Project Pope

'No, I never have.

'Pity, said the captain.

A tap sounded from the direction of the open door.

The captain swung about in his chair. 'Oh, there you are, my dear, he said, obviously pleased.

Te

'Come in, please, said the captain. 'As you see, we have picked up another passenger. Four humans aboard on a single trip. I believe that to be a record.

'If I am not intruding, she said.

'You are not, the captain told her. 'We are pleased to have you. Jill Roberts, this is Dr. Te

She held out her hand to Te

Te

'I am sorry, Doctor, she said. 'It is the way I am. It has horrified my friends for years.

'Please forgive me, said Te

'As a physician, there is nothing you can do about it. It is inoperable. No cosmetic surgery is possible. Nothing. I have to live with it; I have learned to live with it.

'Miss Roberts, said the captain smoothly, 'is a writer. Articles for magazines. A long shelf of books.

'If that bottle has not grown fast to your hand, said Jill Roberts to Te

'Certainly, Te

'It appears there are no glasses aboard this bucket, said Jill Roberts. 'But I don't really mind. Drinking out of a bottle after someone else is only another way to trade around some germs.

She took the bottle and sat down in the one remaining chair. 'Where are you putting up? she asked Te

'Dr. Te

She raised the bottle to her lips, lowered it, looked inquiringly at Te

'Is that true? she asked.

Te

'That is not quite right either, said the captain. 'He did stow away, but now he offers to pay his passage. Technically, he no longer is a stowaway.

'You must be starved, Jill said, 'unless you brought along a lunch.

'I never thought about it, said Te

'You'll get no steaks on this tub, said Jill, 'but there's guck to fill the gut. How about it, Captain?

'Surely, the captain agreed. 'Almost immediately. I'm sure something's left.

Jill rose and tucked the bottle underneath her arm. 'Send the food to my cabin, she told the captain, then turned to Te

'Come along, you. We'll get you washed up and your hair combed and see what you really look like.

Three

'Now for some ground rules, said Jill. 'On such short acquaintance, I'm not about to crawl into bed with you, but I will share the bed — or, I suppose, the bunk, for it's really not a bed. Like the captain and the mate, we'll take turns in it. You can use the can — on board such a ship as this, I think it's termed a head. We'll eat our meals together and we can sit and talk and play my music crystals. I'll ignore a pass or two, being naturally good-natured and more kindly than is good for me, but if you get too heavy, I'll heave you out.

'I shall not get too heavy, said Te

He used half a slice of bread to mop up his plate, sopping up the gravy left over from the stew.

'In my ravenous hunger, he told her, 'this meal was tasty, but it had a strange tang to it. Stew, of course, but a stew of what?

'Don't ask, she said. 'Just shut your eyes and eat. Holding your nose helps, too, if you can do that without strangling. There is a deep, dark suspicion that when one of the pilgrims die — and some of them do, of course, packed into steerage as they are…

He waved a helpless hand at her. 'Please, Jill, desist. My body needs the food and I'd like to keep it down.

'I would not have thought a doctor would have a queasy stomach.

'Doctors, my dear, he said, 'are not total brutes.

'Put the plate away, she told him. 'You've mopped it shining clean. I still have the captain's bottle-

'I noticed. You just marched off with it.

'It's not the captain's bottle. He simply pilfers it and the consignee looks the other way. He hauls in several cases on every trip, I understand. Special-order shipments for the gnomes at Project Pope.

'Gnomes at Project Pope? What in hell have gnomes to do with it, and what is Project Pope?

'You mean you don't know?

'Not at all, he said.

'Well, I guess they're not really gnomes, although it's a term that is often used for them. Some of them are humans, but the most of them are robots.

'That's no real answer, said Te

'What about you, my friend? she asked. 'What's all your mystery? The captain said you stowed away and then you paid your passage. And if you don't know about Project Pope, why are you heading out for End of Nothing? There's no reason to go there except for Project Pope.

'So help me, said Te

'In due time, she said, 'I shall be glad to give you all the details that I have. But you give first. I took you in, remember. I am sharing with you. Now, let's each have a drink, then you start.

They each had a drink. He wrested the bottle from her and took another one, then handed it back.

'You know, he said, 'that stuff has authority.

'Give, she said.

'Well, first of all, I really am a doctor.

'I never doubted that. I had a peek into your bag.

'You know about Gutshot, the planet that we took off from.

She shivered. 'A horrid little place, although I was glad enough to get there. It was the last stop on the way to End of Nothing and, working my way out, there've been too many stops. I never dreamed, of course, that I'd have to put up with such a filthy ship to get there. I asked around. Would you believe it, this is the only ship between Gutshot and End of Nothing. This captain of ours has the pilgrim trade tied up.

'About the pilgrims…

'Nothing doing. First you talk of Gutshot, then I'll talk of gnomes and popes and pilgrims.

'It's simply told, said Te