should always be supported, and the Lady Mieltrude signed the paper with no more deliberation than she thought the subject merited.”
Jubal’s voice cracked in outrage. “And an innocent man barely escapes a scalded skin and broken bones?
And that innocent man is me, a Glint nobleman of the highest caste? This transcends girlish fun.”
“I will be in the music room with Sune,” Mieltrude told her father. “As soon as you are free, we shall discuss the placings.”
“In due course, my dear.”
Mieltrude sauntered from the room. Jubal thoughtfully retrieved the warrant from the floor.
“So there you have it,” said Nai the Hever. “Let us consider the matter closed. Come this way, into my library, which has been proofed against eavesdrop; we have other affairs to discuss.”
In the library Nai the Hever waved Jubal to a straight-backed chair and went to lean against a long table covered with documents and journals.
Jubal seated himself with deliberation. “I understand then that you are waiving arbitration of this warrant?
If so, there will be no difficulty in having it processed.”
“My dear fellow, you are a positive monomaniac! Can you not leave off a subject when clearly all are bored with it? I cannot spend the entire evening with you, and we must discuss your mission.”
“This remarkable mission,” sneered Jubal. “It is not flattering to be taken for a lackwit!”
Nai the Hever seated himself in an easy-chair. Leaning back he contemplated Jubal with clinical dispassion. “You have been offered a challenging assignment and a chance to earn a handsome wage. I am puzzled by your attitude. Surely you are not trying to jockey for more money?”
“I am trying to tell you that your plot is transparent.”
“Indeed. Which plot is this?”
“You intend to ship me off-planet forever to dissolve the embarrassment of your daughter’s crime. What good are six thousand toldecks if they are here and I am there?”
Nai the Hever smiled in wry amusement. “I see that you will make a competent inspector after all. You have a natural bent for subterfuge and deceit. Compared to you, I am an innocent. But in this case you are wrong. No such plot exists.”
“I would like you to prove this.”
Nai the Hever’s amusement swiftly became scorn. “As you yourself pointed out, it is not flattering to be taken for a lackwit. Would I waste such elaborate machinations upon so trivial a problem? You live in a world of distorted reality.”
Jubal was unmoved. “This is precisely the indignant bluster you would use if in fact you were working a plot against me.”
Nai the Hever reached into a drawer and brought forth a sheaf of notes. “There is proof that you can understand. Two thousand toldecks.” He tossed them to Jubal. “Four thousand will be your total wages, not six thousand. Let us have no misunderstanding on this account, at least.”
Jubal sheafed through the notes. A sizeable sum. With another two thousand, almost enough to buy a boat like the Clanche . “Two thousand toldecks carry conviction,” Jubal agreed. “Fetch out paper and ink, if you please, and write as I dictate.”
Nai the Hever made no move. “And what will you dictate?”
“Write, and you will learn.”
“Dictate and I will record. Then I will learn. So what is this statement of yours?”
Jubal brought out his paper. “First the place and date… Then: ‘Know all men by this document that I, Nai the Hever, in my official capacity as Servant of the Thariot Servantry, hereby request and contract with the Honorable Jubal Droad that he undertake a task at his inconvenience and peril in furtherance of the public weal. It is stipulated that this task, by my explicit instructions, shall take Jubal Droad on a voyage away from the planet Maske, that this voyage shall not, by my executive decree, be considered a contravention of the laws of Thaery, and that Jubal Droad may publicly and freely resume his full former caste and
Jubal’s voice cracked in outrage. “And an innocent man barely escapes a scalded skin and broken bones?
And that innocent man is me, a Glint nobleman of the highest caste? This transcends girlish fun.”
“I will be in the music room with Sune,” Mieltrude told her father. “As soon as you are free, we shall discuss the placings.”
“In due course, my dear.”
Mieltrude sauntered from the room. Jubal thoughtfully retrieved the warrant from the floor.
“So there you have it,” said Nai the Hever. “Let us consider the matter closed. Come this way, into my library, which has been proofed against eavesdrop; we have other affairs to discuss.”
In the library Nai the Hever waved Jubal to a straight-backed chair and went to lean against a long table covered with documents and journals.
Jubal seated himself with deliberation. “I understand then that you are waiving arbitration of this warrant?
If so, there will be no difficulty in having it processed.”
“My dear fellow, you are a positive monomaniac! Can you not leave off a subject when clearly all are bored with it? I cannot spend the entire evening with you, and we must discuss your mission.”
“This remarkable mission,” sneered Jubal. “It is not flattering to be taken for a lackwit!”
Nai the Hever seated himself in an easy-chair. Leaning back he contemplated Jubal with clinical dispassion. “You have been offered a challenging assignment and a chance to earn a handsome wage. I am puzzled by your attitude. Surely you are not trying to jockey for more money?”
“I am trying to tell you that your plot is transparent.”
“Indeed. Which plot is this?”
“You intend to ship me off-planet forever to dissolve the embarrassment of your daughter’s crime. What good are six thousand toldecks if they are here and I am there?”
Nai the Hever smiled in wry amusement. “I see that you will make a competent inspector after all. You have a natural bent for subterfuge and deceit. Compared to you, I am an innocent. But in this case you are wrong. No such plot exists.”
“I would like you to prove this.”
Nai the Hever’s amusement swiftly became scorn. “As you yourself pointed out, it is not flattering to be taken for a lackwit. Would I waste such elaborate machinations upon so trivial a problem? You live in a world of distorted reality.”
Jubal was unmoved. “This is precisely the indignant bluster you would use if in fact you were working a plot against me.”
Nai the Hever reached into a drawer and brought forth a sheaf of notes. “There is proof that you can understand. Two thousand toldecks.” He tossed them to Jubal. “Four thousand will be your total wages, not six thousand. Let us have no misunderstanding on this account, at least.”
Jubal sheafed through the notes. A sizeable sum. With another two thousand, almost enough to buy a boat like the Clanche . “Two thousand toldecks carry conviction,” Jubal agreed. “Fetch out paper and ink, if you please, and write as I dictate.”
Nai the Hever made no move. “And what will you dictate?”
“Write, and you will learn.”
“Dictate and I will record. Then I will learn. So what is this statement of yours?”
Jubal brought out his paper. “First the place and date… Then: ‘Know all men by this document that I, Nai the Hever, in my official capacity as Servant of the Thariot Servantry, hereby request and contract with the Honorable Jubal Droad that he undertake a task at his inconvenience and peril in furtherance of the public weal. It is stipulated that this task, by my explicit instructions, shall take Jubal Droad on a voyage away from the planet Maske, that this voyage shall not, by my executive decree, be considered a contravention of the laws of Thaery, and that Jubal Droad may publicly and freely resume his full former caste and
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