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Tinokti, and they seem to add up to an incomplete map anyway. Then the keys we
have between us apparently won't let us into more than about a fourth of the
areas that look worth checking out. We could be one portal step away from an
exit, know it's there, and still not be able to reach it."
Thrakell said sourly, "I see no way to remedy that! Many sections have a
specialized or secret use, and only certain Elaigar leaders have access to
them. That might well be the case with sections containing planetary exits.
Then there's the fact that the Alatta intruders have altered the portal
patterns of large complexes. I'm beginning to suspect you'll find yourself no
more able to leave the circuit than we've been!" He glanced briefly over at
Neto.
"Well," Telzey said, "let's try to get the second problem worked out first.
Essu knows where he can get pretty complete sets of portal packs. But he will
need help."
"What place is that?" asked Thrakell suspiciously. "As far as I know, only the
Suan Uwin possess omnipacks."
"That's what Essu thinks. These are in a safe in one of Stiltik's offices. He
can open the safe."
Thrakell shook his head.
"Impossible! Suicidal! The headquarters of the Suan Uwin are closely guarded
against moves by political enemies. Even if we could get into Stiltik's
compound, we'd never get out again alive!"
Neto said boredly to Telzey, "Why don't you lock this thing up somewhere? We
can pick him up afterwards, if you feel like taking him along."
That ended Thrakell's protests. It wasn't, in fact, an impossible undertaking.
Stiltik used Essu regularly to carry out special assignments which she
preferred not to entrust even to close followers. There was a portal, unmarked
and unguarded, to which only she and the Tolant had a key. If they were
careful, they could get into the headquarters compound.
They did presently. They were then in a small room behind a locked door. To
that door again only Stiltik and Essu had keys. Unless Stiltik happened to
come in while they were there, they should be safe from detection.
* * *
Telzey scanned while her companions remained behind cover. It took time
because she went about it very carefully, touching minds here and there with
gossamer lightness. Details gradually developed. At last she thought she'd
gathered a sufficiently complete picture.
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- Chapter 18
Elaigar minds were about some two dozen. There was no trace of Stiltik. The
Suan Uwin appeared to be in an interrogation complex with the captured Alatta;
and that understandably was a psi-blocked unit.
There were Tolant minds and two unfamiliar alien mind types here. The serfs
didn't count, and the only
Elaigar in the central offices were two bored Otessan females, keeping an eye
on the working staff. They might notice Essu going into Stiltik's offices
presently, but there was nothing unusual about that. They weren't likely to be
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aware he was supposed to be somewhere else.
Another of the minds around here might count for a great deal. It was that of
Stiltik's dagen.
The work she'd put in improving her psi techniques with Sams Larking and by
herself was making all the difference now, Telzey thought. When Bozo was
tracking her, she'd felt and been nearly helpless.
She'd better remain very wary around this psi beast, but she wasn't in the
least helpless, and knew it. Her screens hid her mind from it, and she'd
learned how to reach through the screens with delicately sensing probes.
A probe reached toward the dagen mind the barest touch. There was no reaction.
Cautiously then, Telzey began to trace out what she could discern.
The creature was in an enclosure without physical exits. It needed none, of
course. On Stiltik's order, it could flick itself into the enclosure and out
again.
It could do very little that wasn't done on Stiltik's mental orders. Stiltik
had clamped heavy and rigid controls on her monster. A human mind placed under
similar controls would have been effectively paralyzed. The dagen's rugged
psyche was in no sense paralyzed. It simply was unable to act except as its
handler permitted it to act.
It wasn't very intelligent, but it knew who kept it chained.
Telzey studied the controls until she was satisfied she understood them. Then
she told Essu to go after the omnipacks in Stiltik's office. She accompanied
him mentally, alert for developing problems. Essu encountered none and was
back with the packs five minutes later. He'd been seen but disregarded.
Nothing seemed to have changed in the headquarters compound.
They left by the secret portal, and Essu handed Telzey its key. She said to
the others, "Wait for me here!
When I come out, we'll go back along the route we came and for the first few
sections we'll be running."
Thrakell Dees whispered agitatedly, "What are "
She stepped through the portal into the room. Her mind returned gently to the
dagen mind. The beast seemed half asleep now.
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