Equation of Doom Read online

Chief crashed down on top of it. There wasn't a sound in thegambling hall except Ramsey's sudden hard breathing, the Vegan girl'ssniffling, and Garr Symm's noisy attempts to get air into his lungs.Then Garr Symm gagged and was sick. He writhed in pain, still unable tobreathe. His hands fluttered near his weapons belt.

  "Come on," Ramsey told the Vegan girl. "We'd better get out of here." Hetook her arm. Dumbly she went with him. None of the outworlders theretried to stop them. Ramsey looked back at Garr Symm. The Irwadian wasshaking his fist. He had finally managed to draw his m.g. gun, but thecrowd of outworlders closed between them and there was no chance hecould hit Ramsey or the girl. Retching, he had dirtied the glossy greenscales of his chest.

  "I'll get you," he vowed. "I'll get you."

  Ramsey took the girl outside. It was very cold. "I'm so afraid," shesaid. "What will I do? What can I do?" She shook with fear.

  "You got a place to sleep?"

  "Y-yes, but I'm the only Vegan girl in Irwadi City. He'll find me. He'llfind me when he's ready."

  "O.K. Then come home with me."

  "I--"

  "For crying out loud, I don't look that lecherous, do I? We can't juststand here."

  "I--I'm sorry. I'll go with you of course."

  Ramsey took her hand again and they ran. The cold black Irwadian nightswallowed them.

  "So you live in the Old Quarter too," the Vegan girl said.

  "Heck yeah. Did you expect a palace?"

  * * * * *

  Ramsey had a room, rent one Irwadi month in arrears, in a cold-watertenement near the river which demarked the Old and the New Quarters. Thefacade of the old building was dark now. His landlady was probablyasleep, although you never could tell with that old witch. Ramsey knewit wouldn't be the first time she stayed up through half the night toawait a delinquent tenant.

  "I--I never went to a man's room before," the blue-skinned Vegan girlsaid. She was rather pretty in a slender, muscleless, big-eyed,female-helpless mode.

  "You're a dance-hall girl, aren't you?"

  "Still, I never spent the night in a man's--"

  "What's the matter with you? You think we're going to spend the nighthere? Somebody over at those gaming tables will be able to identify me.Garr Symm'll be on his way before long."

  "Then what are we going to do?" The girl was shivering with cold.

  "Hide," Jason Ramsey said. "Somewhere. I just came back to get mythings. There isn't much, but there's an old m.g. gun which we mightneed."

  "But they'll find us, and--"

  "You coming upstairs or will you wait out here and freeze to death inthe cold?"

  "I'm coming."

  They went upstairs together, on tip-toe. Ramsey's room was on the thirdfloor, with a besooted view of the industrial complex on the river byday. The narrow hall was dark and silent. Behind one of the closed doorsan outworlder cried out in his sleep. Ramsey had to cup a hand over theVegan girl's mouth so she wouldn't scream in empathic fear. He openedthe door of his room, surprised that it was not locked. He thought hehad left it locked.

  At once he was wary. It was dark in the hall, just as dark in the room.He could see nothing. The door hinges squeaked.

  "Come in, Captain Ramsey," a voice said. "I thought you would never gethere."

  He stood on the threshold, uncertain. The voice had spoken notInterstellar _Coine_, but English. It had spoken English, without aforeign accent.

  And it was a girl's voice.

  * * * * *

  Still, it could have been an elaborate trick. It was unlikely, but notimpossible, that Garr Symm had learned Ramsey's identity already and hadsent an operative here to await him. Ramsey and the Vegan girl had comeon foot. It was a long walk.

  "I'm armed," Ramsey lied. "Come over here. Slowly. Don't put any lightson." He could feel the Vegan girl trembling next to him. Not able tounderstand English, she didn't know what was going on.

  "You're armed," the unseen girl's voice said in crisp, amused English,"like I'm a six-legged Antarean spider-man. You have an m.g. gun,Ramsey. It's in this room. I have it. That's all you have. No, don't tryto lie to me. I'm a telepath. I can read you. Come in and put the lighton and shut the door. You may bring the girl with you if you want.Brother, is she ever radiating fear! It's practically drowning your ownmind out."

  The unseen girl wasn't kidding, Ramsey knew. She could read minds. Shehad proved it to him. Which left him this choice: he could grab theVegan girl's arm again and get the heck out of there, or do what theunseen Earth girl told him to do. He wanted that m.g. gun. He took theVegan girl's hand and advanced over the threshold and closed the doorand switched on the light.

  The girl was sitting on the bed. She was an Earthgirl, all right. Shehad come in a toggle-cloak of green Irwadian fur, which was foldedneatly at her side on the bed. Under it she wore a daring net halter ofthe type then fashionable on Earth but which had not yet taken over theoutworlds. It left her shoulders bare and exposed a great deal ofsmooth, tawny skin through the net. Her firm breasts were cupped in twosolid cones of black growing out of the net. Her midriff was bare to aninch or two below the navel. Her loins were covered by an abrevitogwhich formed a triangle in front and, Ramsey knew, would form one inback. Her long, well-formed legs were bare down to the mid-calf bootsshe wore. She had a beautiful body and had dressed so Ramsey couldn'tmiss it. Her face was so provocatively beautiful that Ramsey just stoodthere staring at it--after he had taken in the rest of her. She wore herhair quite long. She seemed perfectly composed. In her right hand sheheld Ramsey's m.g. gun, but she wasn't pointing it at them.

  She looked at the timid Vegan girl and smiled. "Oh, I am sorry, CaptainRamsey," she said. "I couldn't know, of course, you'd be coming homewith--company."

  "It isn't what you think it is," Ramsey said, surprised to find himselfon the defensive. "The girl's in trouble. So'm I."

  The Earthgirl laughed. "Already? You looked the type, but I thought itwould take a little time."

  "What do you want?" Ramsey said. They were speaking in English. TheVegan girl tugged at Ramsey's arm. She wanted to get out of there andhoped Ramsey would go with her. Abruptly the Earthgirl burst outlaughing.

  "What's so funny?" Ramsey demanded.

  "Your little Vegan friend. I read her mind, Ramsey. She thinks I'm yourwife. She thinks I'm mad at you for bringing her home."

  "Then why don't you talk in _Coine_," Ramsey said in the interstellarlanguage, "and make her feel better? She might as well know I never sawyou before in my life." He was annoyed.

  * * * * *

  The Vegan girl smiled timidly, taking hope.

  "But you did," the beautiful Earthgirl said. "I was on the _Polaris_today, Captain. You were to be the pilot, until Interstellar Transferhere on Irwadi was planetarized."

  "I didn't see you. Dressed like that I wouldn't have forgotten you."

  "I wasn't dressed like this." The girl smiled, very sure of herself. "Iread your mind when you came in. The costume's had the desired effect, Isee. But you needn't broadcast your animal desires so blatantly."

  "Nobody asked you to read my mind. Besides, you needn't broadcast yourphysical assets so blatantly."

  "Touche," said the Earthgirl.

  "Listen," Ramsey began. "We're in a jam. We're in a hurry."

  "So you told me. I couldn't have wished for more. It looks like I didn'tneed this costume and its obvious inducements at all, if you're reallyin a jam."

  "What the devil is that supposed to mean?"

  "My name is Margot Dennison, Captain Ramsey. I have managed to buy anold starship, small and held together by spit and string and whateverthe Irwadians use for prayer--"

  "They're atheists," Ramsey said a little pointlessly. It was the girl.Darn her hide, she was beautiful! What did she expect? Looking at her,how could a man concentrate.... "Hey!" Ramsey blurted suddenly. "Did yousay Margot Dennison? The tri-di star?"

  * * *
* *

  Margot Dennison smiled. "That's right," she said. "Stranded five hundredlight years from nowhere, Captain Ramsey. With a ship. With money. Inneed of a hyper-space pilot. That's why I'm here, or didn't you guess?"

  "I'm listening."

  "Isn't it clear? I'll pay you to take me away from