23
Trigger came out of the ceridim trance hours before Lyad awoke from thestunner blast she'd absorbed. The Commissioner was sitting in a chairbeside her bunk, napping.
She looked around a moment, feeling very comfortable and secure. Thiswas her personal cabin on Commissioner Tate's ship, the one he referredto as the Big Job, modeled after the long-range patrol ships of theSpace Scouts. It wasn't actually very big, but six or seven people couldgo traveling around in it very comfortably. At the moment it appeared tobe howling through subspace at its hellish rate again, going somewhere.
Well, that could keep.
Trigger reached out and poked the Commissioner's knee. "Hey, Holati!"she whispered. "Wake up."
His eyes opened. He looked at her and smiled. "Back again, eh?" he said.
Trigger motioned at the door. "Close it," she whispered. "Got somethingto tell you."
"Talk away," he said. "Quillan's piloting, the First Lady's out cold,and Mantelish got dive-sick and I doped him. Nobody else on board."
Trigger lay back and looked at him. "This is going to sound pretty odd!"she warned him. Then she told him what Repulsive had done and what hewas trying to do.
The Commissioner looked badly shaken.
"You sure of that, Trigger?"
"Sure, I'm sure."
"Trying to talk to you?"
"That's it."
He blinked at her. "I looked in the bag, and the thing was gone."
"Lyad knows it was gone," Trigger said. "So in case she gets a chance toblab to someone, we'll say you had it."
He nodded and stood up. "You stay here," he said. "Prescription for thekind of treatment you've had is a day of bed rest."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go talk to that Psychology ship," he said. "And just let'em try to stall me this time!"
He went off up the passage toward the transmitter cabinet in the forwardpart of the ship. Some minutes passed. Then Trigger suddenly heardCommissioner Tate's voice raised in great wrath. She listened. Itappeared the Psychology Service had got off on the wrong foot byadvising him once more to stay calm.
He came back presently and sat down beside the bunk, still a little redin the face. "They're going to follow us," he said. "If they hadn't, Iwould have turned back and gunned our way on board that lopsideddisgrace of theirs."
"Follow us? Where?"
He grunted. "A place called Luscious. We'll be there in under a week.It'll take them about three. But they're starting immediately."
Trigger blinked. "Looks like the plasmoids have made it to the head ofthe problem list!"
"I wouldn't be surprised," said the Commissioner. "I was put through tothat Pilch after a while. She said to remind you to listen to yourthinking whenever you can get around to it. Know what she meant?"
"I'm not sure I do," Trigger said hesitantly. "But she's mentioned it.I'll give it a whirl. Why are we going to Luscious?"
"Selan's Fleet found plasmoids on it. It's in the Vishni area."
"What kind of plasmoids?"
He shrugged. "They don't amount to much, from what I heard. Small stuff.But definitely plasmoid. It looks like somebody might have done someexperimenting there for a while. And not long ago."
"Did they find the big one?"
"Not yet. No trace of any people on Luscious either." He chewed his lipthoughtfully for a moment. "About an hour after we picked you and Lyadup," he said, "we had a Council Order transmitted to the ship. Told usto swing off course a bit and rendezvous with a fast courier boat oftheirs."
"What for?"
"The order said the courier was to take Lyad on board and head for theHub with her. Some diplomatic business." He scratched his chin. "It alsoinstructed us to treat the First Lady of Tranest with the courtesy dueto her station meanwhile."
"Brother!" Trigger said, outraged.
"Just too bad I couldn't read that message," said Holati Tate. "Somegravitic disturbance! Rendezvous point's hours behind us. They'll nevercatch up."
"Ho-ho!" said Trigger. "But that's being pretty insubordinate, Holati!"
"It was till just now," he said. "I mentioned that we had Lyad on boardto that Pilch person. She said she'd speak to the Council. We're to hangon to Lyad and when Pilch gets to Luscious she'll interview her."
Trigger grinned. "Now that," she remarked, "gives me a feeling of greatsatisfaction, somehow. When Pilch gets her little mitts on someone,there isn't much left out."
"I had that impression. Meanwhile, we'll put the Ermetyne through aroutine questioning ourselves when she gets over being groggy. Courtesywill be on the moderate side. She'll probably spill part of what sheknows, especially if you sit there and hand her the beady stare fromtime to time."
"That," Trigger assured him, "will be hardly an effort at all!"
"I can imagine. You're pretty sure that thing will show up again?"
Trigger nodded. "Just leave the handbag with me."
"All right." He stood up. "I've got a hot lunch prepared for you. I'llbring the bag along. Then you can tell me what happened after theygrabbed you."
"How did you find out I was gone?" Trigger asked.
"Your fac," he said. "The girl was darn good actually. I talked toyou--her--on office transmitter once and didn't spot a sour note. Mostlyshe just kept out of everybody's way. Very slick at it! We would havegot her fairly fast because we were preparing for take-off to Lusciousby then. But she spilled it herself."
"How?"
"I located her finally again, on transmitter screen. There was no one onher side to impress. She took a sniff of porgee."
Trigger laughed delightedly. "Good old porgee pouch! It beat them twice.But how did you know where I was?"
"No problem there. We knew Lyad had strings on Pluly. Quillan knew aboutthat sealed level on Pluly's yacht and got Pluly to invite him over toadmire the harem right after the Dawn City arrived. While he wasadmiring, he was also recording floor patterns for a subtub jump. Thatgimmick's pretty much of a spilled secret now, but on a swap for you andLyad it was worth it. We came aboard five minutes after we'd nabbed yourfac."
"The Ermetyne figured you'd go chasing after the Aurora," Trigger said.
"Well," the Commissioner said tolerantly, "the Ermetyne's pretty young.The Aurora was a bit obvious."
"How come Quillan didn't start wondering when I didn't show up inMantelish's lab with Repulsive?"
"So that's what he was for!" Holati said. He rubbed the side of his jaw."I was curious about that angle! That wasn't Quillan. That was Quillan'sfac."
"In Mantelish's lab?" Trigger said, startled.
"Sure. That's how they all got in. In those specimen crates Mantelishhas been lugging into the dome the past couple of days. It looks likethe prof's been hypnotized up to his ears for months."
The last five hours of her day of recuperative rest Trigger spentasleep, her cabin door locked and the plasmoid purse open on the bunkbeside her. Holati had come by just before to report that the Ermetynewas now awake but very groggy, apparently more than a little shocked,and not yet quite able to believe she was still alive. He'd dose herwith this and that, and interrogations would be postponed untileverybody was on their feet.
When Trigger woke up from her five hour nap, the purse was shut. Sheopened it and looked inside. Repulsive was down there, quietly curledup.
"Smart little bugger, aren't you?" she said, not entirely with approval.Then she reached in and gave him a pat. She locked the purse, gotdressed and went up to the front of the ship, carrying Repulsive along.
All four of the others were up in the lounge area which included thepartitioned control section. The partition had been slid into the walland the Commissioner, who was at the controls at the moment, had swunghis seat half around toward the lounge.
He glanced at the plasmoid purse as Trigger came in, grinned and gaveher a small wink.
"Come in and sit down," he said. "We've been waiting for you."
Trigger sat down and looked at them. So
mething apparently had been goingon. Quillan's tanned face was thoughtful, perhaps a trifle amused.Mantelish looked very red and angry. His shock of white hair was wildlyrumpled. The Ermetyne appeared a bit wilted.
"What's been going on?" Trigger asked.
It was the wrong question. Mantelish took a deep breath and beganbellowing like a wounded thunder-ork. Trigger listened, with someadmiration. It was one of the best jobs of well-verbalized huffing she'dheard, even from the professor. He ran down in less than five minutes,though--apparently he'd already let off considerable steam.
Lyad had dehypnotized him, at the Commissioner's suggestion. It had beena lengthy job, requiring a couple of hours, but it was a complete one.Which was understandable, since it was the First Lady herself, Triggergathered gradually from the noise, who had put Mantelish under theinfluence, back in his own garden on Maccadon, and within two weeksafter his first return from Harvest Moon.
It was again Lyad who had given Mantelish his call to bemused duty via atransmitted verbal cue on her arrival in Manon, and instructed him toget lost from his League guards for a few hours in Manon's swamps. Thereshe had met and conferred with him and pumped him of all he could tellher. As the final outrage, she had instructed him to lug her cratedcohorts, preserved like Pluly's harem ladies, into the Precol dome--tocare for them tenderly there and at the proper cued moment to releasethem for action--all under the illusion that they were pricelessbiological specimens!
Mantelish wasn't in the least appeased by the fact that--again at theCommissioner's suggestion--Lyad had installed one minor newhypno-command which, she said, would clear up permanently his tendencytoward attacks of dive sickness. But he just ran down finally and satthere, glowering at the Ermetyne now and then.
"Well," the Commissioner remarked, "this might be as good a time as anyto ask a few questions. Got your little quizzer with you, Quillan?"
Quillan nodded. Lyad looked at both of them in turn and then, brieflyand for the first time, glanced in Trigger's direction.
It wasn't exactly an appealing glance. It might have been a questioningone. And Trigger discovered suddenly that she felt just a littlesympathy for Lyad. Lyad had lost out on a very big gamble. And, each inhis own way, there were three very formidable males among whom she wassitting. None of them was friendly; two were oversized, and theundersized one had a fairly bloodchilling record for anyone on the wrongside of law and order. Trigger decided to forget about beady stares forthe moment.
"Cheer up, Lyad!" she said. "Nobody's going to hurt you. Just give 'emthe answers!"
She got another glance. Not a grateful one, exactly. Not an ungratefulone either. Temporary support had been acknowledged.
"Commissioner Tate has informed me," the Ermetyne said, "that this groupdoes not recognize the principle of diplomatic immunity in my case.Under the circumstances I must accept that. And so I shall answer anyquestions I can." She looked at the pocket quizzer Quillan was checkingover unhurriedly. "But such verification instruments are of no use inquestioning me."
"Why not?" Quillan asked idly.
"I've been conditioned against them, of course," Lyad said. "I'm anErmetyne of Tranest. By the time I was twelve years old, that toy ofyours couldn't have registered a reaction from me that I didn't want itto show."
Quillan slipped the toy back in his pocket.
"True enough, First Lady," he said. "And that's one small strike in yourfavor. We thought you might try to gimmick the gadget. Now we'll justpitch you some questions. A recorder's on. Don't stall on the answers."
And he and the Commissioner started flipping out questions. The Ermetyneflipped back the answers. So far as Trigger could tell, there wasn't anystalling. Or any time for it.
Azol: Doctor Azol had been her boy from the start. He was now onTranest. The main item in his report to her had been the significance ofthe 112-113 plasmoid unit. He'd also reported that Trigger Argee hadbecome unconscious on Harvest Moon. They'd considered the possibilitythat somebody was controlling Trigger Argee, or attempting to controlher, because of her connections with the plasmoid operations.
Gess Fayle: Lyad had been looking for Doctor Fayle as earnestly aseveryone else after his disappearance. She had not been able to buy him.So far as she knew, nobody had been able to buy him. Doctor Fayle hadappeared to intend to work for himself. He was at present well outsidethe Hub's area of space. He still had 112-113 with him. Yes, she couldbecome more specific about the location--with the help of star maps.
"Let's get them out," said Commissioner Tate.
They got them out. The Ermetyne presently circled a largish section ofthe Vishni Fleet's area. The questions began again.
113-A: Professor Mantelish had told her of his experiments with thisplasmoid--
There was an interruption here while Mantelish huffed reflexively. Butit was very brief. The professor wanted to learn more about the FirstLady's depravities himself.
--and its various possible associations with the main unit. But by thetime this information became available to her, 113-A had been placedunder heavy guard. Professor Mantelish had made one attempt to smuggleit out to her.
Huff-huff!
--but had been unable to walk past the guards with it. Tranest agentshad made several unsuccessful attempts to pick up the plasmoid. She knewthat another group had made similarly unsuccessful attempts. TheDevagas. She did not yet know the specific nature of 113-A's importance.But it was important.
Trigger: Trigger Argee might be able to tell them why Trigger wasimportant. Doctor Fayle certainly could. So could the top ranks of theDevagas hierarchy. Lyad, at the moment, could not. She did know thatTrigger Argee's importance was associated directly with that of plasmoid113-A. This information had been obtained from a Devagas operator, nowdead. Not Balmordan. The operator had been in charge of the attemptedpickup on Evalee. The much more elaborate affair at the Colonial Schoolhad been a Tranest job. A Devagas group had made attempts to interferewith it, but had been disposed of.
Pluly: Lyad had strings on Belchik. He was afraid of the Devagas butsomewhat more terrified of her. His fear of the Devagas was due to thefact that he and an associate had provided the hierarchy with a verylarge quantity of contraband materials. The nature of the materialsindicated the Devagas were constructing a major fortified outpost on aworld either airless or with poisonous atmosphere. Pluly's associate hadsince been murdered. Pluly believed he was next in line to be silenced.
Balmordan: Balmordan had been a rather high-ranking Devagas Intelligenceagent. Lyad had heard of him only recently. He had been in charge of theattempts to obtain 113-A. Lyad had convinced him that she would make avery dangerous competitor in the Manon area. She also had madeinformation regarding her activities there available to him. SoBalmordan and a select group of his gunmen had attended Pluly's party onPluly's yacht. They had been allowed to force their way into the sealedlevel and were there caught in a black-light trap. The gunmen had beenkilled. Balmordan had been questioned.
The questioning revealed that the Devagas had found Doctor Fayle and the112-113 unit, almost immediately after Fayle's disappearance. They hadsucceeded in creating some working plasmoids. To go into satisfactoryoperation, they still needed 113-A. Balmordan had not known why. Butthey no longer needed Trigger Argee. Trigger Argee was now to bedestroyed at the earliest opportunity. Again Balmordan had not knownwhy. Fayle and his unit were in the fortress dome the Devagas had beenbuilding. It was in the area Lyad had indicated. It was supposed to bevery thoroughly concealed. Balmordan might or might not have known itsexact coordinates. His investigators made the inevitable slip finallyand triggered a violent mind-block reaction. Balmordan had died.Dead-braining him had produced no further relevant information.
The little drumfire of questions ended abruptly. Trigger glanced at herwatch. It had been going on for only fifteen minutes, but she feltsomewhat dizzy by now. The Ermetyne just looked a little more wilted.
After a minute, Commissioner Tate inquired politely whether there wasany further
information the First Lady could think of to give them atthis time.
She shook her head. No.
Only Professor Mantelish believed her.
But the interrogation was over, apparently.