Captain Maxim Malaika, House-Head and Plutocrat? I bring you greetings, sir, from Madame Rashaleila Nuaman and Nuaman Enterprises." Malaika"s lips twisted in a sub-vocal oath which made Flinx blush. "Congratulations!"

That superciliousness was sufficient to stimulate the merchant"s tongue, "d.a.m.ned decent of you. And who areninyi nyote ?"

"Pardon? Oh,I . I am of little consequence. But for purposes of facilitating further conversation ... which, I a.s.sure you,will be forthcoming ... you may know me as Able Nikosos."

"Je, Mister Nikosos.I agree wholeheartedly that your personage is doubtless of little consequence. I am curious as to bow you got here. This planet seems to be acquiring a universal notoriety."

"How so? Umm. As to your question, Captain, why," and the voice reflected mock astonishment, "we followed you. Most of the way from Moth. At a discreet distance, of course. Speaking of which, you certainly changed your course a good deal at the beginning of your journey. Yes you did. But after the first week we had no trouble plotting your approximate course. You know, this is the fourth system in this sector with planets that we"ve visited. We knew more or less where the one we wanted was, but not its exact co-ordinates. It made it hard on us, yes hard, when we lost you completely. Those co-ordinates were on a bit of material which ... but never mind that. That"s long in the past now, isn"t it?"

"You didn"t by any chance get some help from a certain AAnn baron?"

"An AAnn baron?" The squeaky voice reflected surprise. MaSaika glanced at Flinx.

"He"s telling the truth, sir. And they"re definitely in a set orbit."

The two scientists looked in surprise at Flinx. Neither said anything, but he could sense a mild resentment of his secrecy in their thoughts. He wanted desperately to tell them how necessary it was to maintain that secrecy. Even today, psi-sensitives were not universally popular, a fact he had found out early and painfully as a child. Now was not the time, though. The voice on the comm continued.

"What would we have to do with the AAnn? Nasty people, those, nasty! No indeed, sir. We found you all by ourselves, in spite of the difficulties your disappearance occasioned us. But we did find you, didn"t we? So no harm done. Besides, no use trying to share the blame, and I refuse to share the credit. Not that it should matter to you in the long run. Or even the short one." A brief giggle broke the commentary.

"My ship is parked a couple of field lengths from yourGloryhole . We beamed it first. When we did not receive a reply and when the lock refused us entrance - how clever of you, Captain! - we a.s.sumed you had already made your drop to the surface. A glance at your shuttle bay confirmed it."

"Thelathini nguruwe! Thirty pigs. Which is the ultimate number which can be fitted into a standard captain"s cabin, in case you didn"t know." The voice seemed immune to insult as well as to modesty.Tut, tut, Captain.You"ll offend my modest nature."

"Small chance of that."

"Anyway, the emanations from your components would have revealed your location to us even if you had declined to acknowledge our call. As I am sure you were well aw are."

"Captain," said Flinx, 1 thought you said . . ."

"Forgot about the relay to the shuttle"s comm. That"s what they"d pick up. They could hardly miss us anyway." He was already setting up a last-ditch defence in his mind.

"Where are you now, friend Nikosos, other than in orbit?"

"A good guess, Captain. Why, we"re drifting over this moisture-poor continent. Rather close to you, I"ve no doubt. We should be down in a short while, at which time I hope to greet you personally." The voice paused, then resumed again. "Whatever you are hiding in must really be something. We"re having no end of trouble picking up your signal."

"You"ve travelled along way for a lot of nothing, Nikosos. We"ve been working on this "whatever," as you so accurately say, for weeks now. We haven"t been able to figure out what it does, much less how it does it."

"Certainly, Captain, certainly!" The voice carried a humouring tone now. "Personaly whenever the cold of s.p.a.ce affects me too deeply, I like to fly through the nearest M Supergiant to warm my chilly bones. As I said, we"ll be seeing you shortly."

"He doesn"t believe you," said Flinx, Malaika nodded. "And then?"

"Well, that does pose a problem. eh? I certainly can"t wave you on your happy way home, because then all my hard work would have been for naught, wouldn"t it? But then, a.s.sa.s.sination realty isn"t my line, either Perhaps some-thing can be worked ..." Malaika cut the comm. He turned to the others.

"Je, you heard. Where new planets are concerned, possession is nine tenths of the ancient law. I doubt Rasha will leave me be to call in a Church Evaluation Force." He switched the comm to inter personnel frequency.

"Wolf. you heard everything?"

"Yes, Captain." The shadow-man"s reply was even. Flinx wondered if the pilot were capable of an excitement he never showed. I fear that your pet took it rather hard, though. She"s fainted. Miss Moon is caring for her now."

"Je! She will be quiet for a while then, anyway. We"re going to join you shortly. We"d best all remain pamoja . He flipped off the comm again.

"What do you propose?" asked Tse-Mallory.

"Not much I can, sociologist. Even if this Nikosos person should bemjinga enough to come without a portable defensive screen, it would be awkward to attempt to fight our way out. Although we are not."

and here he looked directly at Flinx, "without surprises of our own. However, I am certain the men he leaves on his ship - only one this time, for a change - will be monitoring everything that happens. We"d be at their mercy in the shuttle. If this Nikosos doesn"t bring a screen, and if we could surprise him and get off a crippling few shots before they had time to warn their starship, and if we could slip to theGloryhole under their detectors, and if we could get inside and get the generator powered before they noticed - why, we might have a good chance of sneaking off or fighting them."

Too many "ifs"," said Truzenzuzex unnecessarily.

"Kabisa, quite. Still, we have other weapons. Rest a.s.sured I"ll try them. Bribery, for one, has often proven more effective in war than nucleonics." But I fear that Rasha wouldn"t send a creature that vulnerable on such an important mission. Not one who"d be tempted by total bribery, anyway. Partial, now ... There is only one other thing I can think of to do. There"s only onemiango to this building. Set up the rifle and blast the first being to enter it. As long as he has no certain idea of how we are equipped for supplies and guns he might be impatient enough to d.i.c.ker with us. Unfortunately we don"t have much, even with what we could move in here from the shuttle,Mibu , ail he has to do is burn the shuttle and take a leisurely safari back to Nineveh with co-ordinates for the Registry!"

"Why doesn"t he do that anyway?" asked Flinx.

"Not his a.s.signment,kijana , or he wouldn"t even have bothered to call us. Simply disabled theGlory and been on his way. Obviously he needs to find out everything he can about the Krang." He gestured at the two scientists. "Rasha knows about you two. I told her myself,chura that I am. She could hire experts of her own, but she knows your reputation. Rasha never neglects her homework. So I"m not worried for your lives. Only your reputations. I believe I can also manage something For myself. Too many people would ask awkward questions if I were to disappear suddenly ... even on a trip of exploration in an uns.p.a.ced area. And hecan"t make that muchfedha ! Oh, he still couldn"t afford to let any of us go free.

Most likely he"s been ordered to keep us comfy someplace until Rasha"s investment here is tied up sixways in four dimensions. That veiled hint at "a.s.sa.s.sination" was probably his way of opening bids."

"A suggestion. Captain," said Truzenzuzex.

"Ndiyo?"

"a.s.suming all you"ve said to be true, why not simply accede quietly and give him what he wants?"

"What" Even Flinx was startled.

I a.s.sure you that the Krang will remain useless to both him and his employer. I was pessimistic when I said I would require three weeks to evaluate the machine"s potential usefulness. We could learn much about the Tar-Aiym from it, of that I"ve no doubt. I think that I can also say with a great deal of cert.i.tude right now that it will otherwise never be more than an outstanding curiosity for archaeologists and touristas ."

"Lakini, but... you got it working! Part of it, anyhow."

"What I did was no more than polishing the drive coils of a Caplis generator. I succeeded in warming it up, perhaps, and appearing functional, but I doubt that I could ever, ever bring it to even partial operation. And we still have no more idea of what it"s supposed to do than we did before. No being could go further, I think ... no matter who your Madame Nuaman engages."

Lf you"re positive- " began Malaika.

Truzenzuzex looked questioningly at Tse-Mallory and both turned back to the merchant. "Nothing is positive, Captain, but I will not bandy Church maxims with you. Without hesitation, I concur with my brother"s evaluation."

"Mbwa ulimwengu! Very well, then. We will forgo destruction in favour of more subtle manoeuvres."

He activated the comm for a wide broadcast channel. Now that he was on familiar ground once more, his voice had the old ring back. "Nikosos!" There was a hiss, sput, pause, and then the mousey voice had returned. "No need to shout, Captain. You have thoughts?"

"Look, agent. I will give you the opportunity to gain what you wish and perhaps save a few lives in the process, I have a fully operational six millimetre luser rifle here, and plenty of charges, but I don"t see anything worth fighting over. I wish you luck in making it perform if you can, which I doubt. The whole city is yours. I wish only to leave thismukia as rapidly as possible. You may have our notes, if you wish.

Everything we"ve found out about, the Krang itself ... which amounts to very little. But I"ve a boy and two women here, and I want them out of this."

"How touching" I did not expect such admirable altruism from you. Captain. Yes, despite my orders I think a financial agreement satisfactory to all concerned can be arranged. Blood tends to upset my liver, anyway. Although I"m sure you"ll understand when I say that you and your companions must remain as my guests for a short while, A minimal amount of time, really, but very necessary."

"Naturally, I understand the necessity and will be glad to sign..."

"Oh no, Captain, that won"t be required. I trust your word. Your reputation precedes you. Personally I find honesty in our profession somewhat nauseating, but in this case it is to my advantage. No, much as you"d like to have such an agreement in words, I"d rather not have such a missive in existence. Such things have a habit of disappearing and turning up later in the most destressing places. Shortly, now.

"Our flight has been interesting so far. Captain, but I fear I should find this planet boring. If you would be so kind as to leave your transmitter on standby, we will follow its pulse In." This entire distasteful business can be speeded to completion. I am certain you have even less desire than I to prolong it." He clicked off.

"Captain," came Wolf"s voice over the comm, "this makes me ill. Is there no other way ...?"

"No other way, Wolf. I would rather fight too, but ... Leave open the transcomm for them to follow down, as he requested. At least our work here appears to have been fruitless, or I wouldn"t consider such an alternative. We can wish them much of the same. Whatever they find in the city they are welcome to. It"s been something of a wildmbizu chase after all."

"But he as much as threatened murder ...I"

"Wolf, please, I know.Jua is hard. Still, we"ve little choice. I don"t trust him, either. But he could simply leave now and return for our emaciated corpses later. No, I"m betting he"d rather pick up the extra, credit my offer holds. Why shouldn"t he?" He shrugged, despite the fact that Wolf couldn"t see it.

"Wolf, if the odds weren"t sonyani -sided ... " He sighed. "House rules."

"I understand, Captain."

Malaik"a switched off and sat down heavily on one of the alien benches, looking suddenly very old and tired.

"Of course, if you gentlesirs had discovered how to make thismashineuzi work, I wouldn"t even consider ..."

"We understand, too, Captain," said Tse-Mallory. "A bad choice is no choice. We never worried for ourselves. He must at least display us to Nuaman to convince her of our uselessness. And one abrupt disappearaace, too, would cause discussion in certain quarters."

"Nuaman.d.a.m.n that b.i.t.c.h" He looked upward. "This day I forget forever that creature is human and mwanamke !" He noted Flinx"s glance. "She ceased to be abibi , a lady,kijana , long before you were born."

Chapter Twenty.

Kilometres above, a very satisfied Able Nikosos leaned back in his lounge in the plush shuttle cabin and relayed orders to his pilots. He rubbed his hands together. Things had gone nicely, nicely. Almost as nicely as it" he had received that map as scheduled, back on Moth. The presence of Malaika already down on the planet made things a mite more complicated, but not overmuch. It appeared that it would make things is ore profitable. Besides collecting a fat bonus from the old witch for successfully carrying out a mission more difficult than originally" a.s.signed, there would be the ill after of the wealthy Malaika"s ransom ... payable in advance. As preplanned, the two braincases would be shipped off to Nuaman. As soon as a decent amount of the ransom had been paid - wasn"t Malaika"s word good now? - the boy could be shunted out the nearest lock. As for the two women, well, the ancestral homestead was in need of a few new toys. The price of healthy young women bad gone up insufierably in the past few years.

Insufferably! All the fault of those d.a.m.ned priggish Churchmen. "Violence is unsanitary," indeed! At the rate he used them up his hobby was becoming prohibitively expensive. Shameful? The addition of two new, free faces (and bodies, oh yes!) would therefore be a financial as well as an aesthetic bonus. He did not doubt but that they would both prove young and attractive. Otherwise what business would they have with the roguish Malaika?

If they weren"t his type, quite, he could still use them. Less artistically, perhaps, but they might still remain serviceable. And he was not known as a connoisseur for nothing.

The shuttle"s delta wings began to unfold as it dipped towards atmosphere.

Chapter Twenty-One.

Malaika, Tse-Mallory, Truzenzuzex, and Flinx were making their way slowly back to the crawler. No one spoke. Flinx had already determined not to let his gun be taken from him without argument. He could prove equally adept at treachery! He"d read the confusion and little piggish thoughts Nikosos had been having, difficult as it had been with their owner moving so rapidly above the planet"s surface. He trusted him now about as far as he could throw theGloryhole . That the two scientists and Malaika would get off safely was a possibility, but from the agent"s thoughts the chance that he and the women would do likewise seemed small in the light of what he had read. In "the final a.n.a.lysis he would not count - no, not expect the merchant to put Ins life on the line for him, or for the women, or even for the scientists.

Survival is an argument that morals do not even belong in the same cla.s.s with. So he"d best plan on taking some action on his own. It was an unflattering but logical evaluation of their present situation. That scared him almost as much as the reality of it did. He shivered slightly, despite the warmth.

Something had, been bothering him for the last few minutes, in addition to the expected quota of fearful antic.i.p.ation. He shrugged his shoulders despite the lack of an itch there. That was it! Not an itch, but the tack of a" persistent and familiar one. The minidrag was elsewhere. In the absorption of the past moments and his concentration on the agent"s mind, he"d not noticed that the reptile was missing. He turned abruptly.

"Pip? Where"s Pip?"

"Just to be certain," murmured Malaika, not hearing Flinx"s low enquiry. He flipped his comm. "Wolf, I don"t like to play without at least a few cards. Break out the rifle and set it up facing the entranceway."

"Yes, Captain," came the enthusiastic reply.

"If this fellow has us so neatly tied up and packaged," said Tse-Mallory, "why bother with the gun? I thought you"d given up once and for all the idea of our fighting our way out of this?"

Flinx searched the air around them. The snake was still not visible. He felt naked without the familiar reptilianpresence.

"So I have, more or less. We know that he has us packaged, and he knows that be has us packaged, but he doesn"t know that we know he has us packaged."

"Simplify that, please."

"Ndiyo. Sure. Put it this way. A man negotiates with considerably less arrogance than he might when he knows he"s sitting under the gun of a man who fears for his life. We"ve little enough in the way of levers so that we"ve got to use the slightest we can find."

Despite Flinx"s varieties of calls, whistles, and entreaties the minidrag had not shown itself. It was unusual, but not unprecedented. Sometimes the snake had a mind of its own. Truzenzuzex couldn"t duplicate the stuttering calls Flinx was using, but the insect was helping with the visual portion of the search. It served to take his mind at least temporarily off their unfortunate circ.u.mstances.

"Where would he be likely to hide, lad?" asked the scientist.

"Oh, I"m not sure, sir. Different places." He was becoming honestly concerned now and listened with only one ear to the philosoph"s questions. He could not sense the minidrag"s presence and that alone worried him. "He doesn"t do this sort of thing often. I suppose the depression in the atmosphere got to him. He"s sensitive to that, you know. He does prefer cool, closed-in places. Like ..."

He broke off in shock. In the distance he could see the minidrag. Even as he watched, it fluttered about the transparent dome. Its natural curiosity got the better of it then, because despite a warning thought from Flinx it poked its head under the attractive shape of the helmet. What happened next surprised both watchers. The minidrag did an awkward turn in the air and seemed to fall in on itself, collapsing into a tight curl at the very highest point of the helmet. It lay still, unmoving, within the structure, which now pulsed an uncertain yellow.

All thoughts of their immediate difficulties were instantly discarded in a paroxysm of fear for his life-long companion. Heedless of Truzenzuzex"s cautions he plunged forward at a run for the place they"d just left.

Malaika turned and uttered an oath, charging after the boy. His bandy legs were no match for those of the youth but moved at a respectable speed none the less.

As he neared the dome Flinx noted a slight but definite tremor underfoot. He paid it no heed.

Truzenzuzex did. He glanced at Tse-Mallory.

"Yes, brother. I felt it too." His voice was reflective. Another tremor, stronger this time.

"What occurs?" said a puzzled Truzenzuzex. "I thought we"d established that this part of the planet, at least, was plutonically secure." He stared uneasily at the vaulting walls, gauging their-strength and stability.

The gentle sharing started again, only this time it was somewhat less than gentle. And it didn"t stop. It grew progressively louder and more forceful, and although no one noticed it, it did so as Flinx drew closer to the dome.

The steady vibration was felt, no, sensed, more than heard. It bespoke power somewhere deep below.

"What is going on?" whispered Tse-Mallory.

"Elitat! I"m not sure, replied the philosoph in equaly subdued tones, "but I think perhaps our puzzle is setting about answering itself."

Fiinx had mounted the dais and was moving towards the dome. Pip had still not moved. He barely noticed the tremors which were shaking the structure. As he neared his motionless pet the odd buzzing which had begun in his head began to get worse. He shook his head impatiently to clear it hut with no effect. There was an odd feeling of euphoria alternating with the pain.

Don"t fight it, something seemed to whisper. He heard waves on a beach, breaking softly. The minidrag"s eyes were shut tightly. It appeared to be jerking to the strains of some silent song. His first thought was of convulsions, but the reptile"s movements, although irregular, seemed too even for that. He started to reach under the great helmet for his troubled pet. The buzzing increased and he reeled backwards under a startling attack of dizziness.