Part 9 (1/2)
”He has been affected by it already. We must all leave before the Stone's effect spreads,' Hrrestan said. ”The most noticeable effect it has is an interference with short-term memory.” As Hrriss and Todd dutifully proceeded with their escort, Todd caught a glimpse of Rogitel, disconnecting the flight log recorder. He carried it out of the s.h.i.+p cradled in his arms like a bubble made of gla.s.s.
Once the group was outside, technicians sealed the s.h.i.+p once more with fibergla.s.s wafers, and Councillor Dupuis affixed her own seal.
Hrriss and Todd were hustled to a shuttle which had landed while they were inside the Albatross.
”That Glow Stone,' Hrriss murmured as they were led to seats, ”affects more than men.”
”Quiet there! No conversation between criminals,' Rogitel said, no more the suave diplomat but the acknowledged jailor.
”Criminality has yet to be proved,' Hrriss said as he was pushed into a seat while Todd was taken farther down the aisle before settled.
They were advised to fasten their safety harnesses and were then studiously ignored by the marine guard.
During the entire journey to Treaty Island, no one even offered them anything to eat or drink, although Rogitel and the marines ate a light meal.
Perhaps, Todd thought, sunk in a negative mood, it was as well he and Hrriss could not speak. Rogitel would construe it as collusion to be sure their ”explanations' tallied before interrogation. But Todd did not need to speak to Hrriss to know that his friend would be as puzzled as he that dozens of illegal items had been secreted on the Albatross, a s.h.i.+p used almost exclusively by themselves on official tours of duty.
And the positioning of the Byzanian Glow Stone indicated a good try at jamming the recorder. His kick must have tipped the Stone sufficiently to restore the function, but had the Stone's radiation erased the tape? Would the all-important Mayday still be recorded?
Surely machinery was a little less receptive to the Glow Stone's effects than a Human? And the Mayday was the only proof of their innocence right now.
Once the shuttle landed on Treaty Island, the two prisoners were hurried inside the huge Federation Center. Hrriss had only a glimpse of the high, white stone laade before they were rushed up the stairs and through a maze of identical hallways.
There was no sound but the clatter of boot heels on the smooth surface of the floors. The sergeant stopped before a door, its nameplate blank and status sign registering ”empty.”
”You'll wait here until the Council is ready for you,' the sergeant said. ”Food and drink will be brought in a bit.”
”That is most considerate,' Hrriss said in Terran Standard. The numbness of shock had receded sufficiently to make him aware of an intense thirst and, less insistent, some hunger.
”You're a Treaty prisoner and the courtesies are observed,' the sergeant said, but Hrriss could see that the man approved of his use of Terran.
Hrriss knew that the military arm of both parent governments was made up of fierce patriots who preferred their own culture in all ways.
It was one of the reasons there was no standing force of any kind of Doona, the symbol of compromise. As the Treaty Organization was trying to maintain a separate but equal method of expansion in trading and colonization, each culture needed to remain independent from the other. That would make a Doonan ”army' an unacceptable third force.
”Hear tell you all had some party last night,' the guard said, sounding almost friendly. ”What's keeping you?” he added, looking down the hall just as Todd, between his guards, reached the room. ”In you go.” The escort stood aside to let Todd enter.
”Food and drink coming.”
”Thanks, Sergeant,' Todd said, and his stomach rumbled. Whether the sergeant heard that or not was irrelevant, for he closed the door firmly. Both Hrriss and Todd heard the lock mechanism whirr, and the bulb over the door lit up redly.
They also heard the stamp of boots as someone stood to attention outside the room.
The two prisoners turned to view the room. No more than three meters on a side, with a long window running along the wall opposite the door.
A broad table was set underneath the window, a tape reader on its surface but no tapes in it or blanks ready to be used. There were three padded chairs against the wall: a cheerless functional cubicle.
”Are they likely to listen in?” Hrriss asked.
”I doubt it,' Todd said, glancing at the door.
”Looks like a research room, not an interrogation facility, in spite of that tape reader.” He had been listening to the sound of his voice. ”It's soundproofed. Scholars insist on that as an aid to deep thought and concentration. Fardles, despite what they hauled out of cabinets and crannies on the Albatross, we're still only alleged Treaty breakers, not actual criminals.”
”We might as well be, Zodd, with all the treasures Rogitel pulled out of hiding,' Hrriss said gloomily.
”Hu s.h.i.+h didn't believe we took them. Neither did your father!' Todd began to pace with some agitation. ”All the way here I kept trying to remember every time we've left the Albie unguarded and open. Suffering snakes, Hrriss, that stuff could have been planted anytime the last few years.
”Not if proper service checks were carried out, zOdd, and you supervised the last one yourself,' Hrriss reminded him.
”Yeah, so I did. Then the junk has to have been planted during that phony servicing on Hrretha.
There'd've been time to platinum the hull. Furthermore,' and now Todd whirled on Hrriss, pointing his index finger at his friend, ”Rogitel was on Hrretha, and lurking close to us all the time. To prevent us from going back to our s.h.i.+p to see just what sort of servicing was being done?” When Hrriss nodded agreement with that thought, Todd continued, ”Furthermore, we filed our flight plan, same as always, and, despite that short detour to Hrrilnorr system, we weren't much behind schedule landing back on Doona, were we?” Though Hrriss recognized the validity of that logic, he knew that Todd was talking himself out of despair even as he offered the same hope to Hrriss.
”We always register flight plans,' Hrriss said. ”We leave and arrive on time at all destinations.”
”So,' and Todd stopped pacing long enough to whirl back to Hrriss, ”where do they think we had time to pick up all those juicy little rarities?
Cotopoids are found on only three planets in two systems, if I remember rightly, and none of them on any route we've taken recently.
I can't identify half of the other stuff but,' and now he sighed, ”that d.a.m.ned Byzanian Glow Stone is genuine and there's only one place you can come by them and we were orbiting above it.”
”All our flight plans are on record,' Hrriss said, finding rea.s.surance in that fact, ”and they will prove our innocence. Come, stop pacing. It suggests a guilty mind.” Todd plopped down next to Hrriss and shoved the third chair a short distance away so the two of them could share it to prop their feet. Hrriss disposed his tail comfortably through the opening in the rear of his chair and composed himself.
”There's something nagging at me,' Todd said after a few moments.
He circled his hand in the air, trying to catch hold of an elusive thought. ”Something Councillor Dupuis said, that they had received information that the Albie had been identified by the Hrrilnorr beacon.
Isn't it a little soon for such to reach Hrruban Security? That beacon didn't dispatch a robot probe when we pa.s.sed it, which is the only way that the data would get here short of a month. It shouldn't have been picked up for another few weeks even by digital rapid-transfer. That's why my father thought that the matter could be deferred until after Snake Hunt.” Hrriss yawned broadly, showing fangs, incisors, and grinders that Todd always found an impressive array. ”We both know how interdict beacons operate. But there were other people using Hrrilnorr as a warp-jump coordinate. Perhaps they collected the message and reported the infraction.”
”Whose side are you on?” Todd demanded, half joking. Hrriss often played devil's advocate when they had to reason through a problem. ”A little too coincidental to please me, especially with the Treaty Renewal imminent.” Hrriss yawned again.
”Who else was using the Hrrilnorr connection, Hrriss?”
”I do not remember, only that some were.
”But I thought most of the top bra.s.s came by transport grid. And Rogitel is not the type to plan practical jokes. Nor is Landreau, and this thing was planned.” Hrriss was working his bottom into the padded seat, trying to make himself comfortable enough to sleep. Todd often wished he had the Hrruban propensity for sleep. Despite their generally high level of activity when awake, they could, and did, take naps anytime opportunity offered.
”I agree,' Hrriss mumbled. He caught himself in the act of falling asleep. ”We were promisssed food and drink. I could sleep better with a full belly. But I need sleep to make sense out of this situation. I had only an hour in my bed whenever this morning was. He sat up, suddenly anxious. ”I hope my mother will feed the ocelots when evening comes.
If they're not fed, they will go in search of food and raid my neighbor's ssliss coop again.
”You'll be home to feed them yourself,' Todd said.
”I hope so but the ocelots do enjoy ssliss eggs.
”Don't talk about eggs. I'm starved.” When Hrriss yawned even more broadly than before, Todd regarded him in disgruntlement. ”And, d.a.m.n your lousy furred pelt, you can sleep. I can't when I'm starving.
”Then wake me when the meal comes,' Hrriss advised, and settling himself, his chin dropped to his chest, his hands, so oddly more human than the rest of him, relaxing in his lap while his tail hung slack behind him, the tip only occasionally twitching.
Todd sighed, settling back, legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles on the supporting chair, and began running over the day's happenings. Who had placed those incriminating items on the Albie? He turned to ask what Hrriss thought. Hrriss's breathing had slowed, become steady and shallow. The gentle oscillation of the tip of Hrriss's tail attracted Todd's attention. Its movement was hypnotic and soothing. As Tod watched it, his own eyes grew heavy. After a while, despite his hunger, he dozed off.