Warlock

said.
        
        “But you seem confused,” Richter said. “You see, there are but thirty-one of us, and five of our number are wounded and useless to such a cause!”
        
        “As I have told you,” Berlarak said, “your wounded will be cured by the autodocs we have taken them to.”
        
        “Even so,” Richter argued, “your people and ours together only equal forty-but a tenth of the forces above us. Forces which now know a good deal about the city and its weaponry.”
        
        “But not enough,” Berlarak said, smiling. Even the smile was frightening on that face. It approached being a leer. “They know all the superficial things: the aircraft, the guns. But there are far greater weapons in this city than they know of or have even begun to notice. Remember, my people have had ten years to pry through these corridors and vaults, on every level of the city. The upper floors all are larger than this one. A thousand times more power and weaponry lies above us than even you see down here.”
        
        “I don't know,” Richter said hesitantly.
        
        “I think I favor going in with them,” Shaker Sandow said.
        
        “That is wise,” Berlarak said.
        
        “Here's what I propose,” Richter said, leaning forward in his chair. “A detachment of my men returns to Darklands and takes word of our find to General Dark. A regiment of some thousand or two thousand men return and help us take the city. Then, we would outnumber the Dragomans.”
        
        “And then your people would be slaughtered,” Berlarak said. “They would have spies among them. And aircraft from the city would destroy them before they reached the black walls. Meanwhile, the Oragonians grow more familiar with the city and might, by then, discover some of the greater weapons awaiting their hands.”
        
        Richter twisted his hands together, shook his head. “It's just that so many of my men have died. There were a hundred and two of us that left the capital days ago. And now there are but twenty-eight Almost three fourths of them dead.”
        
        “I see what you want,” Berlarak said. “And I understand it. I will take the decision out of your hands by delivering the last piece of information I have been holding for such an eventuality as this. When I have told you what I know, you will join my people in my plan for reoccupation of the upper levels, and because you will have no choice, the decision will rest easier on you.” He looked from one of the Darklanders to the other, as if to gauge if they were prepared for what he was about to say. “Your only hope is to take the city swiftly, within the day. The Oragonians, we know, have declared war on your homeland and have taken fully half of your territory inside of four days.”
        

----

    23
        
        
        
        “You're lying!” Commander Richter shouted, leaping to his feet as if he had sat upon a nail, his face a furious shade of red, his fists balled at his sides.
        
        Shaker Sandow had pushed to the edge of his chair and held his glass somewhat tightly, though he had not stood up. In his years as a sorcerer, working for men of power and wealth, he had learned to accept all sorts of news with an equanimity that some men greatly admired, and which other men thought was nothing more than a sign of apathy. He had early discovered that the body wears better and the mind rests easier when news is handled as something ephemeral. If word comes that the villains triumph today-tomorrow will most assuredly bring news that the heroes have won a battle somewhere else. The world rests most easily upon those who refuse to see it as much of a burden.
        
        “Why should I lie?” Berlarak told him.
        
        “But how could you know what transpires those hundreds of miles from here, across the Cloud Range and the Banibals?” The Shaker could see that Richter did believe, even though he did not wish to. The old man had set his teeth to hear the reply from the white mutant.
        
        “You have seen my radio here. It works within the city only. But there are other, more powerful sets whose signals are received from satellites which orbit our world. The aircraft the Oragonians are using against the Darklands have transmitted this news which has eventually reached the enemy who inhabits the upper levels of our city. And we have