A babble of voices answered. Somebody said, "The first I heard was
Eriss beating on the door to the guardroom. When it was opened he
fainted and they carried him in here."
Thorp leaned down from the bunk above.
"You hurt, Joel?"
"No. Why should I be?"
He was answered by a chuckle.
V
When Joel sat down to breakfast the next morning, Tamis shot him a
warning glance from beneath lowered lashes. The pallor of her cheeks
was accentuated by her sooty hair. She had the exotic look of some
temple harlot strayed through time from ancient Babylonia.
Joel realized suddenly that Professor Liedl was talking to him. "What
did you say?" he asked.
"That was a splendid service you performed last night."
"You mean Eriss? But I didn't do it."
"You're too modest." Liedl combed his black van dyke with long brown
fingers. "I'm a light sleeper, my boy. And my bunk, you may recall, is
next yours."
Joel's face stiffened. He glanced quickly at Tamis. The blood had
drained from the girl's countenance.
"What did you hear?" he asked in a frozen voice.
"Don't be embarrassed. Your voices didn't carry, and I'm quite
broadminded."
Joel stared at him bewildered. Then the blood began to burn in his
cheeks as it dawned on him what Liedl meant. "The old goat," he
thought. "So that's what he believes!" And he felt suddenly relieved.
Tamis' lashes were lowered. She bit her nether lip. But whether from
amusement or confusion, he couldn't decide.
Fortunately, at that moment the door to the guardroom opened. Mister
Mullin stuck his head inside; shouted:
"Get a move on. Inspection in fifteen minutes."
With relief Joel made his escape. He didn't like Liedl's insinuation.
He didn't like Liedl. There was something cold and repellant about the
black bearded professor. He wondered what crime he had committed to be
sentenced to the Experimental Station.
In exactly fifteen minutes Captain Goplerud, accompanied by Mister
Mullin entered the prisoners' quarters and lined them up at their
bunks. Then a dozen guards filed in and took posts about the fo'cs'le
with drawn paralyzers.
Joel wondered uneasily what was up. He wasn't left long in doubt.
A stiff-backed man in a faultless olive-green uniform came through the
door. He was wearing the gold sunburst of a Star Ship commander on his
breast.
Nick Thorp nudged Joel. "The old man!" he said out of the corner of his
mouth. "What the devil brings him down here?"
The commandant ran his eyes over the prisoners. "Very good, Mullin." He
turned, said crisply, "This way, Governor."
Governor Cameron and his daughter came through the door together. The
governor was a big man with harassed gray eyes. He faced his daughter
in obvious exasperation. "Well, here they are, Priscilla. Now why were
you so confounded anxious to see them?"
The girl stared around with parted lips. There was a curious eagerness
in her green eyes. Then she discovered Joel and he was suddenly
conscious of that strange affinity between them.
She wore gold sandals and her toenails and fingernails were lacquered
green to match her eyes and hair. She had on a brief pleated skirt, a
matching monkey jacket of shimmering rose silkon. Her bare midriff, the
valley between her breasts, her long legs were smooth golden tan.
"Which one," she asked in a breathless voice, "broke Walt Eriss' jaw?"
"Hakkyt," Mullin informed her briskly. "The big ugly one over there."
He pointed at Joel.
Joel found himself staring into the girl's green eyes again. Her lashes
were long, black and curly. Her green hair was startling but it wasn't
garish.
Without taking her eyes from Joel's, she asked, "Could I see his
examination reports? I think he's a...."
The governor started nervously. "You're buying no more serfs
Priscilla!" he interrupted in haste. "That's final!"
Joel felt his face burn. Buy him? So that's what had brought them down
here to the prisoners' quarters!
The girl was staring at her father with a puzzled expression. Something
very like a warning flickered between them--something in Governor
Cameron's expression. Joel couldn't be sure.
But the girl's eyes widened.
For a moment there was a strained silence. Then she shrugged, turned
back to Joel, studied him brazenly detail by detail. He felt naked
beneath those probing green eyes. He felt like a prize Hereford bull.
Priscilla said, "Nevertheless, I should like to glance over those
reports, Captain." Her voice didn't sound quite natural.
She had slipped into a part, Joel sensed; she was acting. But why? He
was too furious to care. He created a shocked disturbance by saying in
a cold voice, "I wouldn't be a good buy!"
* * * * *
Jaws dropped among the prisoners.