“Good enough.” Kimber started to turn when Dard caught his arm.
“Look here. You’ve never been to the Temple of the Voice.”
“Of course not,” Tas cut in, “Is he completely crazy? Does one thrust one’s hand into raw atomic radiation?”
“But I have! Maybe I can’t work your computations but I can guide you in and out. And I know enough about the official forms to—”
Kimber opened his mouth, plainly to refuse, but again the First Scientist was too quick for him.
“Now that makes very good sense, Sim. If young Nordis has already been there—why, that is more than any of the rest of us have done. And in the disguise you have planned the risk is less.”
The pilot frowned and Dard prepared for an outright refusal. But at last Kimber gave a half-nod. Tas pushed Dard after him.
“Go along with you. And mind you bring him back in one piece. We can do many things among us, but he remains our only space pilot, our only experienced astrogator.”
Dard followed Kimber along rock passages, back through the maze of the Cleft dwelling to a flight of stairs crudely hacked from the stone. The stairs ended in a large room holding a ’copter which bore all the markings of a Pax machine.
“Recognize it! This is the one which you played tag with out in the valley. Now-get into this and hurry!”