Of all the nerve! You give me good advice and then you chicken out. Dammit, who needs you anyway?
He pressed. Time speeded up a little, and he heard the sound of liquid pouring.
Who the hell needs anybody! Damn upstart Culla. Snobby Bubbacub and his fish-cold human consort. Even crazy Fagin… dragging me away from Earth to this stupid place.
He bent over and pulled the liquitube out of its slot It looked delicious…
Time speeded up now, almost back to normal. He already felt better, as if a great pressure was relieved. Antagonisms and hallucinations seemed to fade away. He smiled at Helene deSilva as she approached. Then he turned to smile at Culla.
Later, he thought, I’ll’ apologize for being rude. He raised the tube in a toast.
“… been hovering around out there, just at the edge of detection.” deSilva was saying. “We’re ready whenever it is so maybe you’d better…”
“Shtop, Jacob!” Culla shouted.
DeSilva cried out and leaped forward to grab his hand. Culla joined in, adding his own slight strength to pull the tube away from his lips.
Spoilsports, he thought amiably. Show a puny alien and a ninety-year old woman what a mal can do.
He pulled them off one by one, but they kept attacking. The Commandant even tried some nasty disabling shots but he parried them and brought the drink to his face slowly, triumphantly.
A wall broke and the sense of smell he hadn’t known he’d lost returned like a steamroller. He coughed once and looked down at the vile concoction in his hand.
It steamed brown and poisonous with lumps and bubbles. He threw it away. Everyone was looking at him. Culla chattered from the floor where he’d been thrown. DeSilva stood up warily. The other humans were gathering around.
He could hear Fagin’s concerned whistle coming from somewhere. Where is Fagin, he thought as he stumbled forward. He made it three steps and then collapsed onto the deck in front of Bubbacub.
He came around slowly. It was difficult because his forehead was so tight. The skin felt stretched like the leather on a drum. But it wasn’t dry like leather. It kept getting wet, first with perspiration and then with something else, something cool.
He groaned and brought his hand up. It touched skin, someone else’s hand, warm and soft. Female, he could tell by the smell.
Jacob opened his eyes. Dr. Martine sat nearby; with a washcloth in her brown hand. She smiled and bought out a liquitube to hold to his lips.
For a moment he started, then he bent forward to take a sip. It was lemonade, and it tasted wonderful.
He finished it off while he looked around himself. The couches scattered on the deck were filled with recumbent figures.
He looked up. The sky was almost black!
“We’re on our way back,” Martine said.
“How…” he could feel his larynx hum from disuse. “How long have I been under?”
“About twelve hours.”
“Was I sedated?”
She nodded. The Perpetual Professional Smile was back. But it didn’t seem so put-on now. He brought a hand to his forehead. It still hurt.
“Then I guess I didn’t dream it. What was it I tried to drink yesterday?”
“It was an ammonia compound that we brought along for Bubbacub. It probably wouldn’t have killed you. But it would have hurt, a lot.
“Can you tell me why you did it?”
Jacob allowed his head to settle back against the cushion. “Well… it seemed like a pretty good idea at the time.”
He shook his head. “Seriously, I guess something went wrong with me. But I’ll be damned if I know what it was.”
“I should have known something was wrong when you started saying strange things about murders and conspiracies,” she nodded. “It’s partly my fault for not recognizing the signs. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I think it’s just a case of orientation shock. A Sunship dive can be an awful disorienting experience, in so many ways!”
He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
“Well, you’re right about that last part for sure. But it just occurred to me that some people are probably thinking I was influenced.’1
Martine started, as if surprised to find him so alert so soon.
“Yes,” she said. “In fact Commandant deSilva thought it was the Ghost’s work. She said they were probably demonstrating their psi powers to prove their point. She even started talking about shooting back. The theory has merits but I prefer my own.”
“That I went crazy?”
“Oh no, not at all! Just disoriented and confused! Culla said you were behaving… abnormally in the minutes before your… accident. That, plus my own observations…”
“Yes,” Jacob nodded. “I owe Culla a real apology… Ohmigosh! He wasn’t hurt, was he? Or Helene?” He started to rise.
Martine pushed him back. “No, no, everyone is okay. Don’t worry. I’m sure the only concern anyone had was for your welfare.”
Jacob dropped back. He looked down at the empty liquitube. “May I have another?”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.”
Martine left him alone. He could hear her soft footsteps move toward the refreshment center… the place where the “accident” occurred. He winced as he thought about it. He felt shame mixed with disgust. But most of all there was the burning question, WHY?
Somewhere behind him two people spoke softly. Dr. Martine must have met somebody at the R.C.
Jacob knew that sooner or later he would have to make a dive that made Sundiver seem tame. That trance would be a lulu, but it would have to be taken if the truth was to come out. The only question was when? Now, when it might split his mind wide open?
Or back on Earth, in the presence of therapists at the Center, but where the answers might do him, Sundiver and his job no good at all?
Martine came back. She dropped down beside him and offered full liquitube. Helene deSilva was with her. The Commandant sat next to the parapsychologist.
He spent several minutes assuring her that he was all right. She brushed his apologies aside.
“I had no idea you were so good at U.C., Jacob,” she said.
“U.C.?”
“Unarmed combat. I’m pretty good, though I’m rusty I admit. But you’re better. We found out in the surest way, a fight between parties each anxious to disable the other without pain or harm. It’s awful hard to do but you’re an expert.”
He never would have thought it possible to blush at that sort of compliment, but Jacob could feel himself redden.
“Thanks. It’s hard to remember but it seems-you were pretty tricky, too.”
They looked at each other in complete understanding and grinned.
Martine looked from one to the other. She cleared her throat “I don’t think Mr. Demwa should spend too much time talking. A shock like that calls for plenty of rest.”
“I just want to know a few things, Doctor, then I’ll cooperate. First of all, where’s Fagin? I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Kant Fagin is on flip-side,” deSilva said. “He’s taking nourishment.”
“He was very concerned about you. I’m sure he’ll be glad to know you’re okay,” Martine said.
Jacob relaxed. For some reason he had been worried about Fagin’s safety.
“Now tell me what happened after I passed out.”
Martine and deSilva shared a glance. Then deSilva shrugged.
“We had another visitation,” she said. “It took quite a while. For several hours the Solarian just fluttered around at the edge of visibility. We’d left the toroid herd far behind and with it all of its fellows.
“It’s a good thing It waited though. We were in an uproar for a while because of, well…”
“Because of my attention-grabbing performance,” Jacob sighed. “But did anyone try to make contact while it flittered out there?”