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It sounded intolerably complicated. How did the Empire manage to get its business done at all? Myfather had, as yet, said nothing; now he raised his head and said bluntly, "Well we're appealing to you. These Empire citizens selling blasters in the marketplace of Caer Donn are not doing lawful business for a Class D Closed World, and you know it as well as I do. It's up to you to do something about it, and do itnow. That does come within your responsibility."

The Legate said, "If the offense were here in Thendara, Lord Alton, I would do so with the greatestpleasure. In Caer Donn I can do nothing unless Lord Kermiac of Aldaran should appeal to me."

My father looked and sounded angry. He was angry, with

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a disrupting anger which could have struck the Legate unconscious if he had not been trying hard to control it. "Always the same old story on Terra, what's your saying, pass the buck? You're like children playing that game with hot chestnuts, tossing them from one to another and trying not to get burned! I spent eight years on Terra and I never found even one man who would look me in the eye and say, This is my responsibility and I will accept it whatever the consequences.' "

Ramsay sounded harried. "Is it your contention that it is the Empire's business, or mine, to police yourethical systems?"

"I always thought," Callina said hi her clear, still voice, "that ethical conduct was the responsibility of

every honest man."

Hastur said, "One of our fundamental laws, sir, however law is defined, is that the power to act confersthe responsibility to do so. Is it otherwise with you?"

The Legate leaned his chin on his clasped hands. "I can admire that philosophy, my lord, but I mustrespectfully refuse to debate it with you. I am concerned at this moment with avoiding greatinconvenience for both our societies. I will inquire into this matter and see what can legitimately be done

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without interfering hi your political decisions. And if I may make a respectful suggestion, Lord Hastur, I suggest that you take this matter up directly with Kermiac of Ald-aran. Perhaps you can persuade him of the rightness of your view, and he will take it upon himself to stop the traffic in weapons, in those areas where the final legal authority is his."

The suggestion shocked me. Deal, negotiate, with that renegade Domain, exiled from Comyngenerations ago? But no one seemed inordinately shocked at the idea. Hastur said, "We shall indeeddiscuss this matter with Lord Aldaran, sir. And it may be that since you refuse to take personalresponsibility for enforcing the Empire's agreement with all of Darkover, that I shall myself take the matterdirectly before the Supreme Tribunal of the Empire. If it is adjudged there that the agreement for

Darkover does indeed require planet-wide enforcement of the Compact, Mr. Ramsay, have I then yourassurance that you would enforce it?"

I wondered if the Legate was even conscious of the absolute contempt in Hastur's voice for a man whorequired orders from a supreme authority to enforce ethical conduct. I felt almost ashamed of my Terranblood. But if Ramsay heard the contempt, he revealed nothing.

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"If I receive orders to that effect, Lord Hastur, you may be assured that I will enforce them absolutely.

And permit me to say, Lord Hastur, that it would in no way displease me to receive such orders."

A few more words were exchanged, mostly formal courtesies. But the meeting was over, and I bad togather my scattered thoughts and reassemble the honor guard, conduct the Council members formally outof the headquarters building and the spaceport and through the streets of Thendara. I could sense myfather's thoughts, as I always could when we were in each other's presence.

He was thinking that no doubt h would be left to him to go to Aldaran. Kermiac would have to receivehim, if only as my mother's kinsman. And I felt the utter weariness, like pain, in the thought. That journeyinto the Hellers was terrible, even in high summer; and summer was fast waning. Father was thinking thathe could not shirk it. Hastur was too old. Dyan was no diplomat, he'd want to settle it by challenging Kermiac to a duel. But who else was there? The Ridenow lads were too young. . . .

It seemed to me, as I followed my father through the streets of Thendara, that in fact almost everyone in

Comyn was either too old or too young. What was to become of the Domains?

It would have been easier if I could have been wholly convinced that the Terrans were all evil and mustbe resisted. Yet against my will I had found much that was wise in what Ramsay said. Firm laws, andnever too much power concentrated in one pair of hands, seemed to me a strong barrier to the kind ofcorruption we now faced. And a certain basic law to fall back on when the men could not be trusted. Men, as I had found out when Dyan was placed at the head of the cadets, were all too often fallible,acting from expediency rather than the honor they talked so much about. Ramsay might hesitate to actwithout orders, but at least he acted on the responsibility of men and laws he could trust to be wiser thanhimself. And there was a check on his power too, for he knew that if he acted on his own responsibilityagainst the will of wiser heads, he would be removed before he could do too much damage. But whowould be a check on Dyan's power? Or my father's? They had the power to act, and therefore the rightto do it.

And who could question their motives, or call a halt to their acts?

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Chapter SEVEN

The day remained clear and cloudless. At sunset Regis stood on the high balcony which looked out overthe city and the spaceport. The dying sunlight turned the city at his feet to a gleaming pattern of red wallsand faceted windows, Danilo said, "It looks like the magical city in the fairy tale."

"There's nothing much magical about it," Regis said. "We learned that this morning on honor guard. Look, there's the ship that takes off every night about this time. It's too small to be an interstellar ship. I wonder where it's going?"

"Port Chicago, perhaps, or Caer Donn. It must be strange to have to send messages to other people by writing them, instead of by using linked minds as we do through the towers," Danilo said. "And it must feel very, very strange never to know what other people are thinking."

Of course, Regis thought. Dani was a telepath. Suddenly he realized that he'd been in contact with himagain and again, and it had seemed so normal that neither had recognized it as telepathy. Today at the Council had been different, terribly different. He must have laran after all-but how and when, after Lewhad failed?

And then the questions and the doubts came back. There had been so many telepaths there, spreadinglaran everywhere, even a nontelepath might have picked it up. It did not necessarily mean anything. Hefelt wrung, half desperately hoping that he was not cut off anymore and half fearing.

He went on looking at the city spread out below. This was the hour off-duty, when if a cadet hadincurred no demerit or punishment detail, he might go where he chose. Morning and early afternoon werespent in training, swordplay and unarmed combat, the various military and command skills they wouldneed later as Guards in the city and in the field. Later in the afternoon, each cadet was assigned to specialduties. Danilo, who wrote the clearest hand among the cadets, had

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been assigned to assist the supoly-officer. Regis had the relatively menial task of walking patrol in the city with a seasoned veteran or two, keeping order in the streets, preventing brawls, discouraging sneak-thieves and footpads. He found that he liked it, liked the very idea of keeping order in the city of the Comyn.

Life in the cadet corps was not intolerable, as he had feared. He did not mind the hard beds, the coarsefood, the continual demands on his time. He had been even more strictly disciplined at Nevarsin, and lifein the barracks was easy by contrast. What troubled him most was always being surrounded by othersand yet still being lonely, isolated from the others by a gulf he could not bridge.

From their first day, he and Danilo had drifted together, at first by chance, because their beds were sideby side and neither of them had another close friend in the barracks. The officers soon began to pair themoff for details needing partners like barrack room cleaning, which the cadets took in turns; and because Regis and Danilo were about the same size and weight, for unarmed-combat training and practice. Withinthe first-year group they were good-naturedly, if derisively, known as "the cloistered brethren" because,

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like the Nevarsin brothers, they spoke casta by choice", rather than cahuenga.

At first they spent much of their free time together too. Presently Regis noticed that Danilo sought hiscompany less, and wondered if he had done something to offend the other boy. Then by chance he hearda second-year cadet jeeringly congratulating Danilo about his cleverness in choosing a friend. Somethingin Danilo's face told him it was not the first time this taunt had been made. Regis had wanted to revealhimself and do something, defend Danilo, strike the older cadet, anything. On second thought he knewthis would embarrass Danilo more and give a completely false impression. No taunt, he realized, couldhave hurt Danilo more. He was poor, indeed, but the Syrtis were an old and honorable family who hadnever needed to curry favor or patronage. From that day Regis began to make the overtures himself- notan easy thing to do, as he was diffident and agonizingly afraid of a rebuff. He tried to make it clear, atleast to Danilo, that it was he who sought out Dani's company, welcomed it and missed it when it was notoffered. Today it was

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he who had suggested the balcony, high atop Comyn castle, where they could see the city and the

spaceport.

The sun was sinking now, and the swift twilight began to race across the sky. Danilo said, "We'd betterget back to barracks." Regis was reluctant to leave the silence here, the sense of being at peace, but heknew Danilo was right. On a sudden impulse to confide, he said, "Dani, I want to tell you something. When I've spent my three years in the Guards-I must, I promised-I'm planning to go offworld. Intospace. Into the Empire."

Dani stared in surprise and wonder. "Why?"

Regis opened his mouth to pour out his reasons, and found himself suddenly at a loss for words. Why? He hardly knew. Except that it was a strange and different world, with the excitement of the unknown. Aworld that would not remind him at every turn that he had been born defrauded of his heritage, withoutlaran. Yet, after today . . .

The thought was curiously disturbing. If in truth he had laran, then he had no more reasons. But he stilldidn't want to give up his dream. He couldn't say it in words, but evidently Danilo did not expect any. Hesaid, "You're Hastur. Will they let you?"

"I have my grandfather's pledge that after three years, if I still want to go, he will not oppose it." He found himself thinking, with a stab of pain that if he had laran they certainly would never let him go. The old breathless excitement of the unknown gripped him again; he shivered as he decided not to let them know.

Danilo smiled shyly and said, "I almost envy you. If my father weren't so old, or if he had another son tolook after him, I'd want to come with you. I wish we could go together."

Regis smiled at him. He couldn't find words to answer the warmth that gave him. But Danilo said

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regretfully, "He does need me, though. I can't leave him while he's alive. And anyway"-he laughed just a

little,-"from everything I've heard, our world is better man theirs."

"Still, there must be things we can learn from them. Ken-nard Alton went to Terra and spent years

there."

"Yes," Dani said thoughtfully, "but even after that, I notice, he came back." He glanced at the sun and

said, "We're going to be late. I don't want to get any demerits; we'd better hurry!"

It was dim in the stairwell that led down between the towers of the castle and neither of them saw a tallman coming down another staircase at an angle to this one, until they all collided, rather sharply, at itsfoot. The other man recovered first, reached out and took Regis firmly by the elbow, giving his arm avery faint twist. It was too dark to see, but Regis felt, through the touch, the feel and presence of Lew Alton. The experience was such a new thing, such a shock, that he blinked and could not move for a

moment.

Lew said good-naturedly, "And now, if we were in the Guard hall, I'd dump you on the floor, just toteach you what to do when you*re surprised in the dark. Well, Regis, you do know you're supposed tobe alert even when you're off duty, don't you?"

Regis was still too shaken and surprised to speak. Lew let go his arm and said hi sudden dismay, "Regis,did I really hurt you?"

"No-it's just-" He found himself almost unable to speak because of his agitation. He had not seen Lew. He had not heard his voice. He had simply touched him, in the dark, and it was clearer than seeing and hearing. For some reason it filled him with an almost intolerable anxiety he did not understand.

Lew evidently sensed the distress he was feeling. He let him go and turned to Danilo, saying amiably,