"Not a bad idea, Corky," he said to me when she had gone. We plunked our uniform toppers on, left some credits on the table for the bill, and sauntered casually out of the place.
"Are you sure you don't want to head back to the ship?" I asked my Sergeant Lochinvar, when we stood outside the tiny dive in the dim light of a narrow, dirty street.
Shane bristled.
"With Varda in danger?"
I sighed. But even so, this was looking up. If it hadn't been for the two space lugs inside, I'd have been pulling Shane away from the place, even if I had to pop him on the chin when he wasn't looking. But the prospects of a little trouble—well, that made it different.
"Okay," I said. "I'll stick around, just to see that you keep your ugly snoot out of trouble."
"I'd thank you," Shane muttered ungratefully, "if I didn't think it might be because you're going off in a void over Varda." He eyed me suspiciously.
"Stop squinting," I said. "She doesn't mean a thing to me."
"She'd better not," Shane began, knotting his plucked eyebrows in a frown.
And then Varda, wearing a rich blue cape over her long flowing red tunic, bustled out the door and over to us.
"Let us move quickly," she pleaded. "They've gotten up from their table and are following."
Shane grabbed her arm and pointed down the dim, dirty little street.
"Come on!" he said.
We walked swiftly, all three of us, until we reached the corner at the end of the street. Then, simultaneously, we stopped and faced the direction we'd come from.
The two thugs were out on the sidewalk, following after us!
They stopped, suddenly, and stepped into a doorway. I grunted in satisfaction.
"That's all we want to know. They'll play hide and seek at a distance until they get us where they want us."
Shane, catching my incipient idea, asked,
"Where's the nearest alley?"
Varda pointed a lovely finger across the street.
"There's one right over there," she said.
We crossed the street. "Now we'll pretend to dart down here," I said. We were hidden from sight by now, and had halted. If you've ever been in a Venusian alley, you'll know what I mean when I say we were standing ankle deep in mud slime.
Of course, off duty, we weren't carrying side arms. We had no idea of what the gents following us carried in the way of lethal armaments. But—we'd been like this before.
Shane, standing protectively before the girl, reached into his tunic pocket and pulled out his set of duralloy knuckles. I did the same. We were never totally unprepared when these knucks were at hand.
There was a small areaway behind the place we waited. I grabbed Varda's arm and shoved her back in there.
"Keep you out of trouble," I explained.
WE heard cautious footsteps on the metallic parbulium[1] sidewalk, less than three yards away. Then, two gray forms stepped into the alley, as Shane and I instantly went into action.
Both space slugs were big. And both
- ↑ Parbulium is a metal common to Venus, something like copper. It is found in a raw, spongy state, and when spread on a roadway or walk, and rolled down, forms a satisfactory and durable pavement.—Ed.
