Zurb and ordering his subjects to perform worship and make
money offerings to Muz-Azin. The Zurb temple isn't a mask for a mine:
Zurb's too far south for the uranium deposits. It's just a center for
propaganda and that sort of thing. But they have a House of Yat-Zar,
and a conveyer, and most of the upper-priests are paratimers. Well,
our man there, Tammand Drav, alias Khoram, defied the king's order, so
Kurchuk sent a company of Chuldun archers to close the temple and
arrest the priests. Tammand Drav got all his people who were in the
temple at the time into the House of Yat-Zar and transposed them back
to the First Level. He had orders"--Stranor Sleth looked meaningly at
Brannad Klav--"not to resist with energy-weapons or even ultrasonic
paralyzers. And while we're on the subject of letting the local yokels
see too much, about fifteen of the under-priests he took to the First
Level were Hulgun natives."

"Nothing wrong about that: they'll get memory-obliteration and
pseudo-memory treatment," Verkan Vall said. "But he should have been
allowed to needle about a dozen of those Chulduns. Teach the beggars
to respect Yat-Zar in the future. Now, how about the six priests who
were outside the temple at the time? All but one were paratimers.
We'll have to find out about them, and get them out of Zurb."

"That'll take some doing," Stranor Sleth said. "And it'll have to be
done before sunset tomorrow. They are all in the dungeon of the palace
citadel, and Kurchuk is going to give them to the priests of Muz-Azin
to be sacrificed tomorrow evening."

"How'd you learn that?" Verkan Vall asked.

"Oh, we have a man in Zurb, not connected with the temple," Stranor
Sleth said. "Name's Crannar Jurth; calls himself Kranjur, locally. He
has a swordmaker's shop, employs about a dozen native journeymen and
apprentices who hammer out the common blades he sells in the open
market. Then, he imports a few high-class alloy-steel blades from the
First Level, that'll cut through this local low-carbon armor like
cheese. Fits them with locally-made hilts and sells them at
unbelievable prices to the nobility. He's Swordsmith to the King;
picks up all the inside palace dope. Of course, he was among the first
to accept the New Gospel and go over to Muz-Azin. He has a secret room
under his shop, with his conveyer and a radio.

"What happened was this: These six priests were at a consecration
ceremony at a rabbit-ranch outside the city, and they didn