The boy jumped, shocked.

Veritt drew his gaze from the horizon. "To him I had become an abomination, for the Church of the Purity teaches that all Simes are evil demons. I believed that, even more when I realized what I had done. It took me years to find my way back to G.o.d, and many years more to stop distorting His truth with my own prideful theories. Your parents taught me that, Zeth. I no longer pretend to interpret G.o.d"s will.

"Yet some things I know. My entire life is evidence of G.o.d"s mercy. He has a way of bringing together the right people to implement His plans. While I was building Fort Freedom, your father was undergoing his own changeover and suffering terrible guilt because in First Need he, too, killed someone dear to him. You bear the name of the man he killed."

"I know," said Zeth, for that was another familiar story.

"Throughout your father"s sufferings, there was your mother, a woman of courage and devotion.-"

That story was Zeth"s favorite: how Rimon Farris and Kadi Morcot had grown up together. How Kadi, still a child, had helped Rimon survive the tragedy of his First Killa"not a Gen, but a Sime, his cousin and best friend. How Kadi had established and been taken by Gen traders to be sold at the Reloc Bazaar as a Choice Kill, and how Rimon had rescued her.

Rimon, in need, had meant to escort Kadi to the border and send her safely into Gen Territory, controlling his own desires in the face of Kadi"s soaring field. Then they had encountered a Gen raiding party, torturing to death a Sime they had captured.

Rimon intended to release the prisoner, and send Kadi safely across the border with the Gens. Neither Rimon nor Kadi spoke the Gen language nor understood that a party of bounty hunters was no safe escort. When Kadi ran to them, pretending to flee for her life, they took her in all righta"and began fighting over who would have her.

Rimon had to rescue Kadi again. The Sime captive of the bounty hunters, he saw, was a member of the Lorder Patrol. It didn"t take him long to find the rest of the Patrol and lead them to attack the Gens. In the melee of battle, he was releasing the Sime captive when she died in his arms, driving him from need to intila"the helpless urge to kill. Instinctively, he turned on the nearest Gen: Kadi.

Somehow through hard need, Rimon Farris recognized her, and when he should have killed to renew his own lifea"he stopped. Shenned, ripped from the source of satisfaction through an act of pure will, he fell unconscious. Now Kadi faced a life-or-death decisiona"and decided to give her life for Rimon"s. Taking him hi kill position, she gave selyn, expecting to die. But because she did not fear, she did not die.

Zeth shivered as Abel Veritt retold the story. It was a perfect legend, each lover willing to die to save the other. Mr. Veritt continued, "When your mother and father could find no acceptance in their own home, G.o.d led them to us. Here they learned all that Sime and Gen can do togethera"and here your father found his destiny. Your heritage, Zeth. You may be the channel we so desperately need. We have not found another since Uel Whelan, nine years ago. You are our hope, along with Uel"s children. In your father"s family, changeover comes early, usually by twelve. Soon you may face a great responsibility."

"It"s what I want," said Zeth. "I vowed I"d be a channel before I even understood what a channel was!"

Mr. Veritt looked down at his arms, extending his tentacles in an uncharacteristic gesture. "It is not always easy to keep a vow, no matter how heartfelt."

The hollow despair behind the softly spoken words made Zeth put his hands over Mr. Veritt"s. The old man twined his tentacles over the boy"s hands, squeezing gently. "You have a channel"s instincts, Zetha"or a Companion"s. But you may not wish to touch me when you know that I have not yet kept the most important vow of my life."

Zeth had heard that vow repeated at every year"s turning ceremony. Slowly, the tone had changed from triumph to determination to something close to desperation, and the older Simes wept when Abel Veritt declared, "As G.o.d is my witness, I shall not die a killer!"

Horror-struck, Zeth whispered, "No! Oh, no, you can"t meana""

"Zeth . . . my last kill was not. nine years ago. It was seven months ago."

Veritt had retracted his tentacles, but Zeth still clung while he fought conflicting emotions. "But. . . why?" he whispered. "We"ve got channels, and I know Mr. Steers gives you transfer. Why!" he cried, backing off with a sudden angry urge to throw the frail old man who had betrayed his trust down the rocky hillside.

"I pray constantly for an answer to that question," Mr. Veritt replied softly. "Thus far, there is no answer . . . that I can accept. Perhaps I must pay for the presumption of my vow . . . and yet I cannot comprehend a judgment against me paid with the lives of others."

"What . . . what does Dad say?" asked Zeth. Rimon Farris surely knew everything about Simes.

"There is a change in the nager of a Sime who has killed, when once he pa.s.ses the crisis and is separated from the kill. That change takes place only in the younga"those Simes still in First Year, when they have the great flexibility required to adjust to being Sime. If they don"t stop killing in First Year . . . your father thinks they never can."

"No," said Zeth. "Dad killed for four years beforea"" Total panic overtook him. "No! No, he doesn"t! He can"t!"

"No, Zeth," Mr. Veritt said firmly. "Your father does not kill, ever."

"Then whya"?"

"I don"t know. Your father pa.s.sed his crisis the first time the test came upon hima"for others, it may simply take longer." Mr. Veritt looked over into Gen Territory again. "I"m a very old man, Zeth. I never expected to live so long. But it is my fervent hope that G.o.d is allowing me time to fulfill my vow. As the years pa.s.s, the crisis comes on me less frequentlya"but with greater power."

"When you were so sick last wintera"?" Zeth realized.

"It was not illness," Mr. Veritt confirmed. "I was determined to pa.s.sa" the crisis. The first month, your father forced transfer on me, but I remained debilitated. The second montha"I can"t even remember. I"ve been told I shenned Uel, Hank, and then your father. I would have died of attrition."

"What happened?" Zeth asked.

"Slina." He sighed. "She doesn"t understand us, but she is a good woman in her own way. She brought one of her Gens right into the house. I ... respondeda"demanded it, your father tells me. I was not in my right minda"but your father is a healer. I suppose he could not help weighing my life against the life of that poor drugged creature who had never had the chance to become a person. All I remember is coming to with that dead Gen a burden in my arms."

Zeth"s head was whirling. If Mr. Veritt could not stop killing, what about the other people he loved? Mrs. Veritt was another mother to him, Del Erick had taught him to ridea"and all the others who had raised hima"killers all? Hypocrites?

"Everybody . . . ?" He couldn"t even ask.

"Everybody beyond First Year when your father gave me transfer that day, when you were two years old. We have found that one of our Companions can meet the crisis sometimes, and prevent a kill. With Hank"s help, I have gone eleven months. Now it has been seven monthsa"and this time I shall pa.s.s the crisis. I cannot go on taking a life every yeara"and someone must prove it is possible to stop killing even at my age."

"Everybody," Zeth repeated. "I thought we were different!"

"You are different, Zeth. In nine years, no Sime who has changed over in Fort Freedom has killed. We have set our children free of the kill. Now you must carry ona"you must do what we could not."

As Zeth tried to absorb the enormity of what he had learned, he no longer felt anger toward Mr. Veritt. He wasn"t sure what he felt.

Zeth had never seen a kill. Transfer, yes; both Sime~Gen transfer and channel"s transfer were demonstrated in the chapel, and every once in a while a channel gave public transfer to someone so desperate that he could not wait for privacy.

But the kill ... that was the enemy kept at bay on the other side of the creek. Or, he realized with a shock, imprisoned within the walls of the Old Fort. Except for Del Erick, all those Simes Mr. Veritt said could not put the kill behind lived in the Old Fort. Only a few young Simes, who had never killed, lived at the New Farris Homestead, where all the newly established Gens came to live while they learned to be Companions who could walk safely among all Simes.

All their customs were designed to protect the new Gens. Zeth found it impossible to imagine anyone requiring protection from Abel Veritt, or any of the older Simes. He remembered Del Erick, in hard need, holding Owen steady that day when his son accidentally provoked him. He had resisted what everyone said was the most tempting field since Kadi Farris. But Owen was his son, and Rimon Farris had come to extricate hima"

Zeth could not imagine Mr. Erick killing, or Abel Veritt taking a human life merely for some strange satisfaction. Any channel or Companion could provide the life force to satisfy his need. I don"t believe it.

When he looked toward Abel Veritt again, seeking to be told it was all some test that he had yet to find the answer to, the old man was no longer waiting patiently for Zeth"s next question. He had tensed, leaning forward, his eyes ceasing to focus as he zlinned with Sime senses, which could perceive far beyond the range of vision.

Mr. Veritt rose, saying, "Someone is coming. One person. One Gena"alone?" He extended his sensitive laterals, the small, vulnerable, pinkish-gray tentacles lying smoothly against either side of the gnarled, weather-beaten hands.

"Two people," said Mr. Veritt. "No one else that I can zlin. Not a raiding partya"one"s a child. No ... I think . . . Zeth, someone"s bringing a changeover victim to the border! I"ve never heard of such a thing! That Gen is in dangera"I can"t tell how far the changeover has progressed." But as he mounted his horse he changed his mind. "I can"t go down there. The Gen might turn and runa"and be killed if the Sime reaches breakout. You go, Zeth. You"re still a child. You won"t frighten them."

Riding down the trail, Zeth soon saw a Gen woman driving a wagon, a blanket-covered form lying in the back. As he rode up, the woman halted the wagon. Her eyes swept over his untentacled arms. Then she said in uncertain! Simelan, "Fort Freedom. Is it still there?"

"Yes, ma"am," Zeth answered in English. "I live there."

"Oh, thank G.o.d!" She turned to the still form in the wagon. "Marji! Marji, wake up! I"m going to have to leave you."

Zeth saw on the wagon bed a pretty young girl with delicate features framed by curly light brown hair. She was either asleep or unconscious. The girl moaned, and tossed fitfully, exposing her forearms. The woman looked to Zeth. "She"s always been such a good girl. Will you . . . will you take her for me? I can"t come into Sime Territory again."

"Again?" "I was born there. I grew up in Fort Freedom."

"Then you know we"ll bring her through changeover just fine. What"s your name?"

"Hope Carson." ~ "We"ve got a Tom Carson. A relative?"

"Tommy Carson? My husband"s little brother! I wisha""

Zeth said, "You can come along. It"s safe. Simes in Fort Freedom don"t kill anymore.", "They don"t kill real people. I know."

"Noa"they don"t kill at all!" said Zeth, and then remembered what Mr. Veritt had just told him. "Your daughter will never kill," he amended. "One of the channels will give her transfer. If you grew up in Fort Freedom, you"re not afraid to come back, are you?"

The woman studied him. "No," she said finally, "I"m not afraid. No one in Fort Freedom would hurt me."

"Then bring the wagon," said Zeth, and called, "Mr. Veritt! Mr. Veritt, this lady is from Fort Freedom!"

Mrs. Carson froze. "Veritt?" she murmured. "Is it Jord, or . . . ?"

Abel Veritt came slowly down the trail, getting off his horse a good distance from the wagon. "I won"t hurt you, child!" he called. "Do you remembera"?"

The woman jumped down from the wagon and stood in the trail. Veritt stopped, and the two just looked at one another, until finally he said, awestruck, "Hope!"

"Father!" Suddenly she was running toward him, only to stop a few paces away, hesitating.

"It"s all right," he said. "I"m not in need."

She flung herself into his arms and they hugged each other, laughing and crying at once. Then Mr. Veritt held his daughter at arm"s length, saying, "Oh, Hope, it"s so good to see you again!"

"Mother?" she asked in a small voice.

"Your mother is fine. And Jorda"well, he"s had his problems since his wife died, but he"s alive, too."

She nodded, fighting back tears as she led him toward the wagon. "I"ve tried to live a good life. I married Lon Carson."

"He was always a good boy," said Mr. Veritt.

"He"s a good man, Father, but stilla"" She gestured toward the wagon. "Our daughter. Margid, but we call her Marji."

Veritt climbed up on the wagon, looking at the girl, then zlinning her. "My granddaughter," he said with a smile. "Lord, I thank you for allowing me to see this day."

"But, Father," Mrs. Carson said in anguish, "she"s in changeover! In spite of all our efforts to do G.o.d"s willa""

"Hope," said Mr. Veritt, "G.o.d gave you the courage to bring her here, that you might indeed see His will in action. Marji is not going to kill."

"Is she dying?" the Gen woman gasped.

"No! You will witness a miracle this daya"a miracle we have seen so often it has become commonplace!"

She looked to Zeth as if just now absorbing what he had said.

"We"ve found the true answer," said Veritt. "Gens live safely with Simes in Fort Freedom now, freely giving of their life force without being hurt. We are putting an end to the kill forever." He tucked the blankets more securely around his granddaughter, then moved to the wagon seat and took the reins. "Zeth, take the horses back to the Fort. Tell Uel Whelan to meet us at my house. It"s stage three. There"s plenty of time."

Uel Whelan. For his own granddaughter, Zeth noticed, Mr. Veritt specified the only channel who had never killed.

At Fort Freedom, Zeth verified that Uel Whelan was still at the Farris Homestead. Then he galloped for home. Patches, tied to the porch earlier so he wouldn"t follow Zeth, was now loose, jumping on the boy when he dismounted.

"Can"t play now, Patches," he told the dog, and hurried inside. In the parlor were two Simes, obviously in need. Something was wrong. Normally Simes went directly to a transfer room for their appointments; occasionally someone might have to wait a few minutes in a shielded room, but if all the rooms were full, with a spillover into the parlor, something must be tying up all three channels.

Zeth headed toward the back of the house, but met Trina Morgan in the hall. She carried two cups of steaming tea. "Zeth! No, you can"t go back there now. Everybody"s busy." She set the tea gla.s.ses down on the edge of the staircase, and put her hands on Zeth"s shoulders. "I know why Mr. Veritt took you out this morning, Zeth. You want to talk to your parents, but you"re going to have to be strong until they finish their work."

"No," said Zeth. "It"s a changeover! Mr. Veritt sent me for Uel Whelan."

"What stage?"

"Three."

"Then there"s time." She nodded calmly.

"But the girl," Zeth began. "She"sa""

Unhurried, Trina picked up the tea gla.s.ses and went toward the parlor. "Let me deliver this tea, Zeth, and then I"ll go tell Uel for you."

Companions were supposed to remain unruffled in a crisis, but as Zeth fidgeted in the hall, itching to get back to the Fort, he thought that Trina was carrying things too far.

Finally Trina left the parlor. Zeth followed her to one of the insulated rooms, where she opened the door a crack and slid carefully inside, closing it behind her.

Zeth shifted back and forth from one foot to the other, until at last Uel Whelan came out. The young channel was clearly preoccupied. "Stage three, you said? Who told you?"

"Mr. Veritt. Hea""

"How long ago?"

"Half hour, forty-five minutes. Buta""

"Tell Abel I"ll be there by stage five, maybe sooner." With that, Uel ducked back inside the room. Zeth wanted to shout after him that the victim was from out-Territory, Mr. Veritt"s granddaughtera"but he didn"t dare interrupt.

So he rode back to the Old Fort, Patches loping along beside him. At the Veritt house, Marji had already been taken into the insulated room, where Mrs. Veritt made up the couch into a bed. Zeth noticed how Abel Veritt kept himself between his wife and his daughter like a channel or Companion. Mrs. Veritt was not in need, but she was past turnover. The wetness on her cheeks testified to her frustration that she dared not come near her daughter.

She took out her mothering instinct on her granddaughter, saying, "Hope, she"s as beautiful as you were as a little girl."

Mr. Veritt turned when Zeth entered. "Did you find Uel?"

"Yes. He said he"d be here by stage five, maybe sooner."

"That"s fine. I"ll coach her till he gets here. Hope, you shouldn"t stay. Marji will start responding to your field."

"Oh, Daddy, I can"t leave her when she"s in pain!"

Marji was struggling for every breath, the sound a strong counterpoint to their conversation.

"No," said Mr. Veritt, "she"s not in pain, although she"s uncomfortable because she has no training. She"s not getting enough oxygen. If she knew controlled breathing, she"d be alert now, if weak."

Just then Marji cried out sharply, gasped, and fell silent. Mr. Veritt zlinned her, and smiled rea.s.suringly. "Therea"a stage four, and she"s asleep, not unconscious. She"ll gain strength for the last two stages. I"ll stay with her. Zeth, please take care of my daughter.

So Zeth was to be chased away again. Well, maybe when Del came he could sneak back in.

By this time, other Simes were on the porch. Mrs. Young came in to ask, "Who"s in changeover, Margid?" Then she stared at Hope. "Is thata"? Oh, it can"t be!"