Namarti stopped, as though he felt Andorin's eyes boring into his back. He turned around and said, "If you're going to lecture me again on Kaspalov, don't bother."
Andorin shrugged lightly. "Why bother lecturing you? The deed is done. The harm-if any-has been done."
"What harm, Andorin? What harm? If I had not done it, then we would have been harmed. The man was on the edge of being a traitor. Within a month, he would have gone running "
"I know. I was there. I heard what he said."
"Then you understand there was no choice. No choice. You don't think I liked to have an old comrade killed, do you? I had no choice."
"Very well. You had no choice."
Namarti resumed his tramping, then turned again. "Andorin, do you believe in gods?"
Andorin stared, "In what?"
"In gods."
"I never heard the word. What is it?"
Namarti said, "It's not Galactic Standard. Supernatural influences. How's that?"
"Oh, supernatural influences. Why didn't you say so? No, I don't believe in that sort of thing. By definition, something is supernatural if it exists outside the laws of nature and nothing exists outside the laws of nature. Are you turning into a mystic?" Andorin asked it as though he were joking, but his eyes narrowed with sudden concern.
Namarti stared him down. Those blazing eyes of his could stare anyone down. "Don't be a fool. I've been reading about it. Trillions of people believe in supernatural influences."
"I know," said Andorin. "They always have."
"They've done so since before the beginning of history. The word 'gods' is of unknown origin. It is, apparently, a hangover from some primeval language of which no trace any longer exists, except that word. Do you know how many different varieties of beliefs there are in various kinds of gods?"
"Approximately as many as the varieties of fools among the Galactic population, I should say."
Namarti ignored that. "Some people think the word dates back to the time when all humanity existed on but a single world."
"Itself a mythological concept. That's just as lunatic as the notion of supernatural influences. There never was one original human world."
"There would have to be, Andorin," said Namarti, annoyed. "Human beings can't have evolved on different worlds and ended as a single species."
"Even so, there's no effective human world. It can't be located, it can't he defined, so it can't be spoken of sensibly, so it effectively doesn't exist."
"These gods," said Namarti, continuing to follow his own line of thought, "are supposed to protect humanity and keep it safe or at least to care for those portions of humanity that know how to make use of the gods. At a time when there was only one human world, it makes sense to suppose they would be particularly interested in caring for that one tiny world with a few people. They would care for such a world as though they were big brothers-or parents."
"Very nice of them. I'd like to see them try to handle the entire Empire."
"What if they could? What if they were infinite?"
"What if the Sun were frozen? What's the use of 'what if?"
"I'm just speculating. Just thinking. Haven't you ever let your mind wander freely? Do you always keep everything on a leash?"
"I should imagine that's the safest way, keeping it on a leash. What does your wandering mind tell you, Chief?"
Namarti's eyes flashed at the other, as though he suspected sarcasm, but Andorin's face remained good-natured and blank.
Namarti said, "What my mind is telling me is this-If there are gods, they must be on our side."
"Wonderful-if true. Where's the evidence?"
"Evidence? Without the gods, it would just be a coincidence, I suppose, but a very useful one." Suddenly Namarti yawned and sat down, looking exhausted.
Good, thought Andorin. His galloping mind has finally wound itself down and he may talk sense now.
"This matter of internal breakdown of the infrastructure-" said Namarti, his voice distinctly lower.
Andorin interrupted. "You know, Chief, Kaspalov was not entirely wrong about this. The longer we keep it up, the greater the chance that Imperial forces will discover the cause. The whole program must, sooner or later, explode in our faces."
"Not yet. So far, everything is exploding in the Imperial face. The unrest on Trantor is something I can feel." He raised his hands, rubbing his fingers together. "I can feel it. And we are almost through. We are ready for the next step."
Andorin smiled humorlessly. "I'm not asking for details, Chief. Kaspalov did and look where that got him. I am not Kaspalov."
"It's precisely because you're not Kaspalov that I can tell you. And because I know something now I didn't then."
"I presume," said Andorin, only half-believing what he was saying, "that you intend a strike on the Imperial Palace grounds."
Namarti looked up. "Of course. What else is there to do? The problem, however, is how to penetrate the grounds effectively. I have my sources of information there, but they are only spies. I'll need men of action on the spot."
"To get men of action into the most heavily guarded region in all the galaxy will not be easy."
"Of course not. That's what has been giving me an unbearable headache till now-and then the gods intervened."
Andorin said gently (it was taking all his self-restraint to keep from showing his disgust), "I don't think we need a metaphysical discussion. What has happened-leaving the gods to one side?"