He listened in intent silence as Cruz read from his notebook. Then he shook his head.
Salinas snorted in disgust “Well, ma’am, now that you’ve wasted our time, we’d better get moving.”
Jerry Lukacs cleared his throat. “Sorry. That headshake was—’this is too unbelievable.’ ”
Liz looked at him grimly. “I’ve seen the evidence.”
Lukacs’ eyes were bright with excitement. “It’s got to be Scylla. Somehow—somewhere—the myth must have a basis in truth.”
Liz shook her head “Scylla? Look, I saw those bites. The biggest crab in the world couldn’t have done that.”
The mythographer looked puzzled. “Who said anything about crabs?”
It was her turn to look mystified. “I thought you just did. Swimming crabs. Scylla. A big one will take fingers off. But not legs.”
Salinas cleared his throat loudly. “It appears that all this is not getting us anywhere . . . ”
The black mechanic chuckled. “Lieutenant Ra-Ra-Ra doesn’t understand what you’re getting at, Dr. Lukacs.”
“Amon’s got to think, Lamont.” Jerry grinned.
* * *
Liz groaned. Die-hard punsters would make torturing language take precedence over matters of life and death. “Look you two, I don’t understand, never mind this silly ass. And if you don’t explain, Dr. Lukacs, I shall give you capital punishment by pulling your head off.”
“Couldn’t you just get that soldier”—Lamont pointed at McKenna—”to beat us up instead, ma’am? Then it’d just be corporal punishment.”
The wild-haired academic groaned appreciatively. You could almost see his mind hunting links to “corporal.”
By the look Salinas directed at Lamont, he did not enjoy this. Not one damn bit! He was plainly a humorless man. It looked as if there was only one thing he really hated more than being excluded from the joke—and that was being the butt of one. The big black guy had certainly pushed both sets of those buttons. The last time Liz had seen a look like that was when some Afrikaaner Weerstand Beweeging guys had found themselves in close contact with a visiting Nigerian professor. That had been ugly. She tensed. It was all sort of her fault. She had better try and move it all along. “Tell. Please.”
The small mythographer assumed the posture of an orator. “Ahem, I quote: ‘It is the home of Scylla, the creature with the dreadful bark. It is true that her yelp is no louder than a newborn pup’s, but she is a horrible monster nevertheless, and one whom nobody could look at with delight, not even a god if he passed that way. She has twelve feet, all dangling in the air, and six long necks, each ending in a grisly head with triple rows of teeth, set thick and close, and darkly menacing death.’ ”
He relaxed his professorial stance. “It’s from the 1946 Rieu translation of the Odyssey. Consider that the hero’s name was Odysseus, that he was sailing what is described as a ‘black ship’ and that section of the Odyssey describes sailing between Scylla and the dreadful whirlpool, Charybdis. It all fits rather well, doesn’t it?” The man smiled. He looked rather like a child who is showing you a puzzle that he’s just put together and hopes you’ll applaud.
It was apparent that Salinas was not going to cheer. “I’ve had enough! I’m putting both of you under arrest. We’ll see how funny you are at the precinct!”
“Taking them to see Professor Tremelo would make more sense to me,” Liz snapped.
Salinas’ authoritarian instincts were now in full evidence. “If I need any further comments from you, ma’am, I’ll ask for them. In the meantime, keep your mouth shut. This is a police matter now.”
Lamont did not seem in the least intimidated. In fact, he laughed aloud. “I can’t think what Silenius’ donkey was called, Dr. Lukacs. But all this war talk Mars Lieutenant RaRaRa’s complexion. It quite dis-Troys . . . ”
And then it all happened very fast. Something in Salinas seemed to snap. He yanked out his pistol and grabbed Lamont. Something in Liz did snap. She grabbed the cop’s wrist and shoved the gun upward. In what seemed like two seconds, she and Salinas and Lamont and Jerry Lukacs and Sergeant Cruz and Corporal McKenna and Privates Hooper and Dietz were all in contact with one another, shouting and wrestling.
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