CHAPTER X


CLASH OF WILLS AND SHADOWS


	Trajan had calculated the time carefully such that they would arrive on the site of the 
wrecked complex one day before the arrival of the infantry.  The flatness of the Zilch Zone grit 
and dust plains offered no difficulty for the craft to land, and the jagged fangs of the ruins 
chattered at them in the acrid wind not far away from the landing place.  

	Leaving the other crew behind and taking only his Iucarian companions Trajan proceeded 
swiftly to investigate the grounds of the research complex.  Upon closer examination it became 
apparent that the complex, the size of a small village, had met its end in a frightful conflagration 
of tremendous heat and explosions.  Only a few blackened walls and columns still stood, 
swaying and creaking in the cachinnating wind; nothing remained of the complex save a 
scorched rubble of dust and sand.  

	In the centre of the destruction stood a half-demolished odd-shaped skeleton of a 
structure like a series of intertwining cylinders, twisting into the vacant sky.  With the multilyzer 
in his hand, which he had detached from the craft's system, Trajan circled the spiral knot slowly, 
examining the tears, indentations, burnt-out patches with meticulous attention.  His multilyzer 
recorded nothing but a piece of dead metal.  Nothing remained of the Equation but its gutted 
body, but what had become of its Energy Soul?

	Trajan remained loitering among the ruins while the others returned to the landing site.  If 
this was the Opposite End through which Carlomon had sent his invading army into Iucari-Tres, 
then the danger had been removed; these ruins no longer posed a threat.  He reflected further, 
more gravely, whether there had been at least two Gateways at work here.  If the link here in 
D'Or had been broken by the destruction of the complex, what about the Hole of Starglory's 
original ingress, sporadically manifesting in Aberon on Evening Star: how could that be plugged?  
The answer, he realized, was lying deep in the Great Barrier Smaze.  

	As evening approached, Trajan's thoughts turned to the more urgent matter of the strike 
force.  For fear of forewarning the enemy a campfire was not lit.  A short meeting was called 
with the navigators and controllers, and after the briefing each group return to their own craft.   
The crew took turns to stand guard, spending a very uneasy night on a strip of land where on one 
side the Zilch Zone seemed to roll into infinite distance, and on the other a wall of fog blanked 
out part of the sky.  It gave the impression as if the party was camping at the foot of a gigantic 
waterfall where there was no sound of rushing water but only the stillness of a brooding night.  

	Radio contact was established with the advancing infantry in the early hours of darkest 
dawn they had ever experienced, since the first rays of daylight was obstructed by the eastern 
wall crest of the Smaze.  By the time the rays of the sun had climbed over the peaks of the fog 
wall, the head of the marching column came into view through the plains.

	Within an hour the corps arrived at the edge of the Zilch Zone and the commanding 
officer positioned his troops a few yards away from the landing site of the Zippercraft.  He 
reported to Trajan that his men had been marching through most of the night to catch up in time 
with the Fly Corps but that they were ready for the strike.  Trajan held a brief consultation with 
the navigators.  Leoynar would fly in the second craft; Deyron and Eirini in the Head Craft.  The 
Head Craft had the most sophisticated equipment and it was assigned the role of guiding all the 
other craft, in addition to the men on the ground.  Trajan attuned and coordinated his Insignia 
communicator with those of his other companions and gave the order for the crew to take off. 

	Adjutant Natsu imparted to him with slight nervousness that he was to remained at his 
side at all times, at the command of the Governor General, and Trajan, his mind already 
preoccupied with other urgencies, could not see why Natsu should not.  He waited until all the 
craft had disappeared behind the Barrier and Deyron's all clear signal had come through.  He 
then faced the ranks of the men and said:  "I am aware of your fear for the Unliving.  They are 
not able to attack you physically and it is only through your fear that they can do you harm.  Try 
not to think of them but of the task ahead.  I am here with you.  Always follow me!"  He then 
gave the order for the infantry to march into the fog.  

	Entering the Smaze from the ground was like plunging into ocean deeps of dense and 
swirling fog, where nothing could be heard and nothing seemed to move except dark columns 
and light whorls of grey mist.  The air was breathable but the temperature close and humid.  
Trajan, like the men of the strike force, was wearing light cotton, flexible battle fatigues; yet after 
half an hour's march sweat was pouring down his face.  Deyron's signals from the Head Craft 
overhead, lost in layers of smog, continuously relayed to him the bearings of their intended path. 

	"We can see you all very clearly from up here, Captain," came his message along the 
closed channels of the Insignia.  "Be careful and hold on to your present course.  Do not go too 
far to the west; there is a deep abyss of nothingness there!"

	Trajan coded back that he understood and enquired whether movements could be 
discerned near their vicinity and the response was negative.  

	At times darker, more tangible shades had the appearance of vibrating amongst the milky 
ghostliness of their surroundings.  The shades turned out to be stumps of trees or clumps of 
nettleweed, whose leaves and branches bristled with thorns and like leathery arms poked into the 
misty air and curled over the ground in a riot of twisting tentacles.  The ankles of the marching 
soldiers often sank deep into the soft soil, upon which these dragon plants grew, soil that felt rich 
and thick like humus.

	As they penetrated the Smaze still deeper Trajan, walking at the head, could sense the 
soldiers' apprehension for the mind-prowling inhabitants of the Smaze growing.  Until now they 
had followed him without wavering.  Still, the eerie soundless atmosphere and the volatile mist 
had a tendency of playing tricks on the mind.  Trajan felt the men needed moral boosters from 
time to time, and he instructed Natsu and his Second in Command to relay periodic 
encouragements as they pushed on.   

	"Watch out, Captain," came Deyron's code over the communicator, "you are approaching 
the site.  You are on a crest of a hill.  Use your range-scanner."

	Through the range-scanner the movements of troops just slightly below the hill where the 
strike force had strode to a halt became clearly visible.  On a quick survey, the troops seemed to 
meet the number of the strike force in equal strength; in addition they also commandeered a 
couple of Rumblers.  Trajan handed his range-scanner over to his Second and requested his view 
of the situation. 

	The Second was remarkably precise in his observation: "Two hundred heads, or slightly 
more, automatic weapons with infra-sensors, light artillery, three armoured cars. I think we can 
take them, Captain."

	Trajan said:  "Let's give them a taste first of what is coming."  He paused, fingering open 
the channel between him and the craft.  "Are you in position, Deyron?"  He was.  "Leoynar?"  
The engines of the second craft and the other four had already switched over to Fixed Altitude 
Zero Drive and deployed in orbit above the enemy encampment, although from the ground there 
was nothing to see above except layers of smoke.  

	"Full blast, Commanders!" Trajan gave the order.  

	The uncanny silence and twilight of the Smaze evaporated in a fury of missile whines, 
rockets detonating and flares of fierce, white fire.  The strike force waited for the Zippercraft to 
repeat a second round of pounding; the Second then gave the command to his troops to charge.  
The short lull was instantaneously replaced by the sharper claps of grenades and rattling of 
automatic rifles. 

	The enemy bivouac was in a state of demolition.  Through sheets of mist men clashed 
with one another like shadows on a lightened screen.  Trajan's attention was immediately drawn 
to the hand missile launcher on top of one of the Rumblers which was spitting a deadly ring of 
fire around the strike force.  Backed up by the launcher the enemy was regrouping around the 
Rumblers' station.  

	Trajan slid down the slope, signalling to the Second he would attempt demolishing the 
missile launcher, while the Second would continue directing the assault.  With Natsu close at his 
heels he stole around the perimeters of the camp.  Shades of two Tar-Clads crossed their path 
and Trajan dispatched of them with two bursts of his automatic weapon.  Closing upon his target 
the gunner suddenly turned as if sensing his approach.  

	Trajan ducked into the cover of bristling dragonweed; the missile flew over his head and 
exploded a few yards away in a plume of orange.  Natsu rolled over the ground in agony as 
Trajan made short shrift of two other attackers.  

	There was no time to care for Natsu; the lethal power of the hand missile launcher was 
keeping the strike force at bay.  The gunner was protected with some kind of shield harness, and 
he appeared not to feel a thing from the continuous salvos and sprays of grenade and automatic 
fire.  Crawling forth on his belly Trajan flung away his automatic rifle, took his rephar in his 
hand.  Maximum Elimination.  

	A streak of bright red shot through the mistiness of the atmosphere without a single 
sound, cleaving through the shield and when it struck the gunner, his body contracted violently 
for a second before he keeled over in his seat.  Moments after the abrupt smothering of the 
launcher the strike force made its final kill under the command of the Second.  A few minutes 
more of fierce hand-to-hand fighting went on and the whole camp was then taken and the cease 
fire order given.  Darker hues of battle smoke soon melted into the twilight fog world.  

	Trajan turned from the battlefield to attend to Natsu who still lay crumpled amongst the 
sharp weed.  He carefully turned him over on his back, examined the bleeding leg and smiled 
encouragingly to the Adjutant's stricken face:  "Think nothing of it, Adjutant.  The shrapnel went 
right through your flesh.  You will be fine." 

	As a medic took over, Trajan stood up and wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve.  
The Second reported with a beaming face that the strike force had accomplished a complete 
victory with only the loss of a few men; they had also taken some prisoners.  A quick survey 
around the steaming and mangled site confirmed this preliminary observation. 

	A short burst of automatic fire made everyone jump up with alarm.  "What is going on 
over there!" the Second bellowed.  A voice from the far end of the camp answered quaveringly: 
"An Unliving, Commander.  I saw it lurking behind a stump."

	"Deyron," Trajan spoke to his communicator, "the task is finished here but activate the 
floodlights, give us some visibility for the mopping up."  Addressing his Second, he said:  "The 
men should no longer fear any unwelcome visits from the Unliving.  They are afraid of light."  

	When the floodgates of light burst upon the encampment, the six craft high above could 
be vaguely seen as gleaming smudges against the murky sky.  The flames of a burning Rumbler 
writhed like a jagged orange shadow through the curtains of fog.  Fast action became of prime 
importance because the Zippercraft could not sustain their stationary orbit without repowering.  
The mopping up was brought to an end with all speed.  An undamaged Rumbler was secured to 
be hauled back beyond the Barrier.  Finally, when Trajan was satisfied all the enemy troops who 
had infiltrated into the Smaze were disposed of, he gave the order for retreat.  The Zippercraft 
doused their burst of brightness and flew off, leaving the Smaze once again to the reign of 
unending twilight.  

	As his soldiers marched off Trajan lingered on the brow of the hill, gazing into the Smaze.  
He had to sacrifice his multilyzer so that the Head Craft could make better use of it.  He wished 
however that he had it with him and the two Frames that Eirini was monitoring.  The Smaze was 
tingling him with a sense of fascination which bordered on obsession.  He felt that in the deeps 
of the Smaze a force was stirring, something so close and yet so far that it pained him just to 
think of it.  His impulse was to let go and follow his instincts, plunging into the Smaze for all he 
was worth.  "My Oracles," he spoke softly to himself, "Can they penetrate the Smaze?  What will 
I see?  What is there beyond?"

	"Captain?" the voice of the Second sounded near his shoulder.  Trajan turned and saw 
that the soldiers had halted their retreat and was staring up at him as he stood on top of the hill 
observing the Smaze with a strange light in his eyes.  He heaved a sigh and ambled down the 
slope.  

	"Let us go home," he said and the men resumed their march in relief.  He remembered the 
promise he had given to the Governor General, seeing the latter's haunting grey eyes: the eyes 
were compelling him to turn back. 

	The strike force reached the Zilch Zone hours after midnight.  Outside the Smaze the sky 
was black and walking suddenly from twilight into darkness gave the momentary sensation as 
though they were sinking into a pit.  

      The Zippercraft landed as soon as the last man of the strike force had crossed into the rim 
of the Zilch Zone and campfires were hastily lit to dispel the overwhelming gloom.  The Second 
brought Trajan's attention to a peculiar helmet he had taken from one of the prisoners.  On the 
surface it had the likeness of an ordinary protective headgear usually worn by soldiers in battle. 
On a more detailed inspection however the not so ordinary purpose of the helmet came into view:  
a metal device was attached around the inner rim which would close around a man's temples like 
a set of pincers, clamping and unclamping to the control of wiring connected to a little antennae 
at the right ear. 

	"So," Navigator St-Jaq hissed, "is that how the Paramount controls his men."

	"Take off all the helmets from the prisoners," Trajan told his Second and walked to the 
Head Craft to enter his report into the microcom and take a few hours' rest.  

	Both the Fly Corps and the Strike Force remained camped and rested until the following 
day.  When the sun was dangling like a yellow globe from the eastern edge of the Smaze all 
arrangements for their departure had been sorted out.  

	Trajan congratulated once more the Second in Command, the soldiers, the navigators and 
controllers for bringing about this success.  His sincere demonstration of respect and appreciation 
to the two units was enthusiastically received with loud cheers by the Strike Force and the 
Zippercraft crew.  Afterwards he boarded the Head Craft and at the same time as the infantry 
started to march across the barren face of the Zilch Zone, six shining craft flipped into the sky. 

* * *

	The entire Fly Corps arrived at Okrane in mid afternoon, by which time the news of the 
strike force's success had already been circulated far and wide by radio dispatches.  

	The more seriously wounded, including Adjutant Natsu, had been carried on board the 
Zippercraft to receive more immediate medical attention in Okrane.  Eirini and the others stayed 
on the Fly Bay lending a hand with the unloading of stretchers and constantly being hugged and 
slapped on the back with affection by members of the ground crew for their achievement.  
Trajan's presence was immediately required at the castle, and Brightloft took him there with all 
speed.  

	As Trajan strode into the meeting hall, the audience awaiting him gawked at the 
somewhat rough and wild spectre he presented with his sweat-streaked drab fatigues, the 
smirches of dirt and scratches on his face, which he sustained from barbed wire leaves of Smaze 
dragonweed, and the automatic rifle still slung across his shoulder.  Trajan had only expected to 
see the Governor General, but the latter was accompanied by Dego Kolmarin and one other 
dignitary whom the Governor General introduced as the head of the Aseuran delegation.  

	"Good work, Captain," the Governor General said, "News of your victory has been 
relayed to the delegation.  What proof of this act of aggression can you offer us?"  

	Trajan handed over the helmet with the clamp unit for enforcing obedience, and the 
Governor General offered it to the Aseuran emissary with the short, placid comment:  "Of 
Magni-Xandian design, don't you agree, Vicegerent?" 

	"This is heinous!" the Vicegerent uttered.  "This is a torture instrument with which the old 
Paramountcy used to extract information from captives.  Sire, I propose to show this revolting 
piece of trophy to the other delegates so that we can make faster progress in our deliberations." 

	"I agree," Kolmarin said, "we cannot waste any more time."

	After a smile and a pat on Trajan's hand Dego escorted the Vicegerent out of the hall.  
The door was closed and in silence Trajan gazed at the Governor General, meeting his eyes. 

	"In Vesparan eyes you have done tremendous good work, Captain," the Governor 
General said, "but I am repeating myself and I am aware words of congratulation mean nothing 
to you; you went out there to complete a job as a professional.  In my eyes you went there for 
something else."

	Trajan did not react and the Governor General continued in a harsher voice:  "I can hardly 
put the Royal Counsel to the screws for withholding information, but I can do anything I like 
with my own son!"  The Governor General clenched a fist. "I know you would not be so easily 
intimidated but I am calling upon your honour as a Praecel to obey the words of your Lar 
Protector.  Captain Schurell, what is your purpose of going into the Smaze?"

	"I am looking for the IsoMén Equation." 

	The colour on the Governor General's face seemed to blanch a little.  "The IsoMén 
Equation!  What on earth for?"  

	"You may have forsaken Iucari-Tres," Trajan replied, his fierceness challenging the wrath 
of the Governor General, "but I have not.  I am still a Commander of the Spacio Command and 
the IsoMén Equation is a threat to Iucari-Tres.  I now know that the damaged site of the research 
complex is the Opposite End of the Gateway through which Carlomon made his intrusion into 
Myaron.  Nothing remains there except the broken Body, but is the Soul still intact?  So long as it 
is, my mission is not finished, and I think you know what happened at the complex."

	The Governor General regarded him, with hands clasped tight behind his back as if 
putting himself into an armour of restraint.  "I have met my match," he stated, smiling grimly, "I 
have finally met my match.  It is like tasting sweet victory with a pinch of gall.  Nothing that I 
say, or do, can browbeat you into submission.  Instead of skulking away into obscurity like the 
others, you dare to confront me face to face.  I should be proud!  I want you to stop all searches 
for the IsoMén Equation!"

	Trajan looked at him with an ashen face.  "The diagrams of the IsoMén Equation were 
drawn on parchments which were found with your so-called remains that had been lying in the 
mausoleum of Trevarthen Hall.  I must know who designed the Equation or how the scrolls came 
to be in your hands!"

	The Governor General's face was grey with tension.  "The parchments were given to me 
by someone and they had to remain on Evening Star.  It was never meant for them to be found!  
Their knowledge is too dangerous for a barbaric world, even for a world like Iucari-Tres."

	"It was you!" Trajan cried out.  "It was you whom Krystan was supposed to meet that 
night on Mount Argento.  I must know what happened to Krystan!  Where is he now!"

	"Trajan! I command you to stop searching for the Equation."

	"I cannot do that!" Trajan took a step backwards and quickly unslung his rifle.  With the 
same swiftness the Governor General bore down upon him, tore his rifle away, tossed it into a far 
corner and slapped his face.  The slap did not come too hard but it stung Trajan into fury and his 
hand flew to the holster of the rephar and the Governor General with the ire of a Lord grabbed 
that hand.  

	"You even dare to raise your weapon against me?  This is mutiny!  Throw your rephar 
away, Captain!  Do it now, or I will do worse than slapping your face.  What do they do to 
mutinous commanders in Iucari-Tres or don't they have a law for that yet?"

	Few could have withstood the terrible storm in the Captain's eyes, flashing with lightning 
of purple-grey, and he still had his left hand free, which was closed around the hilt of the 
poniard, but the dagger grey in the Governor General's was like a wind of hail breaking the storm 
apart.  Trajan looked aside and the rephar clattered to the floor.  	

	The lordly grip was loosening.  "Look at me, Captain!  I want to see your eyes when you 
give me your promise.  I am your father and I love you but disobey me and I will clap you in 
irons myself and drag you to the deepest dungeon in this castle.  But in spite of your audacity, I 
see you were brought up as a Praecel, bound by your honour as a Praecel because all Praecels, I 
know, are so intolerably honourable.  I am still your Lar Protector, and you are in my jurisdiction.  
Obey me, and this matter is closed."

	Trajan turned his head and no emotion could be read when he gazed at the Governor 
General.  "It is not in your nature to give up and neither can I give up my own principles.  Vespar 
is on the brink of war.  I will do everything in my capacity to help its people.  For their sake I will 
give you my promise."

	"Trajan, you are my child indeed.  You stood up to me like no one has ever done and you 
submit to me because it is the right way to do, which none of the others had the grace of doing.  
I will not punish you for your insubordination, but I first want to hear your promise that as a 
commander you will never again resist your Lar Protector."

	"You might as well know," Trajan said, with a brief flare of defiance on his drawn face, 
"that commanders no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the Lar Protectors.  The Tres-Tiorem 
has changed that.  The Command can take any measures necessary on the Protectorates, but for 
now I will do as you wish." 

	"Trajan," the Governor General said softly, "you think me harsh but I only want to 
protect you from harm, and I also see that the issue is troubling you.  We will discuss it after the 
conference.  Pick up your rephar, go now and change and let someone take care of the scratches 
on your face.  By the way, when you take a bath wash that combat stink off your body too.  You 
will be meeting Queen Fleuridi for the banquet tonight."  

* * *

	Queen Fleuridi was of the same age, height and size of Maykin but where Maykin was 
dark and vivacious, the young queen appeared almost ethereal with long, fair curly hair and violet 
blue eyes.  She stood only slightly a head taller than her Royal Counsel who escorted her, with 
her hand on his arm, into the audience hall.  She was dwarfed by the throne like a doll thrown 
onto a giant stage; nevertheless she kept herself erect with gracious royalty. 

	"My Lady," she said, when Eirini curtsied before her, "I envy you for your captain.  I 
have watched you both nearly every night through my window.  I can only hope when I grow up 
I would have the same good fortune as yours."  

	She smiled tenderly to Trajan, who as Vesparan protocol dictated bowed and kissed her 
hand.  She made a plaintive movement as if she had in mind to stroke his hair as well, but 
thought better of it.  She spoke to him:  "All Vespar admire and thank you for your bravery and 
cunning, Captain Schurell, with which you halted the enemy's advance into Geosphere D'Or.  
You have the undying gratitude of every citizen and soldier." 

	Her violet eyes fleeted upwards to the stony face of the Regent standing by her side and 
noticed with astonishment the marked affinity between her Regent and the Captain, not of hair 
and eye colour, but of bearing and features.  The Regent was of indiscernible age while the 
Captain appeared a mere boy by comparison.  The Regent rarely smiled, his eyes were like the 
frost of a hard winter but they shone now with warmth and feeling as they followed the Captain 
everywhere, who smiled spontaneously and easily kept the dignitaries amused.  Before she was 
able to capture the full meaning of her discovery, Queen Fleuridi's attention was soon distracted 
by other arriving guests.  

	When all the notables and delegates had paid their respects, Queen Fleuridi declared the 
banquet open.  After the banquet, she invited Trajan and Eirini to open the ball and the entire hall 
fell silent as the two of them began the dance to mesmerizing music and enchanted their 
audience while their smiles were for each other only, for a moment forgetting the dark clouds of 
war gathering over the city.  Their gracefulness was the cue for other pairs to fill the dance floor 
and the merriment lasted with all ceremonial splendour well until midnight.  

	Trajan was called away by a valet when the wine was still flowing around the tables in 
liberal quantities and ministers and delegates were having a grand and merry time despite the 
lateness of the night.  The valet brought him to the castle's front staircase where a group of four 
people were waiting to see him.  The first one he recognized was Stephanola who twisted her lips 
into a prim smile, the other two he could not exactly place but picking up Nagus' paleness 
hovering in the background he slowly turned his attention to the one with the wily face and wild 
beard.  Trajan looked deep into the hazel eyes and said:  "Why have you done this to yourself?"

	Vaco said in unmistakably Eugene's voice: "Captain, need you know?"

	"I think not." 

	"Captain," Stephanola said, stepping forward, "you look absolutely adorable but I gather 
you have found your pair of green eyes.  However, I have not forgotten what you have told me."

	Trajan felt Eirini's light touch at his shoulder and he smiled.  "Stephanola, I will not 
forget you either so easily, but is there something you all want to tell me?" 

	"Yes," Vaco answered, "the likelihood that Vespar has been infiltrated by Magni-
Xandian agents."  He put his hand on the shoulder of a good-looking young man with long blond 
hair, who stood beside him leaning on a crutch.  "This is Terzan.  Eirini may have told you how 
we organized our flight from Ostracis.  The possibility of treachery within the ranks of Pagans 
never occurred to us until our party was stalked on the road to the coast and subsequently 
attacked by a band of hired assassins.  The target was not so much the escape party but Terzan." 

	"I don't understand," Eirini said.  

	Terzan responded:  "When the Hierarchy of the Pagans decided to spring Citizen 
Trevarthen out of Ostracis dudgeons they recruited me as I have connections with some of the 
warders.  It was all too perfectly simple and straightforward and I thought the plan went too 
well.  You, Vaco, was the only unexpected complication, and I haven't had time to warn the 
Hierarchy I was going to be saddled with a couple of more escapees.  In brief, the plan was a 
put-up job; I was to be killed on the road, and the agent was to sail on and gain asylum in Vespar 
on the strength of the assumption that he has assisted Citizen Trevarthen to escape."

	"But how many of us were there apart from Leoynar, Maykin and me," Eirini quickly 
said, "Martin Balwin? No--."

	"You have come to the right conclusion, Eirini," Vaco said.  "The mole is Shagg, and 
soon as we have figured it out we found he has disappeared."  

	"Give me his description," Trajan said, "and I will report him to the security militia of 
Okrane."  

	"There may be others in this conspiracy," Stephanola said, "Last night when I was not too 
far away from the Penarian coast, I saw that something peculiar was happening over there.  A lot 
of flares and smoke.  You can ask Charl, the other ferry master, his ship was alongside mine, and 
by daylight it became apparent to both of us that what we suspected:  the government has been 
overthrown and Penari is now in Magni-Xandian hands, and the Magni-Xandians are mobilizing 
a fleet of ships to launch a strike against Vespar."

	Trajan asked with a dark frown:  "What is the status of their readiness?"  

	"They could be crossing the Main at any time."  

	"But the more immediate problem is Shagg," Vaco insisted, "he is devising something 
spectacular, take my word for it, especially now that the Aseuran delegation is in Okrane."  

	"He is going to make a strike against the conference?"

	"Shagg may be calling up other accomplices," Terzan said.  "I hardly think he is doing it 
alone.  Presently I have reason to believe that the Pagans themselves are infiltrated already, but 
you can rely on me, Captain.  Brother Vaco saved me from death and to repay him I will stand 
by his friends."

	"Listen," Trajan said and gathered them all together, "this is how we are going to counter 
the threat. Vaco, and you Terzan, since you know this agent Shagg by face, find his whereabouts 
and how many plotters there are.  I will alert the militia and strengthen security around all 
members of the conference which would not be too difficult if they are staying inside the castle.  
We ought also to alert the harbour authorities in Merinburg because, in my opinion, that city is 
the proximate landing place from Penari.  Meanwhile I brief the Governor General on this new 
development."  

	"Charl and I will keep a lookout on the sea," Stephanola said, "and watch for any enemy 
ships coming from the north."  She was the first to leave.  

	Vaco turned his brooding eyes to Trajan.  "I do not know how to say this, Trajan," he 
spoke with difficulty, "but I am glad that at last we are fighting on the same side.  It is only sad 
we have to learn this after so many needless confrontations.  I was mad, I assure you.  There is 
still some madness in me, but no longer so that it is threatening to imbalance my presence of 
mind.  I regret my deeds in Casteltheyne but I cannot undo them. I can only tell you that I can 
regard you both, Trajan and Eirini, without feeling anything but only a desire for your continued 
wellbeing."

	"Vaco, compared to the wantonness of this Sphere what happened in Casteltheyne are 
mere unfortunate accidents.  Let us no more talk about it.  You have my good wishes too. Nagus, 
are you staying with him?"

	"Madness has touched both of us," Nagus said simply, "I am going to stay with Vaco, 
not because there is a compulsion in me to subjugate him as in Casteltheyne, but because there is 
nothing else worth living for.  I only live for him.  Without him I am but a meaningless shadow 
and finally Vaco has understood and accepted it."  

	"You have become the image of my former self," Vaco said.  "When I first looked at you 
I thought I was seeing myself in a mirror of the past, myself that I could not remember.  It 
reminds me of what we once were: one part of me, successful, but haunted by a burden he could 
not carry and the other, hateful and hated without understanding why.  But now that you have 
become the one who I once was and I who I am now, I would say that each of us has redeemed 
himself in his own remarkable way.  So shall it be until one of us dies!" 

	"You have conquered yourselves with grace, my brothers! Vaco and Nagus, I hold you 
both dear and I wish you all good fortune.  Be careful, both of you."  

	The threesome faded into the darkness of the castle garden.  Holding hands Trajan and 
Eirini re-entered the castle and in the entrance hall came upon Dego who walked towards them 
with swift, agitated steps. Grasping their hands, he announced elatedly:  "I have good tidings!  
The treaty is going to be signed tomorrow!"