The Fenris Device Read Online Free PDF Page A

care?”
    â€œI care,” he said.
    â€œThat’s what I thought.”
    I knew I had him. He was all mine. He wasn’t going to be handing out any awkward orders. The Gallacellans could do their own dirty work and Charlot could have an apoplectic fit. Too bad.
    We stared at each other for just a little longer. Then he looked down, and stirred his coffee slowly. The cup was half empty.
    â€œAre you coming back to the doctor?” he asked.
    â€œMaybe,” I said.
    â€œYou want me to leave you alone?” he asked.
    â€œWhat’s the use? No sooner would you be back at the Swan than someone else would be out here to have a heart-to-heart.”
    â€œThey care, you know,” he said.
    â€œI know,” I told him.
    â€œReckless fools or not,” he added, almost below his breath.
    â€œI don’t think I could stand a man-to-man talk with Johnny just now,” I said. “It would be a mite too wearing. And as for....”
    â€œAll right,” he said, “all right.” He picked up the cup and drained it to the dregs. He stood up.
    â€œWell,” he said. “Are you coming back to see the doctor or aren’t you?”
    I guessed so. I stood up.
    â€œHe might invalid me out,” I said, ruminatively. “What a tragedy. A great career nipped in the bud. Nothing so pathetic as a grounded starman.”
    But it was really a sour and bitter joke, and I didn’t like it much.
    We went back together, through the cold, shiny night.
    We met a low-caste Gallacellan at the gateway to the shipyards, and I looked at him, wondering if it might be Ecdyon, and whether I ought to say hello if it might be. But he ignored us, so we followed the same policy.
    The lights were still blazing inside the Swan , and Charlot was hovering in the corridor, obviously wanting to say something. I was tempted to pretend to be a Gallacellan and walk past him without the slightest tremor of recognition, but I couldn’t make it. We paused to let him have his say.
    â€œStylaster said before he left that he hopes you make a complete recovery,” Charlot told me.
    â€œWell,” I said, “that might be very nice of him. On the other hand, it might not. Did he happen to say why he expressed such a kindly interest in my well-being?”
    â€œThe doctor is waiting for you,” Charlot said, without much trace of expression.
    â€œNow there,” I said, “we are on safer ground. I know why he shows a kindly interest. He wants his fee.”
    â€œYou need sleep,” said Charlot. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Captain delArco nodding puppet-like agreement. Well, so what? I did need sleep.
    â€œWe’ll meet again in the morning,” said Charlot. “We need a long talk about the near future.”
    â€œLocal morning or real morning?” I asked him. We hadn’t been on Iniomi long, and the time change had been an awkward one.
    â€œI’ll have you roused when we’re ready,” he said.
    â€œFine.”
    â€œOne more thing.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œDon’t wander off like that again. The regulations state....”
    This time I had no difficulty at all in forgetting he was there and going about my business. But even as I went back to my cabin, I knew that the affair wasn’t settled yet by any means. Charlot was going to fight for this one. Tooth and claw.

CHAPTER THREE
    I woke up in the morning without anyone having to come to rouse me. I was in no hurry to seek out my fellow crew members and hasten the painful post mortem on the events of the previous day. I made myself look human, and began the somewhat lengthier task of making myself feel human again, and I waited for the knock on my door. It seemed to be a long time coming, and when it did come, it was not who I expected.
    It was, in fact, the Gallacellan Ecdyon. He introduced himself formally but I could tell by his clothes that he wasn’t Stylaster, and so