Chapter 13

She had felt somewhat self-conscious for the first two or three minutes. But it helped when she caught a glimpse of their own table drifting by among the others and realized that the smiling red-headed viewer image over there looked completely at her ease.

It helped, too, that Major Quillan turned suddenly into the light-but-ardent-conversation type of companion. In the short preceding briefing he had pointed out that a bit of flirting, etc., was a necessary, or at least nearly necessary, part of the act. Trigger was going along with the flirting; he could be right about that. She intended to stay on the alert for the etc.

They got nibbles very promptly. But not quite the right kind.

The concealed table ComWeb murmured, “A caller requests to be connected with Major Quillan. Is it permitted?”

“Oho!” Quillan said poisonously. “I suspected we should have stayed off circuit! Who’s the caller?”

“The name given is Keth Deboll.”

Quillan laughed. “Give the little wolf Major Quillan’s regards and tell him it was a good try. I’ll look him up tomorrow.”

He gave Trigger gentle wink. “Let ‘em pant,” he said. “At a distance!”

She smiled uncertainly. If he had a mustache, she thought, he’d be twirling it.

There were two more calls in the next few minutes, of similar nature. Quillan rebuffed them cheerfully. It was rather flattering in a way. She wondered how so many people in the cocktail lounge happened to know Quillan by name.

When the ComWeb reported the fourth caller, it sounded awed.

“The name given is the Lady Lyad Ermetyne!” it said.

Quillan beamed. “Lyad? Bless her heart! A pleasure. Put her through.”

A screen shaped itself on the wall mirror to the right. Lyad Ermetyne’s face appeared in it.

“Heslet Quillan!” She smiled. “So you aren’t permanently lost to your friends, after all!” It was a light, liquid voice. It suited her appearance perfectly.

“Only to the frivolous ones,” Quillan said. His thick black brows went up. His face took on a dedicated look. “I’m headed for Manon on duty.”

She nodded. “Still with the Subspace Engineers?”

“And with the rank of major by now,” Quillan said.

“Congratulations! But I’d already observed that your fabulous good fortune hasn’t deserted you in the least.” Lyad’s glance switched to Trigger; she smiled again. It was a pleasant, easy smile that showed white teeth. “Would you shield your ComWeb, Quillan?”

“Shield it?” Quillan looked surprised. “Why, certainly!” He reached under the edge of the table. The drifting viewer images vanished. “Go ahead.”

Lyad’s eyes turned back to Trigger. They were off-color eyes, like amber or a light wine, fringed with long black lashes. Very steady, very knowing eyes. Trigger felt herself tensing.

“Forgive me the discourtesy of inquiring directly,” the light voice said. “But you are Trigger Argee, aren’t you?”

Quillan’s hand slapped the table. He looked at Trigger and laughed. “Better give up, Trigger! I told you you were much more widely known than you believed.”

“Well, Brule,” Trigger muttered moodily to the solidopic propped upright against the pillow before her, “you’d bug those pretty blue eyes out if you knew who’s invited me to dinner!”

Brule smiled back winningly. She lay on her cabin’s bed, chin on her crossed arms, eyes a dozen inches from the pretty blue ones. She studied Brule’s features soberly.

“Major Heslet Quillan,” she announced suddenly in cold, even tones, “is a completely impossible character!”

It was no more than the truth. She didn’t mind so much that Quillan wouldn’t tell her what he thought of Lyad Ermetyne’s standing on the suspect list now--there hadn’t really been much opportunity for open conversation so far. But he and that unpleasant Belchik Pluly had engaged in some jovial back-slapping and rib-punching when he and Trigger went over to join Lyad’s party at her request; and Quillan cried out merrily that he and Belchik had long had one great interest in common--ha-ha-ha! Then those two great buddies vanished together for a full hour to take in some very special, not publicly programmed Sensations Unlimited in the Dawn City’s Inferno.

Lyad had smiled after them as they left. “Aren’t men disgusting?” she said tolerantly.

That reflected on her, didn’t it? She was supposed to be very good friends with somebody like that! Of course Quillan must have some bit of Intelligence business in mind with Pluly, but there should be other ways of going about it. And later, when she’d been just a little stiff with him, Quillan had had the nerve to tell her not to be a prude, doll!

Trigger shoved the solidopic under the pillow. Then she rolled on her side and blinked at the wall.

Naturally, Major Quillan’s personal habits were none of her business. It was just that in less than an hour he was to pick her up and take her to the Ermetyne suite for that dinner. She was wondering how she should behave towards him.

Reasonably pleasant but cool, she decided. But again, not too cool, since she’d obligated herself to help him find out what the Tranest tycooness was after. Any obvious lack of friendliness between them might make the job more difficult.

Trigger sighed. Things were getting complicated again.

While Quillan was indulging his baser nature among the questionable attractions of the Inferno, she’d shot three hundred of her Precol credits on a formal black gown ... on what, yesterday, she would have considered a rather unbelievable gown. Even at an Ermetyne dinner she couldn’t actually look dowdy in it. And then, accompanied by Gaya, who had turned out to be a very pleasant but not very communicative companion, she’d headed for a gambling room to make back the price of the gown.

It hadn’t worked out. The game she’d particularly studied up on turned out to have a five hundred minimum play. Which finished that scheme. The system she’d planned to use looked very sound, but she needed more than one chance to try it in. She and Gaya sat down at another table, with a different game, where you could get in for fifty credits. In eight minutes Trigger lost a hundred and twenty and quit.

Gaya won seventy-five.

It had been an interesting day, but with some unsatisfactory aspects to it.

She hauled the solidopic out from under the pillow again.

“And you,” she told Brule warningly, “seem to be playing around with some very bad company, my friend! Just luck I’m coming back to see you don’t get into serious trouble!”