The Dogtown Tourist Agency Read Online Free PDF Page B

stood silently nearby; they watched Hetzel pass but made no attempt to intercept him. Liss? Olefract? Gomaz? Gaeans? Their nature could not be distinguished through the gloom.
    With nothing better to do, Hetzel loitered over his dinner. As he was about to leave the dining room, a thin man in a suit of soft gabardine came quietly into the room. Hetzel studied him a moment or two, then went over to his table. “May I join you for a moment?”
    “Certainly.”
    “You are the hotel’s security officer?”
    The man in gray showed a faint smile. “Is it so obvious? My official title is ‘Night Manager’. My name is Kerch.”
    “I am Miro Hetzel.”
    “Miro Hetzel…Somewhere I have heard the name.”
    “Perhaps you’ll answer a few questions for me. Discreet questions, of course.”
    “You might get discreet answers.”
    “My business concerns itself with an entity—a society, a business, a group—known as Istagam. Have you heard the name mentioned?”
    “No, I believe not. What is the function of this so-called ‘entity’?”
    “Apparently it uses the Axistil spaceport to export complicated and expensive machinery into the Reach. There’s been speculation that Maz might function as a depot or staging area for goods produced outside the Reach.”
    “I know nothing about such an enterprise. The hotel occupies most of my attention.”
    “Surprising!” said Hetzel. “The Beyranion appears absolutely placid.”
    “So it is, at the moment. But consider: a walk of only ten or fifteen minutes separates our clientele from the population of Far Dogtown. Is it unpredictable that the foxes occasionally raid the chickenyard? I recommend that you entrust your valuables to the hotel strongbox—especially if you are out in the annex, our most vulnerable area.”
    “I will be sure to do so,” said Hetzel. “But surely you take precautions?”
    “Indeed we do. Our detection devices are carefully maintained, and as often as not the thief is apprehended.”
    “And then?”
    “There is an investigation. The guilty individual is assigned counsel, who holds a preliminary hearing with the prosecuting official. He is then tried and adjudged. He is allowed to appeal his sentence, and recommendations for leniency are carefully considered, after which an appropriate penalty is imposed.”
    “This seems a complicated operation, for such a small environment.”
    “Not at all,” said Kerch. “All these functions are comprised within myself. I investigate, I prosecute, I judge, I sentence, I execute the sentence and occasionally the criminal. The process often requires no more than five minutes.”
    “The procedure seems efficient and definite,” said Hetzel. “May I order a bottle of wine for our joint consumption?”
    “Why not?” said Kerch. “I find myself in congenial company, and there is no better occasion upon which to drink.”

Chapter IV
    In regard to Istagam, Hetzel capitulated the possibilities:
    I. Istagam manufactured its products:
         1. Within the Gaean Reach.
         2. Outside the Gaean Reach.
         3. Upon the planet Maz.
    II. Istagam was an operation:
         1. Illicit.
         2. Licit but clandestine.
         3. Licit, with the operators indifferent to either secrecy or notoriety.
    III. The operators of Istagam:
         1. Would use any means whatever to discourage investigation.
         2. Would use misdirection and deceit to discourage investigation.
         3. Were indifferent to investigation.
    Hetzel considered the permutations of the listed concepts, hoping that some course of action applicable to all might suggest itself, and this in fact was the case. He discovered that he had very little choice but to wait for the next session of the Triarchy, at which he could interview Sir Estevan Tristo.
    Meanwhile, supposing propositions I-3, II-1, and III-1 to be accurate, he could reasonably expect that a certain degree of uneasiness must be affecting the operators of