Empire of Two Worlds

Naturally we didn’t think it out that clearly at that time: our ideas were vague and unformed. The truth was that Bec was trying to get up the nerve to move out, to take the chance on hitting something bigger — teaming up with the invaders from the Moon, maybe. As it happened we did well to stay: because our fulcrum appeared from an unexpected, but logical, source.

I knew that Tone the Taker didn’t have much pop left and I was waiting to see him finally go crazy, start screaming and kill himself with convulsions. Eventually he wasn’t around for a while and I figured he must have crawled away to die. Not that I cared, and I was glad I didn’t have to watch the spectacle, because I’d seen a pop addict get it before. It isn’t pretty.

But suddenly Tone turned up again. “Hello, Tone,” Bec said, surprised. “Where you been?”

“Living with the green people,” Tone said, shrugging aimlessly. “Bec, I need a favour.”

“Oh, what’s that?” We both looked at Tone curiously. By now he should have been dead. Instead, he looked better than he had any right to.

His face was tanned by the sunlight, of course. All our faces were. He was twitching, but not one half as much as he should have been. Correction: he shouldn’t have been twitching at all. He should have been a corpse. Had the green people given him something, I wondered?

It seemed that they had. They used some kind of drug and Tone had found out about it with that famous nose of his. It eased his craving and kept the withdrawal symptoms at bay.

“Tell me about this stuff,” Bec said, pointing Tone into a chair. “How do you take it?”

“It comes in a sort of a pad, like floss. It’s soaked in it. You hold it over your nostrils and breathe in the fumes.”

“You get some sort of charge out of it?”

“They do. It heightens their sensitivity. That’s why they’re so artistic. So gentle. It helps them see things a different way. But me —” he shrugged again — “it just takes away some of the pain.”

“Sounds interesting. What do they call it?”

“In their language it means Blue Space. But it isn’t blue, it’s pink. They call it that because it gives them a feeling of endless blue space. that’s what they say.”

“Is it addictive, this stuff?” Bec’s questions were pressing to an inexorable conclusion.

Tone nodded.

“And how many of the people here are addicted?”

“They all take it. Everybody in Rheatt.”

“Everybody? In the whole country?”

Tone nodded again. “Everybody over eighteen years. You’re not allowed it until then. It doesn’t do much harm as long as you keep getting it.”

Bec leaned back in his chair. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Tone was getting restless. “You’ve got to help me, Bec—”

“Why?” Bec demanded harshly. “What the hell do you need? You’ve got your dope. What else do you need?”

“But it isn’t strong enough!” Tone wrung his hands. “It helps, but not enough. I’m getting too used to it! Blue Space is watered down from some stronger stuff they don’t let you use. I’ve got to have it!”

“They refused you this other stuff?” Bec asked wonderingly, concerned that the mob’s authority didn’t carry that far.

“They don’t have it here. Their supply comes in once a year from some other place. It’s already diluted. You tell them, Bec. You make them get it for me.”

“Why should I?”

“For pity’s sake! I need it. Remember how I helped you, Bec. I found Harmen for you.”

“Sure, but what have you done for me lately?” Bec’s lips were curled. He was enjoying making Tone squirm. “Why didn’t you come and tell me about this dope before? You know dope is my business.”

“I thought you knew … anyway it wouldn’t do you any good. They get it free. They don’t have to pay for it. It’s like a public service.”

“Where does it come from? Tell me where it comes from and I might do something for you.”

I knew Bec was only exploring. He didn’t care whether Tone got what he needed or not.

“It’s all from one place. Some valley. That’s the only place where the stuff will grow.”

There was a moment’s silence. “There’s only one place where the stuff will grow,” Bec repeated.

“All right, Tone,” he said after another pause, “here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to find that valley where they grow Blue Space. Klein is going to come with you. That’s the only way you’re going to get the stuff you need, because nobody is going to bring it here for you. Understand?”

Tone was uncomfortable. “I don’t know where it is.”

“The green people here — do they know?”

“I think so. I’m not sure.”

“Well, find out. The sooner you start the better. And not a word to your friends about what my interest is. Understand?”

Tone understood all right. He’d seen this kind of operation enough times before.

The best way to find where a source was was to get somebody who needed it bad. These people had a natural directional instinct. They were like bloodhounds and in their desperation could penetrate any screen. You did this by cutting off their usual supply and offering this one as their only hope. Tone had probably been put through the pipe before.