Ray stopped in the middle of unclipping an instrument from his belt. “You didn’t!”
“She did,” Christine affirmed. “I was there. The cat climbed on top of the porcelain cabinet and wouldn’t come down for days.”
“Well,” Gina pointed out, “it was your idea to make them carry matches like a torch relay race.”
Ray tore his attention away and shuddered. “And to think I’ve regretted not having children,” he muttered, and set the square featureless box over the keypad. “With my luck and genes, they’d probably be brilliant and depraved, like this bunch.”
The little box beeped contentedly as it achieved electronic communion with the hostel’s system. In a few seconds, he was tapping in a code and the door swished open.
The girls glanced at one another and relaxed. He was smaller than they’d thought, and skinnier. They both thought they could take him with one hand tied behind their backs.
“I’ve got something I guess I should show you,” he said.
“Like… a gun, maybe?” Christine asked. “Or a knife?”
Ray rolled his eyes and began unzipping his coverall. “Of course not,” he said impatiently.
“I guess it’s the other thing that strange guys always say they’ve got to show you,” Gina muttered. “Now I’m definitely calling security.”
“Wait,” Ray said and reached for her wrist.
Before he knew what was happening, Christine gripped his wrist, half-turning it with a thumb pressed down on the sensitive spot above his thumb.
“Wait—”
Gina grabbed the other hand in an identical grip. “We tied for second place in self-defense class,” she said. “Hey, this really works!” she went on, as he sank to his knees and made a choked sound.
The girls quickly stuffed a roll of spare socks into Ray’s mouth. “Does this count as an Adventure in Outer Space?” To Ray: “No, don’t try to get up. You could hurt yourself pushing against the joint like that.”
“Urruruk!” Ray agreed.
“I don’t know,” Christine said seriously. “I mean, it could have happened on a trip to, oh, Marseilles, just as easily. Have you got something we could tie him up with?”
“Tights?” Gina suggested with a shrug. “I’ve got plenty of extras. I really don’t like that pair with the spangles now, anyway.
“I guess if we pull them tight enough,” Christine said skeptically. “We can’t leave enough stretch for him to work loose.”
In less than a minute, Ray was trussed at ankles and wrists. The two girls each held an extra pair of tights and discussed whether they should tie his wrists to his ankles.
“Arrgh! Pffffthtt!” The roll of socks, somewhat damp, spat across the room. “Wait a minute,” Ray said in a hoarse exasperation. “This has gone far enough. I am not dangerous!”
“Well, you aren’t now,” Gina said. “Ms. Kourosoppolu always said to immobilize a potential danger first. Then figure out what else to do.”
“I do not have any kind of a weapon on me. I have no intention of threatening or hurting you or anybody else! Where did you get these crazy ideas?”
“From you,” Gina said offhandedly.
“All I want to show you is a file I have tucked into the top of my coverall.” He rolled onto his side and the girls could just see the tip of the paper folder leaning out from his open zipper.
“What the heck is it?” Gina asked.
Christine reached down and very cautiously slid it out and opened it.
“It looks just like that plaque they put on the Voyager spacecraft,” she said, looking at what was inside.
“Yeah,” Gina agreed, “but…”
“Different,” Ray finished for her, “Very different, if you check it against the original from Earth.”
The girls looked at one another and then at him. Christine whistled. “You know, Gina, I think maybe this does qualify as an Adventure in Outer Space. Cool!”
“Yeah, if it’s not a fake. Where did it come from?” Gina demanded.
“The data stream came from the direction of Epsilon—”
“That’s over seven light-years away.”
“I seriously doubt Voyager could have gotten that far,” Christine sneered.
“Exactly,” Ray said smugly. “But without a doubt, that’s how far away the closest star in that direction lies, and the figures prove that the signal came from a vast distance. It’s not one of my fellow scientists jerking me around. That was the first thing I checked.” He looked up at them. “Do you realize what this means?”
Gina’s face began to turn pink. “It means I misunderstood what I heard,” she muttered. “I’m very sorry.”
“Sorry enough to untie me?” he asked, somewhat sharply.
Just as the girls bent to untie him, the door opened. Ms. Tosca entered, saying, “I’ve changed my mind, girls…”
She stopped cold and stared. Behind her, Lereesa and the boys took in the very peculiar scene.
“This is the guy I overheard this afternoon,” Gina said quickly. “But he’s explained everything. I was totally mistaken.”
“Mistaken to the point of tying him up?” Ms. Tosca asked weakly.
“Yes,” Ray said cheerfully. “But it’s all cleared up now.”
“Not exactly,” Lereesa frowned. “How did you get in here?”
Ray grinned sheepishly. “I figured out the lock code.”
“Oh, you did, did you?” Lereesa said grimly. “I think we’d better call security,” she told Ms. Tosca.
“NO!” the two girls and the scientist shouted.
Ms. Tosca pressed her hand to her forehead. “Maybe we should allow them to explain,” she suggested.
“Could I be untied first?” Ray asked plaintively. “I can’t feel my hands anymore. They got all of the stretch out of these tights. Ms. Kourosoppolu would be very proud.”
“Isn’t this a bit unethical?” Ms. Tosca asked when the explanations were done. “I mean, shouldn’t you tell your support group first?”
“I and my colleagues have spent everything we have on this project,” Ray said. “If I tell them first, we’ll lose a chance at ten million credits, and we need those credits to keep going. I think it would be more unethical to blow this chance, and I’m convinced my colleagues would agree.”
“Um, but you’ve already blown it,” Russell said. “You’ve told us, and your friend earlier today.”
Ray’s shoulders drooped. “You’re right,” he said. He buried his face in his hands. “You’re right.”
“Not to mention station security is probably looking for you,” Lereesa said. “If you attempt to make a call to Earth, they’d probably block it and find you in seconds.”
Ray lowered his hands, there were actual tears in his eyes. “For all I know, it was a scam anyway,” he said, his voice choked.
“That’s right,” Gina said, patting his shoulder consolingly. “Lloyd Witham is a pornographer, after all.”
“Wait a minute,” Greg said. “There’s no reason he has to know that we’ve been told. I mean, I won’t tell anybody; what about you guys?”
They looked at one another. “Sure,” Russell said, “I don’t mind. Ray did some major work on this. He deserves to get some of the credit. Not to mention the ten million. Hey, man, what you going to spend it on?”
“A Foundation,” Ray said. “We need an independent agency to communicate with—”
“There’s still the problem of getting a message past station security,” Lereesa pointed out, shifting slightly in her seat, visibly uncomfortable at the rising enthusiasm.
“And we still don’t know if this guy would pony up once you do show him proof,” Christine said. “I mean, Gina’s right. He is a sleazebag.”