On entering the Combat College, Asodo Hatch naturally headed
for Forum Three, for that lecture theater was where Paraban Senk
habitually dealt with matters of communal discipline or communal
crisis.
        Forum Three was a steeply banked amphitheater in which seating
and desking was ranked in a semi-circle above a small stage. The
backdrop to the stage was a large communications screen, which was
at present displaying the image of a lotus in full flower. There
was seating for as many as 680 people in Forum Three, but at the
moment it had fewer than five dozen occupants.
        Hatch remembered the last crisis of common concern, when
Paraban Senk had summoned all students after Hiji Hanojo had been
found dead - dead at the age of 40, in the thirteenth year of his
instructorship. Forum Three had been positively crowded then. But
now, with trouble on the loose in Dalar ken Halvar, some students
were fighting with the Free Corps, others were guarding their
homes, and some had doubtless joined in the lawless rioting.
        The few dozen students gathered in Forum Three evidenced both
apprehension and excitement. They had trained for war, and so
should have had a grasp of its realities; but the heroic fantasies
of the Eye of Delusions had overmastered their training, so that
they had found themselves ill-prepared for the realities of the
misfortune which had come upon their city.
        In Forum Three, politics was in the ascendant. Where was the
Silver Emperor? Was he prisoner? Was he dead? Was Treasurer Berlin
dead? Was it true the officers of the Imperial Guard were fighting
amongst themselves? Would Manfred Gan Oliver really become the
next emperor?
        "Hatch!" shouted someone, as Hatch entered Forum Three.
        "So here he is," said Lupus Lon Oliver. "The man who tried to
make himself the master of Na Sashimoko. Who tried, but failed.
They say he ran at a speed a very rabbit would have envied."
        The rabbit was a creature of the Nexus, a beast unknown to
Dalar ken Halvar but said to be possessed of an extraordinary turn
of speed and a streak of cowardice which encouraged it to put that
turn to frequent use. But Hatch did not feel insulted, for he had
absolutely no idea what Lupus was talking about.
        Hatch said as much.
        "What are you gabbling about?" said Hatch.
        "Your inglorious encounter," said Lupus. "That's what I'm on
about."
        But Hatch was none the wiser, for he had not heard of the
rumor which claimed that Asodo Hatch had been ignominiously out-
faced, humiliated and defeated while endeavoring to single-
handedly put down the coup which had seen a parcel of Imperial
Guards seize control of the palace of Na Sashimoko. Hatch was
equally ignorant of a variety of other rumors, variously claiming
that Hatch had started the revolution of the Unreal; that Hatch
had personally murdered the Silver Emperor; that Hatch was dead;
that Hatch had fled the city; and that Hatch had plunged into the
Hot Mouth, taking Lupus Lon Oliver down to destruction as he
leapt to his death.
        "You're talking nonsense," said Hatch.
        "So," said Lupus, "you don't admit it."
        "If you won't tell me what I'm supposed to have done," said
Hatch, "then I cannot reasonably either admit or deny it. Accuse
me, and I'll account for my performance. Meantime, account for
your own - what are you doing sitting here on your backside while
our city burns?"
        "What are you doing?" retorted Lupus.
        "I came here to organize a response to the present chaos,"
said Hatch. "Inside of the night I'll do as much. But I'm fresh
arrived, you seem to have been here all night."
        "Not so," said Lupus. "I was out in the city, but returned in
response to the messengers, just as you did."
        "The messengers?" said Hatch in bewilderment, wondering if
Lupus was suffering one of those illnesses where the deluded
victim starts hearing imaginary voices speaking inside his head.
        "Senk's messengers," said Lupus.
        And by diligent questioning, Hatch learnt that Paraban Senk
had despatched a number of Combat Cadets as messengers, telling
them to recall Asodo Hatch and Lupus Lon Oliver to the Combat
College.
        "Then perhaps Senk wants us to jointly organize a response to
the present crisis," said Hatch.
        "Perhaps," said Lupus.
        At this, a couple of Combat Cadets entered Forum Three. They
were flushed and panting, scratched and bruised, and Hatch
immediately zeroed in on them, thinking them hot from the battles
of Dalar ken Halvar. But before Asodo Hatch could begin his
interrogation of these fresh witnesses, the full-flowering lotus
adorning Forum Three's communications screen disappeared, and was
replaced by the olive-complexioned features of Paraban Senk, the
Teacher of Control. Senk called the room to order.
        "It seems," said the Teacher of Control, "that there is a
degree of disorder in the city tonight."
        This pronouncement was greeted with hoots, howls, jeers, and
cries of feigned disbelief.
        "Nobody can say where this disorder will end," said Senk. "In
as little as a day, conditions may become far worse. Therefore, I
am bringing forward the competitive examination for the
instructorship. Tomorrow may be too late. Accordingly, we will
proceed with the competitive examination for the instructorship as
soon as possible. Asodo Hatch will fight with Lupus Lon Oliver on
this very night. To the victor, the spoils."
        Both Hatch and Lupus were on their feet immediately,
protesting. Hatch out-bellowed Lupus:
        "But I haven't slept!"
        Thus protested Hatch, and in perfect sincerity.
        Thanks to his Combat College training, Hatch was capable of
maintaining a studied tortoise-faced inscrutability under
interrogation, and of telling undetectable deadpan lies during
such interrogation. But there was nothing inscrutable about Hatch
right now. He was emotionally open, revealed, exposed. Under such
circumstances, Paraban Senk could read Hatch to a nicety, and knew
Hatch to be telling the truth.
        Hatch had not slept.
        So Senk believed, and so likewise did Lupus Lon Oliver, for
that was what Hatch himself believed. In the heat of the moment,
Asodo Hatch had entirely forgotten the fact that he had laid
himself down to sleep in his empty house in the afternoon just
gone, and had not been roused until early in the night.
        For his part, Lupus Lon Oliver certainly had not slept. In
the morning, he had been courting the statuesque Penelope Flute,
and his subsequent embroilment in the alarums of the afternoon had
made sleep impossible.
        "We are warriors," said Lupus stoutly. "We need no sleep. At
least, I don't. But if Asodo Hatch is too old for the rigors of
war, why then, let him withdraw from this competition."
        "Hatch," said Senk. "Do you choose to signify your
withdrawal?"
        "Why," said Hatch, growing cagey as he remembered that he had
in fact got some sleep, "I, uh ... I wouldn't want to disappoint
young Lupus. But, Senk, this is no time for games. Our city's
awash with blood and burning. We should be organizing the defense
of our city, not playing at games."
        "This is not a game!" said Senk.
        There was an entirely human anger in Senk's proclamation.
Under the lash of that anger, Hatch felt that he finally had the
answer to the question of whether Senk had fully human attributes.
Senk's mission, Senk's reason to live, was to train Startroopers
for the Stormforce of the Nexus. Compared to that, what was Dalar
ken Halvar to Paraban Senk?
        "You should disqualify him," said Lupus. "He's not fit to be
the instructor! He places his city ahead of the Nexus!"
        "Well, Hatch?" said Senk.
        To his surprise and dismay, Hatch saw that Senk was treating
Lupus Lon Oliver's suggestion seriously.
        "Senk," said Hatch, "the instructor's prime task is to liaise
between the city and the Combat College. The instructor can hardly
do that if the city has ceased to exist. Under the circumstances,
I think both Lupus and myself should be devoting our best energies
to preserving the city. I suggest that you order all Combat
College students to place themselves under a joint command headed
by Lupus and myself. Then we'll do what we can. But if the city
ceases to exist - well, what chance of recruiting a fresh class of
Combat College?"
        There was a substantial pause while Paraban Senk meditated on
this. Senk's eyes were closed, or so it seemed from the features
displayed on Forum Three's communications screen, though of course
in point of fact the unembodied Paraban Senk did not possess any
such organs as literal "eyes".
        Senk's eyes opened.
        "It is my belief," said Senk, "that Asodo Hatch and Lupus Lon
Oliver lack the ability to resolve the crisis in Dalar ken Halvar,
either individually or acting in concert. The present crisis must
take its course. Thanks to the limited data at my disposal and the
complexity of the social forces at work, I cannot predict the
ultimate outcome of the crisis. However, I believe that whatever
forces ultimately hold power in Dalar ken Halvar will treat with
me and mine on an equitable basis, just as the Silver Emperor
did."
        "Did?" said Hatch. "Do you believe the emperor dead?"
        "I have it on your own authority that the emperor is not
available," said Senk, giving Hatch the impression that some
matter of either fact or rumor was being concealed. "It may well
be that the emperor will remain unavailable. If that is the case,
will you treat with the city's new ruling powers on my behalf if
you become the instructor?"
        "Without any hesitation," said Hatch.
        "And I likewise," said Lupus.
        "Then," said Senk, "I find you both fit to hold the
instructorship, and rule that you must fight for the position this
very night. Are you both agreeable to this proposition?"
        "I am," said Lupus promptly.
        "And I," said Hatch, forcing himself to an imitation of an
equal readiness.
        In truth, there were all kinds of further protests, caveats
and reservations that Hatch wanted to make known. But he
restrained himself. Without a doubt, he had angered Senk once
already. Any repetition of that angering might see Senk disqualify
him from contention for the instructorship.
        As for Dalar ken Halvar's fate -
        What could Hatch do on his own?
        Less, surely, that he could do if he won the instructorship.
If he could win quickly, then he might persuade Senk to order the
Combat College's student body to place itself under his command,
and then he might be able to do something to restore order in the
city.
        "Good," said Senk, on hearing the prompt replies from Lupus
and Hatch. "The pair of you will prove your worth as warriors by
fighting against a background of war."
        As Senk was so saying, Hatch heard a scuffle behind him, but
paid it no heed, until he heard Shona say:
        "What's monkey got?"
        "Let me go!" said an anguished voice.
        The voice was that of Dog Java, the Combat Cadet who had so
recently tried to knife down Hatch. At that voice, Hatch turned
sharply, and saw Dog Java trying to break free from Shona. Shona
had come up behind Dog Java, and had seized Dog's arm in a grip a
vice would have envied, and had got a lock on Dog's wrist.
        As the human vice-rivaler exerted herself further, Dog was
forced to drop the knife he had been holding. Then he cried out,
for, rather than releasing her grip, Shona tightened it. Paraban
Senk watched from the screen but made no move to intervene.
        "Shona," said Hatch.
        "Yes, Hatch my darling?" said Shona. "Shall I break his
wrist? I'll do it for free. Just say the word."
        "If he'll give you his and agree to keep the peace in the
Combat College," said Hatch, "then you can let him go free."
        "Well, Dog?" said Shona. "What do you say?"
        When Dog Java made no immediate reply, Shona bit his ear.
Hard. Drawing blood. At which Dog cried out anew. As if in answer,
cries were heard from outside Forum Three, and then a knot of
Combat College students burst into that lecture theater. Amongst
them was Scorpio Fax, his face a mask of blood, his scalp
lacerated. Hatch pushed toward Fax, and was in time to catch him
just before he collapsed.
        Then someone else entered Forum Three.
        It was Lupus Lon Oliver's father: the formidable Manfred Gan
Oliver, head of the Free Corps. And Hatch, as he lowered Fax to
the ground, heard someone cry out in astonishment:
        "It's Gan Oliver! But what's he doing here!?"
        A legitimate question, for Manfred Gan Oliver had been
forcibly ejected from the Combat College when he graduated from
that institution at the age of 27, and had been denied entry to the
precincts of the College for the last 30 years.