The Five Gold Bands

V

They rose from the field into the glare of the eight suns strewn around the sky at various distances.

'Watch the field,' said the girl, 'through the telescope.'

Paddy watched. 'There's a couple boats taking off.'

'Spies.' She crouched in the bucket seat, aimed the boat's nose at one of the spots of black space showing between the jostle of the suns, planets, planetoids. 'Here we go.'

Paddy jerked forward. 'Hey-that's dangerous, woman! There's lots of stuff out there!'

He quieted because already the Thieves' Cluster was far behind. For a second, two seconds, they flew-then she cut off the power. A relay clicked, the space-drive bar snapped back. Thieves' Cluster was a lambent blot astern.

She turned the nose another direction, repeated the maneuver. Thieves' Cluster was a bright spot. Once again, off at an odd angle-off with the drive and they were coasting out in inter-star isolation.

The girl left the controls, went to the communicator. Paddy watched her suspiciously. 'And now what might you be doing?'

'I'm calling the Agency-on coded space-wave.' She snapped a switch, tuned down a piercing whistle that rang through the room. She set five dials, and now a voice said: 'EA…EA…EA…

The girl spoke into the mesh. 'Fay Bursill, 59206… Fay Bursill, 59206.'

A minute passed, the voice changed. 'Go ahead, Fay.'

'I've got Paddy Blackthorn here in the boat.'

'Good work, Fay!' There was exultation in the voice. 'Where are you?'

'Oh-roughly Aries 3500 or 4000. Shall I come home?'

'Lord no, keep away. There's a net of ships around the system almost nose to nose and they're searching every hull that comes near. You'd never make it. But here's what you can do. Have Paddy-'

The voice changed to an ululating howl that jarred their teeth, clawed at their inner ears. 'Turn him off!' yelled Paddy. 'He's talking nonsense!'

Fay flung the switch. The silence was like salve.

'Jammed,' said Fay grimly. 'They're on the frequency.'

Paddy blinked dubiously. 'Did they hear what you said?'

She shook her head. 'I don't see how they could. The code is changed every week. And it's easy to jam the message.'

Paddy said, 'We'd better get out of here fast. They might have us spotted.'

Fay threw on the power. She sat silently, face intent, mouth curved down at the comers. Serious creature, thought Paddy. Odd, fey-that was her name, Fay. Paddy decided it suited her.

She said frowning, 'There's no place for us to go now. They'll be watching every port.'

'If we could only have ducked out of Eleanor without being caught at it,' muttered Paddy. 'Then they wouldn't have known where I was.'

'Unless they caught the doctor. And in any event they wouldn't be taking any chances.' She looked at him with eyes half-challenging, half-wistful. 'Now-may I see it, this space-drive formula that's making so much trouble for me? Maybe we can broadcast it to Earth on the code frequency- or we can find a dead little world and hide it.'

Paddy laughed. 'Young lady-Miss Bursill-whatever your name-I have no secret to the space-drive.'

'What!' Her eyes burnt even larger in her small face. They why all the turmoil? You must have it.'

Paddy yawned. 'The five Sons trusted no one. Not even their successors, the new Sons, know what it is I've got. No one in the universe knows-except me.'

'Well, what is it?' she asked crossly. 'Or do you intend to be mysterious?'

Paddy said blandly, 'No indeed. I'm surely not the type. Well, for one thing, it's not any directions on how to mix up space-drive. It's a key and four little slips of parchment. And all that's on them are a set of addresses.'

She stared at him and plain or not, thought Paddy, she had very lovely eyes, bright and intelligent, and her features weren't as pinched as he first thought but almost chiseled- delicate. Indeed, thought Paddy, he had seen worse-looking wenches. But this one-she was too pale and set, too sexless for his tastes.

'May I see them?' she asked politely.

And why not, thought Paddy. He unsnapped the band.

She stared. 'You're carrying them around your wrist?'

'Where else?' demanded Paddy with asperity. 'I never intended to be kidnaped and transported by a black imp of a female.'

She took the bits of parchment and the key. The first was written in the Pherasic script, which Paddy had been unable to read.

She scrutinized it and he saw her lips moving. 'Och, then you can read that heathen scribble?'

'Certainly I can read it. It says: '28.3063 degrees north, 190.9995 degrees west. Under the Sacred Sign.' ' She laughed. 'It's like a treasure hunt. But why should they write directions down like this?'

Paddy shrugged. 'For each other, I gather. In case one of them got killed, then the others would know where the records were hid.'

Fay said thoughtfully, 'We're not far from Alpheratz.'

Paddy stared aghast. 'They'd draw and quarter me! They'd wear out their nerve-suits! They'd-'

She said coolly,' We could be tourists from Earth, making the Langtry Line. Alpheratz A, back into Pegasus for Scheat, down Andromeda-Ddhil, Almach, Mirach. There's thousands of others doing the same thing. A honeymoon couple, that's what we'd be. It's the last place they'd be looking for you. You'd never be safer.'

'Not much,' said Paddy energetically. 'I want to get back to Earth with my life and there I'll sell these bits to whomever wants to buy.'

She looked at him disgustedly. 'Paddy Blackthorn-I'm running this ship. We settled that once.'

'Och,' cried Paddy, 'it's no source of wonder that you've never married. God pity the man who gets such a witch. No man would have you with your insistent ways.'

Fay smiled wryly. 'No? Are you so sure, Paddy Blackthorn?'

Paddy said, 'Well, it's sure that I, for one, would never have the taste for the black-headed pint of spite that you are. I'd be drinking whiskey to ease my soul by night and by day.'

She sneered. 'We're both of us suited then. And now- Alpheratz A.

From Alpheratz A to Alpheratz B the stream of boats was like a caravan of ants-bringing pods, fibers, sheets, crystallized wood, fruit, meal, pollen, oil, plant-pearls, a thousand other products of B's miraculous vegetation to the windy gray world A, returning with agricultural equipment and supplies for the jungle workers.

Into this swarm of space-craft Paddy and Fay merged their boat unnoticed.

They dropped toward the bright side of the planet. Fay asked Paddy, 'Ever been here before?'

'No, my travels never brought me this far north. And from the looks of the planet, I'd as lief be back on Akhabats. If it's as dry there at least it's a planet with blue water.' Paddy gestured at the telescopic projection on the screen. 'Now just what might that ocean consist of? Maybe it's mud?'

Fay said, 'It's not water. It's something like a gas. It has all the properties of a gas except that it won't mix with air. It's heavier and settles out in the low places like water or fog -and the air rests on top.'

'Indeed, now-and is it poison?'

She turned him a side-glance. 'If you fall in you smother, because there's no oxygen.'

'Then that will be a fine place to leave our boat. And chance being good, we might find it another time.'

'We'd better stick to our first plan. 'We'll be less conspicuous.'

'And suppose they recognize Paddy Blackthorn and his black-headed mistress-ah, now, don't take me wrong. That's just what they'd be calling you and no thanks to them either way. But now, supposing they do that and set out after us, then wouldn't it be a fine thing to jump into the ocean and soar off under their long skinny noses?'

She said with a sigh, 'We'll compromise. We'll hide it so that it's accessible. But we'll go back to it only if we can't get a regular tourist packet to Badau. Assuming, of course, that we're successful here.'