Indirection | Page 6

of direful events, I found a paper in my master's hand. It
mentioned fire in the forests. It mentioned rain. And it had on it words
of power.
"For a time, I practiced the strange syllables. Many times did I speak
them aloud, then I pressed the bosses on the table, as shown by one of
the books. There was a light. Then, the great ball glowed with color, to
show me the first demon.
"He spoke. And I conquered my fear, to repeat the syllables I had
labored to learn. Once again, he spoke, and I could not understand him.
I could think of nothing but to say again those words which I hoped
would bring the rain we so badly needed. I took my hands from the
bosses and stood, wondering what would happen. The ball became
dark.
"I stood, waiting. And nothing happened. Finally, thinking nothing was
to occur, I turned and started to leave the room. Then, a great voice
spoke. Again, the wall was alight. Within it was a fearsome demon who
glared at me ferociously and demanded something in that tongue of
power. I could not think. I stood, trembling fearfully. And he spoke

again. Then did I repeat again the words I had learned, and ran from the
room.
"It became dark. The lightnings flashed, and the rain fell, and my
master came, but not as I had ever seen him before. He did not walk
from the forest as was his wont, but appeared before me from the air. I
started back in fright, for now I was certain beyond doubt that he was a
man of great wizardry. I thought he would beat me, or possibly cast me
under a spell.
"Never has he beaten me, always saying that it was wrong to beat an
apprentice, and that those who so did were lacking in their senses. And
this is but another proof of his sorcery, for who, other than a sorcerer,
could handle his servants without beating them?
"I dared do nothing other than to tell him of my misdoing, and he
rushed to the room, taking me with him. He pressed the bosses, turning
one that I had not known of, and the demon appeared again and talked
with him. Then, my master made strange passes about the instruments
and the village was shown in the ball.
"At last the rain stopped. A wind blew--hot and dry, as from the
pit--and the people came and did try by violence to enter. But they
could not. At last, the great machine came, and though we could not at
first see it, we entered and were carried away through the sky.
"The people watched the house burn, then entered, to scatter the ashes.
"And I am here, and afraid."
* * *
Doer Kweiros flipped off the playback and gazed at the unresponsive
wall. He rubbed the back of his head, looked at the viewsphere, then
checked the playback index and tapped the rewind.
"Oh, me," he complained sorrowfully, "how do we get into these
things?"

He looked toward the communicator controls unhappily, then reached
out and dialed a number. The sphere lit and an alert face looked at him
inquiringly.
"How is that Forell boy?"
"Soaking up information like a sponge, sir."
Kweiros nodded. "Gathered he might," he remarked. "Send him up here,
will you? And have Jaeger come with him."
"Yes, sir."
Kweiros snapped the communicator off, sat back to drum idly on his
desk, then got up and walked over to his master file control board. He
glanced at the index, then punched out a sequence on the buttons. There
was a subdued hum and a door opened. Kweiros reached into the
compartment, to take out several tape reels. He glanced at them,
nodded, and went back to the desk, where he spread them out and
looked from one to another. Finally, he selected one of the smaller reels
and started to thread it into the playback.
There was a light tap on the door and he looked up.
"So soon? Come in."
A tall, sharp-featured guardsman entered and stood at attention. Beside
him was a boy, who looked curiously and a little fearfully at the officer,
who waved to chairs.
"Sit down, both of you. I'm not going to claw you. Just want to go over
a few things. I've some ideas, but I want to be sure of a couple of
points." The captain glanced at the reels before him.
"One thing puzzles me, Jaeger. Why did you have notes in the
planetary language in your communications room?"
Jaeger stirred uneasily. "I started doing that some time ago, sir," he
explained. "You see, their language is quite dissimilar to either my own

or to Galactica, and I have yet