The Metallic Muse by Jr. Lloyd Biggle Read Free Book Online Page B

of the building she hurried him to an air car strip and left him standing in a doorway. ”When I give you a signal, you walk out,“ she said. ”Don’t run, just walk.“ She calmly approached an attendant, and Baque heard his surprised greeting. ”Through early this morning, Miss Manning?“ ”We’re running a lot of Coms,“ she said. ”I want the big Waring.“ ”Coming right up.“ Peering around the corner, Baque saw her step into the flyer. As soon as the attendant’s back was turned, she waved frantically. Baque walked carefully toward her, keeping the flyer between the attendant and himself. A moment later they were airborne, and far below them a siren was sounding faintly. ”We did it!“ she gasped. ”If you hadn’t got away before that alarm sounded, you wouldn’t have left the building alive.”
    “Well, thanks,” Baque said, looking back at the Visiscope International building. “But surely this wasn’t necessary. Earth is a civilized planet.” “Visiscope International is not civilized!” she snapped. He looked at her wonderingly. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide with fear, and for the first time Baque saw her as a human being, a woman, a lovely woman. As he looked, she turned away and burst into tears. “Now Jimmy’ll have me killed, too. And where can we go?” “Lankey’s,” Baque said. “Look—you can see it from here.” She pointed the flyer at the freshly painted letters on the strip above the new restaurant, and Baque, looking backward, saw a crowd forming in the street by Visiscope International.
     
    Lankey floated his desk over to the wall and leaned back comfortably. He wore a trim dress suit, and he’d carefully groomed himself for the role of a jovial host, but in his office he was the same ungainly Lankey that Baque had first seen leaning over a bar. “I told you all hell would break loose,” he said, grinning. “There are five thousand people over by Visiscope International, and they’re screaming for Erlin Baque. And the crowd is growing.” “I didn’t play for more than three minutes,” Baque said. “I thought a lot of people might write in to complain about Denton cutting me off, but I didn’t expect anything like this.” “You didn’t, eh? Five thousand people—maybe ten thousand by now—and Miss Manning risks her neck to get you out of the place. Ask her why, Baque.” “Yes,” Baque said. “Why go to all that trouble for me?” She shuddered. “Your music does things to me.” “It sure does,” Lankey said. “Baque, you fool, you gave a quarter of Earth’s population three minutes of Sex Music!”
     
    Lankey’s opened on schedule that evening, with crowds filling the street outside and struggling through the doors as long as there was standing room. The shrewd Lankey had instituted an admission charge. The standees bought no food, and Lankey saw no point in furnishing free music, even if people were willing to stand to hear it. He made one last-minute change in plans. Astutely reasoning that the customers would prefer a glamorous hostess to a flat-nosed elderly host, he hired Marigold Manning. She moved about gracefully, the deep blue of her flowing gown offsetting her golden hair. When Baque took his place at the multichord, the frenzied ovation lasted for twenty minutes. Midway through the evening Baque sought out Lankey. “Has Denton tried anything?” “Nothing that I’ve noticed. Everything is running smoothly.” “That seems odd. He swore we wouldn’t open tonight.” Lankey chuckled. “He’s had troubles of his own to worry about. The authorities are on his neck about the rioting. I was afraid they’d blame you, but they didn’t. Denton put you on visiscope, and then he cut you off, and they figure he’s responsible. And according to my last report, Visiscope International has had more than ten million complaints. Don’t worry, Baque. We’ll hear from Denton soon enough, and the guilds, too.” “The guilds? Why the