"You refuse to speak?" Shilth turned to the captain. "Thish, I tire of the Soft One"s lies and his insults. Take him out and execute him." Pennyfool squealed as the guards laid hold of him.

"Execute him?" Magnan bleated. "Couldn"t you just strike him off the invitation list for c.o.c.ktail parties or something?"

"If it"s gold you"re interested in," Retief suggested, "I"m sure CDT Sector HQ will come through with a tidy sum in return for Mr. Pennyfool"s hide, unbroken."

"Splendid notion," a member from the Commercial Section piped up. "I"m sure the ransom money-that is to say, the port fees-will be forthcoming the minute they see us all back at Sector HQ, safe and sound."

"Indeed?" Shilth said in a bored tone. "And if I allowed you to depart, what surety would I then have that the just indemnities will be paid?"

"You have the word of a diplomat," Magnan said promptly.

"I admire your coolness Magnan," Shilth said with a little bow, "a.s.saying jests at such a moment."

"I suppose I might consent to go along," Pennyfool said, blinking his eyes rapidly. "Although of course I"d prefer to stay on as hostage myself, my rank will undoubtedly be helpful in expediting payment."

"One may go," Shilth said in a chilling whisper. "That one." He pointed at Retief. Thish stepped forward, pointing his overdecorated handgun at the victim.

"Watch him closely. Captain," Shilth admonished. "He has a reputation as a troublemaker; as well have him off our hands-"

As Thish, close beside Retief, waved the gun toward the entrance, Retief, with a swift motion, swept the weapon from the other"s grip, took a step, caught Shilth by the neck, and backed him against the wall, the muzzle of the pistol pressed against the hostage"s ventral carapace.

"Tell your boys to stand fast," he said in a conversational tone as the Groaci official writhed and kicked futiley while the soldiers looked on as if paralyzed. "Mr. Pennyfool, if you"re ready to board ship, I don"t think Planetary Director Shilth will voice any objection."

"My soldiers will shoot you down like nesting nidfowls!" Shilth hissed.

"In which case, I"d be forced to pump your thorax full of soft-nosed slugs," Retief said. "I"ve heard they penetrate the exo-skeleton and then just ricochet around inside until they lose momentum. Be interesting to find out if it"s true."

"I remind you, Pennyfool-" Shilth c.o.c.ked his oculars at the Terran, who had not moved-"my lads" scatter-guns are highly disruptive to flimsy organisms such as yourselves. Disarm your misguided colleague, and spare the CDT the expense of a ma.s.s funeral, no less costly for lack of any identifiable remains!"

"Better get moving, sir, before some bright lad gets ideas," Retief suggested.

"They... we... I...," Pennyfool gasped.

"By no means," Retief said soothingly. "They hold Shilth in far too high esteem to see him converted into a boiled pudding on the half sh.e.l.l."

Cautiously, the Terrans sidled toward the door. Pennyfool went through in a scrambling leap, followed closely by his a.s.sociates.

"Retief," Magnan, at the rear of the party, said, "how are you going to get clear? If one of them gets behind you-"

"Better get aboard, Mr. Magnan," Retief cut in. "I have an idea Mr. Pennyfool won"t dawdle around waiting for stragglers."

"But-but-"

"Captain Thish, perhaps you"d be kind enough to act as escort," Retief said, "just in case any of the boys on the outside leap to conclusions."

"To comply," Shilth whispered in Groaci as the officer hesitated. "Later, to visit this miscreant"s crimes upon him in a fashion devised at leisure-our leisure, that is."

Magnan made a gobbling sound and disappeared, Thish at his heels. Shilth had stopped struggling. The Groaci soldiery stood in att.i.tudes of alert paralysis, watching for an opening. It was ten minutes before the sound of the Corps vessel"s drive rumbled briefly, faded, and was gone.

"And now?" Shilth inquired. "If you contemplate a contest of endurance, I remind you that we Groaci can carry on for upwards of ten standard days without so much as nictating a membrane."

"Send them outside," Retief said.

Shilth remonstrated, but complied. A moment later, a shrill but unmistakably human yelp sounded from beyond the door. Magnan appeared in the entry, his arms gripped by a pair of Groaci while a third held a scatter-gun to his head.

"They... they didn"t wait," the diplomat wailed.

"Release me!" Shilth hissed. "Or would you prefer to wait until after my lads have blown your superior"s head off?"

"Sounds like an even trade," Retief said. Magnan gasped and swallowed.

"Much as I should dislike to see the Planetary Director"s internal arrangements hashed in the manner you so vividly described," Thish said from behind Magnan, "I a.s.sure you I would make the sacrifice in the interest of the Groaci national honor."

"In the interest of his next promotion, he means," Shilth hissed. "What does he care if I"m diced in the process?"

Retief thrust Shilth away, tossed the gun on the floor. "If I didn"t know you wanted both of us alive, I"d have called your bluff, Thish," he said.

"Oh? And do I want you alive, Soft One?" Thish took aim with a borrowed rifle-"Of course you do, littermate of genetic inferiors!" Shilth snapped, ma.s.saging the point on his back where the gun muzzle had dug in. "At least until they divulge the secret of what they sought here!" He turned to Retief. "And now let us to business, eh?"

Retief plucked a cigar from his breast pocket, puffed it alight, blew scented smoke past the alien"s olfactory orifices, which cinched up tight at the aroma of Virginia leaf.

"Certainly, Shilth. Who"s for sale now?"

"You are, my dear Terry," the Groaci said ominously. "The price of your life is a complete description of the nature and location of the riches hidden here."

Retief waved the stogie at the blotched walls, the dirtdrifted corners, the broken tilework. "You"re looking at them."

"Ah, so we are to have the pleasure of a.s.sisting you in developing a more cooperative att.i.tude, eh? Capital. Easy babblers are such bores."

"You wouldn"t dare torture us," Magnan said in a squeaky tone. "Our colleagues know where we are. If we aren"t returned unharmed, they"ll extract a terrible vengeance!"

"A sharp note to the Amba.s.sador, no doubt," Shilth said, with an amused snap of the mandibles. "Still, there are subtler methods of persuasion than living dismemberment. Now, we Groaci are quite at home in enclosed s.p.a.ces; but you Terries, it is rumored, are claustrophobes, an allegation I"ve often yearned to test. And I know just the setting in which to conduct the experiment." He gestured to Thish, who urged the two Terrans at gunpoint along a wide pa.s.sage to a metal door. Two soldiers came forward to wrestle the heavy panel aside, exposing a tiny chamber no more than six feet on a side, windowless, unfurnished.

"Gentlemen, your cell. A trifle cramped, perhaps, but well protected from excessive wind and rain, eh?"

Retief and Magnan stepped inside. The two soldiers forced the heavy sliding door shut.

In the total darkness, a dim spot of light glowed on one wall. Retief reached out and pressed a thumb against it.

With a grinding of ancient gears, a groaning of antique cables, the elevator started down.

3.

Magnan emitted a shrill cry and attempted to climb the wall. "Retief! What"s happening?"

"No, no, Mr. Magnan," Retief said. "Your line is, "Ah, just as I planned." That"s the way reputations for forethought are built."