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"Ahem," said Lieutenant Hrock-Leff. "I thought I might join you for the
departure. All is well?"
Jacobs nodded to him. "All is very well. Lieutenant. And
you?"
"A bit more prosperous than I was, as are certain members of my squad. We
thank you."
"You're all entirely welcome." Jacobs turned back to the viewport as the
lieutenant came to stand with him and Trudy.
"They are satisfied?" Hrock-Leff asked. "I still cannot be-
lieve it has worked."
"Everything's fine," Jacobs answered. "Chaylaifa went aboard on a medical
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stretcher. The poor sha is completely ex-
hausted. He will have a fatal heart attack on the way home a regrettable
consequence of his strenuous efforts to bring about the first trade treaty
with the Bloxx. The ship's doctor is a family confidant; he'll keep silent and
no one else will know.
Chaylaifa will be buried in space, according to tradition. Nasu and Fehlorah
will inherit Chaylaifa's import business. They'll be well taken care of."
Trudy nodded. "They ought to be. Rhuum has struck the first major agreement
with a race that's sure to be a major player in this part of the galaxy."
"And we nailed it for them," Jacobs said, with great satis-
faction. "Despite everything."
"I hope Nasu and Fehlorah will be all right," Trudy said.
"They've been through quite an ordeal."
"They're the widowed spouses of a hero of the Rhuum In-
dustrial Organization," said Jacobs. "They'll be treated right, don't worry.
They won't be single for long, either not with that bankroll. They'll find a
new sha, or Nasu will take
Fehtorah if she turns out to be sha herself."
"I wonder how we managed to fool Sir Kethrommon, though?" Lieutenant
Hrock-Leff wondered. "He is not stu-
pid."
"He isn't," Jacobs said with a grin, "and we didn't.
Kethrommon realized that Chaylaifa was dead the moment he saw him. However, he
decided to trust me or, more accurately, 112 Brad Ferguson he decided to trust
Tmdy, who was standing right there, after all, and so had to be privy to what
was going on. Kethronunon played along and quickly realized that we were
showing a way the only way out of the jungle. He took it. bless his heart."
"You were sure of him?" Hrock-Leff asked.
"Reasonably sure. I figured Kethronunon wouldn't expose us, as long as we
didn't implicate him in our cover-up or deal
unfairly with him in the talks that is, as long as we didn't put his personal
honor into question, and we never did. No, the whole charade with Chaylaifa's
body was for the benefit of the Rhuum party. They'll go home now and tell
everyone how wonderful the regrettably departed Chaylaifa was at the talks.
His finest moment coming right at the end, and ail that."
The Rhuum yacht was nothing more than a pinpoint of winking light in the far
distance. Suddenly, it vanished.
"There they go," Trudy said. "Safe home, Nasu and
Fehlorah."
"Indeed," Hrock-Leff said, nodding. "Well, I feel a bit let down, to tell you
the truth. This case provided more excite-
ment than I usually see in my work. Actually, I found it rather exhilarating."
"Really?" Jacobs asked, as the three turned and left the lounge. "Well, stick
around. Lieutenant. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship."
SOFT IN THE WORLD, AND BRIGHT
M. Shayne Bell
This is how it began: I stumbled. But it wasn't just a stum-
ble. I knew that. My right leg "felt" tingly no, "felt" as if tiny pinpricks
of my mind's awareness about my knee were disappearing, as if the knee itself
were disappearing atom by atom in a sudden rush.
Mary! I shouted the thought in my mind, but she didn't an-
swer, and I could not access her virtual reality in my mind to find her. I was
shut out of it. But she could stop this she was the artificial intelligence
networked through my nerves and my brain to give me my body. I thought maybe
that's why she didn't answer me. Maybe she was trying to stop my body from
disintegrating from my consciousness and she couldn't answer me because it
took all of her efforts.
I had stopped walking and was standing in the middle of a broad flight of
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stairs leading down to breakfast, and people were staring. I looked across at
the handrail against the wall and took a step toward it with my left leg. I
could walk with
113
114 M. Shayne Bell it. My left leg worked. I dragged my right leg along and
got to the handrail and the bottom of the stairs and a table, where
I sat and rubbed my knee. My hands could feel my knee, but my knee couldn't
feel my hands on it.
Mary. I thought. What's happening?
But she didn't answer, and a golden robot with its ruby, multifaceted eyes [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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