He knew that he and Anana would need money, and they had no time to go to work to earn it, and he did not want to rob to get it if he could avoid doing so. If this nauseating specimen of arrogance thought he could buy Anana, let him pay for the privilege of finding out whether or not he could.
Baum dug into his jacket and came up with eight one-hundred dollar bills. He handed these to Kickaha and then interrupted his manager, a fat bald-headed man with a huge cigar. The manager gestured violently and shot some hard looks at Kickaha but he gave in. Baum came back with five one-hundred dollar bills. He wrote a note on a piece of paper, saying that the money was in payment for a debt he owed Paul J. Finnegan. After giving it to Kickaha, he insisted that Kickaha write him a receipt for the money. Kickaha also took the check for the rest of the money, although he did not think that he would be able to cash it. Baum would stop payment on it, he was sure of that.
Kickaha left Baum and sat down on a seat on which were a number of magazines, paperback books, and a Los Angeles Times. He spent some time reading, and when he had finished he sat for a long time looking out the window.
Earth had certainly changed since 1946.
Pulling himself out of his reverie, he picked up a road map of Los Angeles, which he’d noticed among the magazines. As he studied it, he realized Wolff and Chryseis could be anywhere in the great sprawl of Los Angeles. He was certain they were headed in that direction, though, rather than Nevada or Arizona, since the nearest gate was in the L.A. area. They might even be in a bus only a few miles ahead.
Since Wolff and Chryseis had taken the gate to Earth from the palace in Wolffs universe as an emergency exit to avoid being killed by the invaders, they were dressed in the clothes of the Lords. Chryseis may have been wearing no clothes at all. So the two would have been forced to obtain clothes from others. And they would have had to find some big dark glasses immediately, because anyone seeing Chryseis’ enormous violet eyes would have known that she was not Earth-born. Or would have thought her a freak, despite her great beauty.
Both of them were resourceful enough to get along, especially since Wolff had spent more time on Earth as an adult than Kickaha had.
As for the Beller, he would be in an absolutely strange and frightening world. He could speak no word of the language and he would want to cling to his bell, which would be embarrassing and inconvenient for him. But he could have gone in any direction.
The only thing Kickaha could do was to head toward the nearest gate in the hope that Wolff and Chryseis would also be doing that. If they met there, they could team up, consider what to do next, and plan on the best way of locating the Beller. If Wolff and Chryseis did not show, then everything would be up to Kickaha.
Moo-Moo sat down by him. She put her hand on his arm and said, “My, you’re muscular!”
“I have a few,” he said, grinning. “Now that you’ve softened me up with your comments on my hardness, what’s on your mind?”
She leaned against him, rubbing the side of her large breast against his arm, and said, “That Lou! He sees a new chick that’s reasonably good-looking, and he flips every time. He’s been talking to you, trying to get you to give your girl friend to him, hasn’t he? I’ll bet he offered you money for her.”
“Some,” Kickaha said. “What about it?”
She felt the muscles of his thigh and said, “Two can play at that game.”
“You offering me money, too?” he said.
She drew away from him, her eyes widening and then she said, “You’re putting me on! I should pay you?”
At another time, Kickaha might have played the game out to the end. But, corny as it sounded, the fate of the human race on Earth really depended on him. If the Beller adjusted to this world, and succeeded in making other bells, and then the minds in these possessed the bodies of human beings, the time would come when . . . Moo-Moo herself would become a mindless thing and then a body and brain inhabited by another entity.