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CHAPTER 3

Hearing his visitors greet one another, he turned and made a quick bow. He was about to walk down the little stair from the tank to their level, but when he saw their expressions he jumped down instead.

Later he thought of them as they appeared at the moment before he jumped. They were opposites; Paula short and stocky, Efirr tall and thin, Paula rather fair and Efirr dark, Paula's earnest gaze a little frantic, Efirr's blank as death.

"Sevit's gone," Paula said.

[~*-] "Gone?"

"We assume he has been arrested," Efirr explained.

"Arrested..." On Clark's home planet, arrest was a trifle. It meant being tagged with a device that marked one's location at all times until the authorities were ready for a trial. People might wear the tags for a year or more.

"When the Eyimalian police arrest you, they don't just tag you," Paula said. "They haul you away."

"Can they do that here on Reshebora?"

"Yes, they can do that here!" Paula almost shrieked. "They just fill out some forms at Interplanetary Security."

Efirr wandered past Clark and leaned over the catwalk to peer into the worm chamber. He glanced down at the walk, a crude bit of furniture pieced together from leftover hardware and floating lower in one corner because the antigravitational lift was failing. Clark had thought of replacing it, but instead he left the low corner toward the middle of the room so that when he gave the thing a push is turned automatically.

"I see that you have adapted this room to suit you," Efirr said.

"Right. The whole wing was built for Eyimalians, so I need lifts and stepladders everyplace," Clark said. "Is there a record of the arrest?" he asked Paula. "What was the charge?"

"No, there's no record!" She seemed unable to speak quietly. Now she began to cry. Clark didn't know what to do. He brought her a chair.

"What are these worms for?" Efirr asked. He was staring into their chamber as though fascinated.

"Mathematical models," Clark said. "Reshecomp checks their responses against her calculations."

Before Clark could address Paula, the journalist asked, "So you have treated these with Ecclesiam purpuream?"

"Yes, but it didn't work. For some reason they don't take it into their systems. It goes right to the kidneys and out."

"Why?" Efirr responded at once.

"Good question!" Now I'm yelling, Clark thought. Someone was coming down the hall to see what was the matter. He looked at Paula and thought of telling her not to cry, but didn't. She might want to cry. He turned back to Efirr. "I don't know why they don't react to the stuff. I thought they would. The model does, but it isn't complete yet...they have to update it every 50 generations or so because the worm evolves..."

Efirr nodded. He walked past Clark to greet Dr. Arletty, who poked his head into the room and looked around in some confusion. "This is the celebrated Dr. Arletty. I am honored to meet you. My name--"

Arletty touched the offered palm and jerked his head toward Paula, who had fallen silent. "Is she hurt?" he asked.

"No--" Clark said. He paused to grope for some explanation.

"Why was she crying?"

"She is unhappy," Efirr said. Baffled, Arletty retreated.

"If there's no record of the arrest, how do you know he's been arrested?" Clark asked.

Paula rubbed her face with her sleeve. "We went to the Missing Persons office. First you tell the whole story to some busybody, then you sign a stack of forms, they they let you ask Reshecomp. She said he was in custody."

"That's all?"

"Detained for questioning."

"Then there is a record."

"There was something that looked like a shipping report. Received one Sevit Uchide in working order for indefinate term storage," she told him. "There really wasn't much more information."

He pulled at his mustache. "Can your father do anything?"

"It's internal."

"Sevit's family--"

"Don't put bets. With all their illegal drugs and businesses and the casino, they can't insist on their rights. Besides, arrest without charge is legal there." She stood up, her legs trembling. "We're going to march on the embassy and see if we can get on the news. Maybe they'll let him go to embarrass us."

It occurred to Clark that she might have come to his lab solely to mourn in private, not expecting Efirr to be there. He should have taken the man aside and left her alone, but it was too late. She murmured, "I'll see you later," and went out. Efirr sat down on the catwalk, bringing himself to eye level with Clark.

"Why do you keep these worms if they yield no information?" he asked.

Clark waved his hand at the tank. "Reshecomp wants to play with them to see what's wrong with the model."

"How interesting! Have you any idea what the fault might be?" * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CONTINUE.....................

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INDEX