Alfred van Vogt - The Players of Null-A

'He was about eleven when he began to be able to see and hear things in distant places. Naturally, father and mother immediately considered it a gift from the God himself.'

'What does Enro think?' asked Gosseyn.

He didn't hear her answer. A rash of Ashargin memories flooded into his consciousness about the Sleeping God, bits of things he had learned when he was a slave of the temple.

Every report he had heard was different. Priests were allowed to look at the God at their initiation rites. Not one of them ever saw the thing. The Sleeping God was an old man, a child, a youth of fifteen, a baby—the subsequent accounts had as little relationship as that.

Those details held Gosseyn's mind only flashingly. Whether those who looked were hypnotically deluded, or whether the illusion was mechanical seemed of incidental importance. The aspect of the picture that almost shocked Gosseyn out of his seat was the detail of the Sleeping God's daily existence—he was unconscious, but fed and exercised by a complicated system of machinery. The entire temple hierarchy was organized to keep that machinery running.

The light that broke upon Gosseyn at that moment was dazzling because—this was the way a Gosseyn body would be looked after.

His mind strained at the thought. For many seconds, the idea seemed too fantastic for acceptance. A Gosseyn body here at what was now the headquarters of the Greatest Empire. Here, and protected from harm by all the forces of a powerful pagan religion.

Crang broke the silence. Time for lunch,' he said. 'That's for all of us, I believe. Enro doesn't like to be kept waiting.'

Lunch! Gosseyn estimated that an hour had passed since Enro had ordered him to report. Long enough to set the stage for a crisis.

But lunch itself passed in virtual silence. The dishes were whisked off, and still Enro remained seated, thus holding the others to the table also. For the first time the dictator stared directly at Gosseyn-Ashargin. His gaze was bleak and unfriendly.

'Secoh,' he said, without looking around.

'Yes?' The lord guardian was quick.

'Have the lie detector brought in.' The steely gaze remained fixed upon Gosseyn's eyes. The prince has been asking for an investigation and I am happy to oblige him.'

Considering the circumstances, it was about as true a statement as Enro had made, but Gosseyn would have changed one word in the utterance. He had expected an investigation. And here it was.

Enro did not remain seated. As the lie detector knobs were fastened to Gosseyn-Ashargin's palms, he climbed to his feet and stood looking down at the table. He waved the others to remain in their chairs, and began.

'We have here a very curious situation,' he said. 'One week ago, I had the Prince Ashargin brought to the palace. I was shocked at his appearance and his actions.' His lips twisted. 'Apparently, he suffered from a strong sense of guilt, presumably as a result of his feeling that his family had failed the people of the Greatest Empire. He was nervous, tense, shy, almost tongue-tied and a pitiful spectacle. For more than ten years he had been isolated from interplanetary and local affairs.'

Enro paused, his face serious, his eyes glowing. He continued in the same intense tone.

'Even that first morning he showed one or two flashes of insight and understanding that were not in character. During his week on the flagship of Admiral Paleol, he behaved to some extent as his past history would have led us to expect During his final hour aboard the ship, he changed radically once more and again showed knowledge that was beyond the possibilities of bis position. Among other things, he sent the following message to the destroyer, Y-381907.'

He turned with a quick movement to one of the hovering secretaries, and held out his hand. 'The message,' he said. A sheet of paper was handed to him.

Gosseyn listened as Enro read the message. Every word seemed as incriminating as he had known it was. A dictator, the most powerful warlord in the galaxy, had turned aside from his many duties to give attention to an individual whom he had intended to use as a pawn in his own game.

Whether or not the unseen player who had similarized the mind of Gilbert Gosseyn into the brain of Prince Ashargin had foreseen such a crisis as this didn't matter. Gosseyn might be a pawn himself, subject to being moved at someone else's will, but when he was in charge events happened his way—if he could make them.

Enro was speaking again in his dark voice. 'It did not occur immediately to either Admiral Paleol or myself what mission that ship was on. I will say only this now. We identified the ship finally, and it seems incredible that Prince Ashargin should ever have heard about it. Its mission was secret and important, and though I will not mention the nature of the mission, I can inform the prince that his message was not delivered to the ship.'

Gosseyn refused to accept that. 'The roboperator on the flagship sent the message while I was there,' he said quickly.

The big man shrugged. 'Prince,' he said, 'it was not stopped by us. The message was not acknowledged by the destroyer. We have been unable to contact the Y-381907 for several days, and I am afraid that I shall have to ask you for some very straight answers. The destroyer is being replaced on Yalerta by a battleship, but it will require more than a month of flight for the replacement ship to reach that planet.'

Gosseyn received the two pieces of news with mixed feelings. It was a great victory that no more Predictors would be sent from Yalerta for an entire month. The destroyer was another matter.

'But where could it have gone?' he asked.

He thought of the Follower, and grew tense. After a moment he rejected the more dangerous implications of that idea. It was true, apparently, that the Follower frequently was not able to predict events that were related to Gilbert Gosseyn. Yet that applied only when the extra brain was being used. It seemed reasonable, accordingly, to believe that he knew where Gosseyn was.

Right there that train of logic ended. There was no reason at all why the Follower should suddenly become secretive with Enro as to the whereabouts of the destroyer. Gosseyn gazed up at Enro with unflinching eyes. The time had come to deliver another shock.

'Doesn't the Follower know?' he asked.

Enro had parted his lips to speak again. Now, he brought his teeth together with a click. He stared at Gosseyn with baffled eyes. At last he said:

'So you know about the Follower. That settles it. It's time the lie detector gives us some idea of what goes on in your mind.'

He turned a switch.

There was silence at the table. Even Crang, who had been absently pecking at the food on his plate, stirred in his chair, and laid down his fork. Secoh was frowning thoughtfully. Patricia Hardie watched her brother with a faint curl to her lips. It was she who spoke first.

'Enro, don't be so stupidly melodramatic'

The big man twisted towards her, his eyes narrowed, his face dark with anger. 'Silence,' he said harshly. I need no comments from a person who has disgraced her brother.'

Patricia shrugged, but Secoh said sharply, 'Your excellency, restrain yourself.'

Enro turned toward the priest, and for a moment, so ugly was the expression on his face, it seemed to Gosseyn that he was going to strike the lord guardian.

'Always were interested in her, weren't you?' he said with a sneer.

'Your sister,' said the priest, 'is co-ruler of Gorgzid and of the overlordship of the Sleeping God.'

Enro ran one hand through his red hair, and shook himself like a young lion. 'Sometimes, Secoh,' he said, and the sneer was broader, 'you give the impression that you are the Sleeping God. It's a dangerous illusion.'

The priest said quietly, 'I speak with authority vested in me by the State and the Temple. I can do no less.'