Clarke, Arthur C - Fall of Night 02 (17 page)

 
          
 
"I'm sure I owe a great deal to my
tutor."

 
          
 
At this unexpected and singularly misleading
compliment, all eyes were turned upon Jeserac, who became a deep red, started
to speak, and then thought better of it. There was an awkward silence until the
President stepped into the breach.

 
          
 
"Thank you," he said hastily.
"You will remain here while we consider your statement."

 
          
 
There was an audible sigh of relief from
Rorden—and that was the last sound
Alvin
heard for some time. A blanket of silence
had descended upon him, and although he could see the Council arguing heatedly,
not a word of its deliberations reached him. It was amusing at first, but the
spectacle soon became tedious and he was glad when the silence lifted again.

 
          
 
"We have come to the conclusion,"
said the President, "that there has been an unfortunate mishap for which
no one can be held responsible—although we consider that the Keeper of the
Records should have informed us sooner of what was happening. However, it is
perhaps as well that this dangerous discovery has been made, for we can now
take suitable steps to prevent its recurrence. We will deal ourselves with the
transport system you have located, and you"—turning to Rorden for the
first time—"will ensure that all references to
Lys
are removed from the Records."

 
          
 
There was a murmur of applause and expressions
of satisfaction spread across the faces of the councillors. A difficult
situation had been speedily dealt with, they had avoided the unpleasant
necessity of reprimanding Rorden, and now they could go their ways again
feeling that they, the chief citizens of Diaspar, had done their duty. With
reasonably good fortune it might be centuries before the need arose again.

 
          
 
Even Rorden, disappointed though he was for
Alvin
's sake as well as his own, felt relieved at
the outcome. Things might have been very much worse—

 
          
 
A voice he had never heard before cut into his
reverie and froze the councillors in their seats, the complacent smiles slowly
ebbing from their faces.

 
          
 
''And precisely why are you going to close the
way to
Lys
?^
^

 
          
 
It was some time before Rorden's mind,
unwilling to recognize disaster, would admit that it was Alvin who spoke.

 
          
 
The success of his subterfuge had given
Alvin
only a moment's satisfaction. Throughout
the President's address his anger had been steadily
rising
as he realized that, despite all his cleverness, his plans were to be thwarted.
The feelings he had known in
Lys
when
Seranis had presented her ultimatum came back with redoubled strength. He had
won that contest, and the taste of power was still sweet.

 
          
 
This time he had no robot to help him, and he
did not know what the outcome would be. But he no longer had any fear of these
foolish old men who thought themselves the rulers of Diaspar. He had seen the
real rulers of the city, and had spoken to them in the grave silence of their
brilliant, buried world. So in his anger and arrogance,
Alvin
threw away his disguise and the councillors
looked in vain for the artless boy who had addressed them a little while ago.

 
          
 
''Why are you going to close the way to
Lys
?''

 
          
 
There was silence in the Council Room, but the
lips of Jeserac twisted into a slow, secret smile. This
Alvin
was new to him, but it was less alien than
the one who had spoken before.

 
          
 
The President chose at first to ignore the
challenge. Perhaps he could not bring himself to believe that it was more than
an innocent question, however violently it had been expressed.

 
          
 
"That is a matter of high policy which we
cannot discuss here," he said pompously, "but Diaspar cannot risk
contamination with other cultures." He gave
Alvin
a benevolent but slightly worried smile.

 
          
 
"It's rather strange," said
Alvin
coldly, "that in
Lys
I was told exactly the same thing about
Diaspar." He was glad to see the start of annoyance, but gave his audience
no time to reply.

 
          
 
"
Lys
," he continued, "is much larger
than Diaspar and its cuhure is certainly not inferior. It's always known about
us but has chosen not to reveal itself—as you put it, to avoid contamination.
Isn't it obvious that we are both wrong?"

 
          
 
He looked expectantly along the lines of
faces, but nowhere was there any understanding of his words. Suddenly his anger
against these leaden-eyed old men rose to a crescendo. The blood was throbbing
in his cheeks, and though his voice was steadier now it held a note of icy contempt
which
even
the most pacific of the councillors could
no longer overlook.

 
          
 
"Our ancestors," began
Alvin
, "built an empire which reached to the
stars. Men came and went at will among all those worlds—and now their
descendants are afraid to stir beyond the walls of their city. Shall I tell you
why?'''' He paused: there was no movement at all in the great bare room.

 
          
 
"It is because we are afraid—afraid of
something that happened at the beginning of history. I was told the truth in
Lys
, though I had guessed it long ago. Must we
always hide like cowards in Diaspar, pretending that nothing else
exists—because half a billion years ago the Invaders drove us back to
Earth?"

 
          
 
He had put his finger on their secret fear,
the fear that he had never shared and whose power he could therefore never
understand. Let them do what they pleased: he had spoken the truth.

 
          
 
His anger drained away and he was himself
again, as yet only a little alarmed at what he had done. He turned to the
President in a last gesture of independence.

 
          
 
"Have I your permission to leave?"

 
          
 
Still no words were spoken, but the slight
inclination of the head gave him his release. The great doors expanded before
him and not until long after they had closed again did the storm break upon the
Council Chamber.

 
          
 
The President waited until the inevitable
lull. Then he turned to Jeserac.

 
          
 
"It seems to me," he said,
"that we should hear your views first."

 
          
 
Jeserac examined the remark for possible
traps. Then he replied:

 
          
 
"I think that Diaspar is now losing its
most outstanding brain."

 
          
 
"What do you mean?"

 
          
 
"Isn't it obvious? By now young
Alvin
will be halfway to the Tomb of Yarlan Zey.
No, we shouldn't interfere. I shall be very sorry to lose him, though he never
cared very much for me." He sighed a little. "For that matter, he
never cared a great deal for anyone save Alvin of Loronei."

 
          
 
.

 
          
 
Not until an hour later was Rorden able to
escape from the Council Chamber. The delay was maddening, and when he reached
his rooms he knew it was too late. He paused at the entrance, wondering if
Alvin
had left any message, and realizing for the
first time how empty the years ahead would be.

 
          
 
The message was there, but its contents were
totally unexpected. Even when Rorden had read it several times, he was still
completely baffled:

 
          
 
"Meet me at once in the
Tower
of
Loranne
."

 
          
 
Only once before had he been
to the
Tower
of
Loranne
, when
Alvin
had dragged him there to
watch the sunset.
That
was years ago: the experience had been unforgettable but the shadow of night
sweeping across the desert had terrified him so much that he had fled, pursued
by Alvin's entreaties. He had sworn that he would never go there again. . . .

 
          
 
Yet here he was, in that bleak chamber pierced
with the horizontal ventilating shafts. There was no sign of
Alvin
, but when he called, the boy's voice
answered at once.

 
          
 
"I'm on the parapet—come through the
center shaft."

 
          
 
Rorden hesitated: there were many things he
would much rather do. But a moment later he was standing beside
Alvin
with his back to the city and the desert
stretching endlessly before him.

 
          
 
They looked at each other in silence for a
little while. Then
Alvin
said, rather contritely:

 
          
 
"I hope I didn't get you into
trouble."

 
          
 
Rorden was touched, and many truths he was
about to utter died abruptly on his lips. Instead he replied:

 
          
 
"The Council was too busy arguing with
itself to bother about me." He chuckled. "Jeserac was putting up
quite a spirited defense when I left. I'm afraid I misjudged him."

 
          
 
"I'm sorry about Jeserac."

 
          
 
"Perhaps it was an unkind trick to play
on the old man, but I think he's rather enjoying himself. After all, there was
some truth in your remark. He was the first man to show you the ancient world,
and he has rather a guilty conscience."

 
          
 
For the first time,
Alvin
smiled.

 
          
 
"It's strange," he said, "but
until I lost my temper I never really understood what I wanted to do. Whether
they like it or not, I'm going to break down the wall between Diaspar and
Lys
. But that can wait: it's no longer so
important now."

 
          
 
Rorden felt a little alarmed.