The Unreasoning Mask by Philip José Farmer Read Free Book Online Page B

ground his teeth. He stood up, swaying, and took three steps toward

Ramstan. His huge hands were closed, but he did not raise them. His voice

was clotted with phlegm.
     
     
"What I'm telling you to your face is what the whole crew is saying

behind your back."
     
     
"I don't know why the Tenolt are here," Ramstan said. "Listen. Has it

occurred to you and those other idiots that I might be on a secret

government mission and that your idle curiosity is endangering it?"
     
     
He trembled. For the first time in forty-two years' he had lied. Al-Khidhr

forgive him. Allah forgive him.
     
     
Nonsense. Neither existed except as concepts. But concepts were as real,

as alive, as the person who thought they were real and alive.
     
     
"May God forgive you," Benagur said.
     
     
"May He forgive us all," Ramstan said, but he did not know what he meant

by that.
     
     
Benagur closed his eyes and moved his lips soundlessly. He was either praying

or using mental techniques to locate the injured cells on the back of his

head and then to summon the healing forces of his body. Perhaps he was

doing both.
     
     
Ramstan, hands locked behind his back, paced back and forth. When he passed

the ceiling-high mirror made to reflect behemoths, he saw a hunting falcon

whose hood had slipped onto the beak. His eyes were wide and shot with

madness and desperation. He must regain his composure or at least the

appearance of it. Otherwise, when the marines came to pick up Benagur,

they might think that he, too, had breathed in the spores.
     
     
A knock on the door. Ramstan used his skinceiver to make sure that it

was the ship's crew outside the door. He admitted Lieutenant Malia Fu'a,

a biochemistry officer, Chief Petty Officer Wang, and the PD and marine

squads. Fu'a was a pretty Samoan who'd parted with Ramstan on good terms

after she'd left his bed. She was the only ex-lover who didn't seem to

hate him. But she could be an excellent actress.
     
     
The marines were instructed to take Benagur to ship's hospital after he'd

been externally disinfected. Fu'a's squad sprayed his rooms and the hall

with a liquid which smelled like new lavender. Ramstan stripped and

showered while his clothes were sprayed. He put on pajamas and lit up

a cigar while the squad ran a scanner over the room and the hall. The

little pistol-shaped device flashed a red light now and then, and the

infected spots were then resprayed. By then, the liquid had dried,

but the lavender odor hung in the air.
     
     
Benagur had not spoken during the entire proceeding. When told by a marine

that he must come along now, sir , he walked out without a look behind.

Fu'a, the last to leave, carried the gas-expeller in a plastic bag.

Its contents would be analyzed before morning.
     
     
Ramstan explained that unknown persons had tried to shoot the gas into

his room and that Benagur had chased them away but had been hit on the

head. He said nothing about conducting an investigation later. Though Fu'a

had looked curious, she had not, of course, asked him questions. And all

the party had been ordered not to say a word to anyone else about the affair.
     
     
It would have been wise to station a guard at his door, but Ramstan did not

think that the Tenolt -- he was sure they were Tenolt -- would be back.
     
     
A few minutes later, just as he was about to fall asleep despite resonating

nerves, he heard a banging on his door. He picked up the olsons, rolled out

of bed, and walked to the door.
     
     
He spoke through the keyhole in Urzint and then in Terrish.
     
     
"Who is it?"
     
     
A woman's voice, speaking Terrish, came thinly. "Lieutenant Branwen Davis

of Pegasus, sir. I must speak to you. May I come in?"
     
     
She spoke with a lilt that seemed. . . what?. . . Irish? He looked through

the keyhole, straightened up, unlocked the door, and backed away. The door

swung open, and a very beautiful woman entered.
     
     
     
     
     
     
... 6