Roger Wing got very little sleep that night, and the fact that he got his feet wet finding his shelter was only partly responsible.
8
“No, that’s not the principal question.” Laj Drai repeated the statement rather thoughtfully, as he glided into the shop and absently closed the door behind him.
“Sir, I—” Feth got no farther with his expostulation.
“Oh, don’t let me interrupt. Go right ahead, Ken — you have a problem on your hands, I see. Get it out of the way, and we’ll tackle the other afterwards. There’ll be no interruptions then.”
Rather puzzled, for he had completely forgotten Drai’s threat, Ken turned back to his microphone and resumed the apparently endless chant. While he did not understand the words with which Roger finally interrupted, the thing had gone on long enough so that he shared the boy’s impatience to some extent. Also, the clank as Roger kicked the torpedo was at least suggestive.
It was Drai who drove the projectile into the air, an instant later. He had never heard those words, either; but they were different enough from the usual human conversation to start him shivering. The thought of strained or severed relations with Planet Three was one he could not face — and this being was definitely excited and more than probably angry. That blow on the hull of the torpedo—
Drai’s tentacle whipped past Sallman Ken at the thought, and the main power and drive director switches closed as one. The investigator swivelled around on the control rack, and eyed his employer curiously.
“You seem almost as excited as the native. What’s the matter?” Laj drew a deep breath, and finally got his voice under control. He was just beginning to realize that his dramatic entry had not been the wisest of moves. It was perfectly possible that his hired expert had learned the name of Earth’s product quite innocently; and if that were the case he would be ill-advised to attach too much weight to the incident — publicly, at least. He shifted ground, therefore, as smoothly as he could.
“Your chemical analysis seems to have encountered complications.”