are evidence of a death cult on Kamm. Because of the pazul, the director thought.”
“And the director went to Kamm to investigate in person. What has he learned?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did you hear from him last?”
“We haven’t heard from him since he left Slonfus.”
“Why haven’t you asked your agents on Kamm about him?”
“They know nothing about him. They didn’t know he was coming. He didn’t want them to know.”
“Had he been to Kamm before?”
“Yes. He went there several times to help look for the missing agents.”
Rok Wllon was a veteran of service on many worlds, and he knew how to handle himself in any situation. But if he had been on Kamm for more than a cycle without sending back a single message, it was time someone in the Department of Uncertified Worlds faced up to the fact that the nine missing agents had become ten.
There was no point in alarming Kom Rmmon further. Darzek said, “If a world with a level three technology has a pazul, obviously it came from another world. The problem is to figure out who brought it there and why.”
Kom Rmmon blurted, “Impossible!”
Contact of any kind with an Uncertified World was forbidden. The law was strict, the punishment severe, and as far as Darzek knew, there’d never been a violation; but it seemed silly to accept the existence of a death ray on a world with a level three, vegetable technology without even suspecting that it could have come from somewhere else.
A star map of the Kamm sector was displayed on the wall. Darzek went to look at it and quickly assured himself that a technologically advanced Synthesis world was the only possible source for the alleged pazul. Kamm’s sector was sparsely populated and completely devoid of member worlds; and no inhabited non-member world in the sector had a technology rating remotely suggestive of a capability for interstellar travel. The question, then, was which member world of the Galactic Synthesis was responsible for the pazul on Kamm, and Darzek had his own method for checking that.
But even when he found out, the solution of the Kamm problem was certain to require more resourcefulness and initiative than could be expected of a bureaucrat. He said to Kom Rmmon, “What would I have to do in order to go to Kamm?”
* * * *
Back in his own office, Darzek composed himself for an exceptionally tricky interview. He had to find out what Supreme knew about Kamm. Specifically, he had to find out why Supreme had listed Kamm as a potential trouble spot. Did Supreme already suspect the existence of a pazul on Kamm?
Darzek first requested reports on several worlds from Supreme’s crisis list. Kamm was the only Uncertified World on the list, and the information Supreme supplied was a precis of reports filed by Synthesis agents over the years. It concerned geography, geology, sociology, religion, technology, politics, culture—a thorough summary, and it took Darzek more than an hour to read it.
For another hour he simply sat and thought—the outwitting of a world-sized computer was not a venture to be undertaken casually—and then he composed a request for Supreme. He cited the reference number of Supreme’s listing of Potential Trouble Sources, added a heading, “World Listed in Error,” and then he wrote, “Kamm. There is no justification for this listing in the information supplied. Please explain.”
Supreme responded instantly: The reference number, Darzek’s subheading, “World Listed in Error,” and then a comment. “Kamm: Deleted because no justification for this listing appears in the information available.”
Darzek studied that for a long time. Supreme’s thought processes were forever a mystery, but he knew that Kamm wouldn’t have been listed as a Potential Trouble Source without an apparently good reason. Somewhere in Supreme’s infinite maze of cross references was the hint of a crisis on Kamm; but obviously Supreme could not produce that particular cross reference again unless someone posed the pertinent problem or asked the right question.
After a time Darzek gave up and went to see E-Wusk. The old trader sat amid the swirling turmoil of his business office, surrounded by clerks and seemingly carrying on a dozen transactions simultaneously. What Darzek had to say was too private for any office, even with the clerks banished to adjoining rooms, so he carried the protesting E-Wusk off to the structure Rok Wllon had fashioned. Kom Rmmon accompanied them to open the conference room, and then he left them there.
Darzek told E-Wusk what he had learned from Kom Rmmon.
“I’ve never heard of a pazul,” E-Wusk protested.
“Probably they don’t turn up very often in interstellar trade,” Darzek said. “I’m not even sure what one is. I wish I knew what Supreme thinks one is, but I agree with Rok Wllon that this isn’t the most propitious moment for mentioning pazuls to Supreme. Supreme has been known to draw conclusions from the questions we ask. Do you know of any way to override a Mandate?”
“No.”
“Nor do I. Have you ever heard of a Mandate with such a severe obligatory penalty?”
“No.”
“Nor have I. Now answer this. If it should prove true that the world of Kamm has an unlikely genius who has somehow managed to produce something Supreme considers a pazul, how is Supreme going to carry out the Mandate?”
E-Wusk opened his oversized mouth and then said nothing. He sat perplexedly elongating and then contracting one of his limbs.
“Precisely,” Darzek said. “In the days when that Mandate was formulated, the Galactic Synthesis no doubt had a well-armed space navy that was subject to Supreme’s orders. But that’s ancient history. Today we have space law and order and no navy. No armed force of any kind. Weapons capable of destroying a world have been suppressed. So how is Supreme going to carry out that Mandate?”
“It couldn’t,” E-Wusk said.
“Would you guarantee that?”
E-Wusk thought for a moment. “No. We don’t know what Supreme is capable of, and there’s no way to find out except—”
“Which would be much too late. I’ve already learned never to underestimate Supreme. Next question. In my opinion, empiricism has limits that don’t include pazuls. What could a world like Kamm have to offer that would justify the risk of contact for aliens?”
E-Wusk did not hesitate. “Nothing.”
“Here’s the report on Kamm. Here are the star charts. Let’s assume that there has to be something. Tell me what it is and who might want it.”
E-Wusk took more than an hour. He studied the report diligently. He studied the star charts. Then he said again, “Nothing. Some of these woods sound interesting, but why pay shipping costs to import a substitute for metal when you already have metal? And there are plenty of interesting woods available legally and at less distance. Kamm is perched out in the center of a sector of Uncertified Worlds where it would have very little trade even if it could be traded with legally. There’d be few trade routes through this sector even if all of the worlds were Synthesis members. No, my friend. If the pazul came from an alien world, you can take it from me that it wasn’t used to buy anything.”
“That’s what I thought, but I wanted your opinion.”
“You have it.” E-Wusk heaved a sigh. “Do you suppose there really is a pazul?”
“Undoubtedly there’s something strange there, and it took the agents by surprise. And we know how the loss of nine agents would affect Rok Wllon. He’d feel personally responsible. He came to that council meeting intending to ask our advice, and we ridiculed him.”
“He should have known better than to sing a song to the council,” E-Wusk said.
“He thought we would see