"Yes?" asked Plock.
"Who is calling and what do you want?"
Glawen identified himself.
"I think you will remember me.
Two months ago I went out to Pogan's Point to make inquiries at the seminary."
"I remember you very well. I thought you had gone home to Cadwal long ago."
"I was betrayed by my colleague, who chose the join Floreste's Mummers in preference to notifying you that I had not returned. I have been held captive for two months in Zonk's Tomb, which is a cave in the Point. I have just escaped, and I am calling from Flicken. That is the gist of things, but there is more."
"Goon."
"The Fexelburg police know all there is to know about Zonk's Tomb. They suppress the knowledge and, in effect, allow the Mono- man tics at the seminary a free hand so long as they also keep the secret. I suspect that as soon as the Ordene Zaa discovers that I am gone, she will notify the Fexelburg authorities, who will then try to intercept me along the road."
"I am sure that you are right," said Plock.
"As a matter of fact, we have been waiting for some such unambiguous pretext for cleaning out the Fexelburg police force. Let me think a moment. You are at the Flicken general store?"
Yes."
"How did you get there?"
"I hired the omnibus."
"When do you expect that your escape will be known?"
"A few minutes ago I had a strange telepathic sensation; it was to the effect that my escape had been discovered. In any event, they'll know by dawn, at the latest."
"I will be flying out to Flicken at once, with a force of men. We will arrive in about half an hour. In case the Fexelburg police have preceded us, and are already on the way, send your driver on to Fexelburg, but you remain at Flicken. The police will be coming along the road and even if they are flying, they will be delayed if they notice the bus. Do you understand my thinking?"
"Perfectly."
"We will be there as soon as possible."
Bant now used the telephone to make his arrangements with Esmer. He then turned to Glawen.
"It is time for us to be on our way, if we wish to arrive by dawn."
"The plans have been altered," said Glawen.
"You are to continue into Fexelburg alone."
Bant's round face showed surprise.
"You are staying here?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that unreasonable? You want me to continue into Fexelburg with the omnibus totally empty?"
"So long as the fifty sols are not unreasonable, nothing else matters."
"A truer word was never spoken! In that case, goodbye. It has been a pleasure dealing with you."
The omnibus departed. Glawen went back into the store, where he gratified Keelums with another sol.
"I am to wait for some friends who will be here shortly. You may go back to bed. If we need anything, we will call you."
"Just as you like." Keelums went off upstairs to his bed.
Glawen
turned down the lights and, seating himself by the window, waited in the dark.
Through his mind flashed images from the past two months, in rapid sequence, while he sat looking off into the night. The ultimate joy of his life had come when his feet had touched the rocky hillside. What if Mutis and Funo had been waiting and smiling? His mind veered away from the idea. Would the recollections ever lose their vivid emotional bite? He thought not. Even now his skin crawled to think of the grotesque deeds done to him, Glawen Clattuc. Even so, why should he be surprised? The cosmos took no notice of human rationality, or human anything whatever. As he sat brooding, another curious mood came to trouble his mind: a waft of rending grief and woe, a sadness not to be contemplated, and perhaps beyond understanding.
Glawen stared out into the night. What was happening to him?
He had never before experienced such influences; could they be real? Perhaps his time immured in Zonk's Tomb had brought him a new and unwelcome sensitivity.
The mood waned, leaving a feeling of chill and desolation.
Glawen jumped to his feet and walked back and forth, swinging his arms.
Twenty minutes passed, and half an hour. Glawen went out to stand in front of the store. Down from the sky came a large black flyer, emblazoned with the nine-pointed insignia of the IPCC. It landed on a plot of empty ground behind the store; Plock alighted, followed by five uniformed personnel:
