"There are many towns along the Venusian frontiers where no
entertainment of the--_proper_ sort has been available. I propose to
remedy that. I propose to charter your circus, Mister Shannon, to make
a tour of several settlements along the Tehara Belt."
Bucky had relaxed. His grey-green eyes began to gleam. He started to
speak, and I kicked him again.
"That would be expensive, Mister Beamish," I said. "We'd have to cancel
several engagements...."
He looked at me. I was lying, and he knew it. But he said,
"I quite understand that. I would be prepared...."
The curtains were yanked back suddenly. Beamish shut up. Bucky and I
glared at the head and shoulders poking in between the drapes.
It was Gow, our zoo-man--a big, ugly son-of-a-gun from a Terran
colony on Mercury. I was there once. Gow looks a lot like the
scenery--scowling, unapproachable, and tough. His hands, holding the
curtains apart, had thick black hair on them and were not much larger
than the hams of a Venusian swamp-rhino.