The Surgeon flinched, but did not back away. «What you have done today-in the Tower of the Serpent-it cannot be undone. Many have already died. More will die if nothing is done. What is the sense of that?» The surgeon shrugged. «We are defeated. The surgeons and scribes at least have the wit to know that.» He sagged into a chair, as though his knees would no longer keep him on his feet.

Blade remained standing, his mind turning in slow circles. Cooperation from any of the High People was the last thing that either he or Bryg-Noz had expected. But if it was going to be forthcoming, if the First Surgeon was speaking for others besides himself-well, Bryg-Noz's job was going to be a damned sight easier! Blade flexed his shoulders to get some of the kinks out of them, then nodded slowly. «Very well. I accept your offer. Warriors, take this man to Bryg-Noz. It is proper that he have the final word.» The escort moved in to hustle the surgeon out, but as they did the man raised a warning hand.

«Wait, I have something else for you!»

«Yes?»

«A message from Queen Mir-Kasa.»

Blade sat down again abruptly. «Queen Mir-Kasa? But she is dead!»

The surgeon smiled rather nervously and shook his head. «It was only a drug that produces a sleep so deep one can easily mistake it for death. I gave it to her this morning, when the battle started, so that Nris-Pol would not seek her out and kill her. She is waking now, and wants to see you.» Then the warriors hustled the surgeon out, before he could say anything more.

Blade also could not say anything more for a while. Then he said «Damn!» in a loud voice. He was not exactly sorry that Mir-Kasa was alive, but it was going to complicate things rather horribly. Could he send another message to Ye-Jaza, telling her not to come? Possibly, but what good would that do? And how much harm might it not do?

No, he would just have to take the shaft back up to the Queen's Chambers, and explain the situation to Mir-Kasa. She was older, more experienced. Perhaps she was wiser, and just conceivably she might be more tolerant of this kind of situation. That wouldn't help things in the long run, but it might keep him out of trouble tonight-unless of course Ye-Jaza wanted love-making that he was far too exhausted to give. And she probably would want just that.

There were times when Blade could appreciate the advantages of a monastic life.

He rose wearily out of his chair and started toward the bathing chamber. Mir-Kasa could certainly wait at least until he got some of the grime and blood off him. Two of the Low People stepped toward him, to help him strip off his armor.

As they reached for him, it seemed that the ceiling above him split open with a roar. It was a roar so loud that it made white-hot pain explode in his head. For a moment he was blinded by that pain. In the moment of blackness it seemed that strong gusts of wind roared up around him, cold and terrible, lifting him up from the floor, through the gap in the ceiling. But he was not alarmed. The computer had reached out, grabbed him, was pulling him home, away from Melnon, its problems, and its jealous women.

The wind continued to roar as he hurtled upward. Level after level flashed past him, blurred now, for he was rising as fast as a shaft car. Then there were no more levels, and the wind was carrying him out through the very roof of the Tower of the Serpent, up into the night over Melnon. For a long moment he saw the seven towers spread out below him in their great circle, their lights gleaming in the darkness. Then the cold came upon him again, and the darkness swallowed him, and the pain burst in his head again, and he stopped seeing anything.

Chapter TWENTY-ONE

Blade was out of the hospital bed and doing exercises when the nurse announced J and Lord Leighton. He climbed back into bed, favoring the right knee a little. It was almost fully back in shape, and there was no further reason for him to be kept in the hospital. But it was standard practice to whip him off to the small hospital in the underground complex whenever he returned from Dimension X. Sometimes-as after this trip-it had been more for observation, testing, and debriefing than anything else. But at other times he had returned from Dimension X with wounds or diseases that would have carried him off within hours or days.

Both J and Lord Leighton shook hands with him, and J looked him up and down with his usual air of fatherly concern. «How's the knee, Richard?»

«Almost back to normal, sir. No problem there.»

«Good. You can get ready to leave the hospital, then, as soon as the doctors have given you a final once-over lightly. Then you can plan to take a few days off.»

Blade raised an inquiring eyebrow. «I thought you were going to want me to help plan the new training center as soon as I got back.»

Leighton shrugged. «Hardly necessary right at the moment. After all-I mean-we can't wear you out by not giving you some sort of vacation.» Lord Leighton seemed oddly unsure of himself and of his words. Blade wondered what hidden message lay behind this rather unusual circumstance.

J grinned. «Now, now, old friend, let's be honest with Richard. He ought to know the whole story. Do you want to tell him, or shall I?»

There was something lurking behind Leighton's manner. Something that had interfered with the training-center project. Leighton smiled thinly, cleared his throat, and said:

«Actually, Richard, there's been a bit of a scandal in connection with the center.»

Blade's eyebrows rose again, but this time his voice was coldly serious as he asked, «A security problem? Did somebody defect?»

«No, no, nothing like that. More-personal. You see, we had an architect all cleared and ready with plans for the restoration of the house. We could trust him completely. But unfortunately, our security check-MI6's security check-«

J threw a mock glare at Lord Leighton.

«- the security check, failed to reveal one thing about this-ah, gentleman.»

«Yes?» prompted Blade. This was beginning to sound interesting.

«He was keeping a mistress-young girl, hardly out of her teens-down in Soho. And his wife found out. Damned distressing situation for her, you must admit.»

«No doubt.» But there was still more, from Leighton's tone of voice.

«It seems she trailed him down to Soho, and surprised him with the girl, and polished both of them off with the kitchen cleaver.» The words came out in a rush, and Leighton took a deep breath and mopped his high forehead with a crumpled handkerchief.

«So the project is temporarily at a standstill,» continued J. «We've been able to keep anything about the poor blighter's work out of the papers. But you can see, it's a deadly embarrassing situation.»

Blade laughed loudly. «Yes, I can see it might be. Most of all for the architect. Perhaps he should have volunteered for the Project. That computer of yours can come in handy for getting out from between jealous women.»

Leighton and J both looked curiously at Blade. He realized that they must not have had a chance to listen to his debriefing tapes. So he explained the situation he had been in at the time of his return, caught between Mir-Kasa and Ye-Jaza. Leighton laughed briefly, J grinned even more briefly. «Glad we brought you back when we did, then.»

«I'm glad to be back.»

Which was certainly the truth.