The Power of Gnaris Read Free Page A

ready,’ the Great Savant added. “Our transport to
Hikon will arrive in two days.”
    “In two days,
but . . .”
    “I regret that
my personal ship is under repair. We must wait for the ferry ship
to return from Hikon.”
    “My ship is
available.”
    “Out of the
question. I have already conceded that you may accompany me to
Hikon, but I cannot allow your ship, which is not Karavec, to enter
Hikon orbit. It would displease the gods.”
    “I understand,
but every day’s delay could make the task of finding the killer
more difficult.”
    After Forster
had left the room, Barrow instructed his communications officer to
send urgent messages to his deputies in all the Karavec colonies.
He could not allow even one more Karavec embryo to die. The future
of the race depended on it.
    Barrow then
passed through another door into an adjacent room which was in
darkness. This was his private chapel, where he prayed every day to
the gods.
    He collapsed
onto one knee and began his intonation, the first part well
practised after many centuries.
    “Oh, mighty
gods of the Karavec,” he began, “hear me from across the great
darkness. You dwell far away in another galaxy, which is our home.
We are waiting for the day you come to claim the Milky Way. Our
main purpose, our only purpose is to establish an empire in the
Milky Way ready for your arrival. Our loyal warriors and servants,
each one of us, is working towards a better future, for a place
where the Karavec gods will rule.”
    Barrow stood
and raised his head in anticipation. Almost at once a hologram
appeared on the dais. The creature in the hologram had the
appearance of a very old wizened member of the Karavec race.
    “What news do
you bring me, Barrow?”
    “Oh, great and
mighty Kingirow, leader of the gods, creator of the Karavec and of
the Council, I have very sad news.”
    “Are you sick,
Barrow, or is there sickness among the Karavec? Has there been some
kind of accident?”
    “No, oh Great
One, it is more terrible than that. All our embryos are dead; dead
at the hands of one of our own. Please forgive me and my people,
Lord Kingirow, if we have displeased you. We are as always loyal to
you and to your will, and that of the other gods. Tell me how I
might appease you and all the gods.”
    “This is grave
news indeed. You have failed us, Barrow.”
    “It was not .
. .”
    “Barrow, you
are the leader of the Karavec. The responsibility is yours. If
others have failed you, then they are answerable to you. But you
are answerable to us, and you have failed us.”
    “We will find
the perpetrator of this crime. I have hired the best detective in
the galaxy.”
    “Oh, who?”
    “It is Captain
Jim Forster.”
    “This is a
strange name, and unfamiliar to me.”
    “Captain
Forster is a human from the planet Earth.”
    Kingirow, who
had remained calm until now, raised his voice. “An outsider is
investigating this crime? An ally, yet still one from an alien
race.” The hologram flashed on and off several times before
flickering to life once more. “Why?”
    “Did you not
hear me, oh Great One, the murderer is one of our own. I deemed it
necessary for an outsider to investigate this crime. Forster is
renowned as a detective, and was in the area. Did you and the other
gods summon him?”
    “Perhaps we
summoned him; perhaps we did not. What the gods do or do not do is
none of your concern. Do you think we foresaw this
abomination?”
    Barrow waited
in silence for several seconds before Kingirow spoke again. “How
many embryos are dead?”
    “Sixty, and
four nurses.”
    “This will
require sacrifice, Barrow. To show your unfaltering loyalty to the
gods, we require the sacrifice of sixty-four of your servants.”
    “Do we add to
the numbers that are slaughtered?”
    “Do not
question my authority, Barrow, or my decision. This sacrifice will
put fear into the minds of the Karavec warriors and servants; but
above all it will put fear into the mind of the murderer. He