Being a sensitive man, and cursed with his inevitable responses, he even dislikes himself. He feels guilty of betrayal because he does not like his position, even though the only person he has ever betrayed—and continues to betray—is himself. He admires Eagleheart. He welcomes Eagle-heart’s enmity. For private, personal reasons, as well as reasons of honor and ethics, he refuses to countenance the idea of using the power of the House of Stars against the Beasts even when his life will be forfeit if he does not.
Starcastle as a Human being is really no worse than a lot of others like him, but he is the type of man who should never be in his type of position. He is simply incapable of being what history has forced him to be.
It is not his fault.
STARBIRD
David Starbird is the second son of Starcastle of Home. In many ways he is a wiser man than his father, and wiser than his elder brother as well. He has experienced a great deal more than either of them, and is possessed of an emotional intensity which neither of them can understand.
Like his sister, Astarte, he has long golden hair and the angular features characteristic of all the members of the House of Stars. He is not handsome in the grand, dramatic way that Richard Stormwind is handsome; his face is calmer and less assertive. His features lack the power of so many of the Beasts.
His build is not very heavy, but he gains a great deal in combat by his cleverness and agility. He thinks quickly, and is a talented leader. His boldness never exceeds the limitations of his strength. If Starbird is in any way less than Eagleheart as a tactician and commander, it is because he is only as good as he has ever needed to be. There has never been any external pressure or internal drive to make him that little bit better. He is more likely than Eagleheart to make the tiny slip which can turn a battle. In fact, he makes two: the one which results in the carnage on Alph, and the one which results in his being wounded by Cain Rayshade. The first is overconfidence, the second is underestimation.
David Starbird has one outstanding weakness, and that is his love. He is capable of an overriding tide of emotion which drowns his mind and distorts his sense of values. Basically he is emotionally similar to Richard Stormwind, but his emotions have been forced into very different paths by their environment. Starbird’s love for Angeline and Stormwind’s for Astarte may be compared, but the men themselves may not.
Starbird is destined to be betrayed by his love. It is too important to him. All his memories are colored by it, and they make the future seem less important and valuable because of it. Perhaps Heljanita’s crooked wheel encouraged the replacement of his love for Andrya of Home by love for Angeline of Sula, but the seeds were there to be encouraged and Starbird was ready to accept the change wholeheartedly. That change of his affections involves him in the Beast war on the one hand, and denies him the help which Andrya could have given to save his life after the fight with Ray-shade on the other.
If Starbird had not been so ready to place absolute faith in the dictates of Ms romantic illusions, both the war and Ms death might have been avoided.
THE HUMAN ANGLE
It was Starbird who brought the news that Stormwind of Sabella was no longer active on the side of the Beasts. Starcastle received the news with equanimity, Starflare was jubilant, and Rainstar was concerned. Starbird wanted to rejoin the fleet immediately and capitalize on the unexpected situation before Stormwind changed his mind. Alexander Blackstar was the only one of the four who fully saw the enormity of what the Beast lord had done.
“It is madness,” he said at first. Then he thought for a while. “It cannot be madness,” he decided. “Richard Stormwind is not the type of man to go mad. There must be a genuine reason. Something has gone badly wrong in the Beast camp. It must be a grave situation that warrants withdrawal from the war because such an action seems totally without honor, and the lord of Sabella seems to have destroyed himself by the action. The whole galaxy will brand Mm a coward.”
“He was a hero only yesterday,” said Starcastle mildly.
“It will not help him,” said Blackstar.
“No matter why,” said Starbird. “It must surely mean a quick end to the war, and a favorable one.”
Blackstar looked at him, astounded. “Are you so involved with your infatuation for the Beast girl that you are willing to grasp at any straw to end the war? Think for a minute, and you will see that there is more to this than a weakness in the enemy ranks. Why has Stormwind withdrawn?”
“That does not matter,” interposed Starflare. “All that matters is the victory which it assures us.”
“No,” said Starbird. “Alexander is right. The reason for the lord of Sabella’s action may concern us vitally. If it is a simple quarrel with Eagleheart, then it does not matter —but in that case I have misjudged Stormwind. If it is a genuine break of sympathy with the war, then there has come some change of which we are unaware.”
“Perhaps he disagreed with the sneak attack on Alph,” suggested Rainstar.
“I do not think so,” replied Starbird. “That was a slight change of tactics, but I knew it would come eventually. I was not too surprised. We have been feinting at each other long enough. It is high time there was some more daring action.”
“Something important has happened,” said Blackstar simply. “It is useless to guess at what it might be. As long as we know and can tread carefully…”
Christopher Rainstar made a gesture of annoyance. “Tread carefully! We have an advantage and you would have us fail to exploit it.”
“I agree,” snapped Starflare. “We should strike now and very hard.”
“It is difficult,” conceded Starbird. “I do not like to hold back. But if we should commit ourselves, and find ourselves in a trap, we might be in bad trouble.”
“I wish the whole affair were over,” said Starcastle. There was a pause, and the father of the stars turned away to look out of the great circular window behind them and over the quiet city of the House of Stars. Beyond the gleaming dome of force he could see the ships which had brought his sons to Home for a while. The main body of the warfleet waited for them in space not far away. They had left Merion and were aiming for a base, not so vulnerable to surprise attack, on a planet called Alph.
“There is something we could do,” said Blackstar, “which could end the war, but which should at least tell us whether the trouble in the Beast camp is real or not.”
“And what is that?”
“Offer to settle the affair by personal duel with Skywolf. Explain that we have heard of the difficulties their fleet is experiencing. If they really are in trouble, Skywolf should leap at the opportunity of an even chance in personal combat. If, on the other hand, there is something behind Storm-wind’s withdrawal, we shall either nip it in the bud or we shall know about it when they refuse the offer. Besides, this farcical war has gone on long enough. It is no way to settle a quarrel. It is high time that we resorted to more sensible settlement.”
“It is a good idea,” said Starbird. “Although I am bound to honor his choice of weapons under normal circumstances, I seem to have a good excuse for offering a change now. In fact, it will be quite generous on my part. And it will ensure a rapid end to the war, which is what we really want.”
“And it will save a lot of lives,” added Rainstar, who was convinced.
“Beast lives,” said Starflare, who was not.
Starbird nodded vigorously. “I shall do as you suggest. I shall meet Skywolf on a deserted world, and this whole mess will be settled by just the two of us. That’s as it should be. I don’t like the idea of slaughtering the Beasts, even if there is nothing to be wary of.
“I’ll do it—and end the war right here.”
BLACKSTAR
Alexander Blackstar is the eldest son of Starcastle of Home, heir to the House of Stars and all that it stands for. Like his father, he is not really fitted to the role. He is naive and unprepared because his father has refused to burden him with the responsibility that should be his.
He
is tall and heavy. His skin is paler than is characteristic of his family, and he owes his appearance more to his mother’s side of his ancestry than his father’s. He has his mother’s hands: neat and perfectly proportioned, although large and immensely strong. His long curly brown hair is inherited from his mother’s line as well, but his eyes are identical to his father’s.
He is intelligent but ignorant. His memories are of a life of contentment, of having everything he wanted. The only encouragement he ever received was to enjoy himself. He lacks curiosity. He has a strong character, but it has never had the chance to develop fully. He is a stranger in the galaxy he should one day inherit, and knows woefully little of its ways.
He loves his brothers, and cannot understand them. He does not know why Starbird is always driven to compete with him, why Starfiare is openly envious of him, or why Rainstar fastidiously avoids being like him in any way.
He has courage and an open, almost offensive, honesty. He has ideals but keeps them secret, lacking the confidence to declare them bluntly and publicly associate them with him.
Wisdom and knowledge have been withheld from him, unwittingly, by his parents. Starcastle is too wrapped up in his own problems and too involved with himself to know what he ought to do for his son. And so Blackstar is not the man he ought to be. He is incomplete—a potentially great man who remains unfulfilled and inadequate.
Everything he tries he finds easy, but he is content to win the admiration of his friends as a great fighter, an unconquerable opponent. He never tries to be a leader. A slight difference in attitude might have given him the chance to avert the war despite Heljanita’s crooked wheel and his brother’s obstinacy, but he never had the chance.
He is always unaware, or unsure, of what is happening until it is too late to do anything constructive about it.
STARBIRD’S CHALLENGE
Starbird carefully leaked the information about his intended challenge to people he knew would spread the news. Thus, not only did Skywolf know what was going to happen, but the whole galaxy as well. The lack of secrecy about the challenge was calculated to further discourage Skywolf from refusing if he was to think of so doing.
Most of die Beast warriors were relieved if not overjoyed at the challenge. It was a great compliment to the efficiency of Eagleheart’s indoctrination that most of them also felt a little uncertainty about the challenge.
Eagleheart himself was disturbed, but he was in a dilemma and he wasted no time in anger or despair. He only sought desperately to find some chance of salvaging his dreams.
Chaos also was trying to find a solution. He was in no doubt that the duel would have to be fought, and he was employed in considering various courses of action to follow the alternative results which it might have. He sought a way to simultaneously reopen the quarrel and provide an excuse for replenishing the warfleet. He was not in the least dismayed about the duel. He believed that the situation always held more possibilities when it was complex, and he was convinced that if Starbird had attacked the fleet, instead of making his offer, there would have been far less chance for Eagleheart’s plans of conquest.
Stormwind was delighted by the news. He felt an initial pang of regret as he thought that he might have made his self-destructive gesture for nothing, but quickly realized that it was his withdrawal which had prompted the challenge and would ascertain its acceptance. But he had doubts: doubts as to whether the duel would really be the end, or whether it would only be a step in Eagleheart’s crusade.
There was, of course, never any doubt about Skywolfs reaction. He was still engrossed in the recovery of Angeline, and was all too ready to seize the offered opportunity instead of having to pin his faith in a badly weakened fleet.
And so the course of action was generally agreed. The challenge was accepted, and the duellists agreed to meet at latitude 0, longitude 0 on the world of Stonebow, armed with pistols and knives. Only one ship from each side was to land, and the remainder of each fleet was to remain in orbit in the Stonebow system.
SKYWOLF
Skywolf is only a puppet of an unkind destiny. He even lives through the war and can look back on what he was used to perpetrate.
He is a pleasant man, with fiery red hair and blue eyes, strong but not particularly distinguished. He lacks character; his personality, while not exactly ineffectual, is weak enough to be dominated by Eagleheart’s plans and ambitions.
He is Beast lord of Sula, a perfectly contented man on a contented world—until David Starbird carries off the girl whose marriage to Skywolf has been arranged since early childhood. He does not really love Angeline; in fact, he very rarely thinks of Angeline in terms of emotions. She is to be his wife, and that is all. Such arrangements are regarded with horror by most of the Humans and almost all of the Beasts, but on Sula they are the way of life and nobody questions the matter. Political wheels must be kept turning, family relations maintained, wealth kept assiduously away from the poor. Arranged marriage is a matter of honor on Sula, and because the rest of the Beast nations are inclined to make fun of the system, the Sulans are a little more touchy about the defense of that particular aspect of their honor than they might be.
Even so, a quarrel with a high lord of the galaxy is one which might be better settled diplomatically and not publicized. Usually, there would be anger and argument, financial settlement and restored peace, and nobody’s voice would be raised above a whisper. But Skywolf spoke before he thought, and trouble started brewing. Then, with Eagleheart of the persuasive voice and assertive eyes behind him, Skywolf pressed on and on and started the Beast war.
Skywolf is pliable and too easily pushed. He is reluctant to make his own decisions and forever ready to delegate them to whoever should volunteer. He never realizes until years after the event that he has been the direct agent of the destruction of the House of Stars and the attempted slaughter of the Human race. He acts always according to the code of honor, and it would never occur to him that any action defined by the code of honor could have harmful results.
Unfortunately, his interpreter of the code of honor is Ralph Eagleheart, whose sole aim in the war is to make the fragile and illusory concept of honor conceal a multitude of sins. Daniel Skywolf always thinks he is doing the right thing.
He is stupid.
INTRODUCTION TO STONEBOW
Stonebow is further from its sun than Home is from Sol. It is a more massive world, with a higher surface gravity. Over most of its surface it is a harsh world…but a perfectly habitable one if need be. There has never been a need. There are lots of nicer places in the galaxy, and Stonebow has no great riches to offer, so it has never been settled. It has been left strictly alone.
As habitable worlds go, it is cold. Glaciers cover most of the northern hemisphere, and most of the southern is ice-capped ocean. On the equator are ranges of mountains. The largest range was established as the reference point for the longitude 0 that none of its discoverers ever thought would be needed. The mountains are hostile, but they are the most pleasant places on the planet.
At the arbitrary point where latitude 0, longitude 0 was marked on a map ten thousand years ago by men who did not care, the highest mountains are visible in a great ring which makes the horizon. The exact spot itself has somewhat gentler slopes, and the snow line is a long way above the average elevation of the terrain. The slopes are not very rugged, but there is as much up and down as back and forth in the folded, crumpled land, with its mile upon mile of faded green and brown grass, and its sporadic clumps of dark, sulking trees. Streams run everywhere in the valleys, but they seem to carry very little life in them. No flowers grow, no insects fly. There is only the skin of grass and the tiny fragments of forests like pockmarks.
Evolution never bothered much with Stonebow. Like so many of the worlds which the Beasts found in the galaxy, it has only simple, elementary ecology and has never made any effort to produce animal life beyond the single-cell stage.
(There is not a single planet in the wh
ole galaxy other than Home which ever bore anything more complicated, or cleverer, than a coelenterate. Human beings are horrible freaks, and any other horrible freaks in the galaxy are manmade. )
To sum up, Stonebow is dull and uninteresting. It is the ideal place to stage a sordid prizefight.
DUEL ON STONEBOW
Every ship in either fleet could see both fleets in its screens. The concave pieces of sphere-surface showed two clouds of silver dots: one (the more distant) bright and clear, the other paler and ghostlike. The screens of every ship were partially desensitized to the ships of their own fleet. It was necessary to be able to tell friend from foe in a melee spread across several light-years of hyperspace. It was obvious to the men of both sides who watched the screens that the Humans had a distinct numerical advantage. Those who made a rough count estimated the discrepancy as a seventh.
Starbird’s ship had already landed when Skywolf left his fleet and swooped gracefully into the sky of Stonebow to drift for a while as he found his bearings and finally to land in the wild region of Stonebow’s equatorial mountains. From above, the sheer sweep of mountain slopes looked very impressive, but once the ship had set down, Skywolf saw that the tall peaks were all quite a way off, and the immediate surroundings promised no particular difficulties for the duel.
Skywolf was mildly surprised at the kind of country he found, but not unhappy. If anything, he was slightly favored because Sula had a fractionally higher surface gravity than Home, and Starbird might well be slowed down an important fraction more. Although tire Beast lord had been the one who selected the latitude and longitude, he had done so because the figures were convenient; he had had no idea what he would find here.
Starbird, of course, had not been certain that Skywolf did not know the territory, and so he had taken the precaution of arriving a few hours early to have a look around and find out what the conditions were like.
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