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

said
slowly, "Seven thousand five hundred thrones?"
    "The
deal was closed at eighty-five hundred," the Morilaru reminded him.
"Would you bargain now?"
    Catton
smiled. "Force of habit solely, friends. Let me have the stone."
    "At
the agreed sum?"
    "Here
is my money. Eight thousand, plus the five hundred you have already. The stone!"
    Catton extended the eight
bills, and at the same time reached out a hand for the pouch. The timing of the
crime-detection men was extraordinary. Catton and the Morilaru were frozen for a moment in a little tableau, each with one hand on the money and one on
the pouch, when the door exploded inward. A bright purple flash of light told
Catton that the transaction was preserved on film, as indisputable evidence. A
moment later, after an abortive exchange of shots, the arrest was concluded.
One Morilaru lay dead K his body gone above
the chest. The others, as well as Nuuri and Catton, held
hands high in the air.
    "Ill have that pouch ," said the crime-detection
group's leader. He snatched it, opened it wide enough to ascertain that it held
a hypnojewel, and pocketed it. "All right, come along, all of you."
    As they reached the street Catton felt the
handcuffs that bound him suddenly loosen and drop away; they had been set, by
prearrangement, for only three minutes. Hé squirmed
out of the middle of the group of captives, cut sharply to his left, and
streaked for a garbage-bordered alleyway. The
crime-detection men shouted sharply; one dashed after him, firing a blaster
burst that nearly seared Catton's shoulder. The Earthman ducked into a
beckoning doorway and crouched there a few minutes. He peeped out, finally, and
saw that the captives had been taken away. One of Beryaal's men had remained
behind, ostensibly to search for the escaped Dargonid, for the sake of appearances.
    Catton emerged from the alley, grinning
wryly. "Your idea of pretense is a little grim, brother. That shot of
yours nearly hit me."
    'The aim was faulty. I apologize."
    "Where are the
others?"
    "Taken to the Crime Office for interrogation. I am officially to report that you were
killed attempting escape. The girl will be released after questioning."
    "How about the
others?" "Intensive probing."
    Catton
nodded. "All right. Consider me killed attempting
escape. I'm going to get this paint taken off me now."
    He made his way through the back streets to
the shop of the old Morilaru, which he found with a relatively small amount of
difficulty. The old man was dozing again. Catton woke him and said, "Turn
me into an Earthman again. The disguise has done its job."
    Carton stripped and let the dye-remover be
applied; in ten minutes he was once again himself. He gave the old man a
one-throne piece, as promised, and then, grinning conspiratorially, said,
"Here's another throne for you. But don't tell Nuuri I gave it to
you."
    "My deepest gratitude," murmured
the Morilaru.
    Catton was happy to be rid of the layer of
coloring, the contact lenses, and all the rest. An Earthman again, he hurried
to the Street of the Two Moons and hired a cab there to take him to the offices
of the Interworld Commission on Crime.
    En route, he had time to think about Estil
Seeman. The girl had run away, or perhaps she had been abducted by Doveril—but
where might they be? Catton thought he knew. The hint dropped by one of the
hypnojewel smugglers seemed to indicate that the source of supply for the gems
was somewhere on Skorg. It was possible that Doveril might have fled there
with Estil. Perhaps, he thought, it would be profitable for him to go there as
well—ostensibly investigating the hypnojewel trade, less ostensibly searching
for the missing girl, and actually observing for Earth's purposes the second
most important world in the Morilar-Skorg-Arenadd axis.
    This time, when he arrived at Number Eleven
in the Street of Government, he had no difficulty gaining entry to the offices
of the Interworld Commission on Crime. He was, after all, a member of