“That's right. It was like pulling teeth to get the visas.”
“How many men aboard?”
Mouley Hassan looked at him speculatively. “Four-man crew and six Section G operatives.”
Tog said brightly, “Why, that means, then, that either Tommy Paine is still on this planet, or he's one of the passengers or crew members of that ship.” She added, “That is, of course, unless he had a private craft, hidden away somewhere.”
Ronny slumped back into his chair as some of the ramifications came home to him. “If it was Tommy Paine at all,” he said.
Mouley Hassan nodded. “That's always a point.” He finished his glass and looked pleadingly at Tog. “Look, I have work. If I can finish some of it, I might have time for some sleep. Couldn't we postpone the search for Tommy Paine.”
Tog said nothing to him.
Ronny came to his feet. “We'll get along. A couple of ideas occur to me. I'll check with you later.”
“Fine,” the agent said. He shook hands with them again. He said, somehow more to Tog than to Ronny, “I know how important your job is. It's just that I've been pushed to the point where I can't operate efficiently.”
She smiled her understanding, gave him her small, delicate hand.