Angelmass. Part 14

"And money?" she added without thinking.

He c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "For someone who didn't think she was worth hiring, you know, you're

pretty sharp."

Chandris bristled. "Who said I didn't think-?"

She broke off as it suddenly hit her. "You just changed the subject, didn't you?"

He grinned. "Well, I tried." The grin faded, and he grew serious. "Gabriel treats its people more than fairly, Chandris, but this isn't something they can be expected to deal with. Unlike your stereotypical giant corporation, they run their operation right at the edge of break-even." He grinned again, briefly. "One of those wonderful balances you get when you work with angels. No matter how rare or valuable the things are, the people handling them don't line their own pockets at everyone else's expense."

"What about your extra angel?" Chandris asked. "Couldn't you sell that?"

He hesitated. Just a split second, but enough. "It wouldn't be worth enough."

"I thought Ornina said you never lie."

He threw her a sideways look. "You are sharp, aren't you? But that wasn't a lie, just a-well, a creative phrasing of the truth." He took a deep breath. "You see, Chandris, I'm the only family Ornina's got left. She's spent half her life taking care of me; first supporting me in school, then helping me adjust to my illness. Somehow, in all that, she never had the time or the money to have a family of her own."

And suddenly it clicked. "Is that why you invited me aboard the Gazelle?" Chandris demanded. "So she can pretend I'm her family?"

"Does that bother you?"

Chandris bit down on her lip. "I don't know," she had to admit.

"She's not really pretending, you know," he said. "At least not in the sense that she's deluding herself. But it gives her the chance to care for someone else. Someone who-well, never mind."

"Someone who desperately needs her?" Chandris finished for him, a slightly sour taste in her mouth.

"Don't be offended. If it helps any, you're in much better shape than most of the others have been. You at least had a marketable skill, even if it was just stealing."

Another piece clicked into place. "So that's why you need to keep the extra angel. Right? Because otherwise you might take someone aboard someday who'd knife you both in your sleep."

He shrugged. "Something like that. Though of course we do try to screen our guests a shade better than that."

"The angel helps you there, too, I suppose?"

"Actually, no," he shook his head. "Angels don't seem to do anything quite that active." He grinned lopsidedly. "To tell you the truth, what's helped most was all the practical jokes I used to pull when I was younger. You learn how to read people when you're trying to rig a thimble on them. Don't tell

Ornina that, though."

"Yeah, well, if you ask me your practical jokes sound just like scoring a track," Chandris told him.

"Except that no one locks you up when you get caught."

"Actually, all the best jokes are ones where no one would have grounds to lock you up anyway," Hanan said. "The kind where all you're doing is-oh, I don't know; putting a slight tilt on the universe. It's hard to explain."

"So show me."

He frowned at her. "What?"

"I said show me," Chandris repeated.

Hanan's lips puckered. "All right. All right, I will. Let's see..." He patted his pockets. "See what's in

that storage compartment," he said, leaning over to study the floor.

Chandris popped open the indicated door beside her knee. "Nothing but a map," she reported. "Oh, and a couple of candy wrappers and a piece of string."

"Nothing useful on the floor," Hanan grunted. He straightened up, a faraway look in his eyes, and for

a minute was silent. "Okay," he said abruptly. "Give me the string."

She dug it out from under the map. It was about thirty centimeters long, frayed at both ends, with

splotches of a tarry-looking substance at various points along its length. "What are you going to do?"

she asked, handing it over.

"You'll see." For a moment he worked at it with his fingers... "Blast," he muttered. "Here-can you

make a little slipknot in it for me?"

"Sure," she said, taking it back and making the knot.

"Thanks. Now watch carefully."

Easing the loop over his right ear, he pulled it tight and then stuck the free end into the right corner

of his mouth. "How do I look?" he asked.

"Ridiculous," Chandris told him. "What happens now?"

"The joke, of course." Hanan peered out the windshield. "That's Khohl Supply coming up now. Just

play it cool and observe."

The TransTruck pulled to the curb and they got out. The front door opened as they approached and Hanan led the way inside. The young man at the counter, poring over a display screen, looked up.

"h.e.l.lo, sir," he smiled. His eyes flicked to the string, and for just a second the smile seemed to

freeze in place. "Ah-what can I do for you?" he asked, his voice suddenly gone odd.

"I understand you have some Ahandir conduyner coils in stock," Hanan said. "I'd like to buy two of them."

"Ah-certainly," the clerk said, bobbing his head once. His eyes flicked to the string again, turned resolutely away. "Let me check."

He bent over the display again; out of his sight, Hanan gave Chandris a wink. "Yes, we have some," the clerk said, straightening again, his eyes flicking once again to the string. "You have a Gabriel credit line, I a.s.sume?"

"Yes," Hanan said, handing over a thin card. The other took it, dipped it briefly into the slot on his display-"I'm sorry. You said you wanted how many?"

"Two," Hanan repeated pleasantly.

"Right," the other mumbled, bending again to his task. Across the room, Chandris saw, three customers who'd been poring over various equipment displays were staring at Hanan, a fascination that was instantly submerged as Hanan sent a leisurely glance around the store. The clerk finished, straightened-"Ah-will you need help loading them?" he asked, eyes struggling again not to stare.

"No, thank you," Hanan told him, leaning over to touch his thumb to the confirmation plate. "My a.s.sociate here and I can handle them."

"Okay. Uh..." Licking his lips, the other craned his neck to look over at the delivery rack running along the side of the store. "They should be out any minute, sir," he said, his voice starting to sound distinctly uncomfortable.

"Oh, that's all right," Hanan a.s.sured him. "We're not in any hurry." He looked over at the three customers, who had now moved closer together and were whispering earnestly among themselves. Again, his look was all it took to turn them swiftly back to more innocent activities. From the side came a ping- "There they are," the clerk said, and there was no mistaking the relief in his voice. "If you need help-"

"Not at all," Hanan said, stepping over to the rack and motioning Chandris to follow. "As I said, my colleague and I can handle them."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, and-uh-please come, uh, come back here. Again."

"I certainly will," Hanan said. Picking up one of the packages, he led the way outside.

"Well?" he asked Chandris as the TransTruck pulled away from the curb. "What did you think?"

She shrugged. "I was right the first time. It's just like scoring a track."

"How so?"

"You play off human nature," she said. "People don't like to ask questions they think will make them look stupid. So they don't, and you wind up getting away with things you otherwise wouldn't."

"Huh," Hanan grunted thoughtfully. "I never really thought about it that way, but you're right." He looked over at her. "I guess we're not as different as either of us would have thought."

Chandris felt her lip twist. Except that you'd never stoop to anything so rude as actually taking money away from people this way, she added silently. Scrubbed saints, both of you.

And yet...

No, he didn't take any money. But he kept pulling these stunts. Even though they sometimes made people look foolish.

Even though Ornina clearly didn't like them.

The first wisps of uneasiness began to curl around her stomach. They'd seemed to work so well together, he and Ornina; friendly, with a sort of harmony in their activities. People who cared for each other.

Just like she and Trilling had been at the beginning.

She glanced surrept.i.tiously at Hanan, now humming softly to himself as he gazed out at the pa.s.sing cityscape, the knot in her stomach tightening. Was that the real reason they kept the extra angel around? Not for any stupid soft-touch thing about helping the poor unfortunate downtrodden, but because they couldn't live together without it?

A shiver ran up her back. All along she'd known there had to be something else lurking behind this deal. But this hadn't been what she'd had in mind. Fellow scorers she could handle, and maybe even score right back again. But psycho defectives...

She gritted her teeth. All right, let's not go and pop any cords here, okay? she growled at herself. After all, this was all pure guesswork. And hadn't Hanan just said that angels weren't active?

And that was the real problem, she realized suddenly. She knew next to nothing about these nurking angel things. And most of what she did know had come from the Daviees. What she needed was more information. "That Angelma.s.s Studies Inst.i.tute ship you showed me," she said. "Is it based with the rest of the hunterships?"

Hanan looked at her, mild surprise on his face. "Yes, it's got a service building at the southwest edge of the landing strip. Why?"

"I thought it might be nice to learn a little more about angels," she said. "Especially if I'm going to be helping you hunt them."

"Well, then, you don't want the ship but the Inst.i.tute itself," Hanan advised her. "It's out in the eastern part of Shikari City, at One Hundred U San Avenue. There are public terminals on the first floor that should tell you everything you need to know. You want to go over today, after we drop off these coils?"

Chandris hesitated. As far as she was concerned, the sooner she tracked this down the better.

But in her mind's eye she saw Ornina, worried about whether or not Hanan could handle the coils by himself. "Thanks," she told Hanan. "I'd rather stick around and watch you put these coils in. I've still got a lot to learn about the Gazelle."

Hanan glanced at her, and she could tell what he was thinking: wanted by the police, she was skittish about going out alone in public. "Okay," he said. "Just let Ornina or me know when you want to go and we'll show you how to call a Gabriel line car."

"Thanks," she said again. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, she told herself, she'd go.

And after that she would decide if she was ever coming back.

CHAPTER 15.