A slight rain had begun to fall.

"Tal," I said to the man, lifting my arm in the common Gorean greeting. "Tal," he responded, not taking his arm from the rail. He approached me, more closely than I liked.

"You are a stranger in this city," he said.

"Yes," I said.

"Who are you, Stranger?"

"I am a man of no city," I said, "whose name is Tarl." I wanted no more of the havoc I had wreaked earlier by the mere mention of the name of Ko-ro-ba.

"What is your business in Tharna?" he asked.

"I should like to obtain a tarn," I said, "for a journey I have in mind." I had answered him rather directly. I assumed him to be a spy, charged with learning my reasons for visiting Tharna. I scorned to conceal this reason, though the object of my journey I reserved to myself. That I was determined to reach the Sardar Mountains he need not know. That I had business with the Priest-Kings was not his concern.

"A tarn is expensive," he said.

"I know," I said.

"Have you money?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"How then," he asked, "do you propose to obtain your tarn?"

"I am not an outlaw," I said, "though I wear no insignia on my tunic, or shield."

"Of course not," he said quickly. "There is no place in Tharna for an outlaw. We are a hard-working and honest folk."

I could see that he did not believe me, and somehow I did not believe him either. For no good reason I began to dislike him. With both hands I reached to his hood and jerked it from his face. He snatched at the cloth and replaced it quickly. I had caught a brief glimpse of a sallow face, with skin like a dried lemon and pale blue eyes. His comrade, who had been furtively peering about, started forward and then stopped. The sallow-faced man, clutching the folds of the hood about his face, twisted his head to the left and the right to see if anyone might be near, if anyone might have observed.

"I like to see to whom I speak," I said.

"Of course," said the man ingratiatingly, a bit unsteadily, drawing the hood even more closely about his features.

"I want to obtain a tarn," I said. "Can you help me?" If he could not, I had decided to terminate the interview.

"Yes," said the man.

I was interested.

"I can help you obtain not only a tarn," said the man, "but a thousand golden tarn disks and provisions for as lengthy a journey as you might wish."

"I am not an assassin," I said.

"Ah!" said the man.

Since the siege of Ar, when Pa-Kur, Master Assassin, had violated the limits of his caste and had presumed, in contradiction to the traditions of Gor, to lead a horde upon the city, intending to make himself Ubar, the Caste of Assassins had lived as hated, hunted men, no longer esteemed mercenaries whose services were sought by cities, and, as often by factions within cities. Now many assassins roamed Gor, fearing to wear the sombre black tunic of their caste, disguised as members of other castes, not infrequently as warriors.

"I am not an assassin," I repeated.

"Of course not," said the man. "The Caste of Assassins no longer exists." I doubted that.

"But are you not intrigued, Stranger," asked the man, his pale eyes squinting up at me through the folds of the grey robe, "by the offer of a tarn, gold and provisions?"

"What must I do to earn this?" I asked.

"You need kill no one," said the man.

"What then?" I said.

"You are bold and strong," he said.

"What must I do?" I asked.

"You have undoubtedely had experience in affairs of this sort," suggested the man.

"What would you have me do?" I demanded.

"Carry off a woman," he said.

The light drizzle of rain, almost a gray mist matching the miserable solemnity of Tharna, had not abated, and had, by now, soaked through my garments. The wind, which I had not noticed before now, seemed cold. "What woman?" I asked.

"Lara," said he.

"And who is Lara?" I asked.

"Tatrix of Tharna," he said.

Chapter Nine: THE KAL-DA SHOP

Standing there on the bridge, in the rain, facing the obsequious, hooded conspirator, I felt suddenly sad. Here even in the noble city of Tharna there was intrigue, political strife, ambition that would not brook confinement. I had been taken for an assassin, or an outlaw, been assessed as a likely instrument for the furtherance of the foul schemes of one of Tharna" s dissatisfied factions.

"I refuse," I said.

The small lemon-faced man drew back as if slapped. "I represent a personage of power in this city," he said.

"I wish no harm to Lara, Tatrix of Tharna," I told him.

"What is she to you?" asked the man.

"Nothing," I said.

"And yet you refuse?"

"Yes," I said, "I refuse."

"You are afraid," he said.

"No," I said, "I am not afraid."

"You will never get your tarn," hissed the man. He turned on his heel and still clinging to the railing on the bridge scurried to the threshhold of the cylinder, his comrade before him. At the threshhold he called back. "You will never leave the walls of Tharna alive," he said.

"Be it so," I said, "I will not do your bidding."

The slight, grey-robed figure, almost as insubstantial as the mist itself, appeared ready to leave, but suddenly hesitated. He appeared to waver for a moment, then he briefly conferred with his companion. They seemed to reach some agreement. Cautiously, his companion remaining behind, he edged out onto the bridge again.

"I spoke hastily," he said. "No danger will come to you in Tharna. We are a hard-working and honest folk."

"I am pleased to hear that," I said.

Then to my surprise he pressed a small, heavy leather sack of coins into my hand. He smiled up at me, a twisted grin visible through the obscuring folds of the grey robe. "Welcome to Tharna!" he said, and fled across the bridge and into the cylinder.

"Come back!" I cried, holding the bag of coins out to him. "Come back!" But he was gone.

At least this night, this rainy night, I would not sleep again in the fields, for thanks to the puzzling gift of the hooded conspirator, I had the means to purchase lodging. I left the bridge, and descended through the spiral stairwell of the cylinder, soon finding myself on the streets again. Inns, as such, are not plentiful on Gor, the hostility of cities being what it is, but usually some can be found in each city. There must, after all, be provision made for entertaining merchants, delegations from other cities, authorised visitors of one sort or another, and to be frank the innkeeper is not always scrupulous about the credentials of his guests, asking few questions if he receives his handful of copper tarn disks. In Tharna, however, famed for its hospitality, I was confident that inns would be common. It was surprising then that I could locate none.

I decided, if worst came to worst, that I could always go to a simple Paga Tavern where, if those of Tharna resembled those of Ko-ro-ba and Ar, one might, curled in a rug behind the low tables, unobtrusively spend the night for the price of a pot of Paga, a strong, fermented drink brewed from the yellow grains of Gor" s staple crop, Sa-Tarna, or Life- Daughter. The expression is related to Sa-Tassna, the expression for meat, or for food in general, which means Life-Mother. Paga is a corruption of Pagar-Sa-Tarna, which means Pleasure of the Life-Daughter. It was customary to find diversions other than Paga in the Paga Taverns as well, but in grey Tharna the cymbals, drums and flutes of the musicians, the clashing of bangles on the ankles of dancing girls would be unfamiliar sounds.

I stopped one of the anonymous, grey-robed figures hurrying through the wet, cold dusk.

"Man of Tharna," I asked, "where can I find an inn?"