“I have nothing much to do,” Albumarak muttered, thinking how accurate that was not only of the present moment but of her entire life. Quelf’s idea of encouraging her students’ research was to let them watch what she herself was doing and then take over the repetitive drudgery involved … and blame them for anything that afterwards went wrong. “Where is your delegation lodged?”
“In a spare house near our trade mission, which they had to wake up specially for us. It’s a bit primitive, since it hasn’t been occupied for several moonlongs, but if you’re sure you wouldn’t mind…?”
“It will be a pleasure,” Albumarak declared. “Let’s go!”
V
Nobody paid attention to the creature which Yull, Omber and Albumarak turned loose as they entered the healing-house at first bright next day. It looked like a commonplace scrapsaq—on the large side, perhaps, but one expected that in a public institution. Its kind were conditioned to go about disposing of spent luminants, spuder-webs full of dead wingets and the like, attracted to one or several kinds of rubbish by their respective odors. Having gathered as much as they could cope with, they then carried their loads to the rotting pits, and were rewarded with food before setting off again.
This one, however, was a trifle out of the ordinary.
Having seen it safely on its way, Albumarak turned to her companions.
“Follow me!” she urged. “Quelf is always in the neurophysics lab at this time of the morning.”
With Yull exuding the pheromones appropriate to a high official, and Omber playing the role of her nominee as Albumarak had taught her, they arrived at the laboratory unchallenged, along a high branchway either side of which the boughs were festooned with labeled experimental circuitry. Pithed ichormals lay sluggish with up to a score of tendrils grafted on their fat bodies; paired piqs and doqs stirred uneasily as each tried to accept signals from the other; long strands of isolated nerve-pith, some healthy and glistening, some dry and peeling, were attached to plants in an attempt to find better repeaters for nervograp links, for despite Quelf’s optimism it would be long before loss-free communication circuits became universal.
“I don’t like this place,” Omber muttered.
“That’s because you’re more used to working with raw chemicals than living things,” Yull returned, equally softly. “But we exploit them too, remember.”
“Yes. Yes, of course. I’m sorry.”
Nonetheless she kept glancing unhappily from side to side.
One of Albumarak’s fellow students, engaged in the usual drudgery of recording data from the various experiments, caught sight of her and called out “Hey! You’re late! Quelf is fuming like a volcano!”
“I’m on my way to make her erupt,” was the composed reply.
And Albumarak led her companions into the laboratory itself, where the neurophysicist was holding forth to a group of distinguished visitors, probably foreign merchants anxious to acquire and exploit some of Fregwil’s newest inventions. That was an unexpected bonus!
Albumarak padded boldly towards her, not lowering as she normally would in her professor’s presence. Abruptly registering this departure from ordinary practice, Quelf broke off with an apology to her guests and glared at her.
“Where’ve you been? When I wished you a good dark I—”
“I want to see Karg,” Albumarak interrupted.
“What? You know perfectly well that’s out of the question! Have you spent your dark taking drugs?”
“Not only I,” said Albumarak as though she had not spoken, “but my companions. Allow me to present Scholar Yull, head of the Slah delegation, and her assistant Omber.”
“Who are both,” murmured Yull in a quiet tone, “extremely anxious to see our old friend.”
She was a tall and commanding person in her late middle years. Albumarak clenched her claws, trying to conceal her glee. The moment she had set eye on Yull, last evening, she had suspected that she could dominate Quelf—and here was proof. She had an air of calm authority that made the other’s arrogance look like mere bluster.
Taken totally aback, and hideously embarrassed that it should have happened in the presence of strangers, rather than only her students whom she could always overawe, Quelf reinforced her previous statement.
“Out of the question! He’s still far too ill! Now show these people out and resume your duties!”