The Adventures of Deacon Coombs (31 page)

“Yes. How could Landrew and Schlegar possibly understand what we experienced? More importantly, how can one individual control so many? And from such a great distance? And reach out in space over thousands of miles to murder Travers? And an Earthling at that? And what possessed this thing to visit Nix? To arm Nicosians?” Deacon sat back. “Urzel cannot be an Earthman, Quobit. There must be another explanation.”

Deacon closed his eyes. “The vision of the flapping bird outside the ship had to be the mind of Urzel, reaching in and strangling my brain. It just had to be, since Gem and Jim were totally unaffected by the experience. It bothers me that he reached out from afar in a vacuum. My feelings of horror were so real. It was not an object of illusion. Urzel had meant to frighten me, and he succeeded. Never had I felt so hopeless in my life, until I realized my powers to expel the demonic thoughts from my contaminated mind. My confidence warded off Urzel—a short-term victory provided by the teachings of Lyanna.”

Quobit spoke in a firm voice. “This being is to be avoided. This being has to be destroyed quickly by Alliance forces. I fear that we are to be in constant peril, just as Travers, Geor, and Como before us.”

“I am convinced that Urzel and I shared a physical state of union. Urzel reached out and desecrated my body, permeated me to share the sameness as I witnessed the giant bird. I point to the light-headed feeling as experienced by others.”

Deacon held hands with Quobit as they stood. “It was Urzel that reached into Como’s study and willed death; it was Urzel who touched Geor and forced the poison into his cavity; it was Urzel who murdered Travers.” He peered into the faint silver light of the room where Travers’s body lay, the dark wrinkles in the cover running randomly. “How utterly pointless to have killed Travers.”

“Deacon, I will protect you. You have witnessed my physical strength. I know Urzel possesses a brutal and commanding mental strength, but I pledge that together we will defeat him. And don’t forget your two trusty Owler friends.”

“Our hope now is to run to the nearest station of friends, Quobit, to seek help during these insecure, unsettling times. Brebouillis is close after the Vesper from Thous.” They retired into the room where Travers’s body lay, and Quobit taught Deacon the ceremonial rituals of the Jabu and included him in them. During her address, Deacon was moved to tears as she cited beautiful poetry and her brief memories of Travers. He fantasized during her chanting, relishing the thought of seeing Lyanna again. He wondered if Lyanna knew of the unusual Earthman who had killed Travers.
Surely
she
would
have
warned
me
if
she
did,
he thought.

As they refueled, Gem arrived and provided nourishment, and the Owler sat across from Deacon as he revived an earlier dialogue. “Gem, I reluctantly believe your analysis that this thing on the mount that we witnessed is an Earthling. However, speculate on the Earthling that we saw on Nix.”

“Master, Urzel is a dangerous specimen, as evidenced by the masses he held in suspension. It is very difficult for any of us to believe that an Earthman could do that, for it involves a quantum leap of mental abilities. There are some possibilities. The Earthman may be a puppet; his control over the masses on Nix, and the deaths of Como, Geor, and Travers, may be created by artificial means, by some machine or other device that we did not discover as we searched the caves. We must consider this possibility.”

Deacon thought of a super Mindor machine. “That thought also occurred to me, since there is no evidence of Earthmen with such mesmerizing mental powers.”

“However, Master, I recorded no instruments of any kind in the cave when you and I searched, and there was no detection of metallic equipment in the caves or on the ledge as we traversed it, and there was none on the ledge when Urzel spoke. While the evidence is inconclusive, Master, I do believe artificial manipulation is one possibility we should consider.”

Quobit spoke up. “Taking your idea, Gem, and moving it one step further, could Urzel be manipulated by an alien? Perhaps the alien does not want to be seen at this time, so Urzel is fronting.”

“We now have two ideas to investigate. Quobit’s idea is a good one, since again no Earthling has ever been documented with the powers we saw.”

Gem then posed a third possibility. “This Earthman could have been trained to perform these mental acts. Exposure to beings or a race could have brought this ability into clearer focus. For example, it is punishable by law for the Medullans to teach their gift of mental communication to aliens. However, power often yields to corruption.”

“When we arrive on Brebouillis,” said Deacon, “I want you and Jim to conduct a thorough investigation of all library banks to find out which Earthlings have had an unusual interest in Medullan powers. Find out if any Earthman has made frequent stopovers in Medulla recently. Look for evidence that an Earthling may have possibly gained and now misused these Medullan powers. Inspect for any possible regular or prolonged interface with Medullans.”

“The records you seek, Deacon, may also exist on the planet Aralia in space trading logs or at the ports. To access them, Jim and I will need the security codes of Bothwen.”

“Granted. Can we contact I’obo from Brebouillis?”

“Yes.”

“Then ask for his additional help to find who frequents the planet Medulla from Earth, who has visited long enough to be trained and schooled by the Medullans, and which ships of the Union of Space Traders voyage there on a regular basis. Quobit, perhaps you could assist the Owlers while I keep Lyanna and Schlegar entertained.”

Gem then said, “The greatest possibility remains that he is authentic.”

In a somber tone, Deacon said, “I doubt it. It is very difficult to hide a being with these supreme powers at any age. It seems as though Urzel is a giant leap forward in evolution for Earthmen, skipping thousands of years, which is why I doubt he is an Earthling. Schlegar and Lyanna praised my ability as superior to that of most Earthlings, and I know I couldn’t murder Como by willing it, or keep thousands of Nicosians in a mental grip. Something is defying the laws of evolution and biology in this creature. How can such a creature hide? How could evolution as we know it make such quantum leaps?”

“The recorder does not deceive us, Master. Urzel is an Earthling, as identified by his metabolism and heartbeat. Of all the possibilities outlined, this has the greatest probability.”

“Unless,” Quobit said, “it is an alien from outside our universe who bears a metabolism similar to that of Earthmen.”

Jim overheard them and said, “The chances of that are twenty-two million six hundred forty-one thousand three hundred to one.”

Quobit and Deacon smiled, and Quobit then challenged him. “Do your math over, Jim, I think you are off by two hundred.”

“I am the last off the assembly line and—”

“Okay, Jim, we believe you,” said Deacon. “While we are all engaged in this surmising, may I add that if it is an alien from elsewhere, then we have the unique problem of figuring out where it came from and determining how to defeat it. If he is of Earth, then the records at Brebouillis shall expose his true identity, or the travel records on Aralia shall give us insight. This is the strangest piece of the puzzle. Earth has documented all academic records of those who have such abilities. A man so mentally superior would have been quite conspicuous on Earth. His life would have been observed—as was mine, and as were those of my parents before me—to ensure that his powers were not misused. Why did Schlegar and Lyanna not warn me of such a creature? Why would they not know of it?”

Quobit spoke up. “I like Lyanna, as you do. I am sure you can ask her directly upon return.”

Deacon buried his head in the palms of his hands to once again pray that Lyanna was not a party to any deceit played on him. That left Schlegar and Landrew for him to direct his suspicion upon.

Gem looked at each of them. “There is another possibility. May I present it to you three?”

Reluctantly, Deacon said to Gem, “Continue.”

“Perhaps he was of Earthling parents but born abroad in deepest space and only recently learned how to use the mental powers from Medullans. That would account for his anonymity. There are segments of deep space whose data Brebouillis has not captured.”

“Perhaps.”

“Sire, Gem, Quobit, and I do not have complete clearance to the records center on Brebouillis. If you recall, these are accessible by only Schlegar and his staff.”

“Then you shall test your skills of breaking and entering at my order.”

“We are not programmed to commit crimes. We must follow channels.”

“Jim, we don’t have time for games. This monster is on the loose. The safety of all mankind is at stake, including your master’s life. Time is not on our side. We need to find the identity of the devil before he finds us. The only way to do that is to enter the file banks at Brebouillis. I believe that this should be done without the assistance of anyone else and in secrecy. I do not want any oversight or supervision or files being altered before we view them. I order you and Gem to protect me by finding the identity of this devil.”

Quobit stood up to Jim. “You are the last Owler off the assembly line, so therefore you are the smartest. Prove it and find a way to access these confidential files.”

Deacon cherished the moment as Jim pondered and replied, “Challenge accepted.”

“I am convinced that I may be his next victim,” Deacon said. This altered the mood to a sober moment. Quobit and the Owlers stood across from Deacon and pledged to protect him.

“The prime directive is to protect you, so the file entry will be accomplished,” said Jim

“Now, that’s the spirit.” Deacon patted Jim on the shoulder. “I know that this thing, whatever it is, penetrated Travers’s mind and killed him on the
Heritage
. I know this devil murdered Como and Geor. I want a complete list of all Earthlings who have passed the rigorous tests of mental communication in the past one hundred years. The list should include pure breeds, mutants, and hybrids. Every possible lead.”

Deacon was sure that the search would turn up a number of child prodigies. However, if this was as normal as he hoped, then Urzel could have easily manipulated the files on Brebouillis to eradicate every ounce of incriminating information.

“Just to restate, I also want a list of frequent travelers to Medulla as we said before, and a record of the ships that travel there and for what purpose.”

Gem spoke. “I do not feel emotions, sire, but I recognized a respectful camaraderie between you and Travers. Because of this, I wish to express my deepest sympathies toward your loss.”

“Yes, I sincerely came to like the old trader. Like me, we are both pawns in a game not yet defined.”

Quobit said to the Owlers, “Travers’s dying words to Deacon were to locate Chubby Eaves. I shall focus on this. Travers even indicated that Chubby knows the identity of the demon.”

As Gem and Jim left, Deacon settled in to examine the physical evidence collected on Nix. The chemical analyses of the hairs, furs, cutins, and scales were fascinating. The soils were documented and positively identified. In the middle of identifying a Jabu, a Bernardian, and an Aralian, Deacon found a piece of evidence so startling that he raced to the high-powered lens. He sat there for an hour, then addressed the computer, and then consulted his own book,
Protecting
the
Being
. With elation, after they left the mining station, he raced down to the control deck.

“Observe,” he said, and he thrust the slide in front of Gem to analyze it.

“Should I check your data banks to identify?” Gem asked.

“That won’t be necessary. I already have. I recognize the chemical constituents. The black color, even more so the pith and roundness, the symmetry, the oily coating so characteristic of Asiandans—that is, people from the Asianda region on Earth. The elemental analysis of the follicle is the crowning factor. So, Gem, an Earthman was on Nix at one time, most likely one of Asiandan descent.”

“Perhaps Urzel is the Asiandan?”

Deacon asked of the Owler, “How many beings arrived on Nix in that ship?”

“Six. One Jabu.”

“The caves are so clean, the cargo so neatly stored and labeled under the care of a Jabu.”

“Then I recorded two Bernardians.”

“The most unscrupulous race. I’ll bet that they were drawn and bribed by greed to become converts.”

“Sire, a Globianan was definitely in the crew, and finally an Inic’taurian.”

“Right,” Deacon said, “a tall, muscular Globianan being to obey orders and stack the boxes—a being of brute strength, the muscle man in the group. The Inic’taurian could be bribed to any task; they are the most unscrupulous traders. They are also great navigators and so could do the planning and provide the familiarity needed of the trade routes around the region of Nix. They most likely distributed well-placed bribes ahead of their journeys. There is no doubt in my mind that Urzel has an Aralian traitor trader somewhere in his troop.” He paused. “You must uncover evidence of an Asiandan that may have exaggerated mental powers, and convey your findings only to me.”

“Yes, sire,” Jim said on behalf of both Owlers. “On Earth we determined that only a handful of Earthlings ever visited Medulla, for it is a harsh, brutal environment for any Earthling to exist in. None of them expressed any unusual mental capabilities, but we will search the files again.”

“You already conducted that search?”

“Yes, Master. On Earth you requested such a search when it became apparent that Como and Geor may have actually been programmed to commit their own deaths. We traced all visitors to Medulla since their inception into the Alliance. The Globianans are best equipped to travel there, so naturally there were an abnormal number of them who landed on its moon. None descended to the planet. I determined that five Earthmen visited, all restricted to the orbiting moon and satellites. Interfacing on the planet Medulla is arduous and strictly prohibited by Medullan laws.”