Part 32 (1/2)
He paused. ”That Lyad Ermetyne now,” he said, ”looks as if she either already is part of the main problem or is working very hard to get there. She's had a Tranest wars.h.i.+p stationed here for the past two weeks. A thing called the Aurora.”
Trigger was startled. ”But wars.h.i.+ps aren't allowed in Manon System!”
”It isn't in the system. It's stationed a half light-year away, where it has a legal right to be. Nothing to worry about as such. It's just a heavy armed frigate, which is the limit Tranest is allowed to build.
Since it's Lyad's private boat, I imagine it's been souped up with everything they could throw in. Anyway, the fact that she sent it here ahead of her indicates she isn't just dropping in for a casual visit.”
”She made that pretty clear herself!” Trigger said. ”Why do you think she's being so open about it?”
He shrugged. ”Might have a number of reasons. One could be that she'd get the beady eye anyway as soon as she showed up here. When Lyad goes anywhere, it's usually on business. After Quillan reported on your dinner party, I got all the information I could on her. The First Lady stacks up as a tough cookie! Also smart. Most of those Ermetynes wind up being dead-brained by some loving relative, and apparently they have to know how to whip up a sharp brew of poison before they're let into kindergarten. Lyad's been top dog among them since she was eighteen--”
His head turned. A bell had begun pinging in the next room. He stood up.
”Probably Mantelish's outfit on the transmitter,” he said. ”I told them to call as soon as they located him.” He stopped at the door. ”Care for a drink, Trigger girl? You know where the stuff is.”
”Not just now, thanks.”
The Commissioner came back in a couple of minutes. ”Darn fool got lost in a swamp! They found him finally, but he's too tired to come over now.”
He sat down and scratched his chin thoughtfully. ”Do you remember the time you pa.s.sed out on the Harvest Moon?” he asked.
Trigger looked at him, puzzled. ”The time I what?”
”Pa.s.sed out. Fainted. Went out cold.”
”I? You're out of your mind, Holati! I never fainted in my life.”
”Reason I asked,” he said, ”is that I've been told a spell in a rest cubicle--same thing as a rest cubicle anyway, only it's used for therapy--sometimes resolves amnesias.”
”Amnesias! What _are_ you talking about?”
The Commissioner said. ”I'm talking about you. This is bound to be a jolt, Trigger girl. Might have been easier after a drink. But I'll just give it to you straight. About a week after Mantelish and his U-League crew first arrived here, you did pa.s.s out on one occasion while we were on the Harvest Moon with them. And afterwards you didn't remember doing it.”
”I didn't?” Trigger said weakly.
”No. I thought it might have cleared up, and you just had some reason for not wanting to mention it.” He got to his feet. ”Like that drink now--before I go on with the details?”
She nodded.
17
Holati Tate brought her the drink and went on with the details.
Trigger and he and a dozen or so of the first group of U-League investigators had been in what was now designated as Section 52 of Harvest Moon. The Commissioner was by himself, checking over some equipment which had been installed in one of the compartments. After a while Doctor Azol joined him and told him Mantelish and the others had gone on to another section. Holati and Azol finished the check-up together and were about to leave the area to catch up with the group, when Holati saw Trigger lying on the floor in an adjoining compartment.
”You seemed to be in some kind of coma,” he said. ”We picked you up and put you into a chair by one of the survey screens, and were trying to get out a call on Azol's suit communicator to the ambulance boat when you suddenly opened your eyes. You looked at me and said, 'Oh, there you are! I was just going to go looking for you.'”
”It was obvious that you didn't realize anything unusual had happened.