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“Are you all right, Professor?” Angelina asked, but he didn’t hear her. His fingers were flashing across the keyboard now and the screen was filled with rapidly flowing mathematical equations.
“Leave him to it,” I said. “If anyone can find out what happened it’s him. We’re just in the way now.”
We went to the lounge area and I snapped my fingers for the barbot. Angelina scowled.
“Little early to hit the booze, isn’t it?”
“No booze, just a simple glass of beer to slake my thirst. Join me?”
“Not at this time of day.”
I sipped and thought. “We have to go back to the very begi
“From Glass to Hell to Heaven and back here. Where we are stuck since the good professor can’t find any of them any more.”
“We don’t have to wait for him.” I grabbed for the phone. “The search we instigated may have uncovered other Slakey operations on other planets. Let’s see what the boys found out.”
I heard the splash of water and shrieks of joy in the background when Bolivar, or James, answered the phone.
“Can I interrupt your jollities?” I asked.
“Just a day at the beach, Dad. What’s up?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here. But first, do you remember if there were any other Slakey operations uncovered by the original search, when we were on Lussuoso?”
“We dropped everything and got out of there so fast—I just don’t know. But I do know that the computer was still ru
Professor Coypu was still hammering out equations, Angelina had a cup of tea, and I was thinking of another beer when the boys arrived.
“News?” I asked.
“Good!”, they said in unison.
I flipped through the printouts, then passed them to Angelina.
“Very good indeed,” I said. “A few remote possibles, a couple of maybe probables.”
“And one dead certain,” Angelina said. “The Sorority of the Bleating Lamb. A women—only congregation, and rich women at that.”
“Did you note the name of the planet where this operation is now taking place?”
“I certainly did—Cliaand of all places. You boys are too young to remember the planet, in fact you were in your baby carriage at the time. There were certain difficulties on Cliaand, but your father and I sorted them out. We’ll tell you about it when we have the time. The important thing is that now it is a museum world.”
“A museum of what?”
“Warfare, militarism, fascism, jingoism and all that sort of old nonsense. It was a very poor planet when we saw it last, but that must have changed by now. Tourist money, no doubt. Shall we go see?”
A heartfelt groan caught our attention. Professor Coypu was in the pits of despair. “No good,” he groaned again. “No reason to it. Nothing makes sense. Gone. Heaven and Hell. All gone.”
He looked so glum that Angelina went over and patted his arm.
“There, there, it is going to be all right. While you were sweating away at your equations—we have located what we are sure is another Slakey religious operation. We must now plan, very carefully, how this matter should be handled. I don’t think we can afford to make any more mistakes.”
There was a serious nodding of heads on all sides.
“Can we use the TI, temporal inhibitor again?” I asked. “I don’t see why not,” Coypu said, coming up for air, his depression forgotten at the thought of action. “You told me that it did not work in the Glass universe. Did you leave it there?”
“Threw it into the ocean—it was just a worthless lump of metal. And I remember! Slakey said something like whatever my weapon was, it wouldn’t work. So he does not know that we used the TI when we went to that church to grab his machine.” “In that case there is no reason why we ca
“We’ll do it! Hit hard without warning, during one of the services when we know that Slakey will be there. Freeze them all in time with the TI, walk in and put the TF on Slakey’s head and make a copy of everything there. Can that be done, Professor?” “Of course. Both machines operate on basically the same principle. They can be co
For Professor Coypu all things scientific were like unto child’s play. “I envisage no problems. There will be a large TI that will produce a field exactly the shape and size of the building you wish to enter. Time will stop and no one will be able to move in or out. Except you. Your TII, temporal inhibitor inhibitor, will cover you alone.”
“Not alone,” Angelina said. “Not ever again. It makes good sense to have aid and backup. Shall we do it?”
We were looking forward to a small family—sized operation, but Inskipp, who had spies and electronic snoopers everywhere, complained as soon as he heard about how the operation was pla
“Sincerely, do we really need more than four people?” I asked.
“Sincerely, the number of operators involved in this operation is not the point. It’s your nepotism at work that bothers me. This is a Special Corps operation and it is going to be run by Special Corps rules. Not by familial felicity.”
“How can there be rules for use of a temporal inhibitor to be used to get a time fixator into a church? Show me where it says that in the rules!”
“When I say rules I mean my rules. You are going to take another special agent with you so I will know just what is going on.”
“Who?”
“Sybil. I am sending her ahead to survey the target.”
“Agreed. Then all systems are go?”
“Go,” He pointed at the door and I was gone.
The machines were manufactured and tested, but it was almost a week before our interplanetary travel in a warpdrive cruiser was completed. We left the military at the orbital station and went planetside in a shuttle along with a number of cruise ship passengers. Like them we were holiday makers in holiday clothes, with nothing in our luggage except a few souvenirs; our weapons and equipment were going down in a diplomatic pouch.
“For old times’ sake I have booked us all into the most luxurious hotel in town—the Zlato—Zlato.”
“Why is that name familiar?” Angelina asked. “Isn’t that the same hotel where we stayed, where that horrible gray man tried to kill you?”
“The same—and you saved my life.”
“Memories,” she said, smiling warmly. “Memories….
When we reached the hotel the manager himself was there to greet us. Tall and handsome, a touch of gray at the temples, bowing and smiling.
“Welcome to Cliaand, General and Mrs. James diGriz and sons. Doubly welcome on your return visit.” “Is that you, Ostrov? Still here?”
“Of course, General. I own the hotel now.”