"Not here, Earl, it can't. It's-well, you don't understand."
"Try me."
"It's knowledge. They don't have it. They-" She broke off as a guard called from where he stood beside alight.
"They've found something! The explosives I think!"
The room was in a house set well within the complex; a bleak chamber, undecorated aside from crude patterns scrawled on the walls, illuminated by a single fluorescent tube. In the cold light Dumarest looked at a table, a bed, two chairs. The bed had been dragged from the corner to reveal a cavity gouged in the floor beneath. Boxes filled the opening.
"They're empty." A guard kicked at one with his boot. "All empty."
Dumarest kneeled and picked one up and turned it in his hands. It was small, the construction strong, the walls thick and padded with a synthetic quilting on the inside. He sniffed at it and ran a finger over the interior.
"Well?" Ursula was impatient. "Is. that what we were looking for?"
"Yes, but we've arrived too late." Dumarest rose, dropping the box. "They've gone and taken the stuff with them."
"They could still be in the area."
"No. That guard we heard scream and the others who were killed must have run into the rebels making their escape. That's why they had to die. If the men had been in position a little earlier-" But it was useless to regret what could not be altered. "Who lives here?"
"Lived." The guard was precise. "Masak."
"Alone?" Dumarest studied the room with greater care. Even if not married he could have shared with a friend and certainly fellow conspirators would have spent time with him." The hollow holding the boxes proved that; one man would have needed help to gouge it out and dispose of the dirt. The boxes too would have required more than one to carry. "Are there other rooms attached?"
A kitchen and bathroom comprised the whole. A single person's accommodation as decided by the Choud. Dumarest had known worse.
"Find out who lives in the adjoining rooms," he said. "Get them. Don't frighten them but bring them here to me." As the guards left he moved to touch the walls. They echoed when he rapped them and he guessed they were of hollow brick coated with plaster. He said, "We have a chance, Ursula. These walls are thin and it's possible that others could have heard what was being said in here."
A small chance and one which dwindled as he questioned those brought to him. An old man who lived on the kitchen side and who was almost totally deaf. A woman who lived to the rear of the bedroom and who had a baby at her breast.
"Sometimes I'd hear things," she admitted. "Laughter and cheering and when I did I'd bang on the wall. Lately I've been busy with the child."
Too busy as was the young man who lived in the rooms against the bedroom.
"I'm out a lot," he said. "Working in the fields and when I get back home I'm too tired to do much more than sleep. I didn't hear anything and I don't know what went on."
"Failure, Earl," said Ursula as the man left. "There's no one else."
"One more," he corrected. "The rooms back of the bedroom aren't exactly in line. They're offset a little and the corner of one overlaps this chamber. We've still a chance."
One which faded as he saw the person who occupied the room. An old woman who blinked and cringed and backed as he stepped forward to take her arm.
"Relax, mother," he soothed. "No one is going to hurt you."
"Men," she said in a thin, dry voice. "Running and pushing people about and all that screaming. It wasn't like this in the old days. I lived in a bigger place then with Arold and my two sons. They've gone now and only I'm left." She sucked at her lips. "Should have left me," she said. "That was my house. They should have let me keep it."
"It was too large for you," said Ursula. "How could you have kept it clean?"
Logic which had no place in the old woman's world. She glared and turned away then halted as Dumarest stepped before her.
"They made a mistake, mother," he said. "You'll get your house back if you can help us. Now, let's play a little game. If this were your bedroom, where would your bed be positioned?" He nodded as she pointed. "The head against the wall, eh?"
"In the corner, mister. Where else?"
"And you need a lot of rest. At your age that's to be expected."
"I'm not too old to clean!"
"No, I'm sure you're not, but you like to go to bed early, right? And sleep."
"When I can," she grumbled. "When the noise lets me. All that scraping-why don't they do something about the rats?"
"Scraping," said Dumarest. "You heard a lot of scraping. When? Yesterday?"
"Days ago-I can't remember."
"And talking?"
"That too. Some people have no consideration for an old woman. If Arold and my sons were alive they'd have put a stop to it. Up half the night and sometimes until dawn. Talking and laughing and singing, too, at times. Young villains! Someone should do something about people like that."
"We're going to," promised Dumarest. "When we find them. Now listen carefully, mother. Did you hear them a little while ago?"
"Yes. Bumping and banging and arguing. One of them had a loud voice and my head was against the wall."
"One of them? How many were there?"
"I don't know. Several, I think. One was called Balain. He was the one with the loud voice and he seemed to be giving the orders. Am I going to get my old house back? I can keep it clean."
"Yes," said Dumarest. "That's a promise." Gently he took the thin shoulders in his hands and looked into the faded eyes. "Now just one more thing, mother. Think carefully and tell me if Balain or any of the others said what they were going to do or where they were going."
"Into the city. They were going into the city."
"Among the Choud? And?"
"Get hurry."
"What?"
"Hurry," said the old woman impatiently. "The man with the loud voice said they had to get hurry. That's all I know. When do I get my house, Mister?"
Ursula said, after she had gone, "A waste of time, Earl. The old woman was almost senile. The men are probably far into the plains by now."
"What would they do with explosives in the plains? How would that destroy the Choud?"
"They can't destroy us, Earl."