Part 21 (2/2)
Hanan had just enough time to throw her a puzzled look; and then he was there.
”h.e.l.lo,” the young man said, his eyes flicking to Chandris and then quickly away. ”My name's Jereko Kosta. Are you Hanan Daviee?”
”That's right,” Hanan nodded. ”This is Chandris, one of my a.s.sociates.”
”Yes,” Kosta said, his eyes reluctantly meeting Chandris's again. ”We've met.”
”Ah,” Hanan nodded pleasantly. If he noticed the tension in the air, he didn't show it. ”What can I do for you, Mr. Kosta?”
”I'd like to talk to you about possibly going along on your next trip out to Angelma.s.s,” Kosta said. ”I have a radiation detection experiment that I very much need to get out there-”
”Inst.i.tute s.h.i.+p broken?” Chandris put in coolly.
”Well, no-”
”You're still with the Inst.i.tute, aren't you?”
”Well-”
”Chandris.” Hanan put a restraining hand on her arm. ”At the very least he deserves a hearing. Please continue, Mr. Kosta.”
She could see Kosta brace himself. ”The fact of the matter,” he said, the words coming out in a rush, ”is that some bureaucratic mistake has gotten my credit line frozen, and without an active credit line they won't let me aboard the Inst.i.tute s.h.i.+p. It'll be another month before the next trip, and if I have to wait that long-”
Hanan silenced him with an upraised hand. ”How much s.p.a.ce will this experiment of yours take up?”
”Not too much,” Kosta said, a note of cautious hope creeping into his voice. ”About like so,” he added, slicing off about a cubic meter of air with his hands. ”I can't pay very much now, but as soon as my credit's been unfrozen-”
”No problem,” Hanan cut him off. ”We'll be lifting tomorrow afternoon at two; you can sleep aboard tonight if you need a bed. Will you need any help getting your equipment over here?”
Kosta blinked. Probably, Chandris thought sourly, he'd expected to have to do more persuading. ”Ah, actually, I could-” He glanced at Chandris, suddenly seemed to realize who Hanan would likely volunteer to go help him. ”No, I can handle it myself,” he amended. ”And I've still got a room at the Inst.i.tute.”
”Good,” Hanan said. ”Then you'd better hop on back there and start getting everything together. We may be out there for a week, so pack accordingly.”
Kosta seemed a little taken aback. ”A week?”
”We're going there to hunt angels,” Hanan reminded him. ”No way to guarantee how long till we find one.”
”No, of course not.” Kosta threw Chandris another glance. ”I understand. I just didn't realize I'd be imposing on you that long.”
”If you can stand our company, I'm sure we can stand yours,” Hanan said, solemnly straight-faced.
”Now if you'll excuse us, we have work to do here.”
”Oh. Right.” Kosta hesitated. ”I'd better go get my equipment, I guess. And thank you.”
He turned and left, carefully closing the gate behind him. ”Seems pleasant enough,” Hanan commented as they watched him hurry down the dusty street. ”A little awkward, but pleasant enough.” He looked at Chandris. ”This isn't the one chasing you, is it?”
”Hardly,” Chandris growled. ”He came in on the Xirrus, that's all. Oh, and I talked to him awhile back when I went to the Inst.i.tute to find out what they knew about angels.”
”I gather you don't like him.”
”I don't know him well enough to not like him,” Chandris retorted. ”The point is that I don't trust him.”
Hanan waited, the question implicit in his face. ”I saw him at the s.p.a.ceport,” Chandris sighed. ”Right after we got off the Xirrus. I-well, I sort of scored him into walking me out past the guards. They were looking for a single woman, you know, and I figured a twosome would get past them easier. Anyway, we got outside and clear before it popped and he recognized me.”
”And off he went, screaming for the police at the top of his lungs?”
Chandris shook her head. ”That's just it: he didn't. He just stood there like a sfudd and watched me get into a line car. And he didn't turn me in at the Inst.i.tute, either.””Interesting,” Hanan murmured. ”You think maybe he was just giving you the benefit of the doubt?”Chandris snorted. ”What doubt? He saw me under arrest. h.e.l.l, I practically ran him down on my chop and hop.”
”Um.” Hanan rubbed thoughtfully at his cheek with the business end of the wrench, leaving a black
smudge behind. ”Well... I suppose he could just be the type who hates to get involved with anything messy.”
”Or maybe he's already involved in something messy and doesn't want to draw attention to himself,”
Chandris countered. ”There's something wrong about him, Hanan. I've scored academic types before, and there's something about him that doesn't fit the pattern.”
”Because he showed you mercy?” Hanan asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.
”That's different,” Chandris insisted. ”You and Ornina were trying to reform me.”
”Different question, then,” Hanan said. ”Do you think he's dangerous?”
”He's trouble. Isn't that enough?”
”You should know better than that,” Hanan said, quietly reproving. ”But is he dangerous?”
Chandris took a deep breath, trying to sort out her thoughts from her feelings. ”If you mean is he
going to knife us in our sleep... no, I don't think so.”
Hanan shrugged. ”Well, then, I don't really see how we can refuse him. Do you?”
Chandris looked him straight in the eye-”No,” she murmured. ”I guess not.”
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