“You got a name, lady?”
“It’s Sapphire,” she replied.
“Sapphire what?” asked McAnany.
“Just Sapphire.”
“Pleased to meet you, Just Sapphire,” said Scorpio. He turned back to Quintaro. “You sure you don’t want to talk a little business now?”
Quintaro sighed, and his mustache quivered. “All right. There’s no sense wasting any more time. It took me two months just to decide you and your partner were the men for the job.”
“He’s not exactly a man,” noted Scorpio.
“Anyway, you come highly recommended.”
“I’d ask by who, but you’d probably tell me, and I’d have to lecture you about the company you keep,” said Scorpio with just the trace of a smile.
McAnany looked at a small screen that was hidden behind the bar. “He’s coming!” he announced.
“Your partner?” asked Quintaro.
Scorpio nodded. “I guess he accomplished his mission faster than anticipated.”
Shut up, said a familiar voice inside his head.
A moment later the door opened, and a strange-looking creature entered. He was a dark blue quadruped, perhaps the size of a mastiff. He had four nostrils, two in front, one on each cheek, eyes that seemed to glow even though they were totally shielded from the dim lights, and a tail that ended in such a sharp point that it could very well be used as a weapon. He was covered by a dull curly down, and when he opened his mouth he displayed a double row of coal-black fangs.
“This is Merlin,” announced Scorpio. “He doesn’t talk, but he understands everything you say.”
Quintaro studied Merlin for a moment. “I’ve never seen anything like him,” he said. “What world is he from?”
“This one.”
“Really?”
“Why would I lie to you?” said Scorpio. “Not every planet produces just one sentient race.”
Quintaro stared at Merlin for another moment, then shrugged and turned back to Scorpio. “He won’t be offended if I speak directly to you? I’d feel … awkward … speaking to him.”
I just may bite his foot off.
Practice a little anger management, thought Scorpio. I got the repair estimate on the ship while you were off hunting for ladyfriends, and we need a quick seventy-three thousand mojuri or we’re stuck on this ball of dirt—well, ball of jungle and water.
Seventy-three thousand mojuri? That’s outrageous!
Probably, agreed Scorpio. How much is that in real money?
Twenty thousand credits.
That’s why you’re not biting his foot off.
Yet.
Scorpio turned to Quintaro. “All right—we’re all ears. What exactly are you here about?”
“I want to hire your services,” said Quintaro.
“Which particular services?”
“Whatever’s required. I’ll be honest. I expect to run into some danger in the pursuit of my goal, and I’m told you’re the deadliest man on Venus, now that Cemetery Smith has moved to Titan.”
“Suppose you tell me what goal you’re in pursuit of?” said Scorpio.
Quintaro leaned forward. “Have you ever heard of the Godstone of Venus?”
Scorpio shook his head. “What is it—some kind of gem, or a carving, or what?”
“I don’t know,” answered Quintaro.
Scorpio frowned. “Then what do you want it for?”
“It’s supposed to imbue its possessor with certain mystical powers.”
“You’ve been reading too many bad adventure stories, Mr. Quintaro,” said Scorpio.
“It exists!” insisted Quintaro. “Even if it’s just a stone with no mystical powers, it’s worth a king’s ransom. Men and Venusians have been searching for it for eons.” Suddenly a sly smile crossed his face. “But I’ve got something they didn’t have.”
“Let me guess,” said Scorpio in bored tones. “An ancient treasure map?”
“Even better,” said Quintaro, pointing at Sapphire. “I’ve got her!”
Scorpio turned to look at Sapphire, who hadn’t said a word since commenting on her drink. “What do you think you know?” he asked.
“It was my race that created the Godstone,” she said, “and my race that hid it.”
“What makes you think you can find it no matter who created and hid it?” demanded Scorpio.
“My race is not like yours,” she said. “We are born with a racial memory, back to the very first member of our species that crawled up out of the sea, breathed air, and developed limbs.”
“If every member of your race knows where it is, what makes you think one of them hasn’t found it already?”
“I would know if they had,” said Sapphire.
“Anyway,” said Quintaro, “it’s not necessary that you believe in the stone. Just believe in the money.” He paused. “You just have to lead us to where she knows it is, and I’ll offer you thirty thousand credits for the job, in any currency that’s accepted in the system—half now and half when we find it … or when we reach the location and it’s not there.”
“Thirty thousand buys us for one month maximum,” replied Scorpio.
“It’s a deal.”
We don’t want any part of this, said Merlin wordlessly.
Why not?
He doesn’t have the slightest idea what he’s after. She put him up to this, and that description, vague as it was, of a godstone was planted in his mind by her. I was born on Venus, and I’ve never heard of it. As for him, he plans to kill us and take back the down payment when we reach our destination.
Then read her mind and see if the damned thing really exists.
I can’t.
Scorpio frowned. You never came across a sentient being of any race where you couldn’t read their minds, or at least their emotions.
This one’s different came Merlin’s answer. She looks human, but she’s not—not human, and not a mutation as far as I can tell.
Is she Venusian?
I don’t know.
What do you know about her?
Nothing—and that scares me.
I’ve never seen you afraid of anything before. Now you’re scaring me.
“Well, Scorpion?” said Quintaro.
We need the money, thought Scorpio. And we’ll be on our guard.
What the hell—the breeding season’s ending.
I take that as an agreement.
Yeah, thought Merlin. This really isn’t much of a world once the females are out of heat.
I’m sure they share that conviction.
“All right, Mr. Quintaro,” said Scorpio. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“I assume you paused because you were consulting with your partner?”
Assuage his fears, thought Merlin.
“Yeah.” Scorpio blinked his eyes rapidly and shook his head. “Whenever he’s reading my mind,” he lied, “I feel a kind of buzzing inside my head and I go blank for a moment.”
Quintaro, convinced that his plans and motives remained unknown, relaxed noticeably.
“We’ll start in the morning,” he announced. “I’ve got the transportation we’ll need.”
“Where are you staying?” asked Scorpio.
“We thought we’d spend the night here.”
Scorpio turned to McAnany. “Got a spare room?”
“Got five of ’em,” answered the bartender.
“Well, now you have four,” said Scorpio. He turned back to Quintaro. “Where’s your vehicle?”
“Down the trail a bit,” he answered, gesturing toward the door.