Chapter 10

Dr. Leoh stared at the dinner table without really seeing it. Coming to the restaurant had been Hector’s idea. Three hours earlier, Massan had been removed from the dueling machine--dead.

Leoh sat stolidly, hands in lap, his mind racing in many different directions at once. Hector was off at the phone, getting the latest information from the meditechs. Odal had expressed his regrets perfunctorily, and then left for the Kerak Embassy, under a heavy escort of his own plainclothes guards. The government of the Acquataine Cluster was quite literally falling apart, with no man willing to assume responsibility ... and thereby expose himself. One hour after the duel, Kanus’ troops had landed on all the major planets of the Szarno Confederacy; the annexation was a fait accompli.

And what have I done since I arrived on Acquatainia? Leoh demanded of himself. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have sat back like a doddering old professor and played academic games with the machine, while younger, more vigorous men have USED the machine to suit their purposes.

Used the machine. There was a fragment of an idea in that phrase. Something nebulous, that must be approached carefully or it will fade away. Used the machine, ... used it ... Leoh toyed with the phrase for a few moments then gave it up with a sigh of resignation. Lord, I’m too tired even to think.

Leoh focused his attention on his surroundings and scanned the busy dining room. It was a beautiful place, really; decorated with crystal and genuine woods and fabric draperies. Not a synthetic in sight. The waiters and cooks and busboys were humans, not the autocookers and servers that most restaurants employed. Leoh suddenly felt touched at Hector’s attempt to restore his spirits--even if it was being done at Star Watch expense.

He saw the young Watchman approaching the table, coming back from the phone. Hector bumped two waiters and stumbled over a chair before reaching the relative safety of his own seat.

“What’s the verdict?” Leoh asked.

Hector’s lean face was bleak. “Couldn’t revive him. Cerebral hemorrhage, the meditechs said--induced by shock.”

“Shock?”

“That’s what they said. Something must’ve, uh, overloaded his nervous system ... I guess.”

Leoh shook his head. “I just don’t understand any of this. I might as well admit it. I’m no closer to an answer now than I was when I arrived here. Perhaps I should have retired years ago, before the dueling machine was invented.”

“Nonsense.”

“No, I mean it.” Leoh said. “This is the first real intellectual puzzle I’ve had to contend with in years. Tinkering with machinery ... that’s easy. You know what you want, all you need is to make the machinery perform properly. But this ... I’m afraid I’m too old to handle a real problem like this.”

Hector scratched his nose thoughtfully, then answered, “If you can’t handle the problem, sir, then we’re going to have a war on our hands in a matter of weeks. I mean, Kanus won’t be satisfied with swallowing the Szarno group ... the Acquataine Cluster is next ... and he’ll have to fight to get it.”

“Then the Star Watch can step in,” Leoh said, resignedly.

“Maybe ... but it’ll take time to mobilize the Star Watch ... Kanus can move a lot faster than we can. Sure, we could throw in a task force ... a token group, that is. But Kanus’ gang will chew them up pretty quick. I ... I’m no politician, sir, but I think I can see what will happen. Kerak will gobble up the Acquataine Cluster ... a Star Watch task force will be wiped out in the battle ... and we’ll end up with Kerak at war with the Terran Commonwealth. And it’ll be a real war ... a big one.”

Leoh began to answer, then stopped. His eyes were fixed on the far entrance of the dining room. Suddenly every murmur in the busy room stopped dead. Waiters stood still between tables. Eating, drinking, conversation hung suspended.

Hector turned in his chair and saw at the far entrance the slim, stiff, blue-uniformed figure of Odal.