The Zero Stone Read online

  The passenger cabin was small and bare. I lay down on the bunk. But though my body ached for rest I could not quiet my mind. I had given up the ring, the small knowledge I had of the caches. In return I had our freedom and enough to buy a ship-

  Buy a ship? Why - why had I asked for that? I was no pilot, I had no reason to want a ship of my own. But ten thousand credits could be used-

  “To buy a ship!” Eet answered.

  “But I do not want - or need - and cannot use a ship!”

  “You will - all three.” His reply was assured. “Do you think I went close to ending my being to earn us anything else? We shall have a ship-“

  I was too tired to argue. “To what purpose?”

  “That shall be discussed at the proper time.”

  “But - who is to pilot it?”

  “Do not dwell so much on the skills you have not; consider rather those you have. There is something else - look within the inner pocket where you carry what is left of your gems.”

  It had been so long since I had thought of that poor store, a most meager base for the future, that I could not guess what he meant. I fingered that inner pouch and the stones in it moved under my touch. I loosed the seal to turn out the sorry collection. Among them was - I snatched at it and between thumb and forefinger I held a zero stone in its lifeless phase.

  “But-!”

  Eet read my thought. “You have broken no oath. You surrendered exactly what you promised - the ring and the location of the caches. If another has seen to a better bargain for you - accept it without question.”

  Hory - above - could he tune in on our exchange? Would he now know what I had?

  Eet was plainly alert to the same danger. “He sleeps. He was close to the end of his strength though he did not reveal that to you. But do not mention this again. Not until we are free.”

  I dropped the stone among the others - all the bits from my wanderings. To the uninitiated it would certainly seem worth no more than, perhaps not as much as, the rest. Eet’s cleverness needed no comment.

  Then I, too, surrendered to sleep. And sleep I did, off and on for much of the rest of the voyage. But at times Eet and I talked together. Not of the stones, but rather of other worlds, and I reviewed my gem knowledge. I had none of Vondar’s prestige, but I knew his methods of trade. And were I to have a ship, there was no reason why I could not continue on my own. Eet encouraged me in such speculations, leading me on to discuss my chances. I was glad to turn my thoughts from the past, and perhaps it gave me some pleasure to play the informant and instructor. For this was one field in which Eet lagged behind.

  But there came a time when I was interrupted by a sharp order over the ship’s com. We were nearing the base port, it was necessary to strap down for landing. And Hory continued, saying that I would find my cabin a temporary prison until he could make the proper arrangements. I would have protested, but Eet’s head counseled discretion.

  The mutant had a listening attitude after we set down. And I heard the clang of boot plates on the ladder, passing my cabin. Eet became communicative when their echoes died away.

  “He is out of the ship. And he will carry out his part of the bargain. He takes with him the ring, to put it in safekeeping - as I had hoped. Now it will not betray you should you pass near it with the other stone.”

  “Why did it not do that in the cabin?”

  “It did. But at that time you were too occupied otherwise to notice. Get free of these Patrolmen as fast as you can. Then we shall be about our own business-“

  “That being?”

  Eet was amused. “Gem hunting-what else? I told you that world was not the source of the stones. The Guild and the Patrol will believe so for some time. They will search, they will mine. But they shall not find what they seek. We have only sniffed out the first few steps on a long cold trail. But we have what will serve us as a guide.”

  “You mean - we are to keep on hunting the zero stones? But how? Space is very wide - there are many worlds-“

  “Which makes our quest only the more worth the trying. I tell you - we are meant to do this thing.”

  “Eet- who- what are you? Did you - were you of the people who owned the stones?”

  “I am Eet,” he replied with his old arrogance. “That is all that means aught in this life. But if it troubles you - no, I was not of those who used the stones.”

  “But you know much of them-“

  He interrupted me. “The Patrolman is returning; he brings others. They are angry, but they will hold by Hory’s bargain. However, walk softly. They would be only too pleased to have some reason to pull you down.”

  I faced the door as it opened. Hory stood there, with him another, wearing a uniform with signs of high rank. Both men watched me with cold and wary eyes, their antagonism like a blow. Eet was very right, they would like nothing better than to get me by some infraction. I must walk as warily as in a quaking swamp.

  “You will come with us. The bargain will be kept.” The officer with Hory spoke as if it hurt him. “But for your own protection you will be in maximum security while you are here.”

  There was a spark in Hory’s eyes. “We can keep you safe. The arm of the Guild is long, it can reach far, but not into a Patrol base.”

  So he made clear his thoughts. I had had two enemies. I might have now dealt successfully with one, but there was still the second. My hand wanted to cup over the stones in my inner pocket. Would the zero stone only lead me further and further into danger? I remembered my father and Vondar - and the legendary might of the Guild.

  However, who may seize upon time and hold it fast, not allowing the moments to slip by him? I had said I was not a gambler. But Fortune appeared determined to make me one. With Eet warm and heavy about my shoulders, and the future, misty and threatened as it was, before me, I left the cabin to walk into a new slice of life.

  Perhaps I went better armed and armored than I had once been; the sum of a man’s knowledge may change from day to day, and experience is both sword and buckler. As long as Eet and I walked the same road, free under the stars, then could the present be savored, and let the future take care for itself - After all, what man can influence that knowingly?

  I found it enough to have this hour, this day, this small moment, as a victory over odds which I now marveled at our facing. Perhaps I was true son to Hywel Jern in spirit if not body. And still I could cup hand at my will across a zero stone. The door of the cabin was open. So was that of life, and I had not yet found its limit.

  The End