SLAVE OF ETERNITY By ROGER DEE _An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth ... these were the familiar laws of man--Far more fiendish was Heric's punishment--eternal life for the death he'd taken!_ [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Super Science Stories May 1950. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] "You have no choice," the patrolman said. "The Council sends for you." He moved across the veranda of Heric's cottage, bulking dark against the sky-glow of Nyark the first city. On the slope of lawn below stood his copter, its beetle-black shell glistening faintly in the starshine. Heric stood rigid with alarm in his doorway, still holding the book he had been reading. The night-wind ruffling his hair and the homely sounds from the kitchen where Marta prepared their evening meal made his danger doubly fantastic. "They've found out somehow about my dreams," Heric said. "They'll put me through the adjuster and I'll come out of it--someone else. I won't go!" He was a mild man, overseer of the cereal grain fields outside Nyark the first city, holding the confidence of his superiors and the respect of his workers. He and Marta had been happy in the quiet eddy of their isolation, until the dreams came. The patrolman took a gleaming silver shock-cone from his belt. "I am sorry, Arnol Heric. You must come with me." Stark panic made Heric drop his book and strike out wildly, smashing a fist into the officer's face. The patrolman staggered back, teetered for balance on the veranda's edge and fell heavily. The sound of his head striking the stone walkway below was as definite as the thud of a dropped melon. Heric went down the steps and knelt to feel the man's limp wrist. There was no pulse. He put an ear to the slack lips, and there was no breath. Shock numbed him and drove his thoughts into strange, tortured channels. "I've killed him," he said. A sound caught his ear and he looked up to see Marta on the dark veranda above him, her face a pale oval blur with enormous, fright-widened eyes. "I didn't intend this to happen, Marta. I--I lost my head." She came down at once and put a soft hand on his shoulder. "Of course, of course, darling. Here, let me help you." Together they lifted the patrolman's body into the copter's control seat, where it lolled bonelessly against the instrument panel. Heric touched a button and the machine rose and soared eastward on a random course away from Nyark the first city. They watched, holding hands like uneasy children, until it was lost against the stars. Then they went inside to the light and warmth of their cottage. Heric voiced the thought first: "They'll send for me again tomorrow, when he doesn't return."