Etten, a leading citizen of the domewho had been agitating with McNaughton and others of the OperatingCommittee to form a regular police department. Jorgensen seemed tohave something else on his mind.
"Howlet, how about having a word with your shipmate?"
"What's he done wrong?" asked Howlet blandly.
Jorgensen scowled at a pair of baggy-seated sandeaters who strodethrough the front door with pale green tickets clutched in theirhands. They sniffed once at the bar, but followed their stubbled chinsinto the back room at max acc.
"I don't say it's wrong," growled Jorgensen, glaring after the pair."It just makes the place look bad."
"Oh, it's good advertising, Jorgy," laughed McNaughton. "People wereforgetting that game could be beaten. Now, Mr. Howlet--"
Jorgensen talked him under.
"It's not losing a little money that I mind--"
Some of the drink I was sneaking slipped down the wrong way.
"Well, it's _not_!" bellowed Jorgensen. "But if they all pick up thebroadcast that this is where to get a free ride home, I'll have justanother sand trap here."
Howlet shrugged and put down his glass. Van Etten nudged me and made aface, so I got up first.
"Never mind," I said. "Being the one that took him in there, I'llcheck."
Two more men came through the front door. The big one looked like abodyguard. The one with the dazed look carried a small metal case thatcould be unfolded into a portable desk. He went up to Jorgensen andasked where he could set up a temporary ticket office for Interplanet.
While I was watching over my shoulder, three or four sandeaters comingout of the back room shoved me aside to get at him. The last I sawbefore leaving was Van Etten shushing Jorgensen while McNaughtongrabbed Howlet by the tunic zipper for a sales talk.
Inside, after getting through the crowd at the _planets_ table, Icould see that a number of betters were following Meadows' plays,making it that much worse for Jorgensen. Even Konnel had a small pilebefore him, although he seemed to be losing some of Lilac's attentionto Meadows. While the little spheres spun in their orbits, the stewardcounted out money into twitching palms, wrote names on slips of paper,and placed bets. Somehow, he hit a winner every five or six bets,which kept his stack growing.
* * * * *
I joggled Lilac's elbow and indicated Konnel.
"How about taking him out for a drink so an old customer can squeezein for a few plays?" I said.
The money-glow faded gradually from her eyes as she focused on me. Shetook her time deciding; but from the way she snuggled up to Konnel towhisper in his ear, it looked as if she might really be stuck on him.He winked at me.
Such a gasp went up as we changed places that I thought my cuff musthave brushed Pluto, but it was just Meadows making a long-odds hopfrom Earth to Uranus. The operator no longer even flinched beforepunching the distances and bet on his little computer, and groping inhis cash drawer to pay off.
* * * * *
I stood there a few minutes, wondering if the game could be fixedafter all. Still, the man who invented it also made encoding machinesfor the Earth space fleet. Meadows must be having a run of blindluck--no time to interrupt.
On my way out, Howlet caught me at the door of the bar.
"How about some coffee?" he asked. "We'll have to start back soon.You'll be surprised at the time. Dining room still open?"
"Always. Okay, let's sober up and watch the fountain."
Only two or three women and a dozen men sat in the restaurant now. Thepart-time musicians had disappeared for a few hours of sleep beforetheir usual jobs. We ordered a thermos pot of coffee and Howlet askedme about McNaughton.
"I guess it was on the level," he said when I described the man'sCommittee position. "He got a boost out of how they had to patch upsome troublemaker he knew, after that bar fight we had. Wanted to makeme chief cop here."
"Some domes have regular police forces already," I confirmed.
"So he said. Claimed a lot of police chiefs have been elected asmayors. Then he said that someday there will be a Martian Assembly,and men with a start in dome politics will be ready for it, and soon."
"He's exactly right," I admitted. "When do you figure to start?"
"Maybe the next time I pass through." He winked. "If it's still open."
I relaxed and grinned at him. Somehow, I liked his looks just then.
"You shouldn't be gone too long. It's a good spot to put your ladderdown."
He helped himself to more coffee and stared into his cup. I knew--thewatches near the end of a hop when you wondered about the dead, oilyair, when the ones off watch kept watching the astrogator'sexpression, when you got the idea it was time to come in out of thedark before you made that one slip.
_How many pick their landing?_ I thought. _How many never know howclose they come to making their mistake, or being a statistic insomebody else's?_
"Why the double trance?" asked Meadows.
He brought with him a vague memory of departing chatter and trampingfeet in the background. Howlet shoved out a chair for him.
"Everything okay?" asked Jorgensen, bustling up. "Buy anyone adrink?"
"What have they got there ... coffee?" asked Meadows, sniffing.
"Jimmy!" yelled Jorgensen to a waiter. "Pot of coffee for Ron! Hot!"
He slapped Meadows' shoulder and took his glowing red face away.
"What makes him your buddy?" I asked Meadows.
"In the end, I missed Mercury by ten inches and they got most of itback!"
Then was no answer to that. He must have been half a million ahead.
"What about the sandeaters you promised to stake?" asked Howlet,grinning like a man who has seen it happen before but still enjoys it.
"Some of them helped me lose it," said Meadows. "Now they will alljust have to use those tickets, I suppose. Where's Hughie and hislittle friend? Coffee all around and we'll get on course, eh?"
"Thought he was with you," answered Howlet.
"I'll look in the bar," I volunteered, remembering the kid had leftwith more of a roll than Meadows had now.
A casual search of the bar and back room revealed both nearly empty, anatural condition just before dawn. No one had seen Konnel,apparently, so I went outside and squinted along the dim, narrowstreet. Four or five drunks, none tall enough to be Konnel, wereslowly and softly singing their way home. The door slid open behind meand the other two came out quickly.
"Oh, there you are! I asked around too," said Howlet in a low voice."Can you trust that Jorgensen? They wouldn't let me in the officebehind the back room."
"He's a better sport than he looks," I said.
"I wonder," murmured Meadows. "He looked queer when I was so farahead. Or maybe one of his huskies got ideas about keeping a handyhostage...."
Howlet suddenly looked dangerous. I gathered that he thought somethingof the boy, and was heating up to the door-smashing stage.
"Let's check one other place," I suggested, "before we make amistake."
* * * * *
My starting off fast up the street left him the choice of comingquietly or staying to wonder. They both came. I could feel themwatching me.
I turned right into a narrow street, went along it about fifty yards,and paused where it was crossed by a still narrower alley. Hoping Iremembered the way, I groped along the lefthand branch of the alley. Atrace of light had begun to soften the sky over the dome, but had notyet seeped down to ground level.
Howlet's soft footsteps trailed me. I knocked on what seemed to be theright door. There was no answer--only to be expected. I hammeredagain.
"No one aboard, it would appear," murmured Meadows.
It was meant as a question. I shrugged in the darkness and bangedlonger and louder. Finally, listening at the flimsy panel, I detectedmuffled footsteps.
The door opened a crack.
"It's Tony Lewis, Lilac."
* *
* * *
The black opening widened, until she must have seen the two behind me.She wore a thin robe that glimmered silver in the dim light.
"Send the boy out, Lilac," I said.
"Why should I?"
That much was good; she might have pretended not to have him there.
"He has to catch his ship, Lilac."
Behind me, I heard Howlet stir uneasily. The door began to close, butmy foot was in the track. Howlet could not see that.
"Don't shut it, sister," he said, "or we'll smash it down!"
He could have too, in about ten seconds, the way they build on Mars.
"You wanna get yourself