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“If you kiss me like that just once more,” she breathed, “I’ll forget I’m a nice girl.”
Matheny kissed her like that.
The door crashed open. A large man stood there, breathing heavily. “What are you doing with my wife?” he bawled.
“Sam!” screamed Peri. “I thought you were in Australia!”
“and he said he might settle out of court,” finished Matheny. He stared in a numb fashion at his beer. “He’ll come to my hotel room this afternoon. What am I going to do?”
“It is a great shame,” said Doran. “I never thought . .. you know, he told everybody he would be gone on business for weeks yet Pete, I am more sorry than I can express.”
“If he thinks I’ll pay his miserable blackmail,” bristled Matheny, “he can take his head and stick”
Doran shook his own. “I am sorry, Pete, but I would pay if I was you. He does have a case. It is too bad he just happened to be carrying that loaded camera, but he is a photographer and now, well, our laws on Earth are pretty strict about unlicensed corespondents. You could be very heavily fined as well as deported, plus all the civil damage claims and the publicity. It would ruin your mission and even make trouble for the next man Mars sent.”
“But,” stuttered Matheny, “b-but it’s a badger game!”
“Look,” said Doran. He leaned over the table and gripped the Martian’s shoulder. “I am your
80
The Unicorn Trade
friend, see? I feel real bad this happened. In a way it is my fault and I want to help you. So let me go talk to Sam Wendt. I will cool him down if I can. I will talk down his figure. It will still cost you, Pete, but fout, you can pad your expense account, can’t you? So we will both come see you today. That way there will be two people on your side, you and me, and Sam will not throw his weight around so much. You pay up in cash and it will be the end of the affair. I will see to that, pal!”
Matheny stared at the small dapper man. His aloneness came to him like a blow in the stomach. Et tu, Brute, he thought.
He bit his lip. “Thanks, Gus,” he said. “You are a real friend.”
Sam blocked the doorway with his shoulders as he entered the room. Doran followed like a diminutive tug pushing a very large liner. They closed the door. Matheny stood up, avoiding Sam’s glare.
“Okay, louse,” harshed Sam. “You got a better pal here than you deserve, but he ain’t managed to talk me into settling for nothing.”
“Let me get this … I mean . .. well,” said Matheny. “Look, sir, you claim that I, I mean that your wife and I were, uh, well, we weren’t. Not really. I was only visiting her and”
“Stow it, stow it.” Sam towered over the Martian. “Shoot it to the moon. You had your fun. It’ll cost you. One million dollars.”
“One mil-ButbutGus,” wailed Matheny, “this is out of all reason! I thought you said”
THE INNOCENT ARRIVAL
81
Doran shrugged. “I am sorry, Pete. I could not get him any farther down. He started asking fifty. You better pay him.”
“No!” Matheny scuttled behind a chair. “No, look here! I, Peter Matheny of the Martian Republic, declare you are blackmailing me!”
“I’m asking compensation for damages/’ growled Sam. “Hand it over or I’ll go talk to a lawyer. That ain’t blackmail. You got your choice, don’t you?”
Matheny wilted. “Yes,” he shuddered.
“A megabuck isn’t so bad, Pete,” soothed Doran. “I personally, will see that you earn it back in”
“Oh, never mind.” Tears stood in Matheny’s eyes. “You win.” He took out his checkbook.
“None of that,” rapped Sam. “Cash. Now.”
“But you claimed this was a legitimate”
“You heard me.”
“Well . .. could I have a receipt?” begged Matheny.
Sam grinned.
“I just thought I’d ask,” said Matheny.
He opened a drawer and counted out one hundred ten-kilo-buck bills. “There! And, and, and I hope you choke on it!”
Sam stuffed the money in a pocket and lumbered out.