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solid info. He looked up at her.  Did it bother you much to hear the Devagas
have dropped the grab idea and are out to do you in?
Trigger shook her head.  Not really, she said.  Wouldn t make much difference
one way or the other, would it?
 Very little. He patted her hand.  Well, they re not going to get you,
doll one way or the other!
Trigger smiled.  I believe you, she said.  Thanks. She looked back into the
lounge again. Just at present she did have a feeling of relaxed, unconcerned
security. It probably wasn t going to last, though. She glanced at Quillan.
 Those computers of yours, she said.  What did they have to say about that
not-catassin you squashed?
 The crazy things claim now it was a plasmoid, Quillan said.  Revolting
notion! But it makes some sense for once.
Checks with some of the things Lyad just told us, too. Do you remember that
Vethi sponge Balmordan was carrying?
 Yes.
 It didn t come off ship with him. He checked it out as having died en route.
 That is a revolting notion! Trigger said after a moment.  Well, at least
we ve got detectors now.
But the feeling of security had faded somewhat again.
Before dinner was half over, the long-range transmitters abruptly came to
life. For the next thirty minutes or so, messages rattled in incessantly, as
assorted Headquarters here and there reacted to the Ermetyne s report. The
Commissioner sat in the little office and sorted over the incoming
information. Trigger stayed at the transmitters, feeding it to him as it
arrived. None of it affected them directly they were already headed for the
point in space a great many other people would now start heading for very
soon.
Then business dropped off again almost as suddenly as it had picked up. A half
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dozen low priority items straggled in, in as many minutes. The transmitters
puffed idly. Then the person-to-person buzzer sounded.
Trigger punched the screen button. A voice pronounced the ship s dial number.
 Acknowledging, Trigger said.  Who is it?
 Orado, ComWeb Center, said the voice.  Stand by for contact with Federation
Councilman Roadgear.
Trigger whacked the panic button. Roadgear was a NAME!  Standing by, she
said.
Commissioner Tate came in through the door and slipped into the chair she d
already vacated. Trigger took another seat a few feet away. She felt a little
nervous, but she d always wanted to see a high-powered diplomat in action.
The screen lit up. She recognized Roadgear from his pics. Tall, fine-looking
man of the silvered sideburns type. He was in an armchair in a very plush
office.
 Congratulations, Commissioner! he said, smiling.  I believe you re aware by
now that your latest report has set many wheels spinning rapidly!
 I rather expected it would, the Commissioner admitted. He also smiled.
They pitched it back and forth a few times, very chummy. Roadgear didn t
appear to be involved in any specific way with the operations which soon would
center about Luscious. Trigger began to wonder what he was after.
 A few of us are rather curious to know, Roadgear said,  why you didn t
acknowledge the last Council Order sent you.
Trigger didn t quite start nervously.
 When was this? asked the Commissioner.
Roadgear smiled softly and told him.
 Got a record here of some scrambled item that arrived about then, the
Commissioner said.  Very good of you to call me about it, Councilman. What was
the order content?
 It s dated now, as it happens, Roadgear said.  Actually I m calling about
another matter. The First Lady of Tranest appears to have been very obliging
about informing you of some of her recent activities.
The Commissioner nodded.  Yes, very obliging.
 And in so short a time after her, ah, detainment. You must have been very
persuasive?
 Well, Holati Tate said,  no more than usually.
 Yes, said Councilman Roadgear.  Now there s been some slight concern
expressed by some members of the
Council well, let s say they d just like to be reassured that the amenities
one observes in dealing with a Head of State actually are being observed in
this case. I m sure they are, of course.
The Commissioner was silent a moment.  I was informed a while ago, he said,
 that full responsibility for this Head of
State has been assigned to my group. Is that correct?
The Councilman reddened very slightly.  Quite, he said.  The official Council
Order should reach you in a day or so.
 Well, then, said the Commissioner,  I ll assure you and you can assure the
Councilmen who were feeling concerned that the amenities are being observed.
Then everybody can relax again. Is that all right?
 No, not quite, Roadgear said annoyedly.  In fact, the Councilmen would very
much prefer it, Commissioner, if I were given an opportunity to speak to the
First Lady directly to reassure myself on the point.
 Well, Commissioner Tate said,  she can t come to the transmitters right now.
She s washing the dishes.
The Councilman reddened very considerably this time. He stared at the
Commissioner a moment longer. Then he said in a very soft voice,  Oh, the hell
with it! He added,  Good luck, Commissioner you re going to need it some
time.
The screen went blank.
25
The scouts of Selan s Independent Fleet, who had first looked this planet over
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and decided to call it Luscious, had selected a name, Trigger thought, which
probably would stick. Because that was what it was, at least in the area where
they were camping.
She rolled over from her side to her face and gave herself a push away from
the rock she d been regarding
contemplatively for the past few minutes. Feet first, she went drifting out
into a somewhat deeper section of Plasmoid
Creek.
None of it was very deep. There were pools here and there, in the stretch of
the creek she usually came to, where she could stand on her toes in the warm
clear water and, arms stretched straight up, barely tickle the surface with
her fingertips.
But along most of the stretch the bigger rocks weren t even submerged.
She came sliding over the sand to another rock, turned on her back and leaned
up against the rock, blinking at sun reflections along the water. Camp was a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]