Part 10 (1/2)
”You have it now?” He leaned forward, his eyes fully open, both pairs of lids raised.
”No.”
”Where is it?”
”I do not know.”
Again exasperation, this time strong enough to bring a sharp exclamation from him.
”State the last time you saw it and under what circ.u.mstances.”
”I gave it to Eet. He took it away.”
”Eet!” And who is Eet?”
”The mutant born of the s.h.i.+p's cat on the Vestris.”
I think that had he not been so sure of the infallibility of the reader-helm, he would not have taken that for the truth. For it must have been the last answer he expected.
”Was that” - he spoke slowly now - ”here on this planet, or on the Vestris?”
”Here.”
”And when?”
”Just before your s.h.i.+p planeted.”
”Where is this Eet now?” Again he leaned forward eagerly.
”Dead, I believe. He was crossing the top of the wreck when you flamed down. He must have been burned off by your deter rockets.”
”You- ” The Captain turned his head. ”Thangsfeld, jump to it! I want every palm's width of that s.h.i.+p's surface searched and all the ground around it! Now!”
One of the crewman left at a run. Once more the Captain turned to me.
”Why did you give the ring to Eet?”
”The ring pulled us toward this place rather than to the wrecked s.h.i.+p. Eet wanted to know why.”
”Eet wanted to know,” he repeated. ”What do you mean? You have stated that this creature was a mutant born of a s.h.i.+p's cat - not an intelligent being.” Once more he looked to the medico for confirmation of my truthfulness.
”I do not know what Eet is,” I replied. ”But he is not an animal, save perhaps outwardly.”
”Why did he and not you take this ring to the source of attraction?”
”We were besieged by the natives. Eet had a chance of getting out, I did not.”
”But why was it so important that the ring get out, via this Eet?”
”I do not know. Eet wanted to take it.”
”In what direction?”
”Farther on - over the river.”
”So!” He was on his feet in one lithe movement. ”We are on the right track after all.” Once more he looked down at me. ”Do you know what the ring stone is?”
”A source of energy - I think.”
”A good enough answer.” Still he looked at me, his inner eyelids almost closed, giving his eyes a disquieting opacity.
”What do we do Captain, with him-?” one of the human crewman asked.
”For the present, nothing. Keep him here. But then, even if he runs loose, I do not think he is going anywhere.” He laughed. ”After all we owe him some small thanks. More if we find the ring at the wreck.”
They unstrapped me. I was very tired and willing to yield to my fatigue. But I remembered they had not asked me - the why and how of my leaving the Vestris. Had they swallowed my plague story and so would not question me about that? The indications were that they had not been in touch with the Free Trader, at least not since my escape. If these represented those who had bought me free from Tanth for their own purposes, they had not been in direct contact with other members of their team lately.
But this time I did not have Eet to depend upon, and thinking of Eet hurt more than I would have earlier believed possible. I hoped that he had not suffered, that that flash of violence had marked an instantaneous ending for him.
Would they find his body with the ring still tied about his neck? And what did they want it for - to lead them to others of its kind as it had guided me across s.p.a.ce to the dead stones in the derelict? That such gems might be a revolutionary source of power was an easy guess. And such power, in the hands of the Guild, was worth far more to them than the ransom of a whole system of planets.
The medico and the other human crewman gathered their apparatus and left. But the X-Tee continued to sit by the door of the tunnel, on the stool left by the Captain. He, too, had pulled a green stick out and was chewing on it, but, while his eyes were half closed in enjoyment, his fronds pointed in my direction.
I slept then, and awoke to a shaking of the rock around me, a roar in my ears. There was another s.h.i.+p coming in. Perhaps the Vestris. If so, the Captain might be back with more questions. I lay listening, watching my guard.
He stood looking down the tunnel. However, the fronds still pointed at me, and his upper hands hovered over laser b.u.t.ts.
It was clear from the att.i.tude of the X-Tee that this second s.h.i.+p was not expected. Therefore - who? The Patrol? Or some innocent scout or trader arriving just at the wrong time? That the new arrival was about to walk into a trap, I did not doubt.
The thunder of the planeting died away. Now I could not feel or hear the vibration caused by the workers in the other tunnel.
”What is it?” I dared to ask my guard.
His attentive fronds twitched, but he did not turn his head. Only now the lasers were drawn as if he were prepared to repel an invasion.
We continued to wait. I tried other questions until the wave of a weapon in my direction silenced me. Then there was a tramp of feet in the pa.s.sage and a voice raised in a hail. My guard restored one laser to its holster, held the other ready.
Three of them came in, human crewmen. They carried a struggling bundle which they dumped without ceremony and with extra roughness on the floor. Once in port I had seen a crewman, drunk on the maddening lorthdrip, subdued by a police tangle gun. And now I looked upon a captive completely enmeshed in the same fas.h.i.+on. Among the coils of gummy rope I caught sight of the black tunic known across s.p.a.ce. They had bagged a Patrolman, and securely.
THIRTEEN.
He had sense enough to cease struggling as he was dropped, so that his bonds did not tighten. Luckily none had crossed his face or throat. But his captors were so sure of him they walked away, leaving the two of us to the X-Tee. He surveyed the Patrolman, no expression on his face. Then he returned to his stool.
The Patrolman's eyes were open and, I judged, he was busy examining his prison and its occupants. He stared a long time at me. The ordeal of questioning under the probe, though sleep had followed, had left me weak. And not only weak, but caught in a curious lethargy, disinclined to action. I could foresee that at any moment the X-Tee might turn a laser on me. But I was no longer afraid.
After a while one of the human crewmen came in, pitched in my general direction another tube of E-ration. Though I felt hunger stir in me when I saw it, a strong effort of will was required to put out my hand, s.h.i.+ft my body to reach it. And I held it in my shaking fingers for some time before I could summon the energy to suck at its contents.