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No. Maybe there does. Maybe not. This has happened so fast. I haven t had
time to think.
You won t get much time, either, Vivienne reminded him bleakly.
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With Marcus on the trail...true, the Pole nodded. I don t see how we can
hide you for any great length of time. However big a household this is, it s still not
an organization. And that s what you need, an organization with intelligence agents,
hideouts, an Underground Railway yet one that can be trusted.
Abrams snapped his fingers. The Egalitarians!
Hm? Trembecki gave him a startled look. You mean Gannoway?
I don t know. But we can check on him, maybe.
I m not sure what you mean, Leah said, but if it has anything to do with the
Egalitarians, why, it sounds very hopeful. I ve been to plenty of their meetings, and
talked to a lot of them, you know. Dad, those are good people.
Perhaps, Trembecki grunted. Are they effective people, though?
Gannoway himself is a tough bird, Abrams mused, still...we may have
something here. It s taking a devil of a risk at best, but ruefully what isn t?
Trembecki nodded with a renewed briskness. I ll start.some wheels turning, at
least. We ll collect what information we can, evaluate, and decide what to do. It
should be safe to keep our young friends here for a little while. The sooner we get
them to a really secure place, though, the happier I ll be.
All right. Let s get started. Abrams turned to Koskinen and Vivienne. I m
sorry to rush off like this, but you can understand why. We ll talk in more detail
later. Meanwhile, Lean will take care of you.
Trembecki went over to the shield generator, which Koskinen had
demonstrated in the course of relating his story. The secretary picked it up with
needless care, held it for a space before his eyes, clicked his tongue, and walked from
the room. Abrams followed.
Do finish eating, Leah urged. I ll see about your rooms and stuff. Be right
back.
Koskinen fell heartily to eating. In combination, the stimulant, food, shelter,
sense of power and competence in those he met, had restored him considerable
cheer. I think, he said around a mouthful, we re on the homestretch.
Really? Vivienne only picked at her meal. He saw the exhaustion still in her
and wanted to soothe it away. But his tongue knotted.
Sorry, she said after a while. I guess I ve been kicked around too much to
start believing in Santa Claus all over again.
If Papa Abrams put on a white beard and went, Ho, ho, ho! would that
help? he ventured.
She grinned wearily, leaned over and patted his hand. You mean you ve even
got patience with self-pity? You re a phenomenon, Pete.
Leah s footsteps sounded lightly on the flags. Koskinen rose and looked at the
girl as she neared. He wondered confusedly if it was right to be so conscious of her
grace, so soon after
Finished here? she asked. Good, come along with me. You ll want to wash
and then sleep, I suppose.
Not sleep, Koskinen said, with fifty milligrams of stim inside me.
I d forgotten that. Well, if you like, I ll be glad to give you the grand tour of
the place, or any other entertainment I can.
You re being too kind.
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Leah grew grave. You were Dave s shipmate, Pete. He talked a lot about you,
in the short time he was here. And you ve done some magnificent things, for him
and for all of us.
No, really.
Not just that filthy Crater, but perhaps even the Chinese underground, wiped
out...because of you. The long hair swirled past her cheeks as she shook her head in
wonder. I still can t quite believe it.
That was an accident. I mean, I was only running away, and
Come on. She took him firmly by the arm. Vivienne followed a little behind,
silent.
A glideway and escalator took them upstairs. Koskinen had thought his hotel
room and Vivienne s Crater place were sumptuous, but his suite here revised his
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