"Gadget?" The red-faced planter threw back his head, laughed
uproariously. "You're a droll rogue, you are. I like a man with a sense
of humor." He rubbed his nose, then pointed to a picture above the
sofa. "Recognize her, don't you?"
Cosmo saw a three dimensional photograph of a nude. Her skin was pale
blue, flushed with healthy rose, her hair like molten gold.
"Sofi," Cosmo said with distaste. "The Blue Venus. I should think,
Bemmelman, you'd have to wait rather long for your profits."
"So I do. So I do. But it's possible to harvest a yearly crop from a
forest. Trees grow even slower than people. I'll show you the slave
pens tomorrow. I've only the one Blue Venus, though. Unfortunately the
rest have been males."
Cosmo wondered why the planter had called attention to the Blue Venus.
He suspected that Bemmelman was subtly trying to find out if he had
learned anything from Sofi.
"What do you do with the males?" he asked, prompted by something in
Bemmelman's voice.
"They're interesting, but they've no market value. I have them
destroyed."
Cosmo bit his lip. Bemmelman was a monster. He wondered what the sealed
chambers held, the chambers where his spy Penang-ihtok had never been
able to penetrate.
"I suppose," said the planter unexpectedly; "you're curious about what
I wanted with you?"
Cosmo nodded.
"Well sir, I could have had you killed back in the caves of the Cloud
Mountains. I've had a spy among your men for some time." He paused as
the Mercurian returned, deposited a tray between them. It held a silver
pitcher of krudo juice, thin sandwiches, a bottle of food concentrates.
"Go ahead," said Cosmo when the Mercurian had departed. He popped two
of the pills into his mouth.
"Where was I? Oh yes. I could have had you assassinated several times,
but you've some information I want?"