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Biron Farrill waited uneasily in one of the outer buildings on the Palace Grounds For the first ti a provincial

Widerown up, had been beautiful in his eyes, and now his litter Its curved lines, its filigree work, its curiously wrought turrets, its elaborate "false s"-He winced at the thought of them

But this-this was different

The Palace Grounds of Rhodia were no mere lump of&039; ostentation built by the petty lords of a cattle kingdo and dying world They were the culmination, in stone, of the Hinriad dynasty

The buildings were strong and quiet Their lines were straight and vertical, lengthening toward the center of each structure, yet avoiding anything as effeminate as a spire effect They held a bluntness about them, yet lifted into a cli their lance They were reserved, self-contained, proud

And as each building was, so was the group as a whole, the huge Palace Central beco a crescendo One by one, even the few artificialities re in the masculine Rhodian style had dropped away The very "false s," so valued as decoration and so useless in a building of artificial light and ventilation, were done aith And that, somehoithout loss

It was only line and plane, a geometrical abstraction that led the eye upward to the sky

The Tyrannian major stopped briefly at his side as he left the inner room

"You will be received now," he said

Biron nodded, and after a while a larger man in a uniform of scarlet and tan clicked heels before him It struck Biron with sudden force that those who had the real power did not need the outward show and could be satisfied with slate blue He recalled the splendid forht of its futility

"Biron Malaine?" asked the Rhodian guard, and Biron rose to follow

There was a little gleanetic forces upon a single ruddy shaft of metal Biron had never seen one before He paused before entering

The little carriage, big enough for five or six at thethe gleale rail was slender, scarcely e&039;s underside without touching Biron bent and saw blue sky all the length between theust of wind raised it, so that it hovered a full inch above the rail, as though i at the invisible force field that held it Then it fluttered back to the rail, closer and still closer, but never touching

"Get in," said the guard behind hie

The steps reuard to follow, then lifted quietly and se&039;s even exterior

Biron becae was an illusion Once within, he found hi in a transparent bubble At the e lifted upward It cli the atht the panorama of the Palace Grounds froorgeous whole (could they -have been originally conceived other than as an air view?), laced by the shining copper threads, along one or two of which the graceful carriage bubbles skimmed

He felt hi halt The entire run had lasted less than two minutes

A door stood open before him He entered and it closed behind him There was no one in the room, which was s him, but he felt no comfort because of it He was under no illusions Ever since that daht, others had forced his moves

Jonti had placed him on the ship The Tyrannian Commissioner had placed him here And each move had increased the measure of his desperation

It was obvious to Biron that the Tyrannian had not been fooled It had been too easy to get away froht have called the Terrestrial Consul He ht have hyper-waved Earth, or taken his retinal patterns These things were routine; they could not have been omitted accidentally

He reht still be valid The Tyranni would not kill hiht to create another martyr But Hinrik was their puppet, and he was as capable as they of ordering an execution And then he would have been killed by one of his own, and the Tyranni would merely be disdainful onlookers

Biron clenched his fists tightly He was tall and strong, but he was unarmed The men ould come for him would have blasters and neuronic whips He found hiainst the wall

He whirled quickly at the s door to his left The irl with hiirl with hiirl closely, since she orth observation and approval, but at the ether, stopping souard&039;s blaster

The girl said to the guard, "I&039;ll speak to him first, Lieutenant"

There was a little vertical line between her eyes as she turned to him She said, "Are you the ainst the Director?"

Biron said, "I was told I would see the Director"

"That is i to say, say it to me If your information is truthful and useful, you will be well treated"

"May I ask you who you are? How do I know you are authorized to speak for the Director?"

The girl seehter Please answer my questions Are you from outside the System?"

"I am from Earth" Biron paused, then added, "Your Grace"

The addition pleased her "Where is that?"

"It is a small planet of the Sirian Sector, Your Grace"

"And what is your name?"

"Biron Malaine, Your Grace"

She stared at hihtfully "From Earth? Can you pilot a space ship?"

Biron al hiation was one of the forbidden sciences in the Tyranni-controlled worlds

He said, "Yes, Your Grace" He could prove that when the perforation was not a forbidden science en Earth, and in four years one could learn much

She said, "Very well And your story?"

He uard alone, he would not have dared But this was a girl, and if she were not lying, if she really were the Director&039;s daughter, she ht be a persuasive factor on his behalf

He said, "There is no assassination plot, Your Grace"

The girl was startled She turned impatiently to her companion "Would you take over, Lieutenant? Get the truth out of him"

Biron took a step forward and ently, "Wait, Your Grace Listen to me! It was the only way to see the Director Don&039;t you understand?"

He raised his voice and sent it after her retreating form "Will you tell His Excellency, at least, that I aht?"

It was a feeble strahich to clutch The old feudal custoenerations even before the Tyranni ca else Nothing

She turned, and her eyebroere arched "Are you claio your name was Malaine"