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and probed as best they could, having no Outside instrumentation. They did
have some clever substitutions, though, fashioned, apparently, out of things
in the environment itself. A clinging sort of vine from which they appeared to
be able to read my blood pressure;
a small yellow leaf whose color change to red showed to experienced eyes my
body temperature. All these and more were dutifully recorded with reed pens on
some thin, leafy substance that served for paper.
All of these men and women were Supervisor class, though. Only after they were
through with the preliminaries and satisfied did they call in their own
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Lilith: A Snake in the Grass chief. He was a small, pudgy, middle-aged man who
had the look of the civilized worlds about him without the physical standards
exactingly carried through. He wore a soft white satiny robe and sandals,
apparently because that was what was comfortable.
"I am Dr. Pohn," he began in the usual medical manner. He picked up the sheets
and glanced idly at them. "I see you're disgustingly normal. Believe it or
not, just about everybody is, you know. That's the Warden organism's trade-off
to us for living off our bodies. Damage almost anywhere except the brain
itself is corrected, new limbs grown, and so forth. And the viruses here are
too alien for any of us to have to worry about. Still, we go through the
forms. You never know when you're going to find someone unusual.
Besides, we're interested in comparative readings from people such as you who
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have demonstrated abilities with the power."
I nodded, remembering now that Tiel was obsessed with breeding a class with
the power. This, then, would be the man in charge of the Knight's pet project.
"Were you a doctor-before?" I asked, both curious and trying to be friendly.
He smiled. "Outside? Yes, yes, of course. But it was a far different thing
there, you know. All those computer diagnosticians, automatic surgery, and
yes, despite all, some diseases to cure if we could. Here I give physicals and
administer native-distilled medication when needed for minor aches and pains
and nervous strain. Otherwise, I'm engaged mostly in research on the
Warden organism itself."
That was interesting, even if I did think I knew what he meant. "Have you
found out anything new?" I asked carefully.
He shrugged. "A little, but it's slow work. There are certain physiological
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Lilith: A Snake in the Grass and chemical factors common to those with it, but
isolating them, let alone duplicating them-particularly in people not born
with them-is beyond me.
Perhaps with all my old laboratories and analytical computers I could do
something, maybe even on Lord Kreegan's satellite base, but here I am forced
to be slow and primitive, I fear."
I perked up. "Satellite base?"
"Oh, yes. Didn't you know? The Medusans built it for him years ago. Since it's
Medusan, our own little pet Wardens won't touch it, since it already has their
cousins, who are much nicer about machines and such. He lives there most of
the time."
I doubted that very much. Although Kreegan might go there when he needed
things, he'd be far too exposed to the Confederacy on such a satellite, liable
to get blown out of the sky at any time. If I were Kreegan, I
decided, I'd almost never go there. Rather I'd let underlings take the risk
and just use it as my chief communications and command center with the other
Warden worlds and Outside.
There was nothing more to be gained from that tack, but I wondered if I
could draw him out a little in his project. "Interesting what you say about
common chemical factors," I said casually. "I had come to the conclusion that
emotion triggered my surge of power and that the chemicals released into my
body when I was really mad were the catalyst."
"Very astute," he responded, beaming a little. Clearly he enjoyed his subject.
"Yes, emotion is the key, as you will find out. But each individual's
threshold level for release of those chemicals is very different, nor are the
amounts the same-yet the Warden organism is very demanding of its precise
catalyst chemical triggering and will is the key. Your anger gave you the
power to kill; your will to kill him directed and released it. I have often
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Lilith: A Snake in the Grass suspected that the initial trigger is what we've
always called the 'killer instinct,' for want of a better psychological term.
Everybody on Lilith really has the latent power, but not everyone the force of
will to use it. That's why pawns remain pawns, I suspect."
"You said you were trying to duplicate the catalysts in those who didn't have
it, or didn't have it in sufficient quantities," I prompted. "How?"
He shrugged and got up, obviously pleased with my interest. "Come on, I'll
show you."
We walked out and down the hall a short way, then entered a larger chamber. I
stopped, a little stunned at the sight. There were a dozen slabs, equally
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