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"Why should you?" she asked. Bob felt for a moment that he had made a slip, but carried on without a break that anyone but the Hunter could have spotted, both hoped.
"I shouldn't and I couldn't. There's nothing to fall for. If you're suggesting that I'm a pyromaniac, check your dad's files-you keep 'em now, don't you?"
"Thanks. That's an idea I hadn't thought of," she returned. I'll do that when I have the time."
Neither spoke again for ten minutes or more. Both sat, thinking of all the things he might have said differently. The Hunter made a few suggestions to him, but got no response. Je
Eventually a door opened and a ten-year-old boy with his arm in a sling came through, followed by the doctor. The latter interrupted an admonishment about tree-climbing as he caught sight of Bob, came over to shake hands warmly, and ushered him into the examination room.
"Heard you were back-I suppose everyone has, by now. For good this time, isn't it? Did you drop over to be sociable, or are they putting you right to work? How are you, Hunter?-I suppose you're still there."
The Hunter almost answered; Seever was the one human being who sometimes made him forget that communication had to be by relay-who habitually spoke to him as though direct conversation were possible. Bob was usually amused by this, but showed no sign of it this time.
"Both, I guess," he answered Seever's last question -first. "Yes, the Hunter is here. Nothing's been said officially to me about showing up for work, but I imagine they're taking it for granted. Unless I'm told otherwise, I'll be over at the main shop on Monday; but there are problems I'll need your help with, first."
"Oh?"
Bob wasted no time in recounting the situation; Seever listened silently. He nodded or raised an eyebrow at times but said nothing until Bob had finished. Then he summarized.
"As I see it, you two want to find one or both of those spaceships, or their remains, as a step toward getting in touch with some of the Hunter's people who may or may not be on Earth, in the hope that they can solve or get hold of someone else who can solve, Bob's medical difficulties, assuming they can be solved. Pretty iffy. We are hoping they can be, that they're actually on Earth, and that finding the ships will help you find the people. I won't ask pardon for the loose pronouns, you know what I mean. My job is to keep you functioning, and, if possible, free part of the time-holding the juggler's plates in the air, as the Hunter so aptly puts it-until all this is ac-accomplished."
"It could be said more encouragingly, but that's right as far as you go," conceded Bob. "You do have one other job. Somehow PFI will have to be persuaded to use me in some way that won't either kill me too soon or reveal my medical problems to too many people. You can't just say I'm not able to work. Old Toke takes a big interest in people, and I can imagine his shipping me back to the States, or Japan, or wherever he happens to think I can get better medical attention than you can provide here. I mention this, of course, just to keep you from loafing between the shots of whatever you have to give me to keep me going."
"Phmph," snorted Seever. "Whatever I-
"And in addition," the young man went on, "you'll really have to do something about Je
"My daughter? Why? If you're falling in love with her I certainly don't object, but you'll have to do your own courting."
"Did you ever tell her about the Hunter and our adventures a few years ago? Or tell your wife so Je
"No. None of those. I've wanted to tell Ev, but it isn't my secret. I will, if you and the Hunter ever let me. I've never written any of it anywhere."
"Then why did Je
"That's right, she was." Seever was both puzzled and surprised. "I can’t imagine what she's up to, or what she's found out, or how. If I talk in my sleep that coherently I'm sure Ev would have said some-thing, and it still wouldn't explain Je
The Hunter expressed himself strongly in Bob's ear, but his host had reached the same conclusion in- dependently and even more quickly.
"The last, by all means. I'd just as soon she didn't know we'd even mentioned it to you. We have no idea how much she knows, or why she's interested. If anyone starts asking her, she'll feel more certain she's on to something real-if she isn't certain already, of course. The only fire I can imagine her asking about is the one I lighted when we tricked the Hunter's quarry out of Dad's body-I can't remember ever lighting another that would mean anything special to anyone, at least. I can’t see why she should be asking, if she never heard about it from anywhere."
"So," Seever cut in, "you're between Dilemma's right horn of needing to find out what she could have heard and where she could have heard it, and the left one of not wanting her to think that what she has heard means anything-if she doesn't already. I can see that, and will do my best not to make things any more confusing. I won't say anything to Jen if she doesn't start saying things to me. If she does, I'll find out what I can. You're right-she wasn't here that other time; she was in the hospital on Tahiti recovering from bone surgery I couldn't handle here, and her mother was with her. As you say, she was only eleven anyway. Someone else must have seen you light the fire, and must have told her, assuming there's any rational basis at all for her question. The alternative is not only impossible for me to consider, but calls for more coincidence than I can stomach." He paused in thought for several seconds.
"Look," he said at length. "I’m not going to say anything to her unless she spoke first, and I'll keep the promise unless you release me, but give this some thought. If I don't say anything to her, thereby implying that you didn't say anything to me about her fire questions, won't that itself be suspicious? Why wouldn't you have mentioned it to me? Shouldn't I question her, not as though she poking into someone else's business, but as though I were wondering about her state of mind?"
The point seemed well taken, to the Hunter. Bob was less convinced.
I can't stop you," he said slowly, "and don't want to hold you to a promise which goes against your judgment. So-well, do what you think is best. You certainly know her better than I do. The Hunter and I have to find those ships, and can't spend time yet finding out what Je
Seever raised an eyebrow; it seemed to him that his daughter's actions might be relevant enough to the current problem to deserve very close and immediate investigation. Bob failed to notice the change of expression, and the Hunter failed to see it clearly. His host's eyes were aimed in more or less the right direction, but the image of the doctor's face was not in their foveal region. The alien could make use of the less central parts of the retinas better than their owner could but not perfectly; there was no remedy for the fact that the eye lenses did not focus perfectly.
"Somehow," Bob went on, "we've got to get hold of a boat. Dad's looking for diving gear and metal-finding equipment, but the ships certainly went down off the reef-at least, the Hunter's did, and that generator casing from the other turned up at a place which suggested it had been brought from outside. We'll need a reasonably good boat, because there'll be wind and surf problems out there."