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she said it. In fact it might come across better if it were a little vague.
More natural. And if two of you say you heard it. . . ."
Uncertainty registered on their faces. "It would only be stretching things a
bit," Jenyn told them. "It was there in her head for sure. And with some of
the states I've seen her in, she wouldn't know what she'd said anyway." He
looked from one to the other.
"Well, I don't know. . . ." Korvark said hesitantly. "I mean, it's kind of a
personal thing you're asking here. Those kinds of parties aren't exactly the
kind of thing you go around telling everybody about."
Jenyn nodded. "I understand. Think of it as being for the movement. A small
thing to put up with. A
month from now it will all be forgotten anyhow." He waited. Korvark
vacillated. "We'll make it worth your while," Jenyn said. I know the right
people. Trust me."
"How much might we be talking about?" Korvark asked.
"Aw, say a couple of hundred, maybe? . . . Two-fifty?"
Fidira met Jenyn's eyes searchingly. He gave a almost imperceptible nod of
affirmation. She nudged
Korvak's arm with an elbow.
"He needs help here," she urged. "Where's the Terran warrior? Do you think
they would have thought twice about it?"
Korvark flushed, and Jenyn saw she had touched a nerve. "Okay," Korvark told
him. "You can count on us."
"Terrific. You won't regret this, either of you."
"What exactly do you want us to do?"
"I'll call you about that shortly, okay?"
Korvak nodded, firmly now. "Okay."
Jenyn braced his hands on his knees. "You probably need to get back. And I
know I have things to do. I'll be in touch."
He stood watching while they disappeared back out onto the main concourse,
then turned and went back to the row of network booths and sat down in an
empty one. He still had his list of Progressive follow-ups to be completed.
Before returning to that, however, he checked the Earth-local news channel for
anything new regarding Lornod. The topic seemed to be quiet just at the
moment. A line in the new announcements box said something about Providence,
which was the last thing Jenyn had been working on down in Rhombus. He
selected it out of curiosity. A clip began playing of a commentator talking
about a statement released after a scientific meeting that had taken place
that morning, to the effect that
Providence was now believed to have been somewhere on Earth. It was evidently
a matter of some excitement. Still absorbed in his own thoughts, Jenyn watched
absently as heads talked about a secret survival supplies dump, interspersed
with shots of the Terran installation on lunar Farside and a map showing the
southern half of the Americas. Then Sherven, the scientific Director, was
summing up with a routine pep spiel about significant new findings ahead, and
appointing somebody to a new position on
Explorer 6
to coordinate the work. As Sherven was speaking, the camera backed off to
bring into view another figure who had been waiting alongside him a man, maybe
in his late thirties or early forties, with lean, ruggedly formed features,
but drawn around a sensitive mouth, mirthful eyes that seemed to be finding
the business fun, and dark curly hair.
Jenyn sat up sharply. He had seen that face before. The immediate associations
that he felt were negative and disturbing. Sherven was saying, " . . .Master
of Engineering Kyal Reen, son of the distinguished Ulangean electromagneticist
and philosopher Jarnor Reen, who was a leader in initiating the
Earth-exploration program. Also joining us here along with Master Reen will be
a colleague of his from
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Venus, who has been working with him on the investigation of Terran
electro-propulsion constructions on the lunar Farside: Fellow of Applied
Sciences, Yorim Zeestran." The camera angel widened again to take in a
younger, yellow-haired figure with a short beard, standing the other side of
Reen. "One of the questions . . ."
It was the same Yorim that Jenyn had met in Rhombus, who had joined the group [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]