Duplar slips into the guest room occupied by Roy, and asks the occupant to join him and the Hank in the second guest room. He finds the third 'alien visitor', Ryzar has also joined them.
Once he has them together he has this to say.
"As you know by now, you are not in the same world you are used to. As far as I can tell without getting the "Lifers" involved (and I'm *not* going to do that) you seem to be of human stock, and that is going to cause a problem because whether or not you are from the same world as the humans we have here, you seem to be of the lesser of the two kandaroid races.
"Within the civilised areas, many Kandar look upon your race as nothing more than animals to be owned, used, and even used up. On the fringes of the barbarian lands, things are different, but life there tends to be hard and short for all races.
"If you are going to have any comfort or even freedom within Civilisation, you need one of the three big Guilds behind you. You choices are the Academy, if you happen to have any mental powers which are so incredibly rare in humans that many Kandar doubt they can possibly exist, this guild, or the Guild of Life. Frankly, while the people are suspicious of the first two, nobody trusts the Guild of Life.
"If you can pass the entrance examination for the Academy, you should join as the tuition you get there can save your sanity. Otherwise, I suggest your best bet is to join us. Co-operate with my new boss, things will work better that way in the long run.
"Questions?"
"If anyone can find a way to send me home, I believe it is you Karazthani", says Ryzar quietly, directing his comments to Duplar, "I am a soldier by training, and I'm sure that if these Kandar cities are the viper pits you imply, then this guild of yours has need of good men for it's defences. However, I would be loath to leave the service of Mistress Reylorna -- though I mean no implication that a Witch needs ANYone to do her fighting for her. Could I, perhaps, be assigned as her bodyguard, should I join your forces?"
Hank ponders what Duplar has to say. He's quiet for a long while, as he listens. Then he replies.
"I should tell you what I did, back home. What 'guild' *I* belonged to. It is called the Peace Corps..."
He describes an organization of engineers, teachers, and other skilled people, all from a powerful nation, who volunteer to go to less-advanced nations, and assist them as best they can- frequently postponing or foregoing lucrative careers in their fields to do so.
"...and, so my _first_ urge is to ask you which way it is to these 'fringes', so I may do what I CAN do, with more freedom, to boot."
He pauses
"But you know your world."
"I'm sure I have no psychic powers. The telepathy thing kinda _hurts_ . " "What sort of Examination does this Guild have? Could I try it, see what comes of it, then decide what to do? Or is it more binding?"
Ryzar looks towards the large (compared to the surprisingly thin-looking Borderer) newcomer, his expressive face showing surprise. "You do not Mindspeak?" Ryzar asked, "Truly? Though silent when he arrived, even the great Simon Tregarth was able to learn to Mindspeak! I just assumed, since you were also Merikan, it would come in time....?"
"Could you tell us about your employer, too? No disrespect, but I would like to know who we would be working for..."
"Maybe." Hank replies, doubtfully. "In the meantime... what's in my head may be what, you know... saves.. me. If there's any way to keep it private..."
He trails off, not knowing how to phrase it.
"I find it difficult to imagine life in the home nation you describe", Duplar replies, "I suspect that centuries ago we had the all the technology you describe and more. However, something went very wrong for us and much has been lost. The Guild I work for has two roles.
"Our primary role is the manufacture and sale of technological based goods and services. This includes power-waggons and lifting rooms. We also have an armaments division, but we are very limited in what we sell and who we sell to. Generally we only sell to the Legion, and we only sell them flamelances. I am not issued with a flamelance, but I am allowed use of a Lightning Wand, something we don't sell outside the guild at all.
"Second we police the use of technology. Many people see this as using muscle to simply to maintain our monopoly on technology, but the truth is more complex than that. We believe that it was the abuse of technology which caused the collapse I just mentioned. We are not sure exactly what happened, but I put it to you that you have already suffered from the abuse of technology in the way you have been brought to this land.
"It happened." Hank shrugs, with an indifference he clearly doesn't really feel.
"Many people believe they should be allowed free use of all we know", Duplar says, "But all of them I have met don't want to use our technology "for the good of all" as they claim. They want to use things they mistakenly believe we know how to make for personal gain at the expense of others".
"What things?", Hank asks.
"Well, it varies really", Duplar replies, "Many families have tales of devices they had which brought them wealth or glory. Some of them even have the broken bits as heirlooms. We can't repair them because we don't have the parts, even if we have the ancient texts about the device itself.
"If I understood this 'Peace Corps' you describe correctly then I admire its philosophy very much. But tell me, did many people in your homeland join it? And these "less advanced nations" you went to help - did they simply fail to advance or were they once "more advanced" and fell back the way we have?"
Hank answers honestly.
"The Corps had about 7,500 active members, in 71 countries, when I left. This is, maybe... a fourty-thousandth of my country's population. A drop in the bucket, compared to the military. Hell, the Army Corps of Engineers ALONE had about 35,000, last I checked... Different function, though."
Duplar's head reels at the thought of organisations on that scale, or nations with that sort of population.
"We do what we can", Hank continues, "There's some sacrifice involved in volunteering- it's not for everyone."
"The developing countries? Well, THAT takes some explaining..."
Hank tries to keep it brief, and repeatedly says there's LOTS of contention on some points, but explains generally about reasons why some areas are more 'developed' than others- historical ones (Colonialism, for example, and the retreat from it), and cultural ones, as well as trying to explain how much of the 'job' was education- that many advances just had to be taught, and hadn't...
"You tale convinces me that Kandar and Humans are alike in ways Humans might not like to admit", Duplar responds, "You have just accused Humans of treating other Humans exactly the way some Humans complain of the way Kandar treat them.
"But the difference is- the empires _ended_", Hank says, "Britain made a Commonwealth, France did too- all the colonial powers did the same- and the Soviet Union split up... would the Kandar reform that way? _Could_ they?"
Roy only kind of half-listens to Hank's explanations. A lot of this stuff is kind of over his head.
Hank also, as a counterexample to Duplar's explanation, gives a brief synopsis of how technology "got around" on Earth. He draws analogies (given his general knowledge) between what Duplar described and medieval guilds (with their Craft Secrets and trade controls).
Hank also sketches a similarity to what he understands of the old Soviet scientific establishment (with its close monitoring of scientists, their procedures and their secrets), vs the "Western" method. (including contractors competing for military contracts- not Hank's field of expertise, but just by way of conversation.)
"... so, the way it turned out, the more open things were, the quicker things advanced. The individual right to self-defense puts some weapons in civilian hands, but not others- I don't think I've seen a flamelance in action, but I have seen assault rifles. The government keeps the 'big guns' in reserve- you won't find just anyone with a nuke! So, there's control on certain technologies. Still, a different animal, I'd say?"
"I'm glad you confirm that uncontrolled research is faster", replies Duplar, "That makes it even more dangerous. Suppose someone manages to make sense of that mirror we found and starts it up? Will not more people get dragged to worlds they shouldn't be? We haven't shown you the remains of the mess yet, but this building had a huge monster 'mirrored' right into its central shaft. Is this a good thing for us, or, for that matter, the monster?
"I see your point", Hank says, "But, weren't Roy and myself... *brought* here because the mirror was NOT understood? It sounds like a dam with cracks in it. Having more who understand the dam might help prevent the flood...?"
"We try to keep ranged weapons out of civilian hands, especially in the city", Duplar continues, "A flamelance is a potent weapon in the hands of a trained warrior, but in the hands of an unskilled user it is more dangerous to those nearby. The legion training areas are rather charred. I have no idea what these 'assault rifles' or 'nukes' you mention are, but surely they are at least as dangerous?
"Assault rifles are... slug-throwers, to be general. They don't have rays or beams, they're firearms that launch metal bullets. Flamelances sound... worse, frankly.", Hank says.
"'Nuke'... well, there's the big one. It's short for 'nuclear weapon'- even nations that *hate* eachother will co-operate to keep those under tight control. The _small_ ones can level a city. The big ones... we've stepped back from those. Only two earlier models were ever used in war. That's the only level of thing I can think of worth the kind of clampdown you're describing..."
This reminds Duplar very much of the devastation in the Doomwar of legend, nearly two millenia ago.
"Our legends speak of whole lands being devastated beyond habitation, many people dying in the blink of an eye and most of the rest dying within months or years", he says.
"That sounds kind of like the same thing", Hank says, "we came close to this, once, but it was more like... do you have a word like 'brinksmanship'?"
Roy, still hanging around, says, "I don't think we have a word like that."
"I still don't know where this puts us", Hanks says, "If I understand what you've told me, the sort of work I'm trained for is not what the Guild does... My technical skills are up their alley, but the applications, I mean."
"You have not mentioned what you actually do yourself, but I do not think there is any thing like this "Peace Corps" in our world", says Duplar, "Nor do I think there ever could be. The cities do not trust each other enough, and none of them want to help the outlying areas do anything except produce cheap food.
Hank measures his next statement to avoid sounding like a braggart: "Fair enough...
"The main thing is, I have a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering...". He explains what that means, including a general definition of "infrastructure..."
" I've had experience as an administrator and put in a few years as an educator, have some background in agronomy and animal-handling. I have pretty decent knowledge of mechanics, physics and chemistry, I'm certified in First Aid and basic Paramedics, and I've worked summers as a carpenter. I've studied ecology and biology a little, and have some survival training, but I'm no expert there...
I also have a black-belt ranking in Kempo- that's a martial art- , though I doubt you'd need me for _that_..."
"My work with the Corps was largely training and organizing people- better sanitation and irrigation, improved farming methods, some work in disease prevention- mainly prevention, I'm not a doctor..."
"There's things I could build, or teach people _to_ build, that might be of interest- small hydro dams, for instance... I can do some electrical work, but not much. I can _use_ electronics and computers- the Corps was just starting 'bootstrapping' projects by teaching computer programming, when I left- but, I haven't been taught how to make new stuff."
"Any of that useful, to you?"
"Erm, sounds like all of it", Duplar says, "Another word of advice - keep your management skills under wraps. It sounds like you might have everything except being Kandar to be qualified for Guildmaster, but there are people who will kill you if they think you might be thinking about that! This land is not ready for Humans in positions of any authority."
"Then, I'll have to consider. Can't really perform responsibilities without authority... worse comes to worse, there must be a Carpenter's Guild or something...?"
"I don't want to be a burden, Mr. Duplar, but... I think I need a guide, with this- An advisor. Could you help me?", Hank asks.
"Can I help you?", Duplar replies, "Well, I'm trying to help both of you by advising you to join this guild. It seems to me that we are going to need more field operatives and you understand more about life outside the cities than most of the security people I have met. I'd seldom left the city before all this started. You are also in a position to recognise a whole class of devices which we have never seen, even if we have their descriptions on file".
Duplar turns to Roy.
"There are ranches in the outlying areas. The animals would not be the sort you are used to handling, but surely the basic principles would be the same? I do not know what these 'cars' you mention are and we have no 'guns' if you mean devices like the 'dartgun' our companion Ryzar uses. It seems to be some sort of self-cocking hand-crossbow. Again, your different point of view and background knowledge would be of value to this guild.
[Placeholder for response from Roy]
Roy speaks up here. "And what kind of job would I be able to find? I'm a ranch hand, but I know about cars and guns and stuff, too"
Duplar goes on to explain the work of the technical division of the Karazthan; it sounds like anyone with experience as either a car mechanic, a gunsmith, or a household electrician would pick up most of the basics quite quickly. He also tells how the guild employs a significant number of slaves, who do mundane cooking and cleaning tasks, as well as some heavy labouring tasks in the workshops.
He also tells how most of the membership are trained as apprentices from adolescence, and how most of those are the sons and daughters of adult Karazthani. But he also mentions there are precedents for recruiting adults with special talents or knowledge.
As evening draws on, everyone assembles for the promised evening meal. The Guild dining hall is a long high-ceilinged room high up on the cliff with windows overlooking the habour. It's dark outside, and the city is lit by lights in buildings; there doesn't seem to be any form of street lighting. The dining hall itself is lit by some form of electric light. The choices of food tonight are spiced greenfish in a quite violently-coloured yellow sauce served with some unidentified root vegetable, or sausages, served with the same vegetable, only without the sauce. The party of travellers are all at one table; some twenty or thirty others occupy the rest of the hall.
As everyone begins to eat, everyone feels a psychic scream of terror echoing in their head. There is a brief fleeting sensation of pain and confusion, and an equally brief sensation of burning anger and hatred.
Reylorna and Duplar both recognise the psionic 'voice'.
Tanala!
Duplar winces at the psychic scream, dropping his splade.
With the "sound" still ringing in his head, Ryzar shoots to his feet, knocking back the chair he was sitting in, and looks around for its source. His hand reflexively reaches to where his short sword would rest upon his hip... but it is not there: one does NOT wear weapons to a banquet, nor armor!
"That Voice is.... familiar." Ryzar says, then turns to Reylorna and Duplar. "Mistress.... Master Duplar.... you heard? Someone screams in Mindspeak. Someone close.
Duplar replies "Yes, Ryzar, I heard. And yes, we have heard that before. That was Tanala... again."
"Ta-nala? Tanala?" Ryzar repeats, giving Duplar a puzzled look -- which suddenly turns to an expression of understanding.
"Ah, yes! Mistress Tanala! She was the Kandar Witch who helped us defeat the tentacled beast, the last time we were here, yes?" Ryzar said, then frowned, "She sounded to be in trouble. Should we not go and aid her?"
"Ryzar", says Duplar, "You forget that Tanala is trouble by another name. She also wants Reylorna at least expelled from the Academy, preferably dead, for no crime other than being human.
"However, she is also a very powerful 'witch' as you put it. Something which can make her scream like that could be a problem for everyone.
"I suppose we must investigate, except perhaps Apprentice Reylorna, who if she does come along ought to be very careful indeed."
Duplar stresses Reylorna's rank because even if she might have the potential to be as powerful as Tanala in the disciplines of the Academy, which he doubts any human could have, she certainly hasn't had the years of practice.
Hank looks around in bewilderment, to see what others' reaction may be. He doesn't know from where (or from whom) the 'scream' came. He does seem to recognize the 'scream' AS a scream, so he's looking around to see who needs help.
Roy doesn't even get that far. "Wait a minute. that was a person? Somebody you guys know?"
Duplar looks at Roy in surprise.
"You heard her? Yes, I have to admit that was a woman I know screaming with her mind. I don't like her, and she doesn't like me, but I do respect her mental skills and something which can do that to her is big trouble."
"I don't know what it was, but there was something goin' on there and it reminded me of the mind-talking from before", Roy says.
"The first part of the trouble though is I don't have enough mental skill to locate her without an item sensitised to her, nor can I tell from which direction she screamed", says Duplar, "Something loud enough for an untrained mind to hear can't have travelled all that far, unless, of course, she screamed because she was tinkering with an ancient range boosting device which backfired on her. And if she found such a device she would tinker with things best left alone"
"If nobody has a better idea, we should head for the Academy. Someone there might have a clue what's going on, and if not they may be able to find me a personal item of her's I can use to search for her with".
"Sounds good to me." Roy gets up and checks his gear over.
Maybe if there's one ancient device, there might be more, he thinks to himself, maybe one that can send them home.
"Wait!", says Jathren, "Before you all go rushing off; what do you expect to achieve. It appears someone very hostile to us is in some kind of trouble. And I don't believe Reylorna's person is safe anywhere outside of this building, at least until we know what's going on. Anyway, are we not within mindspeak range of the tower from here?" He addresses Duplar and Reylorna specifically, "Can you not mindspeak to someone we can trust within the tower from here?".
"No Boss", replies Duplar, "at range I can do no more than search for someone and I need an item of theirs to focus through. I think Reylorna can? Her safety... well I don't want to think of the Academy as being more unsafe than here, but between here and there who knows?"
"The call sounded close. Not as if from across the city." Ryzar adds, "Mistress Tanala is a member of this Guild, is she not? Just as Mistress Reylorna is? If she were HERE -- in this building -- where would she most likely BE?"
"Ryzar", Duplar replies, "Mistress Tanala and Apprentice Reylorna are members of the Academy of the Mind. This is the Karazthan Guild. Tanala has a most powerful mind: in her case 'close' could be almost anywhere in the city. Still, I suppose if she were tinkering with dangerous technology she is more likely to find it here than anywhere else. We could check our vaults and storerooms."
Still, unfortunately, a bit out to sea, Hank asks, "What WAS that? Who made it? Is there anything I can do?"
"It was the Wizard Tanala", says Jathren, "The day we left the city, many days ago, there was a mental interrogation of a prisoner in the Citadel. Someone suspected of murder and attempted murder, including that of our own guildmaster. The man himself was a dangerous wizard, and would not submit to normal questioning, so the wizard Tanala had to be summoned to 'mind ream' him. To overcome his resistance we used a machine called 'The Device', which amplifies power. Unfortunately the machine failed. The backlash killed the prisoner without getting us any information, and badly injured Tanala herself"
Kala d'n Konyen, the acting guildmaster, speaks up. "Tanala was recovering slowly", she says, "In the hands of the Healers of Valarna. The last I'd heard was that she'd come out of the coma. If *that* was indeed her, something bad has happened to her. But her welfare is the business of her own guild, the Academy of the Mind".
Still uncertain of his place in this company, Ryzar turns a puzzled frown towards the Guildmaster.
"Be that as it may, Mistress." Ryzar says deferentially, still standing at his place at the table, "But Mistress Tanala fought alongside *us* when the Tentacled Beast attacked *your* guildhouse! Surely you cannot feel that *some* debt is not owed her?".
"If the Academy of the Mind requests our aid, we will give it. So far, they have not", she replies sternly.
Ryzar turns to face Duplar and Reylorna.
"Master Duplar, Mistress Reylorna -- though Witch Tanala may be the rival you claim, would we not be as bad as you claim *she* is, did we not, at the least, *try* to help?"
Duplar agrees that investigation should be made, but thinks that Reylorna should hang back if she is involved at all. He knows that Tanala doesn't like him, but that is nothing to her hatred for all things human.
Reylorna herself is unwilling to go anywhere near the Academy of the Mind until someone has some hard information on what's going on. She explains that there are many in the Academy of the Mind who want her dead, and might blame her for whatever has happened to Tanala.
* * * *
Disoriented, with his 'ears ringing' from the mental scream, Hank looks to those he's already met, trying to get any indication from them that there might be something he could do.
At the very least, he looks to see where Roy's going. They're in this together...
Roy looks rarin' to go. He says, "'Wizard'? I thought you guys were all ESP and stuff...you got magic, too?".
Jathren gives him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?", he says, "The wizards are those who practice powers of the mind. There are different disciplines, and different sects, but Duplar and Reylorna would be able to tell you far more than I".
Hank tries, while listening to the response, to gauge the reactions of the other "natives" that they haven't met yet. It seems to Hank that their reaction to the 'scream' seems to be one of confusion and bewilderment.
In general, Hank is still looking to see where he can be of use. Since no-one has contradicted his 'keep the pack within eyeshot' policy, he might have it handy.
* * * *
A young human enters the dining hall, dressed in much the same uniform as many in the hall; Duplar recognises him as one of the apprentices in the Technical division. By the way he's out of breath, it seems he's run a long way; he's almost on the point of collapse.
"Dead", he says, "Both of them! An Assassin!".
"Is there no Security, here? Guards, that sort of thing?", Hank's on his feet, and is reaching for his pack- his implication being that if no-one else is going to get their act together, perhaps "we" should....
"Wait", Jathren says to him, "Let the apprentice speak!".
Duplar grabs his mug of _gleyr_, crosses to the apprentice, and passes it to him.
"Get your breath back, lad, then give a more organised report. Who is dead, where, and what else is known?".
The apprentice takes several gulps of the warm tea-like liquid, then coughs and accidentally sprays Duplar's face with the stuff.
"Sorry", he says, once he's recovered. "The Wizard Tanala and that Knight lover of hers. The City Guardsmen found the bodies".
"Then that was the psychic scream we all heard", Kala d'n Konyen says, "Yet more assassinations. Just about the last thing this city needs".
"Not a good time to be human", Jathren says, "Tanala was an evil witch, but she had a lot of supporters amongst the Kandar chauvinists. And the Knights of Kardak _will_ avenge the death of one of their own by killing a sufficient number of those of the same race as they'll blame for the assassination. There will be more dead bodies in the city before the night is over".
Kala d'n Konyen looks at Reylorna and Ryzar. "Nobody human is going anywhere _near_ The Tower tonight. I don't want your deaths on my conscience".
"She's right", Jathren says, "If Reylorna visits the tower now, it would be a death sentence. Kasraanth Sar will arrange an 'accident'".