* * * * *
They passed through a series of elegantly equipped offices and
hallways, Telzey grasping TT's neck-fur in lieu of a leash, their
appearance creating a tactfully restrained wave of surprise among
secretaries and clerks. And if somebody here and there was troubled by
a fleeting, uncanny impression that not one large beast but two seemed
to be trailing the Moderator's visitor down the aisles, no mention was
made of what could have been only a momentary visual distortion.
Finally, a pair of sliding doors opened ahead, and the receptionist
ushered Telzey into a large, cool balcony garden on the shaded side of
the great building. A tall, gray-haired man stood up from the desk at
which he was working, and bowed to Telzey. The receptionist withdrew
again.
"My pleasure, Miss Amberdon," Jontarou's Planetary Moderator said, "Be
seated, please." He studied Tick-Tock with more than casual interest
while Telzey was settling herself into a chair, added, "And what may I
and my office do for you?"
Telzey hesitated. She'd observed his type on Orado in her mother's
circle of acquaintances--a senior diplomat, a man not easy to impress.
It was a safe bet that he'd had her brought out to his balcony office
only to keep her occupied while Halet was quietly informed where the
Amberdon problem child was and requested to come over and take charge.
What she had to tell him now would have sounded rather wild even if
presented by a presumably responsible adult. She could provide proof,
but until the Moderator was already nearly sold on her story, that
would be a very unsafe thing to do. Old Iron Thoughts was backing her
up, but if it didn't look as if her plans were likely to succeed, he
would be willing to ride herd on his devil's pack just so long....
Better start the ball rolling without any preliminaries, Telzey
decided. The Moderator's picture of her must be that of a spoiled,
neurotic brat in a stew about the threatened loss of a pet animal. He
expected her to start arguing with him immediately about Tick-Tock.
She said "Do you have a personal interest in keeping the Baluit crest
cats from becoming extinct?"
Surprise flickered in his eyes for an instant. Then he smiled.
"I admit I do, Miss Amberdon," he said pleasantly. "I should like to
see the species re-established. I count myself almost uniquely
fortunate in having had the opportunity to bag two of the magnificent
brutes before disease wiped them out on the planet."
[Illustration]
The last seemed a less than fortunate statement just now. Telzey
felt a sharp tingle of alarm, then sensed that in the minds which were
drawing the meaning of the Moderator's speech from her mind there had
been only a brief stir of interest.
She cleared her throat, said, "The point is that they weren't wiped
out by disease."
He considered her quizzically, seemed to wonder what she was trying to
lead up to. Telzey gathered her courage, plunged on, "Would you like
to hear what did happen?"
"I should be very much interested, Miss Amberdon," the Moderator said
without change of expression. "But first, if you'll excuse me a
moment...."
There had been some signal from his desk which Telzey hadn't noticed,
because he picked up a small communicator now and said "Yes?" After a
few seconds, he resumed, "That's rather curious, isn't it?... Yes, I'd
try that.... No, that shouldn't be necessary.... Yes, please do.
Thank you." He replaced the communicator, his face very sober; then,
his eyes flicking for an instant to TT, he drew one of the upper desk
drawers open a few inches, and turned back to Telzey.
"Now, Miss Amberdon," he said affably, "you were about to say? About
these crest cats...."
Telzey swallowed. She hadn't heard the other side of the conversation,
but she could guess what it had been about. His office had called the
guest house, had been told by Halet's maid that Halet, the chauffeur
and Dr. Droon were out looking for Miss Telzey and her pet. The
Moderator's office had then checked on the sportscar's communication
number and attempted to call it. And, of course, there had been no
response.
To the Moderator, considering what Halet would have told him, it must
add up to the grim possibility that the young lunatic he was talking
to had let her three-quarters-grown crest cat slaughter her aunt and
the two men when they caught up with her! The office would be
notifying the police now to conduct an immediate search for the
missing aircar.
When it would occur to them to look for it on the Moderator's parking
terrace was something Telzey couldn't know. But if Halet and Dr. Droon
were released before the Moderator accepted her own version of what
had occurred, and the two reported the presence of wild crest cats in
Port Nichay, there would be almost no possibility of keeping the
situation under control. Somebody was bound to make some idiotic move,
and the fat would be in the fire....
* * * * *
Two things might be in her favor. The Moderator seemed to have the
sort of steady nerve one would expect in a man who had bagged two
Baluit crest cats. The partly opened desk drawer beside him must have
a gun in it; apparently he considered that a sufficient precaution
against an attack by TT. He wasn't likely to react in a panicky
manner. And the mere fact that he suspected Telzey of homicidal
tendencies would make him give the closest attention to what she said.
Whether he believed her then was another matter, of course.
Slightly encouraged, Telzey began to talk. It did sound like a
thoroughly wild story, but the Moderator listened with an appearance
of intent interest. When she had told him as much as she felt he could
be expected to swallow for a start, he said musingly, "So they weren't
wiped out--they went into hiding! Do I understand you to say they did
it to avoid being hunted?"
Telzey chewed her lip frowningly before replying. "There's something
about that part I don't quite get," she admitted. "Of course I don't
quite get either why you'd want to go hunting ... twice ... for
something that's just as likely to bag you instead!"
"Well, those are, ah, merely the statistical odds," the Moderator
explained. "If one has enough confidence, you see--"
"I don't really. But the crest cats seem to have felt the same way--at
first. They were getting around one hunter for every cat that got
shot. Humans were the most exciting game they'd ever run into.
"But then that ended, and the humans started knocking them out with
stunguns from aircars where they couldn't be got at, and hauling them
off while they were helpless. After it had gone on for a while, they
decided to keep out of sight.
"But they're still around ... thousands and thousands of them!
Another thing nobody's known about them is that they weren't only in
the Baluit mountains. There were crest cats scattered all through the
big forests along the other side of the continent."
"Very interesting," the Moderator commented. "Very interesting,
indeed!" He glanced towards the communicator, then returned his gaze
to Telzey, drumming his fingers lightly on the desk top.
She could tell nothing at all from his expression now, but she guessed
he was thinking hard. There was supposed to be no native intelligent
life in the legal sense on Jontarou, and she had been careful to say
nothing so far to make the Baluit cats look like more than rather
exceptionally intelligent animals. The next--rather large--question
should be how she'd come by such information.
If the Moderator asked her that, Telzey thought, she could feel she'd
made a beginning at getting him to buy the whole story.
"Well," he said abruptly, "if the crest cats are not extinct or
threatened with extinction, the Life Banks obviously have no claim on
your pet." He smiled confidingly at her. "And that's the reason you're
here, isn't it?"
"Well, no," Telzey began, dismayed. "I--"
"Oh, it's quite all right, Miss Amberdon! I'll simply rescind the
permit which was issued for the purpose. You need feel no further
concern about that." He paused. "Now, just one question ... do you
happen to know where your aunt is at present?"
* * * * *
Telzey had a dead, sinking feeling. So he hadn't believed a word she
said. He'd been stalling her along until the aircar could be found.