responding as Senior board member with the traditional guarantee, “you are among friends.”
Jase breathed more easily. The guarantee was honorable, but not required. Evidently the Nelkosan was a man of strict customs. However, if strict in fairness, he was strict in duty as well. Without pausing for breath he plunged into the procedure of the board.
“The candidate,” he said, “may just as well start out by trying to tell us of what reasons he may have, in addition to the one stated in his application, to justify us in awarding the post of Keysman on this important expedition to one so young.”
“Honorable board members,” answered Jase, clearly and distinctly. “My record is before you, attached to my application. May I point out, however, that training as a scout, involving as it does work on both a scientific and ship-handling level, as well as association at close quarters with a scout partner…”
He talked on. Jase had, like all the candidates, carefully prepared and rehearsed beforehand the speech he would present to the board. The board itself listened now with the mild boredom of a body that has heard ten such speeches already. The single exception to this air of boredom was the Nelkosan, who sat forbiddingly alert.
When Jase finally concluded, the board members turned and looked at each other.
“Well,” said the Nelkosan, briefly, “shall we vote on the candidate?”
Heads nodded along the table. Hands reached for ballot chips—black for acceptance, red for rejection—the four Rod members automatically picking up red, the Hooks reaching for black. Jase licked his whiskers furtively with a dry tongue and opened his mouth before the chips were gathered in.
“I appeal!” he said.
Hands checked in midair. The board woke up suddenly, as one man. Seven pairs of black eyes centered suddenly upon Jase. Any candidate might appeal—but to do so was to call the board wrong or unfair upon one of its actions, and that meant somebody’s Honor was to be called in question.
For a candidate without Family backing to question a board of elders such as sat on a board of selection like this was to lay his whole future life upon the outcome of the appeal. The board sat back on their platforms and considered Jase.
“On what basis, if the candidate pleases?” asked the Nelkosan in far too pleased a tone of voice.
“Sir, on the basis that I have another reason to urge for my selection than that of past experience,” said Jase.
“Interesting,” rumbled the Nelkosan. He glanced down the table at the other board members. “Don’t you think so, sirs?”
“Sir, I do find it interesting,” said Ardolf Halfbrother, the Brutogas, in such an even tone that it was impossible to tell whether he was echoing the Nelkosan’s hidden sneer or taking issue with it.
“In that case, candidate,” the Nelkosan turned back to Jase, “by all means go ahead. What other r
eason do you have to urge? I must say—” He glanced down the table again meaningfully. “I hope it justifies your appeal.”
“Sir, I think it will.” Jase thrust a hand into his harness pouch, withdrew something small, and, stepping forward, put it down on the table before them all. He took his hand away, revealing a cube of clear plastic in which a small figure could be seen as if floating there.
“A dirtworm?” The Nelkosan raised his whiskers.
“No, sir,” said Jase. “The body of a primitive life form from the planet of the Muffled People.”
“What?” Suddenly the room was in an uproar, and there was no board member not on his feet. For a moment everyone seemed to be talking at once, and then all the voices died away as all eyes fastened on Jase, who was standing at attention before them.
“Where did you get this?”
It was the Nelkosan speaking. And, for all the fact that the question could not be other than rhetorical, his voice was like frozen rock.
“Sirs,” said Jase—and inside him he glowed with the knowledge that under his neck fur he was not even sweating. Now that the final moment had come, he felt elated, lifted up and carried forward by the great endeavor to which he had committed himself. His voice was calm. “Sirs, from the artifact I brought back to Homeworld.”
“And you’ve never turned it in to the proper authorities here at Examination Center? Or reported the fact you possessed it?”
“No, sir.”
There was a moment’s dead silence in the room.
“You know what this means?” The words came spaced and distinct from the Nelkosan. The face of the Family Head was as stiff as a mask. While he had been honorably committed to frustrating or discrediting Kator Secondcousin, this development went beyond honorable reprisal. It was a matter of the most delicate Honor, and the Nelkosan was now as impersonal as a judge.
“I realize,” answered Jase, “what it would mean ordinarily—“
“Ordinarily!”
“Yes, sir. Ordinarily. However, my case,” said Jase, “is not ordinary. I did not take this organism from the artifact for the mere desire of possessing it.”
The Nelkosan squatted back down on his platform, and the other board members, as if this had been a signal, followed his example.
“You did not?” asked the Nelkosan.
“No, sir.”
“Why did you take it then—if we may ask?”
“Sir,” said Jase, “I took it after deep consideration for the specific purpose of exhibiting it to this board of selection for the post of Keysman on the Expedition to the planet of the Muffled People.”
His words went out and seemed to fall dead in the face of the silence of the watching members of the board. A lengthening pause rang on and on in his ears as he waited.
“Why did you decide this?” asked the voice of the Nelkosan.
“Sir,” said Jase, “and members of the board, you whose responsibility in Honor it is to select the Keysman, the man of final authority on ship and off of this expedition, know better than anyone else how important the expedition is. It is an honorable and common trait to feel sure of ourselves in the face of a great endeavor. But confidence is only part of what is needed for command of this expedition. The Keysman in charge must not only be confident—but certain of his ability to succeed in this first contact with a race which may turn out to be nearly the equal of our own.”
He stopped and looked at them for some sign of reaction. But they were all men of honorable age. Their expressions were unreadable.
“I searched my mind,” Jase went on, “for some proof of the certainty I felt inside me that I was the man to succeed in this important work. I felt it was necessary to perform some act symbolic of that certainty, so that when the present moment of selection came, you—sirs of the board—could feel justified in choosing me to be Keysman.”
He paused again.
“Go on,” said the Nelkosan, in a perfectly level tone of voice, watching him through slitted eyes.
Therefore I took and kept the dead alien organism,” said Jase. “And I now offer it to you in evidence of my own commitment to the task of the expedition. So highly do I regard that commitment that I’ve put my financial worth, my Family ties, and, finally, my personal Honor at stake in order to make one gesture that will convince you that in me you would have a Keysman who will place a successful return from this expedition above all else. I’m in your hands, sirs of the board. If you reject me for the post to be selected here, you should be sure that whoever you pick has a dedication to the purpose of the expedition superior to my own.”
He stopped talking. They looked back at him from behind the table without commenting. Then the Nelkosan spoke.
“You take property that should belong to the Examination Center here,” he said, “and, not content with that, you presume to instruct this board whom to choose for Keysman of a vital and unique expedition. The question is-” He leaned forward toward Jase. “Is this all mere effrontery and bluff? Or are you actually putting everything in the balance for this appointment.”
The tone of voice in which he spoke was serious and honestly inquiring. Jase’s stomach lifted. He had, at least, succeeded in carrying the Nelkosan beyond the area of small reprisal into the open questions of honor. Now was the moment. The die was cast.
“So strongly,” Jase said, “do I regard my actions in taking the alien organism as correct and honorable evidence of my right not only to the post of Keysman by virtue of the Random Factor that brought the artifact within my ken in the first place, that-” He had to pause to draw a breath in spite of his self-possession. “—I challenge your right to take the organism from me now!”
And, suddenly, to Jase’s eyes, the scene before him whirled, blurred, and disappeared…
Chapter Ten
He woke, struggling and crying out. Hairless faces were all around him. Hairless hands were getting him to his feet and guiding him down fantastic corridors and into a cage that rose upward.
“…No!” he said, struggling. “My Honor. The duel…”
“Jase! Jase!” One hairless face was shoved close to his. ‘It’s all right! This is Alan Creel—don’t you remember? I gave you a posthypnotic suggestion to wake up when the time for the duel came. Now, we’re just taking you upstairs where I have my equipment handy in case of trouble.”
Jase’s mind whirled. What he heard made sense—and it did not make sense. Everything was mixed up.
“You can go back to sleep just as soon as we get you to the other room…” said the voice of the face called Alan Creel.
Jase stopped struggling and let them lead him along, out of the cage and along another corridor, this time darkly walled with some strange substance. The part that sounded all right was all right, and for the other, he was going to get back in time for the duel, so that would be all right too.
They were taking him through a door into a brightly lit room. The room was full of mechanical equipment that was familiar. There was a long, narrow, white-surfaced table with a headrest. They were helping him up on it.
He lay on his back. The light was in his eyes blindingly for a moment; then someone said something and tilted it away. Shadow shielded his eyes. He felt a prick just below the inner elbow of his right arm.
“You’ll be all right. You can go back now. Go back…” It was the voice of the man—man?—called Alan Jase felt his senses swirling. This scene, this nightmare dissolved…
He was back again in familiar surroundings. It was a gymnasium of the Examination Center. At the other end of the gym were the six members of the selection board. One of them—the Nelkosan—was talking to a tall and powerfully built man whose black coat of fur was shiny with health. In a sling over his shoulder the tall man, who could be no other than the Nelkosan’s Family champion, wore a long, twin-bladed dueling sword.
“Here he comes now,” said a familiar voice.
Jase turned and saw Brodth the Swordsmaster. Abruptly, all confusion clea
red from his mind. He remembered Brodth offering to meet him here and act as his weaponsbearer. Looking back across the room, Jase saw the Nelkosan champion approaching him. He was a pleasant, calm, capable fellow, if large; and he saluted both Jase and Brodth as he stopped before them.
“I am Horaag Adoptedson,” he said to Jase. “Champion for the Nelkosan. You are Kator Secondcousin Brutogas?”
“Sir,” said Jase. “I am.”
Then, sir,” said Horaag, “I find that as deputy for the Nelkosan, Honor requires me to charge you with arrogance and defiance directed toward my principal.”
“Sir,” said Jase, “you must either withdraw that charge or fight me with the weapons of my choice.” .
“In Honor I will fight you,” said Horaag. “What weapons did you have in mind?”
Jase licked his whiskers.
“Double-sword,” he said. Horaag started to nod. “And shields,” said Jase.
Horaag stopped in mid-nod. He stared at Jase, and there was a slight stiffening to the skin around his nose.
“Are you serious?” he asked, still even-voiced.
“My principal,” put in Brodth, “is entirely serious.”
Horaag’s eyes swung to Brodth and apparently recognized him as another Swordsmaster. He stared for a moment.
“Sir,” he said. “May I ask—are you Brodth Youngerbrother?”
“I am,” said Brodth. Horaag saluted him.
“It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” He turned and called past Jase and Brodth. to a different comer of the room. “Match Umpire?”
A lean man, only just beginning to gray about the ears, came over to them.
“Sirs?” he asked courteously.
“May I introduce,” said Horaag, “the match umpire of this gymnasium, Bolf Paternalnephew Cheles. Bolf, these are my opponents.”