E. Tubb: Web of Sand

He nodded at the affirmation, keeping the man talking, giving him no time to think as they made their way toward the installation, the office, the phone it contained.

Alejandro Jwani said, "Coffee, Earl? Wine? Tisane? Or would you prefer something stronger? We have reason to celebrate!"

"Coffee."

"One of my specials?" Jwani busied himself at the table with his pots and bottles. "You know, Earl, even now I find it incredible that you are still alive. The ventilation shaft, of course. Once we have the facts the answer becomes obvious. I should have guessed when the technician made his report."

"Report?" Dumarest met his eyes as he took the proffered cup. "Was one made?"

"To me, yes. A routine statement that there had been trouble with the catch of shaft 62. It seems that it had been bent then hammered back into place. The technician owed me a small favor and came to me before handing the report to the cyber." Jwani sipped then added, casually, "I suppose I should have passed on the information but, somehow, it slipped my mind. Then Tosya left and it was too late."

Dumarest looked at his cup and saw the rainbows shimmering on the oily cream. He drank to still the betrayal of his agitation. A cyber had come as he'd expected and had left-why?

"The reason for his visit is something of a mystery," said Jwani. He almost seemed to be reading Dumarest's thoughts. "He consulted with the Cinque and made some promises but the only one who was really close to him is now dead. Yunus Ambalo-a distressing case. An infection of the brain which struck him down without warning. At first murder was suspected and Ellain was questioned but an autopsy cleared her. My own conclusion is that he was searching for someone and left when it became obvious he could no longer be found." He drank then, frowning, said, "Is the coffee not to your liking, Earl?"

"It is delicious." Dumarest drank and held out the empty cup. "Could I have more?"

He moved about the room as Jwani obliged, looking at the maps, the models with their spinning wheels, the smooth bearings which cost so much to find. Yet the finding of them had saved his life.

They had broken the web of sand in which he had been trapped.

How much did Jwani know?

Dumarest studied him as he stood at the table. A seeming dilettante but that was a facade. As was his claim to drunkenness and loss of memory. The workroom betrayed him-no man with such weaknesses could have constructed such items of mechanical delicacy. And he had witheld information from the cyber. Had Tosya received it, he would have known what had happened. The Burrows would have been sealed, searched and he would have been taken. A single clue would have given the cyber all the information he needed.

And Jwani had withheld it.

Why?

He had traveled and had mentioned Earth. An accident or a deliberate stimulus so as to study the reaction? Was he, despite his denial, somehow connected with the Original People? Did he work to provide low-energy machines in order to maintain isolated colonies?

Possibilities which must remain mere speculations. It was enough that, for reasons of his own, he had done what he had.

"Alejandro Jwani," said Dumarest. "I thank you."

"And I you, Earl." Jwani's cup lifted in a toast. A casual gesture but his eyes told that he knew what Dumarest had meant. "You have gained a fortune in which I shall share. The largest find ever made. I shall have to dispose of the tranneks with care to avoid the necessity of having to answer awkward questions, but that is a matter of detail. They are within the city and one stone looks much like another."

Dumarest said, "The money?"

"Is yours. You have no need to wait. I've done as you requested; money for Hine's family, Ellain's debt purchased from Yunus's heir-she owed a high sum, Earl."

"She staked us. She earned it." As had Jwanl. "One thing-was a clearance found among Yunus's papers from the hospital? One for recent payment?"

"Yes. You expected it?"

"I thought it might be found." Dumarest finished his coffee. "Does Ellain know she is free?"

"She had to be told, Earl. The cancellation of her debt needed to be witnessed." Jwani added, with a smile, "She is waiting for you."

Dumarest heard the song as he approached the door; a thin, rippling melody of dancing notes and unashamed gaiety. It ceased as he pressed the chime then the door opened and she was facing him.

"Earl! When Alejandro told me-Earl!"

He felt the impact of her body, the locking pressure of her arms, the soft, warm, demanding pressure of her lips as they found his own. A moment in which time halted and the universe shrank to the place where they stood. One which held all joy, all culmination, all happiness.

"My darling!" She stepped back and allowed him to enter the apartment, slamming the door shut after him, moving over the carpet like a young and nubile girl. "Earl, my darling! My love!"

She had bathed and was scented; a perfumed and eager participant in an ancient rite, but for now it was enough to embrace him, to feel his masculine hardness, his strength, to know that he was with her and not dead as she had feared.

He had saved her and that should have been enough but, being a woman, she was curious.

"How, Earl? How did you manage to survive?"

"Luck."

"Luck?" She turned and crossed to the window and cleared the pane. It was night, the scene one of animated beauty, long lines of mounded dunes running across the desert now streaming as if on fire, fretted summits yielding to adopt new configurations, the whole silvered by the glow of stars. A low wind, the herald of another storm, one which would break before dawn. Until then the dust would stay low to drift like glittering snow over the rippled plain. "It takes more than luck to live in a storm, Earl."

She was hurt and he knew it, stung by what she thought to be his reluctance to take her into his confidence. And yet what more could he tell? Luck had saved him from the storm as it had saved him from the trap laid by the Cyclan. Luck which had enabled him to break free of planned intent. Luck-how long would it last?

"Earl?"

"I had help," he said. "Without it I would have been lost."

The truth but not in the way she took it. "The guide," she said. "That poor man. And your other companions. What are they going to do now, my darling?"

"Kemmer may stay. He's an entrepreneur and, with money, can see a way to use the system to his advantage. Santis will remain with him for a while-both need medical attention." The mercenary more than the trader; old, he had strained himself to the limit and beyond.

"And you, Earl?"

"I'm here, Ellain. With you."

The answer she had wanted to hear and she smiled her pleasure as she crossed the room to pour them both wine.

"Remember when you first visited me, darling? How cautious you were? Did you really think I might want to poison you?"

"Such things have been known." He added dryly, "As Yunus should know."

"You think I killed him?"

"No."

"At first the Guard thought I had. I wanted to but I lacked the courage. When it happened it was horrible. I was with him and, suddenly, he groaned and fell. He was dead when I tried to lift him."

Killed by the cyber because he had failed-Dumarest was certain of it. Yunus had paid for his hospital treatment and it was easy to guess why. He must have been acting on orders relayed by Frome or some earlier communication but he had been careless. Besotted with Ellain he had failed to safeguard his charge and for that, together with other reasons, he had been disposed of.

Luck again-if he had kept his mind on the job, if Tosya had arrived before the Urusha -such little things to alter the direction of a life.

"Earl?" She mistook his introspection. "Are you jealous?"