The Autarch said again, "What do you want?"
"Information. Give it to me and you will be Autarch again. Your earlier dealings with us would be held in your favor at the Khan's court. Otherwise-"
"Otherwise?"
"Otherwise I will get it from these, you see. They will be saved and you will be executed. That is why I ask whether you owe them anything, that you should give them the opportunity of saving their lives by yourself being mistakenly stubborn."
The Autarch's face twisted painfully into a smile. "They cannot save their lives at my expense. They do not know the location of the world you seek. I do."
"I have not said what the information I want is, Autarch."
"There is only one thing you can want." His voice was hoarse-all but unrecognizable. "If my decision is to speak, then my Autarchy will be as before, you say."
"More closely guarded, of course," amended Aratap politely.
Rizzett cried out, "Believe him, and you'll but add treason to treason and be killed for it in the end."
The guard stepped forward, but Biron anticipated him. He flung himself upon Rizzett, struggling backward with him.
"Don't be a fool," he muttered. "There's nothing you can do."
The Autarch said, "I don't care about my Autarchy, or myself, Rizzett." He turned to Aratap. "Will these be killed? That, at least, you must promise." His horridly discolored face twisted savagely. "That one, above all." His finger stabbed toward Biron.
"If that is your price, it is met."
"If I could be his executioner, I would relieve you of all further obligation to me. If my finger could control the execution blast, it would be partial repayment. But if not that, at least I will tell you what he would have you not know. I give you rho, theta, and phi in parsecs and radians: 7352.43, 1.7836, 5.2112. Those three points will determine the position of the world in the Galaxy. You have them now."
"So I have," said Aratap, writing them down.
And Rizzett broke away, crying, "Traitor! Traitor!"
Biron, caught off balance, lost his grip on the Linganian and was thrown to one knee. "Rizzett," he yelled futilely.
Rizzett, face distorted, struggled briefly with the guard. Other guards were swarming in, but Rizzett had the blaster now. With hands and knees he struggled against the Tyrannian soldiers. Hurling himself through the huddle of bodies, Biron joined the fight. He caught Rizzett's throat, choking him, pulling him back.
"Traitor," Rizzett gasped, struggling to maintain aim as the Autarch tried desperately to squirm aside. He fired! And then they disarmed him and threw him on his back.
But the Autarch's right shoulder and half his chest had been blasted away. Grotesquely, the forearm dangled freely from its magnetized sheath. Fingers, wrist, and elbow ended in black ruin. For a long moment it seemed that the Autarch's eyes flickered as his body remained in crazy balance, and then they were glazed and he dropped and was a charred remnant upon the floor.
Artemisia choked and buried her face against Biron's chest. Biron forced himself to look once, firmly and without flinching, at the body of his father's murderer, then turned his eyes away. Hinrik, from a distant corner of the room, mumbled and giggled to himself.
Only Aratap was calm. He said, "Remove the body."
They did so, flaring the floor with a soft heat ray for a few moments to remove the blood. Only a few scattered char marks were left.
They helped Rizzett to his feet. He brushed at himself with both hands, then whirled fiercely toward Biron. "What were you doing? I almost missed the bastard."
Biron said wearily, "You fell into Aratap's trap, Rizzett. "
"Trap? I killed the bastard, didn't I?"
"That was the trap. You did him a favor."
Rizzett made no answer, and Aratap did not interfere. He listened with a certain pleasure. The young fellow's brains worked smoothly.
Biron said, "If Aratap overheard what he claimed to have overheard, he would have known that only Jonti had the information he wanted. Jonti said that, with emphasis, when he faced us after the fight. It was obvious that Aratap was questioning us only to rattle us, to get us to act brainlessly at the proper time. I was ready for the irrational impulse he counted upon. You were not."
"I had thought," interposed Aratap softly, "that you would have done the job."
"I," said Biron, "would have aimed at you." He turned to Rizzett again. "Don't you see that he didn't want the Autarch alive? The Tyranni are snakes. He wanted the Autarch's information; he didn't want to pay for it; he couldn't risk killing him. You did it for him."
"Correct," said Aratap, "and I have my information."
Somewhere there was the sudden clamor of bells.
Rizzett began, "All right. If I did him a favor, I did myself one at the same time."
"Not quite," said the Commissioner, "since our young friend has not carried the analysis far enough. You see, a new crime has been committed. Where the only crime is treason against Tyrann, your disposal would be a delicate matter politically. But now that the Autarch of Lingane has been murdered, you may be tried, convicted, and executed by Linganian law and Tyrann need play no part in it. This will be convenient for-"
And then he frowned and interrupted himself. He heard the clanging, and stepped to the door. He kicked the release.
"What is happening?"
A soldier saluted. "General alarm, sir. Storage compartments."
"Fire?"
"It is not yet known, sir."