Heller got a pan but it wasn't needed. He dampened a cloth and put it on my forehead. But I didn't pay much attention. I was desperate. I could not go on being sick like this. I'd not just be sick if I didn't run this mission. I'd be dead!
I lay there. Heller had gone back to the textbook. I made myself think calmly and rationally. When had this illness begun?
With careful concentration I thought it over. It had started when I went into Crobe's area. There was something totally poisonous about Crobe!
Yes, each time I concentrated on him, I felt sick!
Ha! It was obvious! I must never go near Crobe again! Never, never, never!
Abruptly, I was totally well! One instant I was feeling horrible. The next instant I was feeling great! There was not the tiniest suggestion of pain or nausea!
I sat up in happy relief.
"Feeling better?" said Heller. I nodded vigorously.
"Well, sometimes these things pass away pretty quick. After all, you're young and healthy. Some fast bug, no doubt. I'm glad you're better." I got up, washed my face again and put on my new uniform. I stuffed my telltale papers in my pockets and rearmed myself.
Life looked absolutely wonderful!
Chapter 5
But as the priests of Voltar say, "Never get too fond of happiness or the Gods will take it away." And so it was that evening.
Heller pottered about, neating things up, cleaning things, polishing up the table, straightening up the room. I ignored his spacer passion for bright, good order. I didn't even mind the echo orchestra he had playing on the Homeview. I occupied my time neating up my pocket papers.
There was a knock on the door and I opened it. Two of the guardsmen were standing there with a big box on a low, wheeler dolly. "For you," said one.
It was an awfully big box. I couldn't remember ordering anything of the sort. "For me?"
"For you all right," said the guardsmen. "See?" It was too dark in the passageway to read the label so they pushed it on into the room and closed the door behind them.
Sure enough, a big sign on top of the box read, URGENT. OFFICER GRIS ONLY!
The solemnity of their expressions, the way Heller was watching, should have alerted me. But I had been feeling too good.
I put out my hand, grasped the handle on top and opened the lid. What I expected to see I don't know. But what I did see was pure horror!
The head of a zitab! The wide-open, gaping fangs of the most venomous reptile on Voltar! A murder plot!
The lid flopped open!
I went backwards from that box as though catapulted!
I literally sailed through the air. I hit into the shower compartment! My scrambling hands pulled the curtain down! The perched lotion and soap bottles fell and hit my head in a cannonade! I was still trying to go backwards through the wall!
The zitab rose, in the air, all five lethal feet of him! I felt that in the next second it was going to strike straight through the air and clear across the room. How was it suddenly stationary in midair?
And then, oh, my Gods, even worse, the Countess Krak, dressed in flaming red, stood up out of that box!
They all went into shrieks of laughter! The guards, Heller and the Countess Krak, that is!
She was holding that zitab just behind its head with one hand. She had held it under the lid and lifted it up as though to strike. But right now, with her other hand, she was holding her stomach she was laughing so hard!
And they went right on laughing. They doubled up. A guard collapsed on the floor, absolutely dying with guffaws! Heller was laughing so hard he had to support himself on the back of a chair and tears were rolling out of his eyes.
It felt like it went on for ten minutes at least!
I wasn't taking it very well. Oh, my Gods! A fortress prisoner up here in the upper works, totally out of bounds: somebody could be shot! It was a terribly dangerous game they were playing. And they were laughing!
After a bit, I looked at the zitab she was holding. For a moment I had supposed it must be stuffed. And then I got another shock: it was writhing about! It didn't even have its fangs drawn! One bite and you're dead. And there she was reeling around in laughter!
Gradually the din died down. The Countess Krak stepped out. She turned the zitab's head to face her and pointed a finger at its nose. It closed its mouth. She put it down in the bottom of the box and wagged a finger at it with a "you be good now" gesture. She closed the lid.
They had stopped laughing now and Heller went over and they held hands, just standing, looking at each other.
The guards got their breath back and with a cheery wave at Heller, wheeled the big box out into the passage and closed the door.
I was still lying in the wreckage of the shower and I made a noise trying to get up. It somehow attracted Heller's attention and he reluctantly disengaged his hands and came over to me.
"That was sort of rough on you, Soltan. But you'll have to admit, it was an awfully good joke." He helped me to my feet and then straightened the shower disarray.
I didn't admit it was a good joke. These stupid idiots were playing with bombs to bring her up here.
"So this is where you live?" said the Countess Krak. "I often wondered what else was in the top of the castle." She went around touching some things. "Except for Hisst's parades, I haven't been out of those dungeons in three years! But no window." She seemed puzzled for a moment, then, "This is Soltan's room, isn't it?" I wondered how she knew: Heller had cleaned it up.
Heller went over and got some soft music on the Homeview. Then he bustled back, the good host, and sat her down at the table. He opened the cupboard and I saw with amazement that it was stuffed with nice drinkables and edibles. He put a canister of pink sparklewater before her like she was Royalty and then, as an afterthought, tossed down two more at the other table places. He got out four varieties of sweetcake and heaped up a plate for her. He sat down beside her. Then as a distinct afterthought he waved at the chair on the other side of the table. "Draw up, Soltan. Don't be bashful." But he had turned back to her before he finished speaking.
They just sat and looked at each other, pleased so hard they glowed!
I sat on my chair and sipped cautiously at the pink sparklewater. It is pretty expensive; it has a lot of minerals and protein in it and its bubbles jump up about six inches above the canister top and make tiny, glowing explosions. Because it instantly assimilates, one can get a trifle high on it.
Without looking at me, Heller pushed some sweet-cake my way. They were just gazing at each other, eyes happy, smiling. The soft music played. They didn't eat or drink. They just sat there, so pleased to be sitting there, so fed with each other's company that they didn't even touch their food or drink.
After a long time, Heller reached over and put a piece of sweetcake in her mouth and then lifted his canister to her lips. She gave him a drink from hers.
I sure was extra, unnecessary company here!
Finally they got around to eating their supper but I knew that, under the table, their feet were tangled up.
When they had finished the meal, Heller finally sat back. At length, he said, "Oh, yes. There was something I wanted to show you." He reached over to a side table and picked up a pack of race-recognition practice cards he had evidently brought from the library. They have faces on the front and the correct names are on the back.
He showed her a card. "Who does this look like?" he asked.
I could see the back. It said, Girl, English Blito-P3 (Earth, Europe).
She looked very interested. But I felt she would have been interested in anything he showed her, even had it been a blank sheet of paper.
She said, "That looks like a farm girl from the highlands of Atalanta province, Manco. My people come from that area, you know. They had some estates there a few hundred years ago – until they lost them, that is."