Between the Strokes of Night

“No reason that we can think of,” said Lum. “Let me give you the rest of it. When Kallen went through the preliminaries on the previous Planetfest, there was a contestant called Sorrel. He never came first in any trial, but he was always high enough to make the cutoff for the next round. He was easy-going, and popular, and he seemed to hit it off well with the guards, but he never got any publicity from the government media. Three other things: he never seemed to need much sleep; he tended to know bits and pieces of information that others didn’t — because a cousin of his had been a finalist in a previous ‘Fest. And he was completely bald. That make you think of anybody we know?”

“Wilmer,” said Elissa and Peron in unison.

“But he can’t be,” went on Elissa. “He couldn’t compete twice. He wouldn’t be allowed to, unless he was a freak like Kallen — oh, don’t look like that. You know what I mean, he’d have to be born at just the right time at exactly where two zones meet.”

“Didn’t compete — twice,” said Kallen softly.

“Sorrel and Wilmer don’t look anything like each other,” added Lum. “Kallen is absolutely sure they are two different people. Wilmer didn’t compete twice.” “Or even once?” said Peron thoughtfully. “We travelled back together after the Polar Trial. And I couldn’t get a word out of him about the way he’d handled the glacier crossing and crevasses. He just grinned at me. I thought at the time, he’s so cool and fresh, it’s hard to believe he’s just spent fourteen hours stretched to the limit.”

“I agree,” said Lum. “After I heard what Kallen had to say I had the same feeling. Wilmer’s not a real contestant at all. He’s a plant. I don’t think he took part in any of the trials — no one saw him during them, only before and after. The question is, why put an outside observer in with the contestants? — and a completely bald one, at that, which makes him easy to remember.” “My father told me before I entered,” said Peron. “There’s more to Planetfest than the government wants to tell. He hates the government of Pentecost, and he didn’t want me to take part in these trials. He says we’ve lived for the past four hundred and fifty years at a standstill, without real progress, ever since Planetfest began. But I didn’t take much notice. He lives for underground politics, and since I was ten years old I’ve expected that one day he’ll be arrested. Now you seem to be agreeing with him, the ‘Fest had things in it that we’ve never been told about.”

“But it doesn’t answer Lum’s question,” said Elissa. She was tracing patterns in water droplets on the table top, but now and again her eyes did a quick survey of the room to see if anyone was watching them.

“Not yet,” agreed Peron. “But give me a minute, and let me tell you the way my father would see it. First, Wilmer. Suppose he is a government plant. Then he is observing us for a definite reason. My father would say, there’s no point in his presence if it has no effect on the Planetfest trial results. So that suggests the results are being tampered with — so that the right people win. But I just don’t believe that. Too many people are involved in the evaluation and judging. It has to be a little more subtle. Somebody wants to know how the winners will behave when faced with certain facts. And that’s consistent with Kallen’s other observation: something that we haven’t been told about yet happens to Planetfest winners. Maybe not to all of them, but at least to some of them.” The other three were silent for a long time. They were looking at Peron expectantly. He finally realized that they were simply waiting. He remained silent himself, until at last Lum glanced at his watch.

“Five minutes more, then we have to go.” His voice was respectful. “Carry on, Maestro, keep going and tell us the rest. I’m sure you’re right so far. I’m beginning to feel less and less entitled to that number one rating.” Peron looked intently at each of the others. Elissa’s eyes were downcast, staring thoughtfully at the table. Kallen and Lum were both visibly excited. “First of all,” Peron said. “If we know of one government plant in the group, there could be others. So we don’t say anything to anyone, unless we’re absolutely sure of the other contestant. That means people we knew before, or people we’ve worked with on trials who couldn’t be fake competitors. What about Sy?”

Kallen shook his head. “He is a genuine competitor,” he whispered. “And an amazing one. I spent time with him during some of the trials. He is much more intelligent and resourceful than any of us, but because of that withered arm he sees the world through a distorting mirror. We should tell him — though it will confirm all his worst suspicions about people.”

It was Kallen’s longest speech to the group. He seemed to realize that, and smiled at Elissa in an embarrassed way.

“All right, Sy is in,” said Lum. “What else, Peron?”

It was disconcerting to be treated as an authority. Peron chewed at a fingernail, and thought hard.