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though he were traveling at some multiple of light speed, the near stars shifting relative to the far
ones. The effect was awe-inspiring, technologically and esthetically-and intellectually, for it showed a
configuration similar in general but completely different in detail from anything he had viewed
before. Flint knew the stars as only a Stone Age man could know them; there were no
correspondences here. Was it even any part of this galaxy? He would have to check it out when he got
back to Sol, if need be querying Sphere Knyfh and any other major Spheres that were now in reach.
This could be extremely important.
"The home sky of the Ancients," he breathed. "From this, we can determine their Sphere of origin...."
He could have stared at the splendor of that strange sky interminably, but tore his eyes away. He
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looked around the floor of the chamber. It was bare-no machines, no furniture, no bodies. So he still
had no clue to the physical aspect of the Ancients. But of course this was only one structure of
hundreds. Possibly they had come here to gawk at the vision of the far-distant ancestral home,
recharging their spiritual vitality. They must have had eyes, at least. It suggested something
fundamentally good about the Ancients; they were, in their fashion, human. They had colonized much
of the galaxy, yet they longed for home, and kept its memory fresh. Probably this had been a desolate
outpost, a supply station, with forced tours of duty: a necessary function of empire.
Yet it had been wiped out, and suddenly. Perhaps some terrible beam from space had voided their
pressure shield, releasing their bubble of atmosphere, killing them all. Maybe an enemy had landed,
sacked the post, and removed all artifacts of potential value. In which case there would be nothing left
for the archaeologists. Too bad.
"Sol. Spica," the Canopian Master's voice said from Flint's unit, interrupting his musings. "There has
been a development. Please return immediately to the collection site."
"What happened?" Flint asked, certain he would not like the reply.
"The representative of Sphere Antares has been killed. I am holding its partner Polaris under guard
pending group assembly."
"Oh, no," Flint groaned. "I thought we'd cleared Polaris." He ran for the opening, scrambled out, and
landed beside the Spican. "You heard?"
"Dehydrated!" the creature replied in evident horror. To a water entity, dehydration would be a hellish
concept on several levels, an obscenity. "Now we know there is a murderer among us."
"But neither you nor me," Flint said. "I was within the dome, with no other exit-and you could not
have moved fast enough to do the job, even had you chosen to kill your friend."
"Agreed. We two are innocent-but four suspects remain."
"Polaris, Nath, Mintaka, and Canopus," Flint said. "We must hurry. Would it be permissible for me to
carry you?"
"In the circumstance, permissible. But be careful."
"Yes." Flint put his two arms around the glob and heaved it up, feeling the associated Kirlian aura.
H:::4 had been right: All entities on this mission were high-Kirlian types. Not just five or ten times
normal intensity, but fifty or a hundred. The best their cultures had to offer. High Kirlians for high
stakes!
The creature weighed about as much as Flint did, but it shaped itself to the upper contours of his body
comfortably and was easy to carry. He ran as fast as he could toward the rendezvous.
The Polarian was there, the Canopian saucer hovering close overhead, as Flint tramped up with his
burden. The Mintakan and Nathian had not yet arrived. "What happened?"
"I am under suspicion again," the Polarian said. "My partner of Sphere Antares is defunct."
"I challenged you before," Flint said, setting down the Spican carefully. "But you satisfied me that
you were legitimate. I do not believe you would have done it."
"That is most circular of you. But unless you can identify a more immediate suspect-"
"I think we'd better all establish alibis," Flint said. He had a suspect, but didn't care to name it at the
moment.
"Alibis?" the Spican inquired.
"Each entity must explain where he was at the time of the murder," Flint explained. "If he were
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