Jack Vance: The Asutra

Fontenay glanced across the room. "Isn't that the gentleman Ifness? He uses my front suite. An odd type, stern and solitary, but his money is as downright as sweat. He's from Canton Cape, or so I gather."

"I believe I know the gentleman. " Etzwane took his mug and walked across the chamber. Ifness noted his approach sidewise, from the corner of his eve. Deliberately he closed his notebook and sipped from his goblet of ice water. Etzwane gave a polite salute and seated himself; had he waited for an invitation, Ifness might well have kept him standing. "On impulse I stepped in, to recall our adventures together," said Etzwane, "and I find you engaged at the same occupation."

Ifness' lips twitched. "Sentimentality has misled you. I am here because convenient lodging is available and because I can work, usually without interruption. What of you? Have you no official duties to occupy you?"

"None whatever," said Etzwane. "I have resigned my connection with the Purple Men."

"You have earned your liberty," said Ifness in a nasal monotone. "I wish you the pleasure of it. And now "-With meaningful exactitude he arranged his notebook.

"I am not reconciled to idleness," said Etzwane. "It occurs to me that I might be able to work with you."

Ifness arched his eyebrows. "I am not sure that I understand your proposal."

"It is simple enough," said Etzwane. "You are a Fellow of the Historical Institute; you perform research on Durdane and elsewhere; you could use my assistance. We have worked together before; why should we not continue to do so?"

Ifness spoke in a crisp voice. "The concept is impractical. My work for the most part is solitary, and occasionally takes me off-planet, which of course- "

Etzwane held up his hand. 'This is precisely my goal, " he declared, though the idea had never formed itself in terms quite so concrete. "I know Shant well; I have traveled Palasedras; Caraz is a wilderness; I am anxious to visit other worlds."

"These are natural and normal yearnings," said Ifness. "Nevertheless, you must make other arrangements."

Etzwane pensively drank ale. Ifness watched stonily sidewise. Etzwane asked, "You still study the asutra?"

"I do."

"You feel that they have not yet done with Shant?"

"I am convinced of nothing. " Ifness spoke in his didactic monotone. The asutra tested a biological weapon against the men of Shant. The weapon-which is to say, the Roguskhoi-failed because of crudities in execution, but no doubt served its purpose; the asutra are now better informed. Their options are still numerous. They can continue their experiments, using different weapons. On the other hand they may decide to expunge the human presence on Durdane altogether."

Etzwane had no comment to make. He drained his mug and in spite of Ifness' disapprobation signaled Fontenay for replenishment. "You are still trying to communicate with the asutra?"

They are all dead."

"And you made no progress?"

"Essentially none."

"Do you plan to capture others?"

Ifness gave him a cool smile. "My goals are more modest than you suspect. I am concerned principally for my status in the Institute, that I may enjoy my accustomed perquisites. Your interests and mine engage at very few points."

Etzwane scowled and drummed his fingers on the table. "You prefer that the asutra do not destroy Durdane?"

"As an abstract ideal I will embrace this proposition."

"The situation itself is not abstract," Etzwane pointed out. "The Roguskhoi have killed thousands! If they won here they might go on to attack the Earth worlds."

"The thesis is somewhat broad," said Ifness. "I have put it forward as a possibility. My associates, however, incline to other views."

"How can there be doubt? " Etzwane demanded. "The Roguskhoi are or were an aggressive force."

"So it would seem, but against whom? The Earth worlds? Ridiculous; how could they avail against civilized weaponry? " Ifness made an abrupt gesture. "Now please excuse me; a certain Dasconetta asserts his status at my expense, and I must consider the matter. It was pleasant to have seen you…"

Etzwane leaned forward. "Have you identified the asutra home-world?"

Ifness gave his head an impatient shake. "It might be one of twenty thousand, probably off toward the center of the galaxy."

"Should we not seek out this world, to study it at close hand?"

"Yes, yes; of course. " Ifness opened his journal.

Etzwane rose to his feet. "I wish you success in your struggle for status."

"Thank you."

Etzwane returned across the room. He drank another mug of ale, glowering back toward Ifness, who serenely sipped ice water and made notes in his journal.

Etzwane left Fontenay's Inn and continued north beside the Jardeen, pondering a possibility which Ifness himself might not have considered… He turned aside into the Avenue of Purple Gorgons, where he caught a diligence to the Corporation Plaza. He alighted at the Jurisdictionary and climbed to the offices of the Intelligence Agency on the second floor. The director was Aun Sharah, a handsome man, subtle and soft-spoken, with an Aesthete's penchant for casual elegance. Today he wore a suave robe of gray over a midnight blue body-suit; a star sapphire dangled from his left ear by a silver chain. He greeted Etzwane affably but with a wary deference that reflected their previous differences. "I understand that you are once again an ordinary citizen," said Aun Sharah. The metamorphosis was swift. Has it been complete?"

"Absolutely; I am a different person," said Etzwane. "When I think over the past year I wonder at myself."

"You have surprised many folk," said Aun Sharah in a dry voice. "Including myself " He leaned back in his chair. "What now? Is it to be music once more?"

"Not just yet. I am unsettled and restless, and I am now interested in Caraz."

"The subject is large," said Aun Sharah in his easy, half-facetious manner. "However, your lifetime lies before you."

"My interest is not all-embracing," said Etzwane.' "I merely wonder if Roguskhoi have ever been seen in Caraz."

Aun Sharah gazed reflectively at Etzwane. "Your term as private citizen has quickly run its course."

Etzwane ignored the remark. "Here are my thoughts. The Roguskhoi were tested in Shant and defeated. So much we know. But what of Caraz? Perhaps they were originally deployed in Caraz; perhaps a new horde is in formation. A dozen possibilities suggest themselves, including the chance that nothing whatever has happened."

"True," said Aun Sharah. "Our intelligence is essentially local. Still, on the other hand, what can we do? We strain to encompass the work already required of us."

"In Caraz news drifts down the rivers. At the seaports mariners learn of events occurring far inland. What if you circulated your men along the docks and through the waterfront taverns, to find what might be the news from Caraz?"

"The idea has value," said Aun Sharah. "I will issue such an order. Three days should suffice, at least for a preliminary survey."

The thin, dark, solitary boy who had taken to himself the name of Gastel Etzwane [1]had become a hollow-cheeked young man with an intense and luminous gaze. When Etzwane played music the corners of his mouth rose to bring a poetic melancholy to his otherwise saturnine features; otherwise his demeanor was quiet and controlled beyond the ordinary. Etzwane had no intimates save perhaps old Frolitz the musician, who thought him mad…

On the day following his visit to the Jurisdictionary he received a message from Aun Sharah. 'The investigation has yielded immediate information, in which I am sure you will be interested. Please call at your convenience."

Etzwane went at once to the Jurisdictionary.

Aun Sharah took him to a chamber high in one of the sixth-level cupolas. Four-foot-thick sky lenses of water-green glass softened the lavender sunlight and intensified the colors of the Canton Glirris rug. The room contained a single table twenty feet in diameter, supporting a massive contour map. Approaching, Etzwane saw a surprisingly detailed representation of Caraz. Mountains were carved from pale Canton Faible amber, with inlaid quartz to indicate the presence of snow and ice. Silver threads and ribbons indicated the rivers; the plains were gray-purple slate; cloth in various textures and colors represented forests and swamps. Shant and Palasedra appeared as incidental islands off the eastern flank.