Randy pulled in a hard breath. "My blaster's jammed. They could've
nailed me any time they felt like it. It's been hell, waiting for
that." He looked at the gun. The hand that held it was trembling.
Hale sighed. "I guess I could walk you out at gunpoint, then, but I
don't want to do that. Come out with me on your own hook, Randy. You've
played your four queens till now, but you drew a bad hand tonight."
* * * * *
Randy drew unsteadily on his cigarette. Hale, looking beyond, saw the
dark mass near one wall that must be the guardian. The stain on the
fur robe was black. The blind sockets in the skull of the _Lhrai_, who
sprawled batlike against the chanting wall, were black too.
"I didn't want to shoot the redboy." Randy slowly holstered the gun.
"I slugged him, but he had a hard head. He came at me with a knife
while I was prying the twin-stones out of the idol. Why couldn't he lay
quiet? I never wanted to kill anybody." His eyes found Hale's in the
gloom, and the brightness in them tonight was mostly fear. "You always
said I ought to get off Mars. Last week, I decided to. But I didn't
have any money, so I went to Ricco. He wouldn't trust me off-world
with his money, but he said he had a tourist interested in a good set
of twin-stones. He said there was five thousand in it for me. He said
there was a good pair here, and--"
He stopped short, his young face hardening with shocking suddenness.
"By the red gods, _Ricco_!" he ground out. "Of course--he tipped them
off I'd be here. So he'd have me killed over a girl, damn his black
soul." He spun away from Hale in a violent motion, his thin mouth feral
with rage. Hale waited in the blackness and slowly Randy turned back.
Carefully he flattened the cigarette his clenching fist had bruised.
"Why didn't I think?" he almost whispered. "They told me he was after
my skin--"
Hale started to say something, but Randy's hands were suddenly tight
on Hale's arms, and his breath carried the taint of _inque_ liquor to
Hale's nostrils. "Hale, you've got to help me. I want to get off Mars.
That was why I did it. It was my first mark. Oh, I've drifted the
canals and chilled some decks, but this was my first mark--"
Hale said, "I came in to try to help, Randy. If you'll walk out with
me, it'll be easier all around."
Randy shook his head fiercely. "Lord, you don't want them to turn me
over to the redboys, do you? The _Lhrai_ priests can peel a man and
keep him alive for days--"
Uncomfortably, Hale said, "I couldn't help you if I wanted to. They're
waiting outside."
Randy took breath through his teeth. "Just stay here. Let me walk out.
They won't blast, thinking it's you. Is your beetle anywhere near the
temple?"
"They're practically sitting on it."
"Then I can break for the desert. It's a good chance in the dark. I can
cut up along Coprates to Freightport and--"