Part 21 (1/2)

”Yeah,” he said. ”Couple of old ladies. What did you talk about?”

Trigger recounted the conversation. He reflected, nodded and stood up.

”I put a couple of suitcases in that closet over there,” he said. ”Your personal stuff is in them, de-tracered. Another thing--somebody checked over your finances and came to the conclusion you're broke.”

”Not exactly broke,” said Trigger.

Quillan reached into a pocket, pulled out an envelope and laid it on the cabinet. ”Here's a little extra spending money then,” he said. ”The balance of your Precol pay to date. I had it picked up on Evalee this morning. Seven hundred twenty-eight FC.”

”Thanks,” Trigger said. ”I can use some of that.”

They stood looking at each other.

”Any questions?” he asked.

”Sure,” Trigger said. ”But you wouldn't answer them.”

”Try me, doll,” said Quillan. ”But let's s.h.i.+ft operations to the fanciest c.o.c.ktail lounge on this thing before you start. I feel like relaxing a little. For just one girl, you've given us a fairly rough time these last forty-eight hours!”

”I'm sorry,” Trigger said.

”I'll bet,” said Quillan.

Trigger glanced at the closet. If he'd brought everything along, there was a dress in one of those suitcases that would have been a little too daring for Maccadon. It should, therefore, be just about right for a c.o.c.ktail lounge on the Dawn City; and she hadn't had a chance to wear it yet. ”Give me ten minutes to change.”

”Fine.” Quillan started toward the door. ”By the way, I'm your neighbor now.”

”The cabin at the end of the hall?” she asked startled.

”That's right.” He smiled at her. ”I'll be back in ten minutes.”

Well, that was going to be cosy! Trigger found the dress, shook it out and slipped into it, enormously puzzled but also enormously relieved.

That Whatzzit!

Freshening up her make-up, she wondered how he had induced the Elfkund ladies to leave. Perhaps he'd managed to have a better cabin offered to them. It must be convenient to have that kind of a pull.

12

”Well, we didn't just leave it up to them,” Quillan said. ”s.h.i.+p's Engineering spotted a radiation leak in their cabin. Slight but definite. They got bundled out in a squawking hurry.” He added, ”They did get a better cabin though.”

”Might have been less trouble to get me to move,” Trigger remarked.

”Might have been. I didn't know what mood you'd be in.”

Trigger decided to let that ride. This c.o.c.ktail lounge was a very curious place. By the looks of it, there were thirty or forty people in their immediate vicinity; but if one looked again in a couple of minutes, there might be an entirely different thirty or forty people around. Sitting in easy chairs or at tables, standing about in small groups, talking, drinking, laughing, they drifted past slowly; overhead, below, sometimes tilted at odd angles--fading from sight and presently returning.

In actual fact she and Quillan were in a little room by themselves, and with more than ordinary privacy via an audio block and a reconstruct scrambler which Quillan had switched on at their entry. ”I'll leave us out of the viewer circuit,” he remarked, ”until you've finished your questions.”

”Viewer circuit?” she repeated.