“Mightn’t it have been?” Miss Eulate asked.
Gonwil shrugged. “She had some reason for suspecting it at the time. My parents and uncle apparently had been rather ruthless in the methods they used to build up Lodis Associates, and no doubt they had plenty of enemies. The authorities who investigated the matter said very definitely that the deaths had been accidental, but Malrue didn’t accept that.
“Then, after the directors of a Tayun bank had been appointed my guardians, some crank sent them a message. It said my parents had died as a result of the evil they’d done, and that their daughter would never live to handle the money they had robbed from better people than themselves. You imagine what effect that had on Cousin Malrue!”
“Yes, I believe I can.”
“And that,” Gonwil said, “is really the whole story. Since then, every time it’s looked as if I might have come close to being in an accident or getting harmed in some way, Cousin Malrue has taken it for granted that vendettists were behind it. The thing has simply preyed on her mind!”
Miss Eulate looked doubtful, asked, “Isn’t it possible that you are taking the matter too lightly, Gonwil? As you may remember, I met Mrs. Parlin on one occasion here. We had quite an extensive conversation, and she impressed me as being a very intelligent and levelheaded person.”
“Oh, she is,” Gonwil said. “Don’t misunderstand me. Cousin Malrue is in fact the most intelligent woman I’ve ever known. She’s been running Lodis Associates almost singlehandedly for the past fifteen years, and the firm’s done very well in that time.
“No, it’s just that one subject on which she isn’t reasonable. Nobody can argue her out of the idea that vendettists are lurking for me. It’s very unfortunate that those mysterious strangers, whoever they were, should have showed up just now. By Tayun’s laws I’ll become a responsible adult on the day I’m nineteen, and that’s only three months away.”
Miss Eulate considered, nodded. “I see! You will then be able to handle the money left you by your parents. So if the vendettists want to make good on their threat, they would have to, uh, eliminate you before that day!”
“Uh-huh,” Gonwil said. “Actually, of course, most of the money stays in Lodis Associates, but from then on I’ll have a direct voice in the concern’s affairs. The Parlin family and I own about seventy per cent of the stock between us. I suppose those nonexistent vendettists would consider that the same thing as handling my parents’ money.”
Miss Eulate was silent a moment, “If the people who called the consulate were not the vendettists,” she said, “why should they have behaved in such a suspicious manner?”
Gonwil laughed ruefully.
“Miss Eulate, I do believe you could become almost as bad as Cousin Malrue about this! Why, they might have had any number of reasons for acting as they did. If they were from Tayun, they could know I’d soon be of age and they might have some business they’d like me to put money in. Or, perhaps they just didn’t express themselves clearly enough, and they’re actually friends of some friends of mine who asked them to look me up on Orado. Or, they could be from a Tayun news agency, looking for a story on the last member of the Lodis family. You see?”
“Well, there are such possibilities, of course,” the counselor conceded. “However, I fail to understand then why you appear to he concerned about Mrs. Parlin’s reactions. If nothing comes of the matter, isn’t it quite unlikely that she’ll ever learn that somebody has inquired about you?”
“Ordinarily, it would be,” Gonwil said glumly. “But she and Rodel the Twelfth are due to arrive on Orado at almost any moment. I’d been expecting them the day after tomorrow, but Junior called an hour ago to say the schedule had changed, and they’d be here today. Malrue is bound to find out what happened, and, to put it mildly, she’s going to be extremely upset!”
“Yes, no doubt.” Miss Eulate hesitated, went on. “I dislike to tell you this, but it’s been decided that until a satisfactory explanation for the appearance of the two strangers at the consulate has been obtained, certain steps will have to be taken to insure your personal safety. You understand that the college has a contractual obligation to your guardians to see that no harm comes to you while you are a student.”
Gonwil looked at her, asked, “Meaning I’m restricted to the campus?”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to go a little farther than that. We are assigning guards to see to it that no unauthorized persons enter bungalow 18-19, and I must instruct you not to leave it for the next day or two.”
“Oh, dear! And all because . . .” Gonwil shook her blond head. “Cousin Malrue will have kittens when she hears that!”
The counselor looked surprised.
“But why should Mrs. Parlin have, uh, kittens?” she inquired. “Surely she will see that the college is acting only to keep you out of possible danger!”
“She simply won’t believe I’m not in danger here, Miss Eulate! When my guardians enrolled me at Pehanron, she didn’t at all like the idea of my coming to Orado by myself. That’s why the college has had to put up with that monster Chomir for the past two years! My guardians thought it would calm Malrue down if I kept one of the famous Askanam arena hounds around as a bodyguard. They sent all the way there to get one of the best.” Miss Eulate nodded. “I see. I . . .” Her voice died in her throat.
Moving with ghostly quiet, Chomir had appeared suddenly in the doorway to the garden. He stood there, yellow eyes fixed on them. “He heard me use his name and came to see if I’d called him,” Gonwil said apologetically. “I’ll send him back out till we’re finished.”
“No,” the counselor said with some firmness, “tell him to come in. I shouldn’t allow him to frighten me, and I know it. Now is as good a time as any to overcome that weakness!”
Gonwil looked pleased. “Come on in, boy!”
The Askanam came forward, moving lightly and easily in spite of his size. In the patch of sunlight from the door, an ivory handle pattern was faintly visible in the short white hair of his hide, the massive cables of surface muscle shifting and sliding beneath it. Miss Eulate, for all her brave words just now, felt her mouth go parched. Ordinarily she liked dogs, and Chomir was a magnificent dog. But there were those stories about his breed—merciless killers developed by painstaking geneticists to perform in the bloody arenas of Askanam and to provide the ruling nobility of that colorful and tempestuous world with the most incorruptible and savage of guards . . .
“I imagine,” the counselor observed uncomfortably, “that Chomir would, in fact, be an excellent protector for you if it became necessary.”
“No doubt about that,” Gonwil agreed. “And I very much hope it never becomes necessary. It would be a fearful mess! Have I told you what happened when they were going to teach him how to defend me?”
“No, you haven’t,” Miss Eulate acknowledged, wishing she hadn’t brought up the subject.
“It was just before I left for Orado. My guardians had hired an Askanam dog trainer. Chomir wasn’t much more than a pup then, but when they’re training arena dogs on Askanam, they don’t use human beings to simulate an attacker. They use special robots which look and move and smell like human beings.
“I found out why! They turned two of those poor machines loose on me, and Chomir shook both of them to pieces before I could shout, ‘Stop!’ The trainer told me that when he’s really clamping his jaws down on something, he slams on close to two thousand pounds of pressure.”
“Good heavens!” Miss Eulate said faintly.
“Anyway,” Gonwil went on, unaware of the effect she was creating, “everyone decided right then that one thing Chomir didn’t need was attack training!” She prodded the dog’s hard flank affectionately with a shoe tip. “Of course, he does have a terrific pedigree to account for it. His sire was a famous arena dog who killed thirty-two men and all kinds of fighting animals. He must have been a pretty horrible beast! And on his dam’s side . . .”
She broke off, having fi
nally caught Miss Eulate’s expression, went on after a moment, “I don’t really mind so much being confined to quarters. But I’m hoping the mystery at the consulate will be solved before the Parlins arrive. There’s no possible way I could avoid seeing Malrue, and . . .”
She checked herself for the second time, added in a different tone, “That’s Junior calling again now!”
“Eh?” Miss Eulate asked. Then, following Gonwil’s gaze, she became aware of a faint, silvery tinkling from the table. A tiny, jewel-bright device stood there, out of which the sound evidently came. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a beautifully inlaid powder compact. Miss Eulate looked puzzledly back at the girl.
“A personalized communicator,” Gonwil explained wryly. “A gift from Junior which came in the mail this morning. He has the twin to it, and the only use for the set is that Junior and I can talk together wherever either of us happens to be on Orado.” She gave Miss Eulate a small smile, added, “Junior is very difficult to discourage!”
The miniature communicator stopped its tinkling for a few seconds, then began again. Gonwil still made no move towards it. Miss Eulate asked, “Aren’t you going to answer him?”
“No. If I don’t switch it on, he’ll think I’m not around.”
Miss Eulate sighed and arose.
“Well,” she said, “I should get back to the office. We’ll trust this has been, as you feel, a false alarm. But until we’re quite certain of it, we must take whatever precautions seem indicated.”
Gonwil grimaced resignedly.
The counselor went on, “And since the Bank of Rienne is acting for your guardians on Orado, I’m also obliged to see to it that they are informed of the occurrence.”
At that, Gonwil’s face suddenly brightened.
“Miss Eulate,” she said, “when you make that call . . . and please make it at once . . . would you have it put through directly to Mr. Amberdon?”
“Why, yes, I can do that. But why specifically Mr. Amberdon?”
“He may be able to do something. Besides, Telzey’s gone to see him. She should be with him just about this time—and she can usually think of a way out of anything.”
“I’m quite aware of it,” Miss Eulate said, rather shortly. Privately she regarded Telzey, in spite of her unquestioned scholastic brilliance, as something of a college problem. She added, “Well, I’ll see what can be done.”
To be concluded.
UNDERCURRENTS
Part 2
Frontiers tend to develop a rugged and ruthless philosophy. When half a galaxy is basically frontier—it develops a thoroughly hard-boiled approach to things!
SYNOPSIS
Telzey Amberdon, fifteen-year-old citizen of the Federation of the Hub and star honor-student at Pehanron College on Orado, returns to Orado from a vacation trip to the primitive world of Jontarou, where an encounter with a telepathic native species has brought her dormant and previously unsuspected psionic talents to life. Fascinated by the experience, she has begun to experiment cautiously with her new abilities.
Unknown to her—and to all but a handful of people—is the fact that the Psychology Service, a formidable and rather mysterious branch of Federation Government, is engaged in a long-term project to bring psionic machines into general use throughout the Hub’s interstellar civilization. To further this goal, the Psychology Service is taking whatever measures seem required to prevent popular fears and suspicions about psionics from developing. One of its measures is to keep a controlling hand on the activities of human psis.
On Telzey’s arrival at the Orado City space terminal, she is accordingly spotted by a camouflaged psionic machine, identified tenatively as a Class Two psi with definite potential, equipped with a minor unconscious compulsion designed to discourage her from acting in a manner which might create problems for the Psychology Service, and tagged for future occasional observation.
Telzey is unaware of all this until a nightmare brings the planted compulsion into her consciousness. With the help of her father, Gilas Amberdon, executive officer of the Bank of Rienne in Orado City, she begins a survey of what is currently known about psis and psionics, and the survey soon indicates to her that the Psychology Service is the agent responsible for maintaining secret restraints on psis throughout the Hub. The idea of being restrained does not appeal to Telzey, but since the Psychology Service appears to be capable of checking over her thoughts whenever it chooses, she is temporarily baffled by the situation. Then a chance meeting with a telepathic alien leaves her equipped with a very effective mindshield. Concealed behind her shield, she feels the Psychology Service will leave her alone if she is reasonably careful not to draw its attention to her.
At Pehanron College, however, she runs into an unexpected problem. Requested by a close friend, Gonwil Lodis, to find out what has caused the odd behavior of Gonwil’s huge dog, Chomir, Telzey investigates the animal’s mind one night and discovers indications that Gonwil’s distant relatives, the Parlin family, are planning to murder her for her share in Lodis Associates—a thriving financial house on the Hub world of Tayun. Since there is nothing to show how the murder is to be accomplished and Gonwil would never believe such a charge against the Parlins without definite evidence, Telzey does not inform her of her conclusions but flies to Orado City in the morning to get her father’s advice and help. Gilas Amberdon, in turn, enlists the services of Wellan Dasinger, the head of a detective agency which has done work for the Bank of Rienne on other occasions.
V
There had been enough general activity during the past two hours to leave Telzey unware, except for a fleeting moment now and then, that she had begun to feel some physical effects of having lost a night’s sleep.
She couldn’t, she thought, have complained that her warning wasn’t taken seriously! Of course, the fact that Gonwil was a temporary ward of the bank would have required that it be given attention, even without the backing of the personal interest of Rienne’s executive officer and his daughter. A query regarding the internal structure of the Tayun concern of Lodis Associates had gone to Transcluster Finance Central almost immediately after her call to Gilas, and she had barely arrived at the bank when a reply came back.
Transcluster’s records confirmed in every particular what she had gathered in casual talk with Gonwil from time to time and failed to give its proper significance. Lodis Associates basically had been set up in a manner which tended to leave control of the concern with the founding associates and their heirs. Shares could be sold only after being offered to all other associates at the original value. Since the original value had been approximately a twentieth of the present one, current sales to outsiders were, in effect, blocked. If a deceased associate left no natural heirs, his stock was distributed among the surviving associates in proportion to their holdings.
Which meant that Gonwil’s death would, in fact, place the Parlin family in control of the concern . . .
And that seemed enough to convince both Gilas and Wellan Dasinger, the chief of the Kyth Detective Agency, who had arrived before Telzey, that the danger was real. It puzzled her because it hardly looked like conclusive proof of anything, but she decided they were aware of possibilities in situations of that kind which she couldn’t know about. Within an hour, the Bank of Rienne and the Kyth Agency had initiated cluster-spanning activities on behalf of the bank’s temporary ward which would have stunned Gonwil if she’d been told about them.
So much massive action should have been reassuring. But her father and Dasinger still looked worried; and presently Gilas appeared to realize again that she was around, and explained. It was a delicate situation. As Gonwil’s appointed local guardian, the bank could act with a certain amount of authority; but that advantage was based on a technicality which could be shattered in an instant by her guardians on Tayun. “And they’re aware, of course—at least in a general way—of Mrs. Parlin’s plan.”
Telzey gave him a startled look. “Why should . . .”
�
��Since Gonwil was a minor,” Gilas said, “her guardians could have taken legal steps to nullify the condition that her death would benefit the other members of Lodis Associates. And considering that business practices on Tayun remain close to the level of tribal warfare, they would have done it—automatically on assuming guardianship—unless it was to their own benefit to be a little negligent about the matter.”
“Her own guardians would help Malrue kill Gonwil?” Telzey said incredulously.
“Probably not directly. And of course if Gonwil had decided to marry the son, no one would have had any reason to kill her. But as it stands, we must expect that her guardians will try to hamper any obvious efforts now to protect her against Malrue Parlin. So we have to be very careful not to reveal our suspicions at present. Until we can get Gonwil’s formal request to represent her in the matter, we’ll be on very shaky legal ground if we’re challenged from Tayun. And from what I know of Gonwil, it’s going to be difficult for her to accept that she might be in danger from Mrs. Parlin.”
Telzey nodded. “We’ll almost have to prove it first.”
Dasinger put in, “Supposing—this is a theoretical question—this turned into a situation where Miss Lodis saw that in order to stay alive herself it might be necessary to have Mrs. Parlin killed. Knowing her as you do, do you think she could be brought to agree to the action?”
Telzey stared at the detective, realized with some shock that he had been speaking seriously, that it wasn’t a theoretical question at all.
Complete Short Fiction (Jerry eBooks) Page 136