pressure on me to give it up.”
“Ah. The problem of parents.” The round black head nodded. “I too had such difficulties, until we parted company when I was a teenager.”
“You left home?”
“To be rather more accurate, they threw me out. My parents, like yours, considered my level of interest in the Puzzle Network inordinate and inappropriate.” Bat waved a fat hand toward one of the chairs. “Please be seated. Few things in the universe must be delivered precisely on time, but a perfect souffle is one of them.”
Alex sat down with no great expectations. The other man could clearly put away a mountain of food, and from the look of him he often did, but quantity was no guide to quality. And Alex had eaten meals prepared by the best chefs in the System. Prosper Ligon had no interest in food, but the rest of the family insisted on the highest quality of cuisine.
Bat quickly produced from half a dozen different ovens a giant souffle, three different cooked vegetables, five sauces, and a loaf of bread which he sliced with amazing speed and dexterity. Alex filled his plate, began to eat, and after a few moments stared at his companion. He shook his head. “This is sensational. I think it’s the best food I’ve ever had.”
“Probably.” Bat was tasting carefully, a frown on his pudgy face. “It is better than average. I feel, however, that I was perhaps a trifle heavy-handed with the tarragon.”
Alex didn’t know if he was supposed to agree or disagree. He decided that it was safer to eat in silence. So far they had managed to agree on nothing except the problem of having parents. Rustum Battachariya also showed no inclination to conversation, eating steadily and thoughtfully and in quantities that established a need for outsized cooking utensils.
Finally Bat pushed away his plate, sighed, and said to Alex, “We have dined together, which will perhaps ensure a degree of civility in what follows. Or perhaps not. Let me be frank. I agreed to meet with you for one reason only: I was warned that should I refuse to do so, strong tactics might be used against me. Specifically, I was warned of physical violence or even murder. What is your reaction to such warnings?”
“They are absolute nonsense. I would never consider any sort of threat.”
“That is gratifying to hear. Are you confident that you speak for your whole family? If so, this meeting may be concluded at once, and we can return to our respective interests.”
Alex was on the spot. If he was confident of anything, it was that he could not speak for the whole family. At last he said, “I think it might be a good idea if you and I were to continue our discussion.”
“Very well. Let us do so. But I roust ask, on what basis? You would like me to give up or share my lease on Pandora. Why? And what inducements can you offer me, other than the not inconsiderable one that my life and physical well-being might otherwise be in jeopardy?”
“I have the authority to offer you a considerable amount of money, far more than the cost of your lease on Pandora.”
“Money?” Bat dismissed the word with a wave of his hand. “I happen to know that you work for the Outer System government, at a salary which is by the standards of your own family members ludicrously low. Am I supposed to believe that your own principal motive in life is money? If it is not, why should you assume that I am any different? Come, Mr. Ligon, if as a young man you approached Puzzle Network Master level, you cannot be without intelligence. Surely you can make an argument stronger than that?”
Greedy and arrogant seemed to be about right. Alex had watched Bat put away enough food for six people, and now the haughty part was showing through. Alex remembered Kate’s words. He’s so fat and obstinate you can’t push him. You have to mow him some other way.
Alex was saved from the need for immediate reply by the chime of the communications unit set in the wall by Bat’s left hand. The same woman’s voice said, “Conference will begin five minutes from now. Elect visual or voice- only mode.”
Bat said, “Voice only,” and then to Alex, “I may require privacy for a brief period. This is a matter of great practical significance.”
“That’s all right. I brought my programs and some recent results. I’ll have plenty to do — if you can provide computer access.”
“Of course. You may have access to the Seine, or if you prefer it you may use the Keep, which is my wholly internal and protected resource. If the latter—”
Bat’s next words were drowned out by a grating klaxon that sounded all through the Bat Cave. Alex felt a series of heavy vibrations, carried through the floor.
As the klaxon ended, the woman’s voice spoke again. “We are registering interference on all incoming communication channels. A foreign body which offers no identification is approaching Pandora and seeking forcible entrance. All external access has been sealed. Habitat separation of the Bat Cave from outside influences is complete.”
Alex saw Bat’s questioning glare and shook his head. “Not my doing. I have no idea what is happening.”
“No more than do I. The timing of this is extraordinarily inconvenient. Unless, of course, it was expressly designed to interfere with my planned activities; My conference call is minutes away. Who would attack Pandora, and why? This is not the best location to address those questions. Come.” Bat led the way, out of the kitchen and along the length of the Bat Cave.
Alex, following, understood Bat’s final remark when they reached the other end of the great rectangular chamber. The communications center in the kitchen had been small and primitive. The one they approached was as elaborate as anything controlled by Ligon Industries.
Bat plumped himself down on a massive padded chair. “We are, of course, in no danger of any kind. We are sealed and shielded, from both material and electromagnetic interference.” To Alex he seemed as much intrigued as annoyed as his fat fingers rippled over a console. “No ship in the solar system is capable of doing significant material damage to Pandora. Which leaves the question, who would want to come out here, jam all incoming signals, and try to blunder in? All system communications are monitored. A man would have to be an utter fool to imagine that such a situation could be maintained for any length of time, or that he and his vessel would not promptly be taken into custody.”
A man would have to be an utter fool…
Alex had no trouble thinking of a candidate. Hector! His cousin knew that the Ligon family wanted the current leaseholder out of Pandora. Lucy Mobarak had asked Hector to perform some great deed. Could his cousin be such an idiot as to think that threatening Rustum Battachariya on his home ground would qualify — at the very time when Alex himself was out here to negotiate?
Easily. It was exactly the kind of pea-brained action, with never a thought as to consequences or what he himself would do next, that Hector had specialized in since he was old enough to walk. The irritating thing was that his cousin seemed able to get away with it. Aunts and uncles said, “Oh, that was Hector. You know what Hector’s like…” and left it at that.
It wasn’t something that Alex could easily explain to anyone who was not part of the family. Instead, he said, “You mentioned that you feared aggressive action unless you came to some arrangement. Is the conference call that you’ll be missing connected with that?”
Bat finished running his fingers over the console. “We’re totally blacked out so far as incoming or outgoing signals is concerned,” he said. “No estimates as to how long it will last.” And then, “My conference call is on a different subject entirely. Have you been following the recent news leaks about alien messages?”
Aliens again! The word went into Alex like an electric shock. He’d had aliens on his mind for weeks. They formed part of some of the high-probability predicted futures, in strange and confusing ways. But Bat couldn’t possibly be referring to that.
Alex said cautiously, “Well, I’ve seen a blurt or two about alien messages. But you don’t believe what you hear on those.”
“Normally, you should not. In this case, however, the situation is rather different.” Bat composed himself on his chair. With head bowed forward and hands placed palms together in front of him, he reminded Alex of some ancient carved idol. Alex stood and fidgeted uncomfortably.
“I believe that I can divulge this to you without compromising confidentiality,” Bat said at last. “The time for the official news release is very close. Puzzle Network members, as you are surely aware, do not seek or enjoy the company of others. We do not cluster, we do not congregate, we rarely make group decisions. However, some
