saw them both hurled to the ground as a tree exploded infront of them. They would never live to rise and run again--
* * * * *
He saw Rockford's plan, at last, and what his own duty would now have tobe. He knew why Rockford had said of this day, "_If you can live throughit, you will have it made._"
And he had a cold feeling inside him that he was not going to have itmade.
He took a deep breath and ran toward the enemy, out of the concealmentof the ghost trees and in the open where they could not fail to see him,his blaster firing a continuous beam that fell only a little short ofthe enemy, that showed them he would be close enough to kill them withinseconds if he was not stopped.
The fire concentrated upon him, giving Lyla and Val their chance forescape. He ran through an inferno of crashing explosions, twisting anddodging on ground that trembled and heaved under his feet, whilerazor-sharp rock shrapnel filled the air with shrill, deadly screamingsounds.
Something ripped through his shoulder, to spin him around and send himrolling. He scrambled up, firing as he did so, and ran drunkenly on.
Something struck the side of his head and he went down again. He triedto rise and fell back, a blackness sweeping over him that he could nothold away despite his efforts to do so.
It seemed to him that the firing had suddenly stopped, that in its placewas the hoarse buzz of a police stun-beam. It seemed he saw helicoptersoverhead, bearing the bright blue insignia of the Royal Guard and thenthere was nothing but the blackness.
* * * * *
There was a brief, dreamlike return to consciousness. He was in a RoyalGuard helicopter and Alonzo was beside him, grinning, and saying, "Yoube O.K.--I grad! And my Princess Ryra--rook at her now, Rootenant!"
He saw Lyla, her hand in Val's, and her face was glowing and beautifulin its new-found happiness. Then she was bending down, kissing him, andsaying, "Dale ... Dale ... how can we ever thank you for what you did?"
* * * * *
When the blackness lifted the second time he was lying, bandaged, on acot in the meeting hall and the voice of Rockford was saying, "... Readyto go in just a minute."
The hall was filled with members of the royal court who had come for thewedding. He saw the white robes of Church of Vesta dignitaries who hadcome to officiate at the wedding. Then he saw the seven grim old menseated at the far end of the table.
The Royal Council--with the judicial power to give even death sentencesin crimes committed against royalty.
Sonig, his face white and staring, was being half led, half carried,away from them.
Narf, in the grip of another Guardsman, was standing before the Counciland saying in a tone both incredulous and sneering:
"Is that my sentence?"
"There is a qualification to it," one of the Council said. "It seemsonly just, in view of your crime, that you be tortured until death--"
The rest of the words were lost as the blackness swept back. But beforeunconsciousness was complete, when all else in the hall was gone fromhim, he heard Narf's cry; an animal-like bawl of protest, raw and hoarsewith anguish....
* * * * *
"Ah ... you're coming out of it, my boy."
Rockford was standing over him. "They gave you a Restoration shot onVesta forty-eight hours ago. It will be wearing off in a minute and yourhead will clear."
He sat up, and the dizziness faded swiftly away. He saw that he was inthe compartment of an interstellar ship and he knew that it wasEarthbound.
And that Vesta, and brown-eyed Lyla, were now part of the past....
"Don't look so sad, my boy," Rockford said. "You'll get due credit andpromotion for the invaluable part you played in my plan."
"But--"
"I know. But she was never yours. You'll find life is full ofheartbreaks like that, son.
"And we accomplished our mission. Narf's crime neatly invalidated theproxy marriage. Then Lyla set a new precedent by marrying Val that veryday. Earth has never had two such loyal and grateful friends as Val andLyla."
"You knew all about them, didn't you?" he asked.
"Strategic Service has to know everything. And I knew they were stillin love even though each was too proud to admit it. That's why I had toinsist on Val coming to Vesta. After that, it was only a matter of usingyou to awaken Val to the fact that she did _not_ love Narf. And oftaking care of various little details, such as faking an officialrequest for the helicopters to come out two hours ahead of time, gettingVal off to find her at the proper time, and so on."
Rockford smiled at him, "And you learned that an old man's mind can bemightier than the space fleets of the Verdam empire--and that the lineof duty that produces the best results can sometimes be very devious."
He thought of the white-faced Sonig, and the anguished bawl he had heardfrom Narf.
"I suppose they were going to hang Narf and Sonig at once."
"The Council would have, no doubt. But Lyla was so happy that she beggedthe Council to give them very light sentences--or just let them go free.So I suggested a compromise. The Royal Council regarded it as veryfitting."
"What was it?"
"For Sonig, no punishment. The murder attempt, being news of publicinterest, will be broadcast upon Vesta and other worlds, including afactual, unbiased account of Sonig's participation in it. Shortlyafterward, Sonig will be taken to Verdam and turned over to his ownbenevolent government. Vesta will file no charges."
"But Sonig lost Jardeen for his government. They'll execute him forthat!"
"Yes. I'm afraid so. Shall we call it poetic justice?"
"What about Narf?"
"His sentence was life-long exile on his Sea Island estate. He will beprovided with all the luxuries to which he has been accustomed,including a full staff of servants. He will continue to enjoy all hispossessions there, including his gallery of nude paintings, his risquefilms, his pornographic library, and so on. In fact, since he is sofascinated by pornography and such a collector thereof, any pornographicmaterial which might become available on Vesta in the future will besent to him."
"That's not right ... I mean, they were going to torture him to death."
"Not 'to death'. It was 'until death'. There's a difference."
"But that bawling noise he made--"
"Ah ... that was due to the one restrictive qualification to the benignterms of his exile. Every woman on his estate was to be removed beforehe reached there, leaving men servants only. Patrol boats will see to itthat for so long as he lives no woman shall ever set foot on the SeaIslands."
Rockford smiled again. "Lord Narf succeeded beyond his wildest dreams inkeeping his boyhood vow of being always a man among men."
Transcriber's Note
This etext was produced from _Analog Science Fact and Fiction_ December1962. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling andtypographical errors have been corrected without note.
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