Clarion

CLARION

161

That didn't get through; the feeling of confusion came back, tickling Paul's mind.

"The youth you speak of," Dorland said patiently. "The children—who are they?"

*(Youth) kra'ith (Group/touch) Eh-hli (confusion)*

Paul shook his head. "We aren't getting anywhere."

"We have to keep trying," Dorland said. "The key is here. The young are special to the Tal Tahir. She keeps coming back to that."

"We already knew the young were important. Even the arkies had learned that much. But how can we use that against Lord Tern and High Elder Brill?"

"I don't know," Dorland admitted.

*Eh-hli (query) why (Dorland/Paul) not feel kra'ith (group) home*

Dorland/Paul. That was another concept Elli had started using, and it was the strangest for Paul. The feeling came through as a brief mental image that clearly encompassed both men. Paul wasn't sure if she was confused about their individuality or if she somehow grouped them together as she became more familiar with them. He was reminded uncomfortably of the way he and Dorland had been joined in the temple.

"We got trouble."

Paul turned around to find Jacque standing in the doorway.

[ "Something's happening over by the temple," he

| said. "Looks like they've brought somebody to the wall."

Paul followed him out the door and up the

narrow stairway. Selmer and Karyn crouched at the edge of the crumbling roof. Karyn stared through the binoculars, her mouth set in a hard line. She handed the binoculars to Paul.

"They've got Sabastian," she said tersely. 162

William Greenleaf CLARION 163

"They're putting him on the wall. Looks like they're getting ready for a public execution." Paul could see people streaming along the roadways toward the temple. He focused the binoculars on the raised section of wall behind the temple. The bodies from the day before had been removed. Two white-robed deacons held a man up against the wall while another bound his wrists to protruding pegs.

"Are you sure it's Sabastian?"

"Yes. We'll have to go after him." She had already begun cinching up her pouch.

"That's exactly what High Elder Brill wants us to do."

"Then we'll give him what he wants," Karyn said savagely.

Ten minutes later they were moving at a fast jog through the tubeway. Jacque and Karyn were in the lead, and Paul and Selmer struggled to keep up. Paul had convinced Dorland to stay in the building at the river and continue his efforts to get useful information from Elli.

Karyn was adamant that they reach Sabastian as quickly as possible, and they hadn't taken the time to work out a plan. According to her, the execution would probably take place at sunset, barely an hour away. They would have to assess the situation and figure out what to do after they reached the temple. Karyn called a halt at one of the tubeway intersections.

"This is as close as we can get to the temple," she said. "Once we're on the ground, we'll follow what's left of Tube Three till it runs into one of the roads from Fairhope. I have an idea of how to work it." She tilted her head toward Jacque. "You and I will mingle with the crowd and get as close as we can to Sabastian." She turned to Selmer. "You and Paul stay back by one of the gates so you can get out fast. When we're in position, create a diversion. Jacque and I will cut Sabastian down and take him over the wall behind the temple."

"What kind of diversion?"

She waved a hand. "Think of something. We'll only need a few minutes."

"Will that be enough?" Paul asked. "The deacons will be waiting for us to try something like that."

"Of course they will. So you'll have to create a very good diversion." Her eyes went back to Selmer.

"There's a big crowd out there and only a few deacons and Sons. The rest must be in a prayer meeting or something. Try to keep your eyes on them, and put as much distance as you can between yourself and them when you make your move.

Leave yourself enough time to get away. When it's over, head back to the river. Don't try to find us, just get back whatever way seems best." Selmer nodded, but Karyn was already on her way up the rope ladder to the platform.

They descended from the spiral tube into an area of rubble and heavy vegetation. Off to the right Paul could see the curved spire of the temple. Within a few minutes they had worked their way through the vegetation under the tube until they reached a roadway that was crowded with people. They crouched in the brush, then, one by one, merged into the crowd.

Paul was the last to leave the cover of vegetation, and as he stepped up onto the roadway he suddenly became aware of a weight in his pocket. He checked with his hand and felt a round disk. A Godstone?

He remembered the disk he had taken from Selmer when they'd first found them in the building by the river. At some point he must have unconsciously dropped it into his pocket.

If they catch me and find that disk. . .

He refused to let that thought go any farther. Trying to keep his jangling nerves under control, he 164

William Greenleaf