Starmasters' Gambit

“They wouldn’t believe me, and they left me to rot on this damned world. Now they are seeking me out because they are afraid, because the Times are drawing nearer and the Masters are grumbling, because they are discovering the Accursed Worlds one by one.”

The old man looked up at Algan.

“Who are you,” he asked in his cracked voice, “that you should have in your possession the chessboard o£ the Masters? During the course of my long life, I’ve seen it just three times. Once, it was tike one you have, or one exactly like it, and the other two times I saw it etched on the black walls of those damnable citadels. Who are you? Are you one of their men? Have you come to take my soul, as you did from all the other poor spacemen you buried alive?”

“I’m just looking for a weapon to destroy Betelgeuse,” said Algan simply. “I’m counting on you.”