Calvin M. Knox by The Plot Against Earth Read Free Book Online

thousand five hundred as a meeting-ground."
    The
Morilaru eyed each other, debating silently. They nodded. "Done," the
spokesman said. "When will you have the cash?"
    "Ill leave you five hundred thrones as a binder. The rest
will I obtain at my bank within the hour. When will I receive the stone?"
    "Upon
payment. Would you inspect it now?"
    "I would indeed."
    One
of the Morilaru knelt, peeled up a loose floorboard, drew forth a small velvet pouch. He tossed it to Catton, who fumbled the catch
deliberately, then snatched the falling pouch with his other hand in a
desperate grab. The Dargonids had the reputation of clumsiness.
    He snatched a glance at the Morilaru. They
seemed to be holding their breaths.
    "Be
wary, Dargonid," the spokesman advised him. "You know the peril of
the stone."
    "That
I do," Catton replied. He undid the catch at the mouth of the pouch and let
the stone drop out onto the palm of his hand. He looked at it only long enough
to verify its identity, then returned it to the pouch and tossed it back to the
Morilaru.
    "I
am satisfied. Herewith the binder; I'll return with the rest within the hour.
Remain you here."
    Catton
counted out ten golden fifty-throne pieces from his moneybelt and handed them
across to the Morilaru. Then, bowing courteously, he withdrew from the room,
leaving Nuuri there with the hypnojewel smugglers.
    He
made his way rapidly through the tangle of streets to the nearest bridge into
the eastern half of the city. After making sure no one had followed him, he
stepped into the first public communicator-booth he found, and dialed the
number of Pouin Beryaal.
    After
the usual routine delays, Beryaal appeared on the tiny screen.
    "Close your circuit," Catton
ordered. "This is important material."
    "The circuit is sealed. Speak
away."
    "I've encountered a ring of hypnojewel
peddlers. They've agreed to sell me a stone for eighty-five hundred thrones. I
left five hundred as a binder and I'm supposedly on my way to the bank to get
the rest."
    Beryaal's eyes widened. "Have you seen
the stone?"
    "Yes. It's the real
item."
    "I
suppose this accounts for the alteration in your face," Beryaal commented.
The screen, black-and-white, did not indicate Catton's color change. "Very well. Where can they be found?"
    "A tavern called The Deeper Draught,
across the river on the Street of Cutpurses. Upstairs, in the
furthermost room from the stairs."
    "I'll have men there
in twenty minutes," Beryaal promised.
     
     
     
    VI.
     
    The arrest went off smoothly enough. Catton and Pouin
Beryaal had agreed on the details before breaking the communicator contact.
Catton was to be allowed to escape; Nuuri would be arrested and later freed.
    The Earthman went on to the Grand Bank of
Morilar and drew out eight thousand thrones from the special account placed
there for his use. The clerk frowned in confusion at the inexplicable sight of
a Dargonid drawing money from a Terran account, but the identification-placket
matched, and the teller had no choice but to hand Catton eight crisp
thousand-throne bills.
    Catton took a cab across the bridge, left it
at the Street of Two Moons, and covered the rest of the way to The Deeper
Draught on foot. He was rapidly learning his way around the knotty maze of
streets in Dyelleran's Old Quarter. His mnemonic training stood him, as
always, in good stead in this city.
    He had timed his excursion precisely. Unless
Beryaal's crime-detection men missed their cue, he would have three or four
minutes and no more before the arrest. He mounted the tavern stairs two at a
time and knocked m the prescribed manner on the door.
    "It is I, Karlsrunig,
the Dargonid. Let me in!"
    The door swung back. Catton nodded in
satisfaction. All of the Morilaru were still there, a tense, narrow-eyed-
group. Nuuri looked particularly nervous. Catton said, "I have the cash.
Take the stone from its hiding-place."
    "Show us the money."
    Catton
riffled the eight bills in front of them. The stone was produced. Catton