(Kelexel wondered then why Ruth showed him this scene. He understood in a way the pain she must feel at seeing this, but how could she blame him or be angry at him for this? What had happened to her parents . . . that"d been Fraffin"s doing.)
"That time we went to the county fair to hear the darky singers," Grant said. "In the mule wagon, remember? Joey didn"t want to come along. He was mad at Paw for something, but Paw said he was too young to leave at home alone."
"He must"ve been all of nine then," she said.
Grant went on as though he hadn"t heard. "Then when Joey refused to leave the wagon, remember? Paw says: "Come along, boy. Don"t you want to hear them n.i.g.g.e.rs?" And Joey says: "I guess I"ll stay with the mules and wagon.""
Claudie nodded.
Another thread came out of the drapery into Grant"s hand. He said: "I heard you plenty of times when you didn"t want to go someplace say: "Guess I"ll stay with the mules and wagon." We had half the county saying it."
"Joey was like that," she said. "Always wanting to be alone."
Grant"s lips formed a harsh smile. "Everything seemed to happen to Joey."
"Was you there when he ran away?"
"Yep. That was after you was married, wasn"t it? Paw sold Joey"s horse that he"d worked all summer cutting wood to buy from old Poor-John Weeks, Ned Tolliver"s brother-in-law."
"Did you see the ruckus?"
"I was right there. Joey called Paw a liar and a cheat and a thief. Paw went to reach for the white oak club, but Joey was quicker. He must"ve been seventeen then, and strong. He brung that club down on Paw"s head like he wanted to kill him. Paw went down like a pole-axed steer. Joey ripped the money Paw"d got for the horse outen his pocket, ran upstairs, packed the gladstone and left."
"That was a terrible thing," she said.
Grant nodded. "Long as I live I"ll remember, that boy standing there on the porch, that bag in his hand and holding that screen door. Maw was sobbing over Paw, dabbing at his head with a wet towel. Joey spoke so low we"d never"ve heard if we hadn"t all been so scared and quiet. We thought Paw was dead for sure."
""I hope I never see any of you ever again," Joey says. And he run off."
"He had Paw"s temper and that"s for sure," Claudie said.
Ruth slapped the pantovive cutoff. The images faded. She turned, her face composed and blank from the pressures of the manipulator, but there were tear stains down her cheeks.
"I must know something," she said. "Did you Chem do that to my father? Did you . . . make him that way?"
Kelexel recalled Fraffin boasting how the killer had been prepared . . . boasting and explaining how an Investigator from the Primacy stood no chance to escape the traps of this world. But why waste concern over a few suborders demeaned and shaped to Chem needs? Precisely because they were not suborders. They were wild Chem.
"You did, I see," Ruth said. "I suspected it from what you"ve told me."
Am I so transparent to her? Kelexel asked himself. How did she know that? What strange powers do these natives have?
He covered his confusion with a shrug.
"I wish you could die," Ruth said. "I want you to die."
Despite the manipulator"s pressure on her, Ruth could feel rage deep inside her, remote but distinct, a burning and smoldering anger that made her want to reach out and waste her fingernails clawing at this Chem"s impervious skin.
Ruth"s voice had come out so level and flat that Kelexel found he"d heard the words and almost pa.s.sed over them before he absorbed their meaning. Die! She wished him dead! He recoiled. What a boorish, outrageous thing for her to say!
"I am a Chem," he said. "How dare you say such a thing to a Chem?"
"You really don"t know, do you?" she asked.
"I"ve smiled upon you, brought you into my society," he said. "Is this your grat.i.tude?" Kelexel slipped off the bed, crossed the room.
She glanced around her prison room, focused on his face -- the silvery skin dull and metallic, the features drawn into a sharp frown of disdain. Kelexel"s position standing beside her chair put him only slightly above her and she could see the dark hairs quivering in his nostrils as he breathed.
"I almost pity you," she said.
Kelexel swallowed. Pity? Her reaction was unnerving. He looked down at his hands, was surprised to find them clasped tightly together. Pity? Slowly, he separated his fingers, noting how the nails were getting that foggy warning look, the reaction from breeding. Reproducing itself, his body had set the clock of flesh ticking. Rejuvenation was needed, and that soon. Was this why she pitied him, because he"d delayed his rejuvenation? No; she couldn"t know of the Chem subservience to the Rejuvenators.
Delay . . . delay . . . why am I delaying? Kelexel wondered.
Suddenly, he marveled at himself -- his own bravery and daring. He"d let himself go far beyond the point where other Chem went racing for the Rejuvenators. He"d done this thing almost deliberately, he knew, toying with sensations of mortality. What other Chem would"ve dared? They were cowards all! He was almost like Ruth in this. Almost mortal! And here she railed at him! She didn"t understand. How could she, poor creature?
A wave of self-pity washed through him. How could anyone understand this? Who even knew? His fellow Chem would all a.s.sume he"d availed himself of a Rejuvenator when he"d needed it. No one understood.
Kelexel hesitated on the verge of telling Ruth this daring thing he"d done, but he remembered her words. She wished him dead.
"How can I show you?" Ruth asked. Again, she turned to the pantovive, adjusted its controls. This disgusting machine, product of the disgusting Chem, was suddenly very important to her. It was the most vital thing in her life at this moment to show Kelexel why she nurtured such a seed of violent hate toward him. "Look," she said.
Within the pantovive"s bubble of light there appeared a long room with a high desk at one end, rows of benches below it set off behind a rail, tables, another railed-off section on the right with twelve natives seated in it in various poses of boredom. The side walls held s.p.a.ced Grecian columns separated by dark wood paneling and tall windows. Morning sunlight poured in the windows. Behind the high desk sat a round ball of a man in black robes, bald pod of head bent forward into the light.
Kelexel found he recognized some of the natives seated at the tables below the high desk. There was the squat figure of Joe Murphey, Ruth"s parent, and there was Bondelli, the legal expert he"d seen in Fraffin"s story rushes -- narrow face, black hair combed back in beetle wings. In chairs immediately behind the railing there were the witch doctors, Whelye and Thurlow.
Thurlow interested Kelexel. Why had she chosen a scene containing that native male? Was it true that she"d have mated with this creature?
"That"s Judge Grimm," Ruth said, indicating the man in the black robes. "I . . . I went to school with his daughter. Do you know that? I"ve . . . been in his home."
Kelexel heard the sounds of distress in her voice, considered a higher setting on the manipulator, decided against it. That might introduce too much inhibition for her to continue. He found himself intensely curious now as to what Ruth was doing. What could her motives be?
"The man with the cane there at the left, at that table, that"s Paret, the District Attorney," Ruth said. "His wife and my mother were in the same garden club."
Kelexel looked at the native she"d indicated. There was a look of solidness and integrity about him. Iron gray hair topped a squarish head. The hair made a straight line across his forehead and was trimmed closely above prominent ears. The chin had a forward thrust. The mouth was a prim, neat modulation on the way to a solid nose. The brows were bushy brown ovals above blue eyes. At their outer edges, the eyes made a slight downward slant accented by deep creases.
The cane leaned against the table beside his chair. Now and again, Paret touched its k.n.o.bbed top.
Something important appeared to be happening in this room now. Ruth turned up the sound and there came a noise of coughing from the ranked spectators, a hissing sound as papers were shuffled.
Kelexel leaned forward, a hand on the back of Ruth"s chair, staring as Thurlow arose and went to a chair beside the high desk. There was a brief religious rite involving truthfulness and Thurlow was seated, the legal expert, Bondelli, standing below him.
Kelexel studied Thurlow -- the wide forehead, the dark hair. Without the manipulator, would Ruth prefer this creature? Thurlow gave the impression of crouching behind his dark gla.s.ses. There was an aura of shifting uneasiness about him. He was refusing to look in a particular place. It came over Kelexel that Thurlow was avoiding Fraffin"s shooting crew in this scene. He was aware of the Chem! Of course! He was immune.
A sense of duty returned momentarily to Kelexel then. He felt shame, guilt. And he knew quite suddenly why he hadn"t gone to one of the storyship"s Rejuvenators. Once he did that, he"d be committed finally to Fraffin"s trap. He"d be one of them, owned by Fraffin as certainly as any native of this world. As long as he put it off, Kelexel knew he was just that much free of Fraffin. It was only a matter of time, though.
Bondelli was speaking to Thurlow now and it seemed a tired, useless little scene. Kelexel wondered at his reaction.
"Now, Dr. Thurlow," Bondelli said, "you"ve enumerated the points this defendant has in common with other insane killers. What else leads you to the conclusion that he is in fact insane?"