system burnt out. I tried to fix it but I failed.… Eventually I decided to leave the place, I couldn’t wait forever, not with the little water I had.… I kept walking north till…and now comes the hard part.… I really don’t know what happened. Like a strange dream, and now I’ve got to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Besides, my head’s about to explode!”
“Hm…there’s something rotten here.…”
“What do you mean?”
“We got an SOS from your coordinates.… But if you say that.…”
“I didn’t send anything, there was no way I could do it.…”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now.… I’m sure you’ll remember, sooner or later. You know, if you’d cared to spend more darins on a better topter, you wouldn’t be such a mess.…”
“Listen, Tarek, I’ve got this thing on my mind, do you know anyone by the name of Mud?”
“Who? Mud? Haven’t heard. She may be one of the newcomers.… I haven’t had time to meet them all.… Why do you ask?”
“Actually…she’s…an acquaintance.…”
“Come on, I wasn’t born yesterday. Let me guess.… Your new sweetheart?”
“Yeah, and more special than the others.…”
“Well, they’re all special at first.… One thing is clear, though, after a while they shut you up and you lose the taste of adventure.… Right? Tell me, what is she, a Terran, a Pteolean?”
“No, it’s not that.… There was something odd about her.… We met in a.… I wish I knew where.…”
“And did you take any drugs?”
“No, let me just clear my mind a little bit and I’ll tell you.…”
“How is it going, gentlemen?” the nurse asked entering the room.
“Pretty well. Tomorrow I’m gonna introduce him to some of the girls here.…”
“Be patient, Mr. Tarek,” the nurse said laughing.
“Tomorrow he’ll be moved to warden 205. Which doesn’t mean we’ll stop keeping an eye on him… With so many young women around who knows what he may be up to.”
“Ha, ha! I can’t agree with you more. See you then. Have a nice day with Nagur.”
“You too, Tarek.”
* * * *
He was alone in a large room, lying on an iron bedstead. On the left-hand-side wall there was a mirror. Strange. He felt his face and noticed some of the wrinkles had disappeared.… Maybe because of the pills he had swallowed?…
The door opened and in came a man dressed impeccably.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Kruger, I’m Zen Dyva, the chief of this outpost. How do you feel?”
“Much better. And that thanks to Mrs…Lydia.”
“Indeed. She’s taken excellent care of you. I’d like you to tell me if you intend to prolong your stay in Karan.”
“Of course, I don’t give up that easily.”
“Then you’ll have to pay for the first month. The hospital fee will be included in the price.”
Lerman turned instinctively to look for his bag.…
“Don’t worry, your stuff is in the valuables safe. You can recover it as soon as you’re back on your feet.”
“OK, no problem.…”
“Get well soon!”
“Thanks a lot.”
Tarek appeared half an hour later with a steaming bowl. He was walking stiffly lest he would drop it…
“There’s nothing better than hot soup, is there?”
“Lydia’s touch maybe?”
“Well, well, we’re back in shape, aren’t we?”
“Tarek! Come closer! I remember now.…”
The old man drew closer, curious, and pricked up his ears like a Pteolean mule.
“I know where the treasure is.…”
“What?”
Lerman took out a map and explained.
“See, we’re here, the former springs of the Tanor are here, and we’ve got to get here, to this sign.…”
“There’s nothing new under Nagur, I can find this area with my eyes closed. But why there?”
“Well…if I tell you…you won’t believe me. While I was in the desert and I barely knew my name, I met a creature by the name of.… Mud appeared before me.”
“I thought Mud was.…”
“You thought wrong,” Lerman said and then told him what had happened in the desert.
“You must have seen things, young man. A chimera or a nude covered by scales is the same bloody thing.… Besides, that place doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s just a pile of rocks.…”
“Trust me. What, do you have too many darins to burn? I’ll give you two thousand now and two when we get back. Deal?”
“Hmm, I don’t know if it’s worth it,” Tarek said but he was already rolling his eyes thinking of his favorite whore and several crates of beer. “But since I know the sort of man you are, I say yes. When do you want us to set off?”
“In two days’ time, I hope.… That’s when Kilmer told me I’d be out of here.”
“I’d say we set off tomorrow morning. Take some fortifiers. I’ll get them for you if you can’t find them yourself. There’s a lot of commotion in the outpost right now. Fortune has just smiled on a fool and tomorrow they’re throwing the usual party. Food and booze as much as one pleases. Plus women, of course.… Next day they’ll run like crazy to the place where the stone’s been found.…”
“You’re right, no one’ll notice when we’re leaving.”
“At least until we get to the checkpoint. From there we’ll see what we can do.…”
* * * *
The rough ground, full of rocks, made walking extremely difficult. One of the impediments treasure hunters had to deal with was topters not being allowed to fly beyond the checkpoints. Lots of hunters had been attempting to run away without paying the taxes so now there were only military topters flying around the outpost. Of all the stuff they were carrying, the water and the picks were the heaviest. Exhausted,
