Part 8 (1/2)

Malaika was in Control, checking out co-ordinates with Wolf. In his cabin Truzenzuzex was rigid in a meditation trance. He utilized that technique whenever be wished to consider a problem involving extreme concentration. And sometimes just to relax. In that state he required less body energy. In the salon, Tse-Mallory was trying to explain the workings of a semantic puzzle to Flinx. Atha was nearby, attempting somewhat' boredly to beat herself at the ancient and timeworn game Of Monopoly. She moved the obscure little idols and symbols in ways that Flinx had always found dully repet.i.tive.

Everything continued normally until Sissiph, bored and ejected from Control by the busy Malaika, stomped crankily into the room, a trail of translucent pseudolace flowing behind her.

'This is adull place! Dull, dull,dull! Like-like living in a coffin!' She fumed quietly for a few minutes. As no one deigned to notice her, she moved to a more central location. 'What a collection! Two pilots, two brain cases, and a kid with a poisonous worm for a pet!'

Pip's head lifted abruptly and the minidrag made an unfriendly motion in the girl's direction. Flinx stroked the back of its head until it had relayed sufficiently for some of She tightness to leave the long muscles.

His own response was mild as he considered the self-uacertainty/anger/coo-fusion in the girl's mind.

'It is a reptile, and bears no relation to ...'

'Reptile!Worm ! What difference does it make?' She pouted. 'And Maxy won't even let mewatch while he plays with all thosedarling co-ordinates and standards and things! He says I ”distract” him. Can you imagine?Distract him?'

'I can't imagine why it should either my dear,' murmured Atha without looting up from her game.

Ordinarily Sissiph probably would haven't made anything of it. Back in Drallar she'd had more than ample opportunity to inure herself to Atha's sarcasm. But the combination of the long flight and her frustrations of the moment combined to make her turn. Her voice was tight.

'Is that supposed to be some kind of crack?'

Still Atha did not look up from her game. No doubt she expected Sissiph to brush off the remark as she usually did and go flouncing from the room in a dignified huff. She returned with a slang phrase 'Tis truth, forsooth.'

'And your mouth,' rejoined Sissiph, parodying the words terribly, 'is a bit too ”looth”!' She gave the game table a quick shove with a knee. Being portable and not bolted to the fabric of the s.h.i.+p, it toppled easily. Small metal objects and plastic cards sailed in all directions.

Atha closed her eyes tightly, not moving, and then slowly opened them again. She turned easily to stare at the Lynx, her eyes even with the other girl's knees.

'I think, honey, that if we're going to pursue this conversation, we'd do it better on a more equal level.'

Her forearm shot out and caught the surprised Sissiph behind the knees. She let out a startled squeak and sat down hard.

From there on, their bodies seemed to merge so closely that Flinx was hard put to tell them apart. Their thoughts were indecipherable. Scientific combat went out the port, so to speak. Tse-Mallory left his puzzle and made a laudible, if foolhardy, attempt to stop it. All he received for his efforts was a long scratch on one cheek. At that moment Malaika, summoned hastily by Flinx with a gentle probe, appeared in the fore doorway. He took in the whole scene at a half-glance, 'What in the name of the obscenity sewn h.e.l.ls is going on here?'

Even his familiar bellow had no effect on the two combatants, who were by now too deeply engrossed in their work to notice mere mortal entreaties. The merchant moved forward and made an attempt to separate the two. Several,in fact. It was like dipping one's bands into a whirlwind. Frustrated, he backed off.

The longer one lived m the lower levels of Drallar, the greater one's acquired knowledge of elementary human psychology. Flinx said loudly bat evenly, putting as much disgust into his voice as be could muster, 'My, if you two only knew how funny you look!' He also risked a brief mental projection of the two combatants, suitably embellished.

There was immediate peace in the room. The cloud of hair, teeth, nails, and shredded clothing ground to an abrupt halt, resolving itself into two distinct bodies. Both stared blankly at Flinx, then uncertainly at each other.

'Thanks,kijana . I'd thought you might help out here and there, but apparently there's no end' to your talents.' Maiaika reached down and grasped each girl by the remaining material at the scruff of her neck, Sifting them much as one would a pair of obstinate kittens. The two glared silently at one another and seemed more than willing to start in all over again. Perceiving this, he shook them so hard that their teeth rattled and their tippers fell-off.

'We're on a billion-credit hunt in rarely s.p.a.ced territory after something which any other company in the galaxy would gladly slit my throat for an inkling of, and you twomwanamkewivu, cretins, idiots, can't live in peace for a month!' He shook them again, although not as furiously. Neither of them looked in the mood for fighting now. If this happens again, and I'll warn you only once, I will cheerfully chuck the both of you, biting and scratching if that's the way you want it, out the nearest airlock!Is that understood ?'

The two women stared silently at the floor.

'An ndiyo au la!Tell me now!' The voice reverberated around the saion.

Finally Sissiph murmured, almost in audibly. 'Yes, Maxy.' He turned to glare murderously at Atha.

'Yes, sir,' she said meekly.

Malaika would have continued, but Wolf chose that moment to peer into the room.

'Captain, I think you'd better come take a look at this. There is an object or objects on the screens which I would say is a s.h.i.+p, or s.h.i.+ps, i'd like your opinion,'

'Nini?' Malaga roared, whirling. 'What!' He let go of the two women. Both stood quietly, trying to create order out of the chaos of their clothing. Occasionally one would glance up at the other, but for now, at least, both were thoroughly abashed.

'It appears to be closing on us, sir. I do wish you'd come take a look... now.' Malaika turned to face the erstwhile fighters. 'Atha, you get fixed up and up front...upesi ! Sissiph, you go back to our cabin and stay there.' Both nodded soberly and departed in different directions.

'Sociologist, you go and get your friend out of that semi-sleep, or whatever he calls it. I want you at full consciousness in case anything untoward happens. I have a hunch both of you have had at least a modic.u.m of experience with deep- s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p manoeuvres?'

'Tse-Mallory had started off towards Truzenzuzex's cabin. Now he paused to smile back at the big trader. 'Something of the sort,' lie said quietly.

'Fine. Oh,kijana ?' Flinx looted up. ”You keep a close eye on that pet of yours. Things might get a little bouncy around here. I don't know how excitable that little devil is, but I wouldn't want him underfoot and nervous around busy people.'

'Yes sir. Have you any idea what it is?'

'Yes and no. And I'm afraid it's liable to be the former. And that's bad.' He paused, thoughtful. 'You can come up front, if you like, so long as you watch that snake. Tell our learned pa.s.sengers they can too, if they so desire. There's enough room. I just don't want Sissiph around. The darlingpakadogo has a tendency to get hysterical when things aren't where she can put a finger... and other delightful things... on them. But I think perhaps the others would like to be around when we find out what is what. And they might have hunches to contribute. I value hunches highly. By the way, I don't suppose you can answer that question for me?'

Flinx concentrated, hard. It was a long way off, but there was nothing else around for light-years, so it came in strong, strong. ”If was malignant/strange/picture of dry air, sun, blood/taste of salt/relief/all wrapped in cold, clear thoughts like snow-melt fitted in only one type...

He looked up, blinked. The merchant was watching him intently, with not a little hint of concern. He became aware then of the beads of sweat on his brow. He said one word, because it was sufficient.

'AAnn.'

The merchant nodded thoughtfully and turned for the door.

Chapter Eleven

The dot that indicated the presence of an operating posi-gravity drive field was dear now and far off to their 'right' - about ninety degrees or so to the present x-plane. It was moving on a definite convergence course. They still could not be sure what it was, other than that at least one mind occupied a similar area of s.p.a.ce.

An ancient aphorism someone had once recited to Flinx came back to him. As he recalled it, there had been two men involved, one old and one young. The younger had said, ”No news is good news,' and the other, a Terran holy man, had wisely replied, 'That's not necessarily true, my young friend. A fisherman doesn't think he's lucky if he doesn't get a bite.' He wasn't positive that the story was an appropriate a.n.a.logy for the moment, because be found himself disagreeing with the holy man.

'Two of them. Captain,' said Wolf. 'See...'

It was true. Even Flinx could see that as the large dot came closer it was separating into two distinct points. At the same time he sensed a multiplicity of similar minds to the one he'd first noticed although much weaker.

'Two s.h.i.+ps,' said Malaika. 'Then my one guess is in error after all. Before shadows. Now, everything in the dark.Usiku . Still, it might be...'

'Whatwas your guess, Maxim?' asked Truzenzuzex.

'I thought perhaps a compet.i.tor of mine - a certaincompet.i.tor - had gotten drift of your discovery to a greater extent than I originally thought. Or that certain information had leaked. If the latter case, then I should suspect that some- one on this s.h.i.+p is a spy.' There were some fast, uneasy glances around the cabin. 'That is still a possibility, but I am now less inclined to suspect it. I don't know of any combine in the Arm, neither the one I had in mind nor even GeneralIndustries, that could afford or would be inclined to put out two s.h.i.+ps on what has a very good chance of being a profit-less venture on merely spurious, secondhand information. Not even an AAnn Nest-Corporation.'

'In which case,' said Tse-Mallory, 'who are our two visitors?' I don't know, sociologist,hata kidogo .

Not at all. But we will no doubt find out shortly. They should be in reception distance momentarily, if they aren't already. If there were a relay station in this area we might have found out sooner... a.s.suming of course that they wished us to know of their presence, and knew closely enough where we were. I think that I doubt that...'

Atha was efficiently manipulating dials and switches. I've got everything wide open, sir, and if they're beaming us, we'll pick it up, all right!'

They did.