Trev said, "Mr. Murdock, here, applied for the job as third
assistant-engineer on your ship with a forged discharge from United
Spaceways. United Spaceways never heard of him."
"Hmmm," said Cabot.
The Martian's long questing fingers continued the search. He discovered
Gavin's money belt, unbuckled it, tossed it to the Captain.
"Who do you think he is?" asked Cabot in that faintly blurred voice.
"I don't know," replied Trev. "Take a look in his money belt."
The Captain, frowning in concentration, unzipped the pockets with
painful care. They held four hundred interplanetary credits, but that
was all.
Without commenting, Trev began to turn Gavin's pockets inside out,
bringing to light coins, cigarettes and a lighter.
"What are these?" The Martian came around in front again. He threw a
pair of brass knuckles to the desk top.
"Knucks," explained Gavin with a tight grin. "Antiques. But I've a
fondness for 'em. Silent. Efficient."
Trev regarded them with distaste. The Captain, on the contrary, looked
interested. Gavin couldn't see how the girl reacted as she was sitting
almost out of his angle of vision.
The girl puzzled him. She was an unknown factor. He had never heard
of her. Cabot, he had placed at once: Master of the _Nova_, which of
all the slaveships was giving the Terran patrols the biggest headache.
But the girl. Who was she? Where did she fit in the picture? She was
a strikingly beautiful girl, that much he had seen in the momentary
glance he had caught of her. Then she had moved out of his vision.
"Who are you?" the Martian asked Gavin bluntly.
"You've got my papers there on the desk. Only the discharge is faked."
"You said you hadn't had a ship in three years. Why?"
"The Commission suspended my license for a year."
"Why?"
Gavin could feel the sweat prickle his forehead. His hands clasped
about the back of his neck grew clammy again. He drew a long breath.
"Smuggling colonal into Terra. I was chief engineer aboard the
_Europa_. She was one of Transplanet Lines' ships. I was lucky to get
off with a suspension. But after the scandal I found I couldn't get a
berth."
"So!" said the Martian.
Gavin heard the girl draw a sharp breath.
Captain Cabot leaned forward quickly from the waist, his narrow brown
eyes boring into Gavin's.
Colonal was the most vicious drug known in the System. Extracted from
a Ganymedian plant, it lifted its devotees into a special paradise for
a few short years; then blind raving insanity inexorably followed its
use. Transplanet Lines had been in reality a powerful ring of wholesale
smugglers. Agents of the Terrestial Intelligence Service had finally
smashed the ring. The company had ceased to exist; its high officials
having been sent to prison, its ships and records confiscated.
"So," Trev repeated softly. There was a cat-like expression of triumph
on his sharp pale features. "Then you and Miss Petrovna must have known
each other. Miss Petrovna was third mate aboard the _Galaxy_, another
of Transplanet's ships."
* * * * *
Gavin felt his stomach go hollow. He faced the girl, his hands still
clasped grotesquely behind his neck, and forced himself to observe her
coolly.
He saw a girl with skin almost as white as a Martian. Her lustrous
black hair was combed back severely from a high white forehead, parted
in the center, and done in a knot at the nape of her neck. Her long
black eyes were half-hidden by thick black lashes. She was wearing
white shorts and blouse, the universal daytime dress of Venus.
Gavin turned back to the Martian and said in a stony voice, "I sailed
with Transplanet for seven years. I never heard of a Miss Petrovna!"
The girl bit her lip, brought her hand up to her high virginal breasts.
The Martian looked puzzled. Captain Cabot frowned.
It was the girl who recovered first from Gavin's unexpected flank
attack. She said easily to Gavin, "That's quite possible, Mr. Murdock.
You were chief engineer of the _Europa_. That was Transplanet's finest
ship. The _Galaxy_ was only a tramp freighter, and I was just a green
third mate." Her voice was low, husky. "But I remember you, Mr.
Murdock." She gave an amused laugh. "In fact, I had a crush on you!"
Gavin Murdock's jaw dropped. He stared at the girl in utter
astonishment, unable to believe his ears.
"Oh," said the girl, reading his disbelief in his gaunt, freckled
features, "I wouldn't have dared put myself forward. I worshipped from
afar. I was only eighteen, just out of school."
The Martian interrupted, "Sit down, Mr. Murdock." The lines of
suspicion had faded from his forehead. "Sit down. You may drop your
hands. What have you been doing since then?"
Gavin sank weakly into his chair. He didn't reply. Captain Cabot
was regarding Miss Petrovna with an alert expression. The film of
drunkenness, Gavin sensed, had been banished from the Captain's brain
like a fog by a ray of sunlight.
The Martian said, "Never mind. It's not important. Once we're satisfied
with a man, we don't delve too deeply into his activities. Here, you
can have your gear back."
As Gavin stowed the articles in place, the Martian wrote out his pass
and shoved it across the desk. "Take this to the Commissioners. It'll
authorize you to sign the _Nova's_ articles."
Gavin stood up, zipping the pass in his money belt. Captain Cabot got
to his feet also and thrust out his hand. "Glad to have a man of your
ability with us on the _Nova_, Murdock. Miss Petrovna is our third
mate. You'll be on the same watch."
The Captain's tone was dry and formal, lacking cordiality. There was,
Gavin sensed, no cordiality in the man. He was as devoid of emotion as
a block of stone.
The girl said, "Nadia Petrovna's the name, Mr. Murdock." She too had
stood up and now extended her hand. When Gavin took it, she smiled,
exposing small brilliant white teeth. "The officers of the _Nova_ are
celebrating the sailing at the Temple of Joy tonight. You'll be there,
won't you, Mr. Murdock?" There was a twinkle in her long black eyes.
"We've a lot to talk over."
"I wouldn't miss it," Gavin assured her dryly.
When Gavin Murdock reached the street, he leaned weakly against the
lichen-covered wall of the office building and blew out his breath.
Still not trusting himself to think, he hailed a robot cab. As the
taxi darted out into the traffic, he relaxed limply into the yielding
flexoplas cushions.
It had been touch and go, he reflected, but in a few minutes he would
be signing the _Nova's_ articles before the Interplanetary Commissioner.
A grin lit his bony freckled face. With the girl vouching for him, the
slavers would never be able to disprove his story. Transplanet was
no longer in existence; its records were in the secret files of the
Terrestial Intelligence Service.
He ought to know, he thought grimly; he, Gavin Murdock, was the T.I.S.
agent who had broken the colonal smuggling ring.
Gavin chuckled. Nadia Petrovna's lie had been superb, especially that
touch about having had a crush on him. That had been pure artistry. It
had carried absolute conviction.
But why had she done it?
Gavin's amusement gave way to misgivings. He was a special agent of the
T.I.S. He had been assigned to the Jovian slave trade for two reasons.
He wasn't known on Venus or Jupiter. But, more important, he had been
an astro-engineer on a Tri-World ship before joining the T.I.S.
He had never been employed by Transplanet, though. He didn't know Nadia
Petrovna from Eve!
Then why had she lied?
The robot cab drew up to the curb, stopped, said in a harsh metallic
voice, "Offices of the Interplanetary Commission," and the door opened
automatically.