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an answer to anything you say."
"Thank you, Johnny," she said, stepping around his pulsating bulk and climbing the stairs to the pilot's
cabin. They took a bit of negotiating, since they were made for a Hod, but finally she reached the radio
and pushed the blue button.
"Thaddeus. This is Gloria. Can you hear me?"
"It's going to take him a while to answer, even if he's sitting right next to the radio," remarked Carp.
"Want to play Three Thirds of a Ghost while we're waiting?"
She shook her head and stared intently at the radio. Just when she was sure it wasn't working. Flint's
voice came over the speaker, crackling with static.
"This is Thaddeus. Mr. Ahasuerus says that it takes forever to hold a conversation on these things, so let
me ask you a batch of questions at once. Did you find Fast Johnny? Is he okay? Are you okay? When
will you be coming back? And is he coming with you?" Then, as an afterthought: "Oh, yeah Tojo says
hello."
145
"Yes, I found fast Johnny, and no, he's not coming back with me," replied Gloria. "And, while we're on
the subject,. I'm not coming back either. But don't worry, Thaddeus I'm not going native. In fact, I've
got a little business proposition for you. . . ."
17.
"Look at it, Thaddeus!" exclaimed Tojo, standing at the base of their two-man ship. "It's fabulous!"
"Somehow I'm not surprised," replied Flint, climbing down the stairs and joining him. He paused to
activate his sending and receiving translators.
"Oh? Had Houdini described it to you?"
"No," said Flint, looking at the sprawling megalopolis that crept up to the edge of the spaceport. "But Mr.
Ahasuerus has never expressed any interest in playing the Hesporite system, so it stood to reason that
they've got lots of people and a thriving economy." He lit an artificial cigarette and tried not to cough.
Three months had passed since he had agreed to Gloria's deal, during which time the carnival had
crawled out of the red and into the black, and he had managed to get Kargennian to spring for two more
rides and another dozen games workers. The Dancer was still playing to packed houses, Stogie was
pulling in an extra two to three thousand customers per night, and Julius Squeezer's record now stood at
308 wins against only 17 defeats. Except for the death of Monk's leopards, things couldn't have gone
much more smoothly, and Flint had finally decided to take a few days off to check out his most recent
investment.
"I'm surprised someone's not here to meet us," remarked Tojo, looking around.
147
"If this were a science fiction story," said Flint, scanning the huge number of boulevards that converged
about a half mile from them, "I'd say the aliens were giving us a survival test. Oh, well," he added with a
shrug, "we might as well announce ourselves."
He pulled a pistol out of his pocket and fired it into the air.
"That ought to get a response," he said with a smile.
"I didn't know you owned a gun, Thaddeus," said the hunchback.
"I borrowed it from the Dancer."
"But why?"
"You never know when you're going to need one."
"But Hesporite III is a member of the Community of Worlds! Surely you don't expect any trouble here!"
"Tojo, there are carny people, and there's everyone else. You can't trust half the carnies you know, and
you can't trust none of the rest of 'em." He fired the pistol again. "If someone doesn't come by pretty
damned soon, I'm going to aim the next shot at something breakable."
Suddenly a small open vehicle approached them, driven by a member of Houdini's race.
"I must inform you that weaponry of any type is illegal on Hesporite III," said the driver as the vehicle
came to a stop.
"This?" asked Flint into his translator, holding his pistol up. "It's just a noisemaker."
"I arn afraid I must examine it, sir," replied the driver.
"Tell you what," said Flint. "You point out the way to The Seven-Star Carnival, and you can keep the
goddamned -thing."
"I must confiscate it regardless," said the driver, "but once you give it to me, I will be happy to ferry you
to a public conveyance and give you directions to your location."
Flint shrugged, handed over the pistol, and clambered into the vehicle after first boosting Tojo onto the
back seat.
They were driven to a train, which obviously terminated at the spaceport, and told to get off at the tenth
stop. The seats were not made for humans, and they elected to stand for the duration of the journey.
Aliens were not unknown on Hesporite III, but they were still rare enough so the two humans got more
than their share of curious stares during the trip.
I/IS
Finally they got off and followed the signs the writing was unintelligible, but the illustrations were quite
adequate and within a mile they had come to the carnival, which had set up shop in the Hesporitan
equivalent of a cornfield.
"Lousy games," said Flint, surveying the Midway with a practiced eye. "I guess these guys never heard
what old P.T. had to say about suckers and even breaks."
"It seems clean, though," remarked Tojo. "And they have some nice rides."
"No freak show," said Flint. "Jesus! You'd think they'd be easy to put together with a whole galaxy to
choose from."
"I think I've found what we're looking for!" exclaimed Tojo suddenly. He pointed to a tent about two
hundred feet distant, with a huge illustration of a magician pulling some kind of alien animal out of a hat.
"Looks like it," agreed Flint.
They walked up to the tent, paid their admissions after waiting a few minutes to find out the current value
of a credit on Hesporite, and entered.
. Houdini was standing on a makeshift stage, producing bouquets out of empty air with wild abandon,
and even incorporating some tricks with one of the Rigger's old decks of cards.
"Full house," whispered Tojo, after doing a quick head count. "About three hundred."
Flint nodded, and concentrated on the magician. Houdini took about ten minutes to work his way through
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