He turned abruptly toward the dining room, and was face to face with Matt.
Matt said, "What are you grinning at?"
The crew batted an eyelash; he was discomposed for just that long. Speaking low, he asked, "Are you one of the Sons of Earth?"
Matt shook his head.
Consternation! And why that reaction? Matt held up a hand. "Don't do anything rash," he said. He'd wrapped a handcuff chain around that hand to make it a better weapon. The old man settled back on his heels. Three of him would have been no physical match for Matt.
"I'm going to search you," said Matt. "Raise your hands." He moved behind the old man and ran his hands over various pockets. He found some bulky objects, but no handphone.
He stood back, considering. He had never searched anyone; there might be tricks a man could use to fool him.
"What do you want with the Sons of Earth?"
"I'll tell them when I see them." The baritone lilt was not hard to understand, though Matt could never have imitated it.
"That won't do."
"Something very important has happened." The old man seemed to make a difficult decision. "I want to tell them about the ramrobot package."
"All right. Go ahead of me. That way."
They moved toward the dining room with Matt trailing.
Matt was about to yell when the door suddenly opened. Lydia Hancock had her nose and a sonic showing around the edge. It took her a second to realize that the man in the lead was not Matt, and then she fired.
Matt caught the old man as he fell. "Stupid," he said. "He wanted to talk to you."
"He can talk to us when he wakes up," said Lydia.
Harry Kane emerged warily, holding the other stolen sonic ready in his hand. "Any others?"
"Just him. He had a police escort but they left. Better search him; there might be a radio on him somewhere."
"Mist Demons! It's Millard Parlette!"
"Oh!" Matt knew the name, but he hadn't recognized the man. "I think he really wanted to see you. When he realized someone was here, he acted sneaky. He didn't panic until I told him I wasn't one of you. He said he wanted to talk about the ramrobot."
Harry Kane grunted. "He won't wake up for hours. Lydia, you're on guard duty. I'm going for a shower; I'll relieve you when I come down."
He went upstairs. Lydia and Hood picked up Millard Parlette, moved him into the front entrance; and sat him up against a wall. The old man had gone loose, like, a puppet without strings.
"A shower sounds wonderful," said Laney.
Matt said, "May I talk to you first? Hood too."
They got Jay Hood and went into the living room. Hood and Laney flopped in front of the fire, but Matt was, too restless to sit. "Hood, I've got to know. What makes you think I've been using my psi power to drive away women?"
"You'll recall it was Laney's idea first. But the evidence seems good. Do you doubt that Polly left because you contracted her irises?"
Of course he doubted it. But he couldn't back it up. He looked at Laney, waiting.
"It's important, isn't it, Matt?"
"Yah."
"You remember, just before the raid, when you asked me if everyone was as nervous as you were?"
"Mmm ... Yah, I remember. You said, 'Not that nervous, but still nervous.'
"What are you two talking about?"
"Jay, do you remember your first-mmm. Do you remember when you stopped being a virgin?"
Hood threw back his head and laughed. "What a question, Laney! Nobody ever forgets the first time! It was--'
"Right. Were you nervous?"
Hood sobered. "At one point, I was. There was so much I didn't know. I was afraid I'd make a fool of myself."
Laney nodded. "I'll bet everyone's nervous the first time. Including you, Matt. You suddenly realize, This Is It, and you get all tensed up. Then your girl's eyes go funny."
Matt said a bad word. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to hear. "But what about us? Laney, why didn't I defend myself against you?"
"I don't know."
Hood snapped, "What difference does it make? Whatever you've got, you're not going to use it."
"I have to know!"
Hood shrugged and went to stand before the fire.
"You were pretty sloshed," said Laney. "Could that have had anything to do with it?"
"Maybe.
She couldn't have known why it was important, but she was trying to help. "Maybe its because I'm older than you. Maybe you decided I knew what I was doing."
"I didn't decide anything. I was too drunk. And too bitter."
She turned restlessly, her wrinkled party dress swirling out around her. She stopped. "Matt! I remember! It was pitch dark in there!"
Matt closed his eyes. Why, so it was. He'd stumbled unseeing across the bed; he'd had to turn on a light to see Laney at all. "That's it. I didn't even realize what was going on until the door was closed. Oookay," he sighed, letting all his breath rush out with the word, leaving him an empty man.
Hood said, "That's great. Are you finished with us?"
"Yah."
Hood left without looking back. Laney, on the verge of leaving, hesitated. Matt looked half dead, as if every erg of energy had been drained out of him.
She touched his arm. "What's wrong, Matt?"
"I drove her away! It wasn't her fault!"
"Polly?" She grinned into his eyes. "Why let it bother you? You got me the same night!"
"Oh, Laney, Laney. She could be in the organ banks! She could be in the coffin cure, whatever the hell that is."
"It's not your fault. If you'd found her in the vivarium--,
"Is it my fault that I was glad? She dropped me like a sick housecleaner, and an hour later Implementation took her away! And when I found out, I was glad! I had revenge!" His hands were on her upper arms, squeezing, almost hard enough to hurt.
"It wasn't your fault," she repeated. "You'd have saved her if you could."
"Sure." But he wasn't hearing her. He let go of her arms. "I've got to go after her," he muttered, saying the words aloud, trying the taste of them. "Yah. I've got to go after her."
He turned and made for the entrance.
CHAPTER 9
THE WAY BACK
"COME BACK here, you idiot!"
Matt stopped halfway to the door. "Huh? Isn't this what you all want?"
"Come back here! How are you going to get over the wall? You can't pound on the gate again!"
Matt turned back. He felt feverish, unable to think. "Castro'd be ready for that, wouldn't he? He may not know what happened last night, but he must know something's wrong."
"We tried hard enough to tell him! Come here, sit down... Don't underestimate that man, Matt. We've got to think this through."
"That wall. How am I going to get over? Oh, damn, damn."
"You're tired. Why not wait till Harry comes down? Then we can get things organized."
"Oh, no. I'm not taking help from the Sons of Earth. This has nothing to do with them."
"How about me? Will you take my help?"