Lion Loose Page 13

away somewhere?"

  Quillan shook his head. "There's no way they could have located themso quickly. I made half a dozen portal switches when I was takingKinmarten to the suite. It would take something with a Hlat'sabilities to follow me over that route and stay undetected. And itmust be an unusually cunning animal to decide to stay out of sightuntil I'd led it where it wanted to go."

  "Oh, they're intelligent enough," Klayung agreed absently. "Theiraverage basic I.Q. is probably higher than that of human beings. Asomewhat different type of mentality, of course. Well, when thecubicle arrives, I'll question the Hlat and we'll find out."

  Quillan looked at him. "Those control devices make it possible to holdtwo-way conversations with the things?"

  "Not exactly," Klayung said. "You see, major, the governmentauthorities who were concerned with the discovery of the Hlatsrealized it would be almost impossible to keep some information aboutthem from getting out. The specimen which was here on the Star hasbeen stationed at various scientific institutions for the past year; arather large number of people were involved in investigating it andexperimenting with it. In consequence, several little legends aboutthem have been deliberately built up. The legends aren't entirelytruthful, so they help to keep the actual facts about the Hlatssatisfactorily vague.

  "The Hlat-talker is such a legend. Actually, the device does nothing.The Hlats respond to telepathic stimuli, both among themselves andfrom other beings, eventually begin to correlate such stimuli with themeanings of human speech."

  "Then you--" Quillan began.

  "Yes. Eltak, their discoverer, was a fairly good natural telepath. Ifhe hadn't been abysmally lazy, he might have been very good at it. Icarry a variety of the Service's psionic knick-knacks about with me,which gets me somewhat comparable results."

  He broke off as the vestibule portal dilated widely. Lady Pendrake'scubicle floated through, directed by two gravity crane operatorsbehind it. Klayung stood up.

  "Set it there for the present, please," he directed the operators. "Wemay call for you later if it needs to be moved again."

  He waited until the portal had closed behind the men before walkingover to the cubicle. He examined the settings and readings at somelength.

  "Hm-m-m, yes," he said, straightening finally. His expression becameabsent for a few seconds; then he went on. "I'm beginning to grasp thesituation, I believe. Let me tell you a few things about the Hlats,major. For one, they form quite pronounced likes and dislikes. Eltak,for example, would have been described by most of his fellow men as arather offensive person. But the Hlats actually became rather fond ofhim during the fifteen or so years he lived on their island.

  "That's one point. The other has to do with their level ofintelligence. We discovered on the way out here that our charges hadgained quite as comprehensive an understanding of the functioning ofthe cubicles that had been constructed for them as any human who wasnot a technical specialist might do. And--"

  He interrupted himself, stood rubbing his chin for a moment.

  "Well, actually," he said, "that should be enough to prepare you for alook inside the Hlat's cubicle."

  Quillan gave him a somewhat surprised glance. "I've been told it'sugly as sin," he remarked. "But I've seen some fairly revoltinglooking monsters before this."

  Klayung coughed. "That's not exactly what I meant," he said. "I ...well, let's just open the thing up. Would you mind, major?"

  "Not at all." Quillan stepped over to the side of the cubicle,unlocked the door switch and pulled it over. They both moved back afew feet before the front of the cubicle. A soft humming came for someseconds from the door's mechanisms; then it suddenly swung open.Quillan stooped to glance inside, straightened instantly again, hairbristling.

  "_Where is it?_" he demanded, the Miam Devil out in his hand.

  Klayung looked at him thoughtfully. "Not very far away, I believe. ButI can assure you, major, that it hasn't the slightest intention ofattacking us--or anybody else--at present."

  Quillan grunted, looked back into the cubicle. At the far end, theKinmartens lay side by side, their faces composed. They appeared to bebreathing regularly.

  "Yes," Klayung said, "they're alive and unharmed." He rubbed his chinagain. "And I think it would be best if we simply closed the cubiclenow. Later we can call a doctor over from the hospital to put themunder sedation before they're taken out. They've both had thoroughlyunnerving experiences, and it would be advisable to awaken themgradually to avoid emotional shock."

  He moved over to the side of the cubicle, turned the door switch backagain. "And now for the rest of it," he said. "We may as well sit downagain, major. This may take a little time."

  * * * * *

  "Let's look at the thing for a moment from the viewpoint of the Hlat,"he resumed when he was once more comfortably seated. "Eltak's deathtook it by surprise. It hadn't at that point grasped what thesituation in the Executive Block was like. It took itself out of sightfor the moment, killing one of the gang leaders in the process, thenbegan prowling about the various levels of the building, picking upinformation from the minds and conversation of the men it encountered.In a fairly short time, it learned enough to understand what wasplanned by the criminals; and it arrived at precisely your ownconclusion ... that it might be possible to reduce and demoralize thegangs to the extent that they would no longer be able to carry outtheir plan. It began a systematic series of attacks on them with thatend in mind.

  "But meanwhile you had come into the picture. The Hlat was ratherpuzzled by your motive at first because there appeared to be anextraordinary degree of discrepancy between what you were saying andwhat you were thinking. But after observing your activities for awhile, it began to comprehend what you were trying to do. It realizedthat your approach was more likely to succeed than its own, and thatfurther action on its side might interfere with your plans. But thereremained one thing for it to do.

  "I may tell you in confidence, major, that another legend which hasbeen spread about these Hlats is their supposed inability to escapefrom the cubicles. Even their attendants are supplied with thisparticular bit of misinformation. Actually, the various force fieldsin the cubicles don't hamper them in the least. The cubicles aredesigned simply to protect the Hlats and keep them from being seen;and rest cubicles, of course, can be taken anywhere without arousingundue curiosity.

  "You mentioned that the Kinmartens very likable young people. The Hlathad the same feeling about them; they were the only human beings asidefrom Eltak with whose minds it had become quite familiar. There was noassurance at this point that the plans to prevent a bomb from beingexploded in the Star would be successful, and the one place wherehuman beings could hope to survive such an explosion was precisely theinterior of the Hlat's cubicle, which had been constructed tosafeguard its occupant against any kind of foreseeable accident.

  "So the Hlat sprang your cubicle trap, removed the bait, carried theKinmartens inside, and whipped out of the cubicle again before therest current could take effect on it. It concluded correctly thateveryone would decide it had been recaptured. After that, it movedabout the Executive Block, observing events there and prepared to takeaction again if that appeared to be advisable. When you had concludedyour operation successfully, it remained near the cubicle, waiting forme to arrive."

  Quillan shook his head. "That's quite an animal!" he observed aftersome seconds. "You say, it's in our general vicinity now?"

  "Yes," Klayung said. "It followed the cubicle down here, and has beendrifting about the walls of the vestibule while we ... well, while Italked."

  "Why doesn't it show itself?"

  Klayung cleared his throat. "For two reasons," he said. "One is thatrather large gun you're holding on your knees. It saw you use itseveral times, and after all the shooting in the Executive Block, yousee--"

  Quillan slid the Miam Devil into its holster. "Sorry," he said. "Forceof habit, I guess. Actually, of course, I've understood for someminutes now that I wasn't ... well, what's
the other reason?"

  "I'm afraid," Klayung said, "that you offended it with your remarkabout its appearance. Hlats may have their share of vanity. At anyrate, it seems to be sulking."

  "Oh," said Quillan. "Well, I'm sure," he went on rather loudly, "thatit understands I received the description from a prejudiced source.I'm quite willing to believe it was highly inaccurate."

  "Hm-m-m," said Klayung. "That seems to have done it, major. The walldirectly across from us--"

  Something