Seeklight

The word INDEX—in English—appeared on the screen as Lessup punched another button, then disappeared. Rows of letters and numbers crawled upward, vanishing at the top of the screen. “The latest entries,” said Lessup and snorted in disgust.

“What a bunch of garbage.” The moving entries sped into a blur as he fingered another control.

After nearly a minute, he lifted his hand and the words froze on the screen. “Five years back,” he announced, pressing down again. More lines flew upwards on the screen, then suddenly disappeared entirely. The words LIMITED ACCESS MATERIAL flashed on. ENTER PHD #.

“Ah,” said Lessup. “We must be getting down to the good stuff.” He pulled on his lower lip, his other hand hovering nervously over the panel. “I’ll have to take a chance on this. I know it has to be seven digits—” He was talking only to himself, “—and I think it has to start with zero five.” He took a deep breath, then rapidly punched several buttons.

The words disappeared from the screen and, after a second of nothing but blankness, the lines of the index re-appeared. Lessup slumped with relief in the chair. He turned his head and smiled ingenuously at Daenek and Rennie. “I didn’t tell you that there’s an alarm wired into this thing. Goes off if you goof up suspiciously.” Turning back to the screen, his hands sought out the controls, and the rows of words and numbers flashed upward again.

Several minutes more passed, then Lessup slowed the index to a crawl. He leaned forward, studying the characters. “All right,” he said slowly. “This is just… about… the time of the coup against the thane.” The index froze as he lifted his hand from the control panel. “Now if I can find the right envelope…”

Another button, and the words TOPIC, GENERAL replaced the index. Letter by letter, the words EVENTS, POLITICAL, SEQUENCE appeared as Lessup pecked at the buttons. The screen went blank, then read RESTRICTED MATERIAL. ENTER PRIORITY #.

Lessup sat back in the chair and stared at the screen. “Damn,” he said. “I’ve never even heard of that.” Chewing his lip, he reached out to the panel, then jerked his hand back as if from a fire. “Well,” he said after several seconds, “here goes.” His hand moved along the controls again, slowly pressing a sequence of buttons.

The screen went blank. A long moment passed. “Maybe we’d better—” began Daenek, when words suddenly flashed on the screen again. SEQUENCE, SPECIFIC.

Smiling, Lessup tapped out THANE, REFERENCE TO. He turned and winked at Daenek and Rennie. “Now we’ve got it.”

Suddenly, as he faced the screen again, it went dead, devoid of even its constant faint-blue glow. Lessup whirled around, lifting himself out of the seat. His smile was replaced with fear-widened eyes.

“What’s the matter?” said Daenek.

“It suckered us.” Lessup’s voice was harsh with tension. “We tripped an alarm. I should’ve known there wasn’t any such thing as a priority—” He broke off, staring past them at the door.

Daenek thought he could hear a muffled, ringing noise outside the room, then the sound of running feet, coming closer. “Come on,” he snapped, pulling Lessup from the seat.

The door wouldn’t open when Daenek tugged at the handle.

The sound of men running was growing louder.

“We’ll have to try and get past them,” said Rennie. “Scatter if you make it, then try to find your way back to the air shaft.” She flattened herself against the wall by the door.

There was only the sound of their breathing for a few seconds, then the door slowly moved inward. Daenek grabbed the handle and pulled violently. A figure in a dark uniform tumbled into the room. Rennie dashed past him into a group of several more men.

There was the dull crack of fists against their flesh as she struggled furiously to get free of them.

Lessup and Daenek followed on her heels. The corridor seemed to be filled with black uniforms and hands reaching for them, pulling them down. Daenek saw Lessup fall to the floor, tackled around his waist by two of the men.

Somehow, Daenek managed to jerk himself loose from the nearest ones and slip beneath a thick arm that started to encircle his neck. He sprinted down the corridor, then glanced quickly over his shoulder as he ran. One of the black-uniformed men seemed to be pointing at him. A small flash of light from the man’s outstretched hand, and the corridor darkened as Daenek turned his head. The floor flew up at him but he never felt its impact.

Chapter XVIII

Consciousness surprised him. Daenek opened his eyes and lifted his head, then winced at a sudden pain in the side of his neck. He pressed his hand to it, then took it away. There was a tiny spot of blood on his fingers. That’s where the needle must have hit, he thought dully.