Security?" "Why?" Manning asked. "It's harmless enough. That mouth is the only surface organ it has and it doesn't consume anything but air. You Regulusians drive surface-cars—you must have places where you can put air in your tires." "Of course, but—" "That's it, then," Manning said. "We'll take it down and attach it to an air hose. When it's had enough air, it'll float away and we'll never see it again." "But if Dtilla did this thing, shouldn't he be arrested?" "On what charge?" "Attempted murder. You said yourself that he must have done this." "I'm sure he did," Manning said, "but we wouldn't have a chance of proving it. The most we could prove is that he was careless in letting his pet get away. Since this is the sort of pet every Acruxian has, we couldn't prove that he brought it to Regulus for a sinister purpose. Even though a Federation court would lean on our side, Dtilla could just laugh us off. And it would be a big mistake." "How?" "Since we couldn't prove anything, having him arrested would do nothing except give Acrux an excuse for declaring war against the Federation. If we handed Dtilla to the Federation, they'd drop him like a hot rocket." "But why?" persisted Xelia. "Surely the Federation could win any war with Acrux and her satellites." "Maybe," Manning said. "But I think the government is afraid that there might not be any Federation. You yourself have spoken about how the Achernarians feel about Regulusians. Well, you can multiply that over and over. Capellans hate the Polluxians, the Procyonese hate the Arcturusians, Vegans hate the Achernarians—and there are groups on Terra who hate everyone except themselves. All of this could make some little clambake.... Well, let's take bouncing-boy here downstairs for his airing." V Manning Draco was up early the following morning. After breakfast in his room, he went to the lobby and arranged to hire a car and driver. He knew that Xelia would have taken him anywhere he wanted to go, but he had at least one visit to make which would be more successful if he were alone. When the rented car arrived, he directed the driver to take him to the
Prev.
Back
Top