Tyli grinned, released the pedal, and pushed forward the hand throttle. The cat moved forward and she pulled back on the left brake, pushed the throttle full forward, and came riding down upon Duckfoot at full speed. As she reached the Boss Canvasman's side, she killed the throttle, pulled the left brake hard, then pulled both brakes as the cat swung in front of Duckfoot, bringing the machine to a jerking halt. Duckfoot looked down at his feet. The heavy cleated tread of the cat was a centimeter from the ends of his toes. He looked back at the girl. "It's about time." He cocked his head at one of the empty spool wagons. "The roughnecks over there'll hook you up. Get it out of here." He pointed at a spool wagon being pulled away by the other tractor, "Follow Cheesy to the wagon park." Tyli nodded, pushed the cat into reverse, and backed up to the spool wagon.
"Who is the kid on the cat?"
Duckfoot pulled a bandanna from his hip pocket and wiped his forehead as he turned to face the Governor. "Did you see that? The punk almost ran me down."
The Governor nodded. "How old is he?"
"He is a she, and she's thirteen."
O'Hara shook his head. "Too bad. She's awfully good with that cat. But, on this planet, she's too young."
Duckfoot rubbed his chin. "You know, she fixed that cat before she started it. I put her on the one that broke down just to get her out of my hair. She fixed that thing just like that."
O'Hara frowned, thought a moment, then shook his head. "This is one planet where I don't want to tangle with the coppers. A few years ago this used to be a penal colony. They had a revolution and kicked out the eighteen-planet council that ran the place. Since then they've developed their agriculture to where they supply products to a quarter of the Quadrant, but they also established their own police. A mean bunch."
The Boss Canvasman shrugged, then thrust his hands into his pockets. "So nobody runs away and joins the circus on Doldra."
"Not unless they're eighteen, they don't." The Governor turned and headed for the office wagon. Duckfoot watched as the girl's tractor pulled off the spool wagon, then he shook his head and checked the running out of the sections of the main top.
TEN
The station officer at the Coppertown Police Office looked up at the visitor. The clean hands and natty threads marked the fellow as from off planet. "What's your business?"
"My name is Tensil, Officer...?"
"Lieutenant Sarrat."
The visitor smiled. "Lieutenant Sarrat. I'm here to talk to you about the circus visiting your fair city."
The station officer shrugged his massive shoulders. "What about it?"
The man motioned toward a chair. "May I sit down?"
Sarrat nodded. "What about it? And, what's your name?"
The man lowered himself into the chair. "Pardon me. Lieutenant. My name is Franklin Tensil. I am here representing the Arnheim & Boon Circus."
Sarrat cocked his head to one side. "The name of the outfit here in Coppertown is O'Hara's Greater Shows."
Tensil nodded and grinned. "Of course, of course. Well, I am certain you understand how one circus's reputation affects every other show..."
"Get on with it Tinsel."
"Tensil. Ten-sill." The man smiled. "You may not know that O'Hara's uses child labor to erect its tent."
Sarrat shrugged. "Everyone on Doldra uses child labor. After the revolution there weren't enough adults. The population on Doldra is very small, Tinsel."
The man let the pronunciation pass. "Yes, but what would happen if some of those children decided to join O'Hara's?"
"This isn't a prison, Tinsel. So what?"
Tensil shrugged. "Well, when the show leaves Doldra, it'll bring the kids with it—"
"No! No one under the age of eighteen leaves Doldra."
Tensil smiled. "Nevertheless, I'm certain that a few will try it. If you would check out the show, and—"
"Get to the point."
Tensil nodded. "I see Doldra has a more sophisticated police authority than the usual run of rural planet. No doubt it has something to do with your past experience with the law." Tensil rubbed his chin, then reached into his coat and withdrew a wallet. "Lieutenant Sarrat, I am authorized to offer you a certain sum of money in exchange for certain services."
"How much?"
"Direct and to the point. I like that. I won't haggle over quarters and halves. My authority extends to an offer of five hundred thousand credits."
Sarrat raised his eyebrows. "I see. And what must I do to earn this ransom?"
Tensil leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. "The show in Coppertown. It must be crippled, once and for all. The laws on Doldra are strict, and the penalties severe. Find the laws that O'Hara is breaking, then..."
"Throw the proverbial book at them."
Tensil grinned. "Exactly." Tensil reached out his hand. "Is it a deal?"
Sarrat stood, leaned over his desk, extended his hand, and slapped Tensil across the face, bowling him into another desk. At the sound, another officer entered the room. Sarrat pointed at Tensil. "Shackle him."
The officer pulled Tensil upright, whirled him around, then enclosed his wrists in chains and cuffs. When the officer was finished, he pushed Tensil until the man stood shaking in front of Sarrat's desk. "Lieutenant, I... I don't understand!"
"Mr. Tensil, I shall now give you a lesson in the treatment and prevention of crime. We have very little of it on Doldra for two reasons: the certainty of punishment, and its horror. Because of our past experience with the law, as you put it, we both understand the need for it to maintain an orderly, peaceful society, and why the enforcers of the law must be incorruptible. There are no crooked cops on Doldra, and bribery is a severe offense. We have three punishments in our system: restitution, torture, and death. The punishment for bribery is torture, the length of the ordeal to be determined by the size of the bribe." Sarrat grinned. "It is unfortunate that your employers are so generous."
"Sarrat, you can't—"
"Book him." The officer dragged the screaming Tensil from the room. Lieutenant Sarrat pressed a button on his desk, and in a moment another officer came into the room. "Marchon."
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
Sarrat pursed his lips and frowned. "This circus at the edge of town. I think we ought to check it out. There may be some violations of the child-exportation statutes."
Tyli, her eyes still dazzled, her ears still ringing, walked from the customers' entrance of the main top at the conclusion of the afternoon show. Emile pulled at her arm. "Come on, Tyli. We better be going back."
She frowned and turned to look at her friend. "What? I wasn't listening."
"We have to go back. All the kids are heading home."
She sighed. "I guess so. But wasn't that something?" She looked back at the main top. "Wasn't that something?"
"Tyli!" At the sound of her Uncle Chaine's voice, Tyli froze. She saw him emerging from the entrance, his face bright red and twisted in anger. As he approached her, he raised his hand to strike her.
"This time, Uncle, you better kill me. If you don't, I'll kill you."
Her voice was cold and steady. Chaine's hand trembled for a moment, then he lowered it to his side as a fist. "You ungrateful whelp! Running off without doing your chores, and after Diva and I took you in, cared for you, fed you, put clothes on your back—"