Part 3 (1/2)

'Don't be impatient, Ms Brown. This far from Earth it takes six days to receive a reply, even via hyper relay.'

'Six days!'

'You'll stay in Astroville in reasonable comfort at the city's expense, but not aboard this s.h.i.+p.'

'Don't you trust us?' asked the Doctor.

'A suspicious mind goes with the job, Doctor. I have this picture of you suddenly remembering those numbers of Hok's, and trying to leave here without telling me first.'

Falstaff's s.h.i.+pboard synthesiser had a cordon bleu culinary program, so his meal had been excellent. Now he was reclining in a form-fitting ma.s.sage chair in the s.h.i.+p's compact lounge, sipping a goblet of wine and listening to a recording of the Astroville local newsnet broadcasts he had made before his s.h.i.+p had slipped into hypers.p.a.ce. He had long ago determined his priorities in such matters, and refused to allow bad news to spoil his appreciation of good food.

'Now, ballasted with capon and sack, I can face whatever slings and arrows outrageous fortune may hurl my way,' he soliloquised.

To his relief, thanks to a late-breaking political scandal, Hok's death was relegated to fourth place in the hourly summary. A man and woman were said to be helping with inquiries, but there was no mention of his part in the proceedings. Of course, the authorities might still be searching for him, but it was definitely encouraging. The longer it took them to make a positive identification the farther he and his s.h.i.+p would be from their jurisdiction; though he felt a slight pang of regret that his actions might have left those two tourists in a compromising position.

'However, for the nonce, discretion must be the better part of valour.' He raised his goblet again. 'To good fortune!' he toasted loudly.

Then an explosion jerked the goblet from his hand and split his s.h.i.+p open from stem to stern.

CHAPTER 4.

HISTORY LESSONS.

The Falcon Falcon had been under way for six hours when Qwaid knocked on the door of Alpha's stateroom. When he was bidden to enter he found his employer hunched over a compact duplicate of his office desk computer. had been under way for six hours when Qwaid knocked on the door of Alpha's stateroom. When he was bidden to enter he found his employer hunched over a compact duplicate of his office desk computer.

'What is is, Qwaid?'

'Thought you'd like to know, boss. We just picked up a hypers.p.a.ce distress-beacon signal from behind us. Very weak, like it's going to die at any moment. The call sign matches the s.h.i.+p you had Gribbs fit his little present to.'

'Then I may a.s.sume our interfering friend will no longer be giving us any trouble. Is the signal likely to be detected in Astroville?'

'Shouldn't think so, boss. We're only picking it up because he's close by.'

Alpha stiffened slightly, and a new edge entered his words.

'Therefore he was either following us or on a similar course.'

A cold sweat broke out on Qwaid's brow. He hadn't thought of that implication. 'Uh, I guess so, boss.'

'So we may conclude that either he obtained the course information while he was in Hok's shop, presumably from a duplicate data capsule you overlooked in the confusion, or else Hok had already pa.s.sed on a duplicate of the information.'

Alpha's cold eyes lifted to transfix him. 'It had better not be the latter, Qwaid. Ever since he mooted the deal, I expressly ordered you to watch him and prevent that very eventuality -'

'He must have picked it up in the shop, boss,' Qwaid a.s.sured him, gulping desperately. 'We were watching Hok night and day like you said. We moved in as soon as we were sure he'd picked up the original capsule from the courier. He must have made a copy just before we arrived.'

It seemed an eternity before the cold depthless eyes left him. 'I trust that is the case. It would not do to disappoint me so soon after my last lecture on your competence.'

'No, boss.' Qwaid took a relieved breath, then hesitated. Despite a sinking feeling that was growing steadily in the pit of his stomach, his curiosity demanded an answer on another matter.

'Uh, there is another thing, boss.'

'Well?'

'Just so we can be ready to move quickly, for efficiency like, can you tell us what we're after? I mean is there a lot of it and is it going to take any special gear to s.h.i.+ft?'

For a moment he thought he'd been presumptuous, but then Alpha nodded. 'That is a reasonable question. Perhaps you are learning to think ahead at last. Very well. If we find what I expect, you must be prepared to move a variety of items of different sizes. Ensure there are suitable containers ready in the hold.'

'And any other equipment, boss? Is there a vault to crack, or any guards that'll need taking care of?'

'Perhaps, Qwaid, you had better prepare for all eventualities.

But the reward will be worth it.'

'Is this the big one, boss?' Qwaid ventured, intrigued by Alpha's palpable sense of barely concealed antic.i.p.ation.

'Quaintly put, but an apposite description. Yes, this is ”the big one”' Alpha allowed himself a low chuckle. 'But I doubt if you will appreciate the true value of what we may find.'

'I've got a good eye for valuables, boss,' Qwaid replied defensively.

'But this is more than mere monetary wealth, Qwaid. This will be a piece of history!'

Astroville's freefall dome was filled with darting, swooping figures beating their brightly coloured strap-on wings. Peri watched them grumpily from the observation gallery, her arms still aching from her own recent session. It had been fun, but she knew she was not in the right mood to fully appreciate flying like a bird.

'Why the long face?' the Doctor asked, after she had been silent for a long while. 'I thought the other day you said Astroville was a splendid place to be.'

'That was before we were put under house arrest... well, city arrest,' she pointed out tersely.

'I'm afraid you'll simply have to be patient, Peri.'

'I guess I'm not as good at it as you are.'

'No. You come from an impatient species, and you have youth against you as well,' He patted her hand. 'Don't worry, you'll learn in time.'

She looked at him curiously, suspecting he was hiding his resentment at their situation for her sake. If that was so, she couldn't penetrate his mask. Meanwhile, there was something she had been meaning to find out, and this seemed as a good a time as any. 'Uh, Doctor. Can I ask, just how old are you?'

'In your years, about eight hundred and fifty,' he replied easily.

She decided he wasn't putting her on. She took a deep breath and tried not to show too much surprise. Oh. I see. I suppose you would learn a lot about being patient in that time.'

He smiled. 'That among other things.'

There was another long silence, then Peri said with a sigh, 'I just wish there was something we could do to speed everything up.'

'Well it might help if we could fathom out Hok's last words.'