Chapter XX

Longliners, Kennon reflected, didn’t make Beta a port of call, and the Shortliner connections with other worlds were infrequent. Beta had done a good job separating from the rest of the Brotherhood. Too good. The spaceline schedules showed only one departure in the next month, a Shortliner for Earth, and from Earth the road to Kardon was long and tortuous, involving a series of short jumps from world to world and a final medium-range hop from Halsey to Kardon. If everything went right and he made every connection he would be in Kardon four months after he left Beta. Kennon sighed as he left Travelers Aid. Morality was a heavy load to carry.

He walked slowly down the road from the spaceport toward the Co-operative where he had been staying. He had left Huntersville and Copper a week ago, after he had seen his child. His child! The thought of being a father was oddly dismaying. It distorted his sense of values. But one thing was certain. He was returning to Kardon, and Copper was not coming with him. She had a duty to their son--and he had a duty to his contract with Alexander, to the Lani on Flora, and to Copper--and none of these could be satisfied by further running. He had to return and settle the account.

A tall man in a conservative yellow-and-black suit was waiting patiently in front of his room. “My name is Richter,” he said “--Art Richter. Are you Dr. Jac Kennon?”

“I could deny it, but I won’t,” Kennon said.

“Thank you, Doctor. It was just a formality anyway. You see, I know you by sight.” He sighed. “One has to observe the formalities in this business.” He drew a long white envelope from his tunic and handed it to Kennon. “Most of my subjects try to deny their identity,” he said.

“It’s a refreshing change to find an honest man.” He bowed formally. “I really thought this would be harder, considering the charges against you.” He bowed again and walked away.

“Now--what was that?” Kennon muttered as he opened the envelope. The man Richter was undoubtedly a process server--but who had hired him? He unfolded the sheet and scanned the charges--coercion, larceny, livestock theft, and breach of contract. He shrugged. This was Alexander’s work. What was the man thinking of? It was insanity to bring the Lani matter into open court. Hadn’t Douglas told him what had happened? Couldn’t Alexander guess that he had fled with Copper for a good reason--one that would stand up in court? Didn’t he know about the spacer? Or had Douglas turned on his cousin? The pup had so many hates that it was possible. He was a natural troublemaker. Maybe Alexander didn’t know. Maybe he was working in the dark. Kennon scanned the sheet quickly. Ah! here it was. Complaint--Mr. Alexander X. M. Alexander, Skyline Tower 1024, Beta City!

Alexander! Here on Beta! Kennon opened the door of his room, went straight to the phone beside the bed. He lifted the handset from its cradle and dialed the operator. “Get me Huntersville THU 2-1408. I want to speak to Dr. Brainard, Dr. Will Brainard. This is a priority call--my name is Kennon. Dr. Jac Kennon D.V.M. I’m in the registry--47M 26429--yes--of course, and thank you.” He waited a moment. “Hello--Dr. Brainard?--Kennon here. I’ve just had some news. Alexander’s on Beta! Yes--he served me with a summons. Can you get a restraining order to prevent him from leaving? You can? Good! Here’s his address.” Kennon rattled off the location. “Yes--I’m taking the next airboat to Beta City. This should simplify things considerably.--Of course it should. He was a fool to have come here. Yes--I suppose you should tell Copper. Oh! She is? I’m sorry to hear that, but there’s no reason for her to be angry. She should realize that I did this for her--not to make her miserable. Hmm.--She--she has? You think she should come with me?--Yes, I realize she can be a problem when she wants to be. All right then--tell her to pack a toothbrush and a few spare diapers. And see if you can get me a couple of tickets on the next flight to Beta City. I’ll be over in a couple of hours and pick her up.” He cradled the phone and dialed the operator again.

“I want the phone number of Skyline Tower 1024, Beta City, Mr. Alexander. Yes. I’ll wait. This number is HUV 2-1278 and my name is Kennon, Dr. Jac Kennon 47M 26429. I called you before. No, I’m a transient. I can refer you to Dr. James Brainard, Huntersville Medical Center. Yes, I’ll accept charges. Now will you give me that number? BCA 7-8941--thank you.”

Kennon hung up, dialed the number, and waited.

“Hello,” he said. “Mr. Alexander? This is Dr. Kennon.--Yes--I suppose you do, but I’ve been trying to get back to Kardon for the past month. You are? Well, that’s your privilege, but I’d advise you to go easy until I see you. Naturally--I’m coming as soon as I can get there. We’ll be seeing you tomorrow morning at the latest. We?--I’m bringing Copper, of course. I just wanted you to know.”

Kennon wiped his forehead. Alexander sounded angry and dangerous. Ten years hadn’t served to cool him off. What had happened on Kardon after he had left? Kennon shook his head. There was something here he didn’t understand. The entrepreneur should have been covering his tracks, not threatening jail and disaccreditation. It was obvious that a personal visit was more necessary than he had thought.

Alexander was waiting. His eyebrows rose at the sight of Copper in formal Betan dress--and lifted a trifle more at the sight of the baby.

“What is this, Kennon?” he asked.

“Trouble,” Kennon said. He took off his hat. “I came here to settle things before you took this case to court. You obviously do not understand what has happened. I suppose Douglas has double-crossed you. It would be characteristic of him. But before we go any further I think we should clear the air and let each other know where we stand. I don’t want to make trouble if it’s not necessary. You’ll notice I’m not wearing a thought screen, so you’ll be able to check everything I say, and know I’m telling the truth.”

“It had better be good,” Alexander said grimly. “I’ve been looking for you for ten years. I intend to throw the book at you.”

“I don’t know whether my reason is good or not. Technically I’m guilty of breach of contract and larceny of corporation property, but there are extenuating circumstances.”

Alexander chuckled mirthlessly. “There are a few other charges. And quite probably I can think of more if you beat these. I’m going to make an example of you, Kennon. I’m going to drag you down and stamp on you. You’re going to be a horrible example to all smart operators who think they can break contracts. It’s taken a million credits and ten years’ time to hunt you down, but it’s going to be worth it.”

“Copper’s child is a boy,” Kennon said mildly. “My son.”

Alexander froze. “You can prove that?” he asked in a half-strangled voice.

Kennon nodded. “You see the extenuating circumstance?” he asked. “Suppression of human slavery!”

Alexander sat down. It was as though some unseen hand had pulled his legs from under him. “You believe it,” he said. “--No--you’ve proved it! Why--why didn’t you tell me? What sort of a man do you think I am?”

“I didn’t know. I couldn’t take the chance until Copper was protected. You see, sir, I love her.”

“That isn’t hard to do with Lani,” Alexander said. He sank back in his chair, his face clouded, his expression troubled. It was obvious that the realization shocked him.

Kennon felt an odd sympathy for the entrepreneur. It wasn’t a nice feeling, he suspected, to have the beliefs of a lifetime ripped apart and sent to the disposal chute.

“So the Lani are a human variant,” Alexander said dully.

“The proof is here,” Kennon said, “and the supporting evidence is conclusive.”

“Which makes me--what? A murderer? A slaver? A tyrant?” Alexander clutched his head with lean-fingered hands. “What am I?”

“An innocent victim of circumstances,” Kennon said. “You didn’t know. None of us knew. And we still wouldn’t know if the Lani weren’t of Betan extraction.” He grimaced painfully. “I’ve done some soul-searching myself, and it hasn’t been a pleasant task.”

“But it’s nothing like mine,” Alexander said in a low voice. “I suspected they were human when I was younger, but I denied my suspicions and accepted false facts instead of investigating.”

“You would have found nothing.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not true. We discovered quite a bit from the experimental station you left us when you disappeared ten years ago. But we stopped when we found the age that was being indoctrinated with Lani tabus. We could have gone farther, but I didn’t think it was necessary.”

“Didn’t Douglas tell you?” Kennon asked curiously. “I told him when I turned him loose.”

“Douglas didn’t tell anything except that you had somehow gotten a spaceship. I assumed it was one of those that were involved in that commercial raid a few decades ago, but I see it wasn’t. No--I knew nothing about this development. And Douglas, I guess, wanted to keep it hidden. He gave your co-ordinates and ordered Mullins to launch a missile. But he apparently forgot to turn on his IFF. At any rate the missile lost you--but found Douglas. Douglas was still talking to Alexandria when it struck.”

“He might have informed you,” Kennon said. “If he had more time.”

“I doubt it. He ordered the missile first. He was trying to destroy you before you could destroy Outworld Enterprises. His motives were selfish as usual.” Alexander looked at Kennon with a haggard eye. “I owe you an apology,” he said. “I’ve considered you responsible for Douglas’s death for ten years. I’ve searched for you on a hundred worlds. My agents in every branch office have had standing orders to report any unusual arrivals. I have hunted you personally. I wanted to break you--I wanted to kill you.”

“I couldn’t help the delay,” Kennon said. “The ship was old.”

“I know. You’ve told me more than you think. I’m a telepath, you know.”

“I’ve never forgotten it,” Kennon said. “That was one of the principal reasons I came here. I wanted to see how you’d react when you learned the whole truth.”

“And I suppose you gloat--no--you’re not doing that. But you are right. I could have checked it further. But I didn’t. Outworld Enterprises is far bigger than Flora--and I was busy. Galactic trade is a snake-pit. And, after all, there was Douglas’s death--and the Family with their never-ending clamor for money and their threats when it didn’t come promptly. I like being an entrepreneur, but until I made Outworld independent of Family control, I couldn’t do anything except run the business to their wishes. Actually the island was only a small part of the corporation. I tried to run it as humanely as possible under the circumstances.” He shuddered. “I don’t think I was ever needlessly cruel.”