The following day Hanlon continued working with his roches. He now
"drilled" them as soldiers are drilled. He taught himself how to
control their minds in unison, making them march in all the various
complicated maneuvers of squads and columns, all in perfect alignment
and cadence.
It was tricky, delicate work, requiring as it did placing a portion of
his mind in each roch's brain, giving that mind and body individual
commands, yet keeping enough central control in his own mind so they
all performed exactly together.
So much of his mind was transferred to theirs, that he had to learn how
to make his own body "stand at attention" during these maneuvers, with
but minimum control over his own functions.
Hour after hour he worked with them, giving them fifteen minutes of
rest out of each half-hour--and thus giving his own brain rest at the
same time. For this was tiring work for him, as well as for them.
When dusk fell he stopped the training, saw to it that the roches were
well-fed and watered, then put them all to sleep. He dressed for the
street, went out and found an eating place, where he did full justice
to a good meal.
"One thing you've got to hand these folks," he thought thankfully,
"they certainly can cook, even though some of their dishes have a most
unusual taste."
It had taken him several days to discover which native dishes he liked
and could digest, for some of them almost made him ill, others had a
taste he could not stomach, but most of them were delicious--and Hanlon
was ordinarily a good trencherman.
His meal finished, Hanlon paid and went back to the drinking place
where he sat, toying with a glass of mykkyl while waiting for Auldin
and the others to appear.
They came in shortly, one by one, and Hanlon "listened in" on Auldin's
mind as the chief mobster gave his fellows directions as to the places
they were to burn or wreck. Hanlon had already prepared a note,
addressed to the head of the local peace-keepers. To this he now added
the addresses Auldin was giving. When he was sure he had them all, he
slipped out of the little cafe.
He went swiftly along the streets toward the Stearra police
headquarters, which he had previously located, keeping watch until he
saw a dog-like roch running along. Quickly reaching out and taking
control of its mind, Hanlon made the animal follow him until he could
duck into a deserted doorway.
Hanlon made his messenger take the prepared note carefully in its
mouth, then trot down the street and into the "police station." There
it ran up to the man in charge, and raised itself up with its front
paws on the man's knees.
"What in the name of...?" the official looked down, eyes bugging and
mouth slack at the beast's unexpected action. For several moments he
seemed not even to notice the paper in the roch's mouth. When he did,
he took it gingerly, opened and read it.
"An attempt will be made just before half-night," Hanlon had written,
"to set fire to or wreck the following places of business. If you watch
carefully, you can catch the criminals in the act, and save these
pieces of property from damage or destruction." Then followed the five
addresses.
The man read the note twice, a puzzled, anxious frown on his face.
He did not quite know what to make of it--or so his attitude seemed
to indicate. There had been no "crime" on this planet that he had
ever had occasion to try to stop. For he was not a police officer in
the ordinary sense. The Estrellan "peace keepers" merely watched to
see that crowds or individuals did not get too boisterous, aided in
handling crowds at large gatherings, or assisted home those who may
have imbibed too freely.
The fellow scratched the back of his head while he considered the
matter at length. "Some phidi trying to make a fool of me," he finally
said aloud, as Hanlon heard through his roch's ears, as he had been
watching through its eyes. "But how in the name of Zappa did whoever it
was train this roch to bring me the note like this?"
This latter problem seemed to have greater interest for him than the
warning. For his eyes were still watching the roch with puzzled
inquiry ... but he did nothing about acting upon Hanlon's suggestion.
As the S S man watched the roch leave the peace keeper's headquarters,
he fumed because it was apparent that the official was going to take
no action on his warning. Were they in on this criminal activity, he
wondered? Was it that wide-spread, that even the supposed law-keepers
were party to it?
No, he finally decided, probably this fellow was just a dumb,
unimaginative sort of dope.
He watched miserably as the fires were set and the business buildings
wrecked. There was nothing else he could do to stop it, for he knew it
would only put himself in useless danger to try--would jeopardize what
he and the other secret servicemen were trying to accomplish here. But
as soon as the damage had been done he found another roch, and sent it
back to headquarters with another scathing note.
"You paid no attention to my previous warning, and as a result two of
the buildings I told you about have been set on fire, the windows
smashed on another, and two others have been wrecked by explosions.
Why don't you use what small brains you possess, and stop this wave of
crime? Or are you being paid to ignore it?"
Through the eyes of the roch Hanlon watched the official read the note,
and saw him fly into a rage and pace the floor ... but what the man was
thinking Hanlon was too far away to read.
"One thing sure, I'll have to get busy and make contact with these
gangsters," Hanlon thought bitterly as he went back to his room and
to bed. "Guess I'm near enough ready to tackle Yandor now. Let's see,
shall I do it directly, or...?"
He undressed and climbed into the low, foot-high, five-sided bed these
Estrellans used. There was no mattress or springs, but fortunately his
rooms had several extra blankets, and these he had folded beneath him
to make his sleeping more comfortable.
He was still wrestling with his problem when he finally dropped off to
sleep.
But the next day he figured it out to his satisfaction. He worked with
his roches until evening, then went out and got himself a meal. Later
he went, purposefully late, into the drinking place. Seeing Auldin and
his men already at their table, he went directly up to them.
"Greetings, Ran Auldin," he said boldly. "I've been looking for you,
for I want to join your group. I'm fast and clever with knife or
flamegun, and I've got plenty of ideas. I can do us both a lot of good."
The other three half-rose, staring at him with hostile eyes. But their
chief made a gesture that said "Wait", and himself looked Hanlon up and
down coolly. "You are mistaken, my friend," he said at last. "We are
not engaged in such activities as might require the use of ... of knife
or gun. We are lawful businessmen."
Hanlon fitted his face to a crooked smile and his voice was almost
sarcastic as he replied, "Sure, sure, I know. But listen, friend. A
fellow out to make a big pile of pentas doesn't do it by being asleep.
I've done a lot of scouting 'round and asking questions in a discreet
way. I know who I'm talking to."
His mind, always in touch with that of the others, read in their
surface thoughts the surprised, "Oh, so that's why we've had the
feeling the past few days we were being watched." He could tell that
this conclusion made them jittery, and more cautious and ready for
instant action.
But Hanlon had to keep on the path he had taken.
Aloud, Auldin merely said again, in a voice he kept mild and low, "I'm
sorry, my friend, but you are still mistaken. We work for another man,
helping him hunt out talented people and make entertainers out of them."
"During the day, yes," Hanlon gave him a wise smile, "and I can help
him a lot in that, too."
He knew the three other men had been growing more and more angry at his
interruption. He could interpret their thoughts well enough so he was
tensed for quick-action, determined not to be caught off guard.
"But what I'm really interested in," Hanlon continued, "is your evening
activities. By the way, I hope none of you got hurt or burned last...."
He wheeled swiftly, for one of the natives had suddenly leaped up and
toward him, a dagger in his hand, slashing at him.
Hanlon met him with a light, contemptuous laugh. He ducked beneath the
other's knife-slash, then stepped in close. His left fist traveled only
a few inches, but all the strength of his powerful shoulder and arm
muscles was in the blow. His fist sank to the wrist in the man's solar
plexus.
Wind _whooshing_ out, the gangster doubled up in pain. Hanlon chopped
down with the edge of his hand on the other's wrist, and the knife
clattered to the floor. The Corpsman swung viciously with a right
uppercut that lifted his attacker and drove him backward. He crashed
into a chair with such force that as man and stool fell to the floor,
the wooden seat was splintered.
The other two leaped to their feet and started forward. As though he
had eyes in the back of his head and had seen them coming, Hanlon
swivelled toward them, his lips thinned in a fighting grin, while
several of the cafe attendants were running up.
"Leave him alone," Ran Auldin commanded sharply, and his men looked
back at him in astonishment. "The stranger was only defending himself
against an unprovoked attack by Ugen," Auldin explained to the cafe's
men. He turned to his fellows. "You two take Ugen home and put him to
bed. I want to talk to this stranger."
As the surly guards picked up the limp body of their fallen companion
and bore him out, the drink-servers returned to their posts. Evidently
Ran Auldin was known and respected here. He now faced Hanlon and
motioned toward one of the stools.
"Sit down, my friend," he said courteously. "Perhaps we can do a bit of
talking."
"No use for knives, eh?" Hanlon grinned as he sat down. But immediately
he sobered. "I figured maybe you'd be willing to talk, although I
didn't expect to have to slap down one of your boys to make you. I'm
sorry if I hurt him."
And Hanlon was sincere in this. He had momentarily forgotten that he
was on a lighter planet, with a gravity only about 90% that of Terra,
and that consequently he would naturally be stronger than the average
Estrellan native. While this would not have kept him from defending
himself from that sudden, vicious attack, he would have pulled his
punches a bit had he thought. He did not like killing or injuring
people.
But Auldin was answering, and Hanlon knew he had better be on his toes
and pay strict attention. There were undertones and concepts behind the
spoken words that were hard for his Terran mind to interpret.
"You needn't be sorry," Auldin assured him. "Ugen was useful, in a way,
but he's stupid. I don't especially like stupid people." He studied
Hanlon closely. "I don't think you're stupid."
"I don't know it all, by any means," the S S man said with disarming
candor, "but I never considered myself simple."
"Now, what makes you think we are engaged in anything ... illegal ...
during our evenings?"
"Look, nyer, let's not you and me chase ourselves around a flowertree.
If I'm out of line, say so and I'll take a run. But since we're talking
here together, all peaceful-like, and there's nobody within hearing
distance if we talk low, let's put it on the penta, shall we, huh?"
Ran Auldin looked at Hanlon another moment, his face and thoughts
showing puzzlement at the stranger's choice of words. Then he laughed
quietly. "By Zappa, I like you, my friend. What's your name?"
"Gor Anlo."
"You're a cool one, all right. Where are you from? I've not seen you
around Stearra before."
"No, I'm from Lura, over on the Eastern Continent. The goody-goodies
are mostly in charge there, and there's no way for a hustler to make a
fast pile. So I came here, hoping there'd be more chances for me. I've
been here six-seven days, looking over the ground, and making a little
investigation. The best leads pointed to your boss, Ino Yandor."
Auldin started at that name, and while he was staring anew at Hanlon,
the latter's mind flashed back over that investigation. His first
day had been spent getting the "feel" of the city through wide-open
mental searchings. Not so much from individuals at first, but from the
mass-thoughts of the many. He had later touched hundreds of minds and
studied them, trying to learn how to interpret those alien thoughts.
He had no trouble getting the thoughts themselves--it was what they
meant that puzzled and troubled him.
Now, having noted the start Auldin made at mention of Ino Yandor's
name, and the close, searching look the mobster bent toward him,
Hanlon continued quickly with an appearance of great intensity and
seriousness. "I figured that I could get to him easier through one of
his seconds in command, and picked on you."
"One of his...?" Auldin started to ask, then quickly changed his mind.
"Because you thought I was more weak-minded?" There was now a hint of
anger in the cold eyes.
"Not on your life, Ran Auldin. Because I figured, after studying the
set-up, that you were about ready to take over in his place one of
these days, probably soon, and that would put me closer to the real
power ... and the big money."
"Hmmm, I see." Auldin was silent for some time, digesting all this
in his mind. He was pleased at the compliment, but somewhat startled
at two pieces of information Hanlon had so carelessly tossed out.
One, that apparently Auldin was not Yandor's chief or only "second in
command" and, two, that this stranger had so quickly and easily divined
his secret ambition.
Hanlon, reading his mind, could discern and understand all this.
Also, he knew when Auldin began trying to figure out whether this
newcomer was legitimately on the make, or whether he was a spy sent by
someone--perhaps even Yandor--to check up on him. That last statement
of Hanlon's really upset him more than the first, which he had
sometimes suspected. He worried about the latter now. It was the truth,
all right, but he had not thought anyone else knew it or even suspected
it. Did Yandor suspect it? If so, Auldin knew he was in for trouble ...
bad trouble.
Hanlon decided it was time for him to do a little steering. "Look,
Auldin," he interrupted the other's somewhat frightened thinking. "Why
not take me to Yandor and introduce me? Let him decide whether he
wants to let me in or not?"
For a long moment Auldin stared again at Hanlon, but when he finally
answered there was a note of relief in his voice he tried to conceal.
Yet he was not entirely convinced that this might not be all part of
an espionage trick formed in the fertile but hellishly devious mind of
his superior, Ino Yandor. But Auldin was one who preferred to meet his
dangers face to face ... when they could not be avoided.
"That might not be a bad idea," he said as calmly as he could. "But
look, my friend. Don't try to play me for an easy fool. I'd do things
about it if you did."
"Sure, I know that," Hanlon's voice was bland and ingenuous. "I'm not
figuring on your job--being a yunner I know I've got to begin low and
work up. A chance to get started is all I want ... for now."
Auldin rose, took some of the five-sided silver pentas from his pocket
and dropped them on the table. "Fair enough. Come on."
The two were mostly silent as they walked along the narrow, unpaved,
crooked streets, past the not-too-tall, five-sided buildings of the
mercantile establishments of this district. After a few blocks of the
winding, twisted streets--"didn't these folks ever learn anything about
surveying?" Hanlon often wondered--they turned down a tree-shaded
residential street. They walked past increasingly pretentious houses,
which Hanlon knew were of the ubiquitous pentagonal construction so
general on this planet. It was this unusual type of buildings that
Hanlon found it hard to adjust to. The first day or two on this planet
and in this city the odd shapes and crooked streets had so distracted
him he had trouble concentrating on his job.
Now he looked interestedly at the almost-universal green-tiled roofs,
and also at the gardens of beautiful but strangely-unearthly flowers.
He saw, too, the thick-trunked, low but wide-spreading flowertrees
that lined the streets and were heavily planted in most of the yards
surrounding the houses.
He tried, naturally, to see if these latter had any minds he could
touch--ever since knowing those plant-like Guddus this had become
almost automatic with him at sight of any new kind of tree, bush or
plant. But he drew a blank here, as he had elsewhere. Those alien
growths on Algon might be unique in the universe, he thought.
Hanlon was glad of Auldin's silence as they walked along. It enabled
him to get his own thoughts in order, and to try to plan as best he
could for this coming interview with Yandor, not knowing what to
expect ... except that it would undoubtedly try his abilities to the
utmost.
There were some slight traces of fear in his mind, for he was, after
all, still a very young and inexperienced man playing a dangerous game.
But his success in his first assignment--the dangers he had faced and
the victories he had wrested because of his unusual and growing wild
talent--thought of them brought back his self-confidence and with it an
almost contemptuous view of the dangers here. There was really nothing
to fear after all, he told himself. But still....
Hanlon and Auldin came to a place in the street where it climbed a
fairly steep hill--there were many such throughout this city--and
were nearly winded when they finally reached the top. Still wordless,
they were both glad of the chance to stop and rest a moment. Then
they started on again, along a much nicer part of the street, rapidly
approaching the home of Ino Yandor.
This entertainment entrepreneur (that was, in effect, the nearest
approach to a familiar profession of which Hanlon could think) was the
one the young secret serviceman's investigations had led him to believe
was the first rung on the ladder he must climb to find the knowledge
that lay at the top.
"Ah, here's the place," Auldin said at last, as they turned up a
sort of cobbled walk leading to the fairly imposing residence. It
was an ornately-decorated, two-story house, pentagonal in shape, and
with a green-tiled roof, of course. The three sides Hanlon could see
were painted in different, though mutually complementary colors. The
surrounding lawns were made of the peculiar grass so general here, with
its minutely-petalled flower-tips. There were also numerous beds of the
strange, native flowers, highly-perfumed, but not heavily blossomed
except in the mass.
Hanlon thought he caught large numbers of thought-emanations from
animal minds of various kinds, but before he could investigate, Auldin
spoke.
"One word of warning. Don't be too eager. Yandor may seem slow
thinking and calculating, but don't make the mistake of thinking him
stupid. And don't irritate him--he seldom shows his temper, but he is
deadly vindictive to those he takes a dislike to. But he is a good
employer--and generous to those who serve him well and efficiently."
"Thanks for the tip. I'll be on my good behavior." But Hanlon grinned
to himself as he read the reason for that warning in Auldin's mind.
If this stranger was spying for Yandor, he would have to make a good
report on Auldin.
Then, as the mobster used the ornate knocker, Hanlon tensed himself
for--literally--anything.