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us."
"I am not a person. I am a device." The mechanical voice came from nowhere
and everywhere around them. "What is it you wish of me?"
"Can the Legion or anyone else hear what we say here?" she asked.
"The Raj Dood does not permit eavesdropping."
"Lutt, while we wait, tell me about this Ryll person."
Why not? Lutt thought. And he said, "He's a Dreen who got into my body after
I had an accident with my new spaceship."
"Got into your body?"
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"Yeah. He sneaked in while I was unconscious."
I did not sneak! I saved your life!
But you didn't give me any choice!
Ryll lapsed into sullen isolation, shocked by the truth in Lutt's response.
Would Lutt have chosen to die? He really was not asked.
"Can he talk?" Nishi asked. "I want to talk to him."
"Of course I can talk!" The voice was a shuddery falsetto as Ryll took
advantage of Lutt's surprise and assumed control.
"Stop -- that!" Lutt objected, but it was a voice that cracked and wavered.
Face contorted and body twisted, Lutt and Ryll fought for control.
"I don't . . . care . . . who . . . sees . . . this!" Ryll said. "I . . .
will . . . talk to her!"
Lutt subsided into dismayed passivity. He sensed both anger and urgency in
Ryll. And There was that floral odor.
"Earth and the solar system may be erased while this fool plays his petty
power games," Ryll said.
And he explained quickly about The erasure ship, Patricia.
"How can all of this --" Nishi waved her arms "-- be something you made?"
"I did not make it. Wemply the Voyager made it."
"That's crazy!"
"I, too, suspect Wemply of derangement."
She shook her head, seeing they were talking at cross purposes. Another
thought struck her. "But
. . . but this ship, you said it was wrecked in the collision with Lutt's
ship."
"They can always make another."
Are you finished? Lutt demanded. You've frightened her.
I'm gratified that someone shares my fears.
Why haven't you been ragging me about this?
I considered we had time but on mature reflection, I have begun to wonder.
Mature? You?
Stressful situations are known to mature one. It is odd how this does not
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apply to you, Lutt.
Go ahead! Insult me. But I'm in here with you and I know you're a tricky
liar.
I have been utterly candid with you under extremely trying circumstances and
where the advantages of fabrication have been quite substantial.
Nishi had been staring at the window wall while she chewed her lower lip. She
spoke without turning. "Ryll, you say you merged to save your lives. Can you
be separated?"
"It is possible but I'm not sure I have the proper facilities."
"And The Zone Patrol will imprison you if they learn you are a Dreen in human
guise?"
Now see what you've done! Lutt raged. She can make me do whatever she wants
by threatening to
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A gamble I thought worth taking. She desires a rich husband and you can make
her promise of silence a provision of your marriage contract, cutting her off
entirely if she speaks.
Say! You're turning into quite a bargainer.
I am learning by observation. Look! Something is happening out there.
A throng of people occupied a cylindrical area visible through The window
wall. In their midst stood a tall figure Lutt recognized.
Uncle Dudley!
Time had been kind to his mother's ne'er-do-well brother. The man's angular
features bore a benign expression. Skin smooth, blond hair caught in a gray
sweatband and draping across his shoulders. His blue eyes twinkled. But that
costume! Uncle Dudley wore a white robe emblazoned in red and blue letters:
"Raj Dood . . . Raj Dood . . ." He strode through the throng as imploring
hands reached out toward him, but no one touched him.
In the excitement of the moment, Lutt groped tentatively for control and Ryll
allowed it.
He is your uncle. Best you deal with him. But find out how that cylinder
works.
The window wall abruptly distorted the view and the scene wavered as though
seen through water.
But Uncle Dudley remained clear.
Spirit Glass! Lutt thought.
Uncle Dudley marched through the glass into the waiting room. The throng
followed, distortion vanishing as they entered. The area around Lutt and
Nishi became jammed with sweaty, pleading people. They pressed Lutt and Nishi
into a corner with the Raj Dood.
The guru silenced the babble with a great shout: "Eczema!" He put a finger
to his cheek. "Or is it Eureka?"
Noticing Lutt and Nishi, he said, "Forgive my abrupt departure but Osceola
required my presence.
Now, where were we? Oh, yes. Morey and Woon, the conspiracy."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and looked across the people
crowding the waiting room.
"I have places to go, places to be."
"Raj Dood be praised!" the people shouted.
"Those two are deserters," Nishi whispered in Lutt's ear. She pointed at two
men in Legion uniforms. "I have seen posters with their pictures." She
abruptly turned her attention to three
Chinese in Mao Guard uniforms. "Heaven preserve us. Those are the enemy!"
Lutt, too, studied the throng as they pressed closer to the Raj Dood. He
noted a woman with a crying baby, a quartet of singing drunks whose accents
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