Lurulu by Jack Vance Read Free Book Online Page A

abandoned. Instead we built a new, larger office and put me in charge. My instructions are not to interfere with the activities of the Agents, unless they put too many tourists, or Flauts, for that matter, to punishments of the third order. At this moment, if I were to act as they think proper, I would refer you to the local office of the Civil Agents, but if they found both Tremaine and your mother on Fluter under illicit circumstances, both would share a similar and severe punishment. In any case, I can help you to a certain extent. The tattoo on Tremaine’s neck indicates his place of origin. It is not Coro-Coro; if it were so, this tattoo would be a sunburst. Still, it should be easy to identify. I will put Jervis on the job.” He pressed a button on his desk.
    A door in the back wall opened and a young man in the blue and black IPCC uniform appeared. He was slender, dark-haired and carried himself with almost military punctilio. “Sir, you have need of me?”
    “So I do. This is Captain Maloof and his shipmate Myron Tany. Gentlemen, this is my assistant Ian Jervis.”
    Maloof and Myron acknowledged the introductions. Serle turned to Jervis. “Do you know where to find the artist Florio?”
    “Yes. His shop is across the boulevard.”
    Serle drew on a card, tucked it into an envelope and handed it to Jervis. “I have drawn the pattern of a tattoo on the card. Please ask Florio to identify the tattoo.” Jervis took the envelope and departed. A few minutes passed, then Jervis returned in company with a thin white-haired man. Jervis said apologetically: “I showed the card to Master Florio, and he insisted on speaking to you in person.”
    “Just so,” said Florio. “I must confer with you privately; certain of my affairs may not be circulated in the public forum.”
    “As you wish.” Serle led Florio into a side room and closed the door. Jervis bowed politely and returned to his own office. Maloof and Myron waited in silence, the implications of Florio’s conduct were too recondite to prompt speculation.
    After a prolonged interval Florio and Serle returned to the chamber. Florio gave Maloof and Myron nods of impersonal courtesy and departed the office, while Serle resumed his seat. For a moment Serle sat considering the two off-worlders, his face a study. Finally he roused himself and straightened in his chair. “You will wonder at Florio’s insistence upon privacy. Needless to say, any information or hints of enlightenment you hear now must never be revealed, especially to the Civil Agents, toward whom Florio feels total contempt. To begin with, Florio identified Tremaine’s tattoo as the emblem of the village Krenke, which indicates that Krenke was his place of origin; in itself this is not significant. Far more important is that two months ago a man answering Tremaine’s description came to his studio, and for a large cash payment Florio altered his Krenke tattoo to a Coro-Coro sunburst, then applied a sunburst to the neck of an old woman who was Tremaine’s companion. Here is evidence that Tremaine and your mother have established themselves somewhere on Fluter; precisely where, it is impossible to surmise.”
    Maloof reflected. “If Krenke were his native village, this is where he might feel most secure from the Civil Agents.”
    Serle shrugged. “Possibly so. For a fact he would be conspicuous in Coro-Coro.”
    Maloof considered further. “Where is Krenke? What kind of a village is it?”
    Again Serle summoned Jervis, and instructed him to discover what there was to be learned about Krenke. After a period Jervis returned to report that Krenke was a village of moderate size, adequately prosperous, where the Three Feathers Inn provided decent lodging for tourists.
    Serle provided Maloof a map indicating the location of Krenke. “It is remote, but not too remote. If you leave now, you should arrive this evening.”
    2
    Maloof and Myron returned to the Glicca , to find themselves alone aboard, with