Behind Nathan another shaggy spaceman touched his shoulder. It was Tabor, his father's companion. The two police custodians from Aquatown shifted uneasily.
"Was it Firebird?" Nathan demanded of the watchers.
Before they could answer, Thymar's remaining hand fell upon Nathan's wrist. "There is more to tell," the old spaceman whispered.
Nathan hunched lower to seize every word. "What is it?"
"The Jewels of Chamar—"
"Curse the Jewels of Chamar! They stink with blood. I'd blast them all if I could!"
Thymar's wide, steel eyes opened slowly. The leather of his face crinkled like finely tanned doeskin.
"When you have looked into the blue depths of a stone that is like the eye of all the universe you'll never be able to turn your back upon it. You'll never rest until you have found all seven of the Jewels—or death."
"Death is all that anyone has ever found."
"Ah," said Thymar, "but one man will find himself the master of all the universe when once he holds all seven of the Jewels in his hands. That is the promise of the Jewels—mastery, power. And I know that it is true. I've held them—as many as five of them at once, and I know what it means. There's a force in them that sweeps through the brain and the soul. It lifts a man to power and strength beyond himself."