“I see you are awake. It was a mild drug. I did not enjoy using it, but it was the safest way.”

When he talked his jaw opened and shut with the seriousness of a bank vault. The deep-set and cold blue eyes stared fixedly from under dark brows. Jason stared back just as steadily and chuckled.

“I suppose you didn’t enjoy using the maser-projector either, nor threatening to cook holes in me. For a cop you seem to be very tender hearted.”

“I did it only to save your friends. I did not want them to get hurt.”

“Get hurt!” Jason roared with laughter. “Space-cop, don’t you have any idea what Pyrrans are like, or what kind of a setup you were walking into? Don’t you realize that I saved your life — though I really don’t know why. Call me a natural humanitarian. You may have a swollen head and a ready trigger-finger, but you were so far out of your class that you just weren’t in the race. They could have blasted you into pieces, then shot the pieces into smaller pieces, while you were still thinking about pulling the trigger. You should just thank me for being your savior.”

“So you are a liar as well as a thief,” Jason’s captor answered with no change of expression. “You attempt to play on my sympathies to gain your freedom. Why should I believe this story? I came to arrest you, threatening to kill you if you didn’t submit, and your friends were there ready to defend you. Why should you attempt to save my life? It does not make sense.” He turned back to the controls to make an adjustment.

It didn’t make sense, Jason agreed completely. Why had he saved this oaf who meant nothing to him? It was not an easy question to answer, though it had seemed so right at the time. If only Meta hadn’t said that they would take care of him; he knew they could and was tired of it. He could take care of himself: he felt the anger rising again at the remembered words. Was that the only reason he had let this cop capture him? To show the Pyrrans that he was able to control his own destiny? Was the human ego such a pitiable thing that it had to keep reassuring itself of its own independence or lie down on its back and curl up its toes?

Apparently it was. At least his was. The years had taught him a certain insight into his own personality and he realized that his greedy little subconscious had collected all the cues and signals from the encounter at the spaceport and goaded him into a line of action that looked uncomfortably like suicide. The arrival of the stranger, the threat to himself, the automatic assumption by the Pyrrans that they would take care of him. Apparently his ego and his subconscious felt that he had been taken care of too long. They had managed to get him into this spot from which he could only be extricated by his own talents, far away from Pyrrus and the pressures that had been weighing on him so long.

He took a deep breath and smiled. It wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Stupid in retrospect, but the stupidity could hopefully be kept in the past. Now he had to prove that there was something other than a death wish in his subconscious flight from Pyrrus, and he must find a way to reverse positions with this cop, whoever he was. Which meant that he had to find out a little more about the man before making any plans.

“I’m afraid you have the advantage of me, officer. How about telling me who you are and showing me a warrant or something under which you are performing this deed of interstellar justice.”

“I am Mikah Samon. I am returning you to Cassylia for trial and sentencing.”

“Ah, yes,” Jason sighed. “I’m not surprised to hear that they are still interested in finding me. But I should warn you that there is very little remaining of the three-billion, seventeen-million credits that I won from your casino.”

“Cassylia doesn’t want the money back,” Mikah said as he locked the controls and swung about in his chair. “They don’t want you back either. You are their planetary hero now. When you escaped with your ill-gotten gains they realized that they would never see the money again. So they put their propaganda mills to work and you are now known throughout all the adjoining star systems as ‘Jason 3-Billion’, the living proof of the honesty of their dishonest games, and a lure for all the weak in spirit. You tempt them into gambling for money instead of working honestly for it.”

“Pardon me for being thick today,” Jason said, shaking his head rapidly to loosen up the stuck synapses. “I’m having a little difficulty in following you. What kind of a policeman are you to arrest me for trial after the charges have been dropped?”

“I’m not a policeman,” Mikah said sternly, his long fingers woven tightly together before him, his eyes wide and penetrating. “I’m a believer in Truth — nothing more. The corrupt politicians who control Cassylia have placed you on a pedestal of honor. Honoring you, another — and if possible — a more corrupt man, and behind your image they have waxed fat. But I am going to use the Truth to destroy that image, and when I destroy the image I shall destroy the evil that produced it.”

“That’s a tall order for one man,” Jason said calmly — much calmer than he really felt. “Do you have a cigarette?”

“There is, of course, no tobacco or spirits on this ship. And I am more than one man. I have followers. The Truth Party is already a power to be reckoned with. We have spent much time and energy in tracking you down, but it was worth it. We have followed your dishonest trail into the past, to Mahaut’s Planet, to the Nebula Casino on Galipto, through a series of sordid crimes that turns an honest man’s stomach. We have warrants for your arrest from each of these places, in some cases even the results of trials and your death sentence.”

“I suppose it doesn’t bother your sense of legality that those trials were all held in my absence,” Jason asked. “Or that I have only fleeced casinos and gamblers — who make their living by fleecing suckers?”

Mikah Samon wiped away this consideration with a wave of his hand. “You have been proven guilty of a number of crimes. No amount of wriggling on the hook can change that. You should be thankful that your revolting record will have a good use in the end. It will be the lever with which we shall topple the grafting government of Cassylia.”

“I’m beginning to be sorry that I stopped Kerk and Meta from shooting you,” Jason said, shaking his head in wonder. “I have a very strong suspicion that you are going to cause yourself — and a lot of other people — a good deal of trouble before this thing is over. Look at me for instance — ” he rattled his wrists in their restraining bands. The servo motors whined a bit as the detector unit came to life and tightened the grasp of the cuffs, limiting his movement. “A little while ago I was enjoying my health and freedom and I threw it all away on the impulse to save your life. I’m going to have to learn to fight those impulses.”

“If that is supposed to be a plea for mercy, it is sickening,” Mikah said. “I have never taken favors nor do I owe anything to men of your type. Nor will I ever.”

“Ever like never is a long time,” Jason said very quietly. “I wish I had your serenity of mind about the sure order of things.”

“Your remark shows that there might be hope for you yet. You might be able to recognise the Truth before you die. I will help you, talk to you and explain.”

“Better the execution,” Jason choked.

II

“Are you going to feed me by hand — or unlock my wrists while I eat?” Jason asked. Mikah stood over him with the tray, undecided. Jason gave a light verbal prod, very gently, because whatever else he was, Mikah was not stupid. “I would prefer you to feed me of course, you’d make an excellent body servant.”