The Galaxy Builder by Keith Laumer

a
ghostly glimpse of the misty gray room, where Frumpkin was fading from view
even as Daphne came into sight. O'Leary yelled "Daphne!" and lunged
as the glimpse faded. O'Leary slammed against the wall, empty-handed, as his
quarry—both men, plus their trunk—seemed to duck aside, slipping from his
grasp. Allegorus was picking himself up, having fallen heavily as he missed his
grab for Frumpkin. Lafayette gave him a hand, at the same time scanning the
shadowy recesses of the big room for the two agile Primary agents, in vain.
     
                He put a hand to his forehead, trying to orient
himself. "I'm having visions," he muttered as Allegorus bent toward
him solicitously. "Waking dreams, or something. He was
there—'Frumpkin', Belarius called him—and Daphne, too. I know it's silly, but I
think he knows more than he's telling about her." He stepped back from the
wall and looked around the room.
     
                "Where are they?" he muttered.
"Let's get some light in here. I'll cover the door—unless they made it out
the window; but they couldn't have moved that fast, even without their
baggage."
     
                "No need, my boy," Allegorus said in
his deep voice, "they've well and truly flown. Too bad. Might have cleared
this whole thing up on the spot." He shook his head regretfully.
"Harm's done," he concluded. "No point in mourning. We must get
busy at once."
     
                "Sure," Lafayette said weakly.
"Doing what?"
     
                "Saving this entire manifold of loci from
utter dissolution, for a start," Allegorus snapped. "Come, Lafayette,
marshal your resources! This is your opportunity to display that dazzling
ingenuity of which the Record speaks in such extravagant terms!"
     
                "I'm wasting time," Lafayette cut him
off. "I'm leaving here right now to look for Daphne. Sorry I don't have
time for this E.D. of yours, but I've only got seventy-two hours. Ta." He
headed for the door, ignoring Allegorus' urgent plea to wait. As he set foot on
the landing, the stone slab cracked and shifted, affording him a glimpse,
through a quickly widening gap, of open air yawning below. He noticed a dull
rumbling sound; a stone block fell at his feet, slipped through the opening,
and was gone. Dust and gravel were dribbling down around him; the entire Tower,
he realized, was trembling, cracks appearing everywhere. More stones fell, went
bounding down the steps, knocking off chips from the worn treads. Lafayette
took a deep breath and followed, leaping down six steps at a bound as the walls
fell about him. He arrived at the bottom in a cloud of dust and ricoshays,
leaped clear of a heap of rubble, and was out the collapsing doorway and into
sunshine.
     
     

Chapter Four
     
                It was early morning, Lafayette realized as he
stepped cautiously out onto the weed-choked vacant lot which had, back in
Artesia, been the rose garden. All was silent. Lafayette went boldly across to
the thicket where he had met Lord Trog and his minions. It was deserted now,
only the gilt chair, now lying on its side, remaining as evidence of the hairy
chieftain's visit. O'Leary set it upright and sat in it, remembering the long
row of which it had once been a member, lining the mirrored grand hall.
     
                There was a sound from the dense underbrush;
then Marv, moving uncertainly, emerged into view. He had the appearance of a
survivor of some disaster.
     
                He eyed O'Leary warily, then looked aside,
angling off as if to skirt his position rather than approaching.
     
                "Where is everybody, Marv?" Lafayette
called, his voice shocking even himself as it broke the eerie stillness. Marv
shied and scuttled on. O'Leary called him back.
     
                "Over here, Marv," he ordered.
"We need to have a little talk." The former bodyguard paused and then
obediently edged toward the chair,