The Blue Moon - 4. Chapter 4

Josel

The atmosphere in the Maidor guest harbour was completely different from the chaos of Ipalos, which they had left behind when they jumped aboard Princess. In fact, the harbour was quite quiet. A few fishing boats returning from the river with their catch and a large, clumsy-looking merchant ship were the only other vessels on the quay apart from Princess.

The bald-headed locals in the port were strangely reserved. The Maidorians - who, according to Ragart, called themselves the Cape Folk - simply passed the newcomers without turning their heads. As Josel and others walked past the tables of the port market towards the town centre, the vendors were not pushing their wares, unlike in the marketplace of Ipalos. Behind the stalls, men and women just looked at the five strangers, expressionless and silent.

The further they walked along the streets leading to the centre, the more Josel became aware of the strange silence around him. The bald-headed children were giggling as they played, but otherwise there was none of the shouting, bustle or chatter of the streets of Paidos or Ipalos. From the river, Maidor had looked so beautiful, but now the town seemed dreary and desolate to Josel. There was hardly any rose quartz decoration on the ordinary houses. They were a cheerless grey, unlike the towers that glistened in the sunlight.

"Why is it so quiet here?" Josel asked Ragart as he spurted up next to the merchant. Fox looked around as if to make sure no one was listening, then replied: "In Maidor, unnecessary noise is frowned upon. In imitation of Izaskar, the Cape Folk spend their leisure time pondering mathematical and physical problems - though I doubt many have the brains for it. Silence, seriousness and hard work are valued here. People here have a very high opinion of themselves, whereas Dimalis are considered boorish - even though they are of the same blood. The whores in the waterfront, for example, are all Dimalis. No citizen of Maidor would ever sell herself to foreign sailors. Despite this, some locals are said to sneak into the harbour at night to buy intimacy. Two-faced devils, I say!"

"Ow...", Ragart uttered after noticing a local man gave him a disdainful look. "Being overweight is strongly disliked among the Cape Folk. If I lived here, I'd be punished with a bread and water diet. Now you can see why a chubby, happy-go-lucky fellow like me doesn't like it here," Ragart said, drumming on his big belly.

Josel smiled at the image of Ragart being on a diet. The merchant was full of stories, not all of them necessarily true. But Josel agreed with him - he did not like Maidor either. As they entered the maze of streets between the tall buildings, Josel wished he had stayed on the ship with Zdain.

They passed more people, sulking grimly and eyeing the group led by Zal with quiet hostility. Or so it seemed to Josel. "They don't like us," he whispered to Ragart.

"They don't like anyone from the outside. What a bunch of inbreds!" the merchant huffed and spat on the cobblestones. Melgy gave a warning look over her shoulder at Ragart, who half-heartedly added to Josel: "Spitting is forbidden here too."

After some more walking, they reached the square between the tower blocks, which was as bare and grey as the rest of the inner town. They had not come across a single park or flowerbed during their entire walk.

But there was something else in the square that caught Josel's attention. A large wooden structure had been erected in the middle of the square: a gallows. Josel took a deep breath, for the gallows was not empty. A corpse hung from it, swaying slowly in the wind.

They skirted the gallows close enough that the stench made Josel gag. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but stare at the hanged man. The inhabitants of Maidor, however, seemed indifferent by the grotesque sight. Without even glancing at the body, the townspeople hurried past to do their chores.

"Don't stare, lad. You don't want to end up hanging from a rope like that thief. As I said, they don't like strangers here," Ragart snorted.

Josel hastily tore his gaze away from the gallows. "How do you know he stole?"

"Because thieves are hanged here. Fraudsters have their tongues cut out and rapists have their genitals mutilated. Then they are deported. You don't want to know what happens to murderers," Ragart said gloomily.

"But according to Imperial Law, no one should be hanged for stealing, right?" Josel asked.

"I told you, we live by different rules here than in the rest of Andiol. The legislators in Dimalos can decide whatever they want, but the common law does not extend to the kingdom of Izaskar."

"I don't like this place," Josel muttered, taking a last look at the gallows behind him. Up in the sky, Zal's bird friend was flying its patrol.

* * *

"Shameless Dimali-man, how dare you ask for an audience with Father! Such a filthy horde of wharf rats has no business in the Father's observatory." The bald-headed sergeant brandished the bayonet of his rifle at Zal, looking thoroughly enraged.

Zal did not flinch at the insults. "Call the chief of the Guard. I'm not leaving here until I see him," he said calmly, his eyes fixed on the sergeant.

The sergeant hesitated for a moment before suddenly stomping towards the door of the guardhouse, obviously annoyed. Soon a bell rang somewhere inside.

Josel tilted his head backwards as he looked at the towering building in front of him. It was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful man-made structures he had ever seen. Apart from the huge wooden front doors, the entire facade of the tower was embellished with rose quartz, which glistened in the sunlight.

There seemed to be a carefully calculated relation between the parts of the building. Every ornament or window on the exterior had a pair of the same shape; they could be very far apart and still be in harmony with everything in between. Like the windows, there were dozens of balconies, and they became more graceful the higher Josel looked. The long, narrow arched bridges, three or four storeys high, were a special case. They were like reddish rays of sunlight, connecting the rose quartz tower to the surrounding buildings, which gleamed with equal beauty.

Just as Josel's eyes began to ache from the endless glitter of the tower, the guardhouse door slammed open and a middle-aged man in a military uniform stepped out. It was easy to guess that he was the chief of the Guard Zal had called.

Once the chief stood before Zal, his words were anything but polite. "I know who you are. You are not welcome in our town, let alone to see Father. Your visits upset him. We do not want you disturbing the peace of Maidor. Leave!"

The rude words made Marl clutch the hilt of his sword, and Melgy took an indignant half-step forward. Ragart snarled beside Josel.

Zal's mouth was set in a grim line. He made the officer wait a moment before answering. "My intentions are of no concern to a little watchdog like you. Your only mission is to deliver me and my party to Izaskar. Dare you defy him? I represent something significant to him, but you are just a petty servant to your beloved 'Father'. Now, get to work!"

Josel watched as the guard chief's face turned bright pink. For a moment, it looked like the man was going to grab Zal by the throat. Finally, he controlled himself and grunted: "Follow me!"

Ragart breathed admiringly and gave Josel a triumphant grin. Then they all followed the chief of Guard to the large main doors, which opened with a screeching sound, letting uninvited guests into the Izaskar Ksellendor's observatory.

If the rose quartz facade of the building was impressive, the hall behind the doors was breathtaking. Sunlight streamed through the large windows, transforming the rose quartz walls into a sparkling sea of thousands of tiny reddish stars. And those walls continued high into the sky.

The steel staircases wound their way up to the ceiling, very high up. The stairs were like a thousand-legged worm reaching for the sky. All of this seemed to have achieved an amazing degree of symmetry: Each stairway opening and the winding of the stairs seemed to be in exactly the right place in relation to the others.

Josel soon realised that they were not alone in the hall. Above them, bald-headed men and women climbed stairs to get from floor to floor. And on the ground floor, soldiers stood in front of four large columns curved outwards from the walls.

At first, Josel had thought the pillars were the supporting columns of the building, but upon closer inspection, he was no longer sure. They seemed to be hiding something. At least behind the guards, there were clear doors into the pillars. Maybe they were stairs to more important rooms, Josel reasoned.

Dazzled by the splendor of the great hall, Josel had not immediately heard that the chief of the Guard spoke to Zal. "Father is waiting for you in the Star Room. Word of your dishonourable arrival has already reached his ears. Despite your insolence, Father has seen fit to receive you," he said, his tone oozing with disapproval. "So, go to meet him, but then leave our cape forever."

Josel looked at the winding staircase above him with fearful awe. He did not like heights at all, and the words "Star Room" sounded ominous, to say the least.

Ragart must have sensed Josel's hesitation, because the merchant said to him in a far from reassuring tone: "Lad, you're about to go higher than you've ever gone in your life."

"Oh, up those stairs... to the Star Room?" Josel confirmed, swallowing.

"Nah, it would take half an hour to climb those stairs - at least for me," Ragart said.

"How come?" Josel wondered, as the guards were already ushering them to the nearest pillar. Meanwhile, the grumpy chief of the Guard had disappeared elsewhere to scowl.

The pillar turned out to be an entrance somewhere. The guards opened the door leading to the pillar, revealing another iron lattice door behind it.

Josel peered behind Marl's broad back and was surprised to find that the entrance led nowhere. Inside the pillar was just a small, low room, almost a cubicle. Like a prison cell, Josel realized, searching his companions' faces for signs of the same confusion he felt.

But Zal looked lost in thought, and there was no emotion to be read in Melgy's steely eyes, Ragart's watchful expression, or Marl's somber face. The four of them walked quite naturally through the doors that had been opened for them and into the cubicle, and all Josel could do was push in after the others.

"Press the top button. You'll be met at the top," one of the bald-headed guards said, pulling the iron gate shut behind Josel and his companions with a forceful motion.

Josel stared in horror at the door closing behind him. They had been forced to be prisoners in a cramped cell, and no one was doing anything! He met Ragart's gaze and was shocked to see the ever-widening grin on the man's face.

"Ho-ho, the boy is scared," Ragart chuckled, causing the others to turn to look at Josel. A knowing twinkle flashed in Zal's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile. Ragart laughed even harder when Josel stared at the fat merchant like a madman. What was so funny about this situation?

After Zal joined in Ragart's merriment with a few amused snorts, Melgy had had enough. "Now push the button, you've had your silly laugh," she said, sounding bored, and elbowed Ragart in the side.

"But the boy is afraid of this place," Ragart gushed.

At the same moment something happened. The little cubicle shook and - yes, it moved upwards! Josel's astonishment made Ragart stumble again. "The first time is always the most exciting - in everything," said the merchant with a wink.

Josel glowered at the man. He had already figured out what was going on. There were no houses in Paidos tall enough to warrant elevators. That's why Josel had never been able to get on one.

He shifted his attention from Ragart to the moving cubicle. The elevator rose with wondrous stability and speed. Josel tried to guess what kind of mechanism was moving it, but it was hard to tell from inside.

Not long after, the elevator stopped with a jolt. Melgy yanked the iron gate aside, pushing the door behind it. Josel swallowed to open his ears, which were plugged after the ride. Then he stepped out of the lift at Melgy's heels.

Although Josel would have preferred to return to his normal life in Paidos a hundred times over, he had to admit that new experiences like the elevator were not bad at all.

A bald-headed servant was waiting outside the elevator. He took a few steps forward and announced in a loud, if unfriendly, voice that he was taking Zal and his party to 'Father'.

They walked along a wide colonnade lit by imposing crystal chandeliers. Closed wooden doors lined the corridor, evenly spaced. But there were no windows, so Josel did not get the information he craved about how high the elevator had taken them.

Then the corridor ended at a massive door, with two grim-faced men standing in front of it. The servant who had escorted the group addressed them and gave the order to let the guests into 'the Star Room'. The other guard turned a crank in the wall, causing the doors to open with a faint sound.

Josel had been so exhausted from the elevator ride that he had not had time to think about what the much-discussed Star Room might look like. But it would have been impossible to imagine it in advance. The Star Room was a large circular space covered by a glass dome. That, and the dizzying view from the huge windows, told them they had come very high, right to the top of the tower.

The floor of the circular room was tiered, with desks of varying heights here and there. They were covered with drawings, stacks of paper and strange-looking instruments whose purpose could only be guessed. The temperature in the room was very pleasant, which must have been due to the fans in the ceiling that brought fresh, cool air into the room.

Where the outer walls of the building had been a pale rose quartz, the Star Room was a deep green. That was also the colour of the folding screens that framed the room, the supports of the dome and the thick carpets that covered the floor. The most striking shade of green in the room were the decorative inlays on the structures, shimmering in the sunlight from the glass ceiling.

Soon Josel's attention was drawn to the most unusual details in the observatory: the telescopes for stargazing. He had, of course, seen a telescope in his astronomy class at school and had even been allowed to peer through one. But these telescopes were a far cry from the puny gadget in the classroom. On the floor were huge, man-sized devices on high stands. Their tubes pointed through open hatches in the ceiling to different parts of the sky.

There were about twenty men and women dressed in long dark green robes. All of them were past middle age and, as usual, bald, regardless of gender.

"Astronomers. The most prestigious position to which anyone in Maidor can rise," Ragart whispered to Josel.

The astronomers, engaged in various tasks, barely glanced at the visitors before continuing their work. Some of them seemed to be writing down calculations on paper, one of them was frantically using a pair of compasses on a cloth spread out on a table, and a few were maintaining one of the largest telescopes.

In the middle of the room stood a small, barefoot man, dressed in a green outfit similar to that worn by astronomers. Josel could guess who it was.

The old man seemed to notice the newcomers and hobbled closer, leaning on his cane. One of the astronomers rushed to support the man, but he shook him off with a wave of his hand.

"Izaskar, it's been a long time," Zal began, once the old man was within earshot.

Now Josel saw that the man was not quite as tiny as he had seemed from a distance. Clearly shorter than average, though. Izaskar Ksellendor was not completely bald, like the other townsfolk, but the white hair on the back of his head was like a crown that distinguished the ruler from his subjects.

The wrinkles on his face indicated an advanced age, which for some reason was difficult to define more precisely. Izaskar was, in a strange way, both frail and youthful. His narrow, pointed nose gave him a curious appearance. The look in his brown eyes was alert but somehow disturbing. Is it the look of a madman, Josel wondered before the old man opened his mouth.

"It's certainly been a while. You must be afraid of me and my power, since you don't bother to visit me anymore... Ha-ha, it was a joke. You've never been afraid of me. Fierce Zaltarim, the fiercest of the seekers in the Inhabited World," said Lord of Maidor.

Zal laughed, but did not seem particularly amused.

With that, Izaskar continued in a mocking tone: "You certainly didn't come for a courtesy call. When have you ever been polite to me? Who are these servants of yours? Hey, I remember that grumpy man and that sour bitch. The fat one looks familiar too... but I've never met the boy. Isn't he a bit young to be running around chasing monsters with you?"

"You know very well that I have no servants. You have hundreds of groveling servants, I have a few trusted friends. Yet I believe I am richer than you," Zal replied.

"Hehe, you're rich? A tramp, treading muddy cart tracks and staying in stinking inns. You may be rich in experience, but hey, Zal, you lack great knowledge, always have. Ratio of circle to its diameter - 3.14159 26535 89793 and so on. Childishly simple. But did you know that? I bet you didn't," Izaskar quipped.

A shrug of the shoulders was the only answer Zal bothered to give.

It only spurred the old man on. "Irrational numbers, inclination, integral, inverse of the inverse function! You don't understand any of that either. I've proved what the cryptic universe is made of. I can see everything, everything, with my scopes!" Izaskar almost shouted, spreading his arms towards his telescopes.

Zal did not look convinced, but simply asked: "Does this house still offer a seat and a drop of drink to a wanderer of the muddy cart tracks?"

Izaskar met Zal's gaze with a frozen stare, but suddenly turned his head twice, as if drawing a circle in the air with his nose. "Oh yes, old friend. Welcome to the Star Room. You are all welcome. Gattor! Heyar! Bring some mulled wine and pastries for these dear friends of mine. You sluggards, come and entertain my guests!" Izaskar waved the astronomers towards him with a haste that would have suggested more of an impending fire. After whispering respectful words to Izaskar, two elderly astronomers hurried to do his bidding.

Using his cane, Izaskar limped past Zal and beckoned eagerly for his guests to follow. The earlier rudeness had given way to hospitality a little too quickly. Josel met Ragart's gaze, which told him that they both agreed on the mental balance of Lord of Maidor.

The old man led them to a wooden table. It was surrounded by low benches covered with a greenish cloth. Izaskar instructed his guest to sit on them, and chose a chair with a backrest for himself at the end of the table.

As the astronomers arrived carrying serving trays, Izaskar reopened the conversation. The recent hubbub was gone and the old man spoke in a calm but sharp voice. "I am not interested in the outside world. I know you have come here to ask for my help with one of your projects. Did I help you last time when you wanted to kill that fallen? No, I didn't, and I'm not helping now either."

Josel pricked up his ears, the word 'fallen' meant the conversation was worth listening to.

Still only paying attention to Zal, Izaskar went on. "You see what I have achieved: an entire kingdom. These subjects are my children, and I have devoted my life to them. What remains outside the walls of Maidor is not mine. It is your hunting ground... yours and Taihan's if..."

"Have you seen her?" Zal interrupted, his voice hoarse, and Josel was aware of a strange gleam in his eyes. Like hope, and underneath something else, maybe pain.

"Taihan? Shouldn't you know where she is? Back in the old days, you used to make love like two little bunnies," Izaskar said, laughing.

"Enough!" Zal grunted, his eyes no longer twinkling.

Izaskar snorted at Zal's outburst. "The last time I saw her was years ago. I told you about it during your last visit. Don't you remember?" the old man said in a casual tone, lifting a bare foot to the corner of the table.

"Let me know if you get a signal from her," Zal said coolly.

"Sure, by all the great gods of the West, I swear. When have I ever betrayed your trust?" Izaskar said, his mouth drooping. He looked more unbalanced again.

Silence fell over the table. Everyone tasted the mulled wine served by the astronomers. Josel nibbled a sugared rusk, wondering why Zal had insisted on visiting Maidor. The conversation did not seem worth it.

Zal broke the silence, which had become oppressive. "It is true that I need your help. There are ominous signs in the air. Perhaps you have noticed something yourself?" he asked, but did not wait for an answer, because Izaskar just stared dumbly into space.

"The Shadow Cross is in open rebellion against the Imperial Throne," Zal continued, looking at Izaskar. "Paidos and Ipalos have been taken over by the shadow walkers. There are also rumours of growing unrest in the West. Dimalos is still peaceful, but for how long? The emperor has not been seen in public for a year and a half. That worries me even more than the Shadow Cross."

"What do I care about Dimalos' political bickering or the Shadow Cross?" Izaskar said. "Morth Lefretz wouldn't dare send his shadow dogs after me. I have the protection of an imperial pledge, the rose quartz walls, my fearless subjects, and this."

Izaskar pulled a large pendant of reddish stone from under his collar, which shone in the brilliant sunlight through the glass ceiling. A look of rapture crossed the elder Lord of Maidor's face as he admired the glittering pendant for a moment before reluctantly tucking it back under his clothing.

"It repels the Might, you know?"

Zal did not seem convinced. "That won't help you if thousands of shadow sentries attack here. Or worse: a vra-dagraaj has been seen near Paidos. This boy saw it. Doesn't even that worry you?"

Izaskar glanced at Josel as if he had just remembered his existence again. "The foolish boy was mistaken, and even if he wasn't, so what?"

"He wasn't, and a dreader in southern Andiol means we have to prepare for the worst. The dreaders are awakening, along with the traitors. We must take action and fight. There is no one else but us!" Zal replied angrily.

"What's the point of fighting?" asked Izaskar, shaking his bald head. "Atoms keep moving through space, stars die and new ones are born, no matter how hard we fight. Even if the traitors win, in time they too will die as the world collapses. Nothing in the universe is eternal. We are heading towards inevitable destruction and a new beginning. It is the cycle of life that renders your struggle meaningless. Mankind is nothing but a crumb of sand in that eternity. Why do you continue your war, Zal? Haven't you realised that it will all end anyway? There is no good or evil in the universe - only particles and their motion. Why bother with something that has no meaning in the grand scheme of things?"

"You never used to think like that. You were one of us. That night in Frosty Moors you were with us! Why did you join us, if you have no respect for what we did, that we did not surrender to the traitors? Did Laftakom, Ob and Anden die for nothing?" Zal shouted.

A few green-robed astronomers appeared to see if all was well. Even Josel had never seen Zal so upset. Speaking of traitors, those people mentioned, the dead ones... what was that all about?

There was a look of mock pity in Izaskar's eyes. "You are irrevocably stuck in the past, Zaltarim Fizol," he said. "Everything about you is gone: the hunting of ancient beasts and witches, that faded cloak you are wearing, the cawing bird on your shoulder, and several over-aged adventurers around you... even the blockheads of the Blue Moon have grown tired of you. Forget that miserable night, forget Laftakom, who besides hated you. He couldn't stand another seeker advising him. Laftakom was a poor little soul. Don't be like that. Forget the traitors, the dreaders and the faceless. Retire and grow tomatoes as a hobby."

The words cut like a dagger. "You old bastard," Ragart cursed, looking like he was about to jump down Izaskar's throat. Melgy glared at the old man, her face contorted with rage, and Marl had clenched his large fists.

When Josel looked at Zal, he saw him for the first time. The veil of mystery and mastery of the situation had been lifted from his face. In its place was sheer pain, fatigue and uncertainty.

Then it all magically faded away. Zal lifted his chin, straightened his glasses and spoke. "But who would take my place? Who would do the searching? Who would warn of the danger that lurks in the Bewitched Land? Who will remind the present generation of the horrors that humanity has faced and may yet experience? Is it you, Izaskar Ksellendor? You, who could not endure the outside world, so you fortified yourself on your cape, in your own little world. You do peer out of here, but only through a telescope and as far as possible - to the stars. You can't reach the stars, even if you wanted to. You could help the world, but you dare not, because you cannot control the forces rampaging there. You've always wanted to control things, haven't you? You control the laws of mathematics with your intellect, and this town with your authority alone. What they have in common is order, that makes you feel safe. But the chaos outside Maidor is something you shun. That's who you are and I accept that, but don't think you have the right to mock my choices. And don't ever again belittle what we experienced on that terrible night so long ago."

When he had finished, Zal stared at Izaskar through his glasses. Only the trembling of his hands showed how much the speech had shaken him. Izaskar was also affected by Zal's words. The old man's face had grown pale and for a moment Josel thought he had slipped back into a state of insanity.

But the bald man straightened up and spoke in a much more conciliatory tone: "Impressive words, Zal. Words of truth that even Laftakom himself feared. You are as you were, carry on with your important work out there." Izaskar waved his hand to indicate the world beyond Maidor.

"I don't think I can do it... you've seen... I'm not always well, despite what my subjects say," he continued, glancing sideways at the astronomers. "I know I don't have much time left. Even we are not immortal. That is why you must fight alone, remembering the traitors and that terrible night. I have not forgotten, and I will never forget: Laftakom, Ob, Jestok, Anden, Taihan - wherever she is. But for me, there is no life outside Maidor. I don't know that world anymore, and I couldn't last a day there. So, Zal... it is your duty to save the people."

Izaskar fell silent in his chair, looking sadly at something no one else could see. Everyone's anger seemed to have subsided, and they looked at the old man expectantly, perhaps a little pitifully too.

Zal cleared his throat cautiously.

It woke Izaskar from his slumber. "By the hypotenuse! I just remembered... I can show you something. I think you'd be interested."

Relying on his cane, he rose from his chair and began to stagger towards the centre of the Star Room. Zal stood up as well, motioning for the others to follow. The scientists in the room had paused their duties, to watch their ruler's slow walking.

Izaskar stopped in front of a desk. He began to rummage through the piles of papers. Zal, Josel and the others had already arrived at the desk by the time he seemed to find what he was looking for.

"Here... I didn't think it was important at first, but your visit reminded me of Lufudon... he would have been interested in this," Izaskar spoke while opening the strings of a folder.

"Lufudon? What do you mean?" Zal asked, sounding suddenly interested, and Josel wondered who this person was. Certainly not a friend, judging by Zal's tone.

"I have never paid attention to the old legends. They never meant anything to me. After all, you can't measure their truth value like you can with physical phenomena. But Lufudon was interested in them... that creep. That's why I suspect this will pique your interest," Izaskar explained.

He had spread out the contents of the folder on the table and arranged the papers to better present them to Zal. "I'm afraid I can't show you this through the telescope. We wouldn't be able to see it now in daylight. It's just a tiny dot in the blackness of the night sky, anyway. These pictures from the telescope lens actually illustrate the phenomenon much better. Look at this," Izaskar said, drawing Zal closer to the table.

"A smudgy picture. What is it supposed to represent?" Zal asked after examining the cardboard-like paper Izaskar pointed to.

Josel tried to peer behind the men, but could only see a hint of something black and white.

"The object in the picture has only recently appeared in the telescopes," Izaskar explained. "We examined its orbit using a calculation that is too complicated to explain to a layman like you. We have concluded that the object is moving at high speed towards our planet and will reach us very soon. It's a comet - or a tailed star for you non-scientists."

Zal snorted. "Even a 'layman like me' knows that such tailed stars are quite common in outer space. What's the point? Is that rock going to explode on us?"
Izaskar rubbed his head with his gnarled fingers. "No explosions. It'll pass by our planet at close range. And yes, comets like this are very common. But something else caught our attention: its colour. Even at such a distance, it appears as a red dot in the telescope. As red as blood."

After a pause, the old man spoke again: "The colour is probably caused by some reddish mineral, I thought, and forgot it in this folder. We have much more important research to do, about the nature of the whole universe. You can't stay interested in one comet for long. But then I was informed of your arrival, and it brought back those old days. I also remembered Lufudon and his research, which I always thought was just nonsense."

"Lufudon?" Zal urged Izaskar to continue, his voice tense.

"Yes, the bastard was obsessed with a red comet that would pass our planet at close range," Izaskar said. "I remember him asking me for information about such a thing. I couldn't help him then - how could I guess which one of the billions of comets in the universe he was so attracted to? He didn't even have any numbers to give me. The fool never understood mathematics..."

"Whatever interested Lufudon is now of interest to me. Do you know anything more?" Zal interrupted.

"Do you know anything more?" Izaskar mimicked, sounding annoyed. "I am not moved by this fool's unscientific travesties of research. I care little for this red-tailed star. Instead, if I were you, I'd look at the, shall we say, significant eruptions in the constellation of Dog's Head, which..."

"I'm not interested in your idle chatter. Tell me something useful," Zal said.

It was too much for Izaskar. He slapped his bony hands together, sending his cane falling to the floor. "Oh, 'idle chatter'", he yelled. "If science means nothing to you, get out of my sight. Why don't you go to the fortune tellers at Ammodor? They only give answers that please the listener." With that, the old man turned his back on Zal and began to fiddle aimlessly with the papers on the table.

Zal looked annoyed and glanced at Ragart, who furrowed his brow and nodded encouragingly in Izaskar's direction.

Sighing softly, Zal conjured an amicable tone into his voice. "I'm sorry I expressed myself so rudely. Your advice has been of great help. You know I don't understand mathematics... it makes me nervous..."

"Words, just words, but so be it. I'm not in the mood to argue with you. Ask me what you want and I'll answer," Izaskar said, somewhat wearily, turning back to Zal.

"How soon is that red-tailed star expected to pass our planet?"

Izaskar scratched his bald head as if to refresh his memory. "In about seven months, I think. Does that make any difference?"

"I don't know yet. Can I still take these pictures with me?"

"Take away what I have," Izaskar said, pushing the cardboard at Zal. "That's all I know about it, so don't give me any lip."

The silence that followed was as uncomfortable as the one before. Izaskar tapped his cane on the floor looking absent-minded; it seemed as if madness was gripping him again.

Perhaps the astronomers in the room had noticed it too, for one of them rushed over to the old man. He shot Zal a reproachful look and announced: "Father should rest."

But Izaskar's reaction was not the desired one. "Rest! Rest, just when we are on the verge of solving the most wonderful mysteries of the universe. Not in a million years!" he refused in exasperation, waving his cane in the air as if reaching for some invisible enemy.

The green-robed astronomer retreated a respectful distance to wait for the blow-up to end.

Zal watched Izaskar's rampage with an unreadable expression on his face. Josel wondered if Zal was saddened by his old friend's miserable state, or if he was watching the scene with contempt.

Izaskar let out a couple of disapproving snorts before turning to Zal. "What are you still doing here? Are you going to put me to rest as well?"

"No, of course not. I have a wish. We have a boy on board with a fever, and we urgently need a doctor and medicines."

Zal's words made Josel steel himself, but Izaskar just rolled his head quietly, as if trying to understand if there was some unwelcome hidden message in the request. After a moment he muttered absently: "Taihan was always lecturing about pathogens and such, I couldn't listen back then. Medicine is not a very important science on the scale of the universe." Having said that, Izaskar fell silent and stared boredly at the floor.

A single cough from Zal woke him up. "Multivariable Calculus, Median of a Triangle... Medicines! Exactly so," Izaskar stated.

Then he turned to the astronomer who was still waiting in the background. "You heard what my friend Zal asked. Deliver a reputable doctor and the necessary potions to their ship."

As the astronomer went to carry out the order, Josel relaxed a little. Maybe Zdain could survive after all.

Soon Zal began his departure. He exchanged farewell words with Izaskar, now in a friendly spirit. Ragart and Melgy looked somewhat relieved; the visit to Maidor had gone better than expected. Or they were just happy to get away from the crazy old man. Josel was looking forward to nothing more than a return to the ship - or perhaps a ride down in the elevator before that.

* * *