"Normal," Drummer gasped. "These passages were abandoned years ago, after we switched to local transmission from control modules suspended beneath the dome. Too much trouble to collapse the subsurface tunnels, I suppose. Also, we had to consider the surface effects of a collapse. Couldn't afford the chance. As you see, the network is still useful."
He shot a quick glance at Brad, then ahead along their route.
"Don't get the impression I've got to run from Scarf," Drummer said, heaving another deep breath, "or even to avoid him under ordinary circumstances. Obviously, he was drunk. My presence in the bar-room gave him an opportunity to enhance his image. Your companion's intervention, I admit, relieved the pressure, but the method he chose may prove unfortunate."
"Why this melodramatic escape?"
"To avoid a confrontation in which Scarf, backed up by his troops, would be in complete control; a confrontation in which you couldn't possibly hold your own. The encounter has already caused me embarrassment. I don't relish a repetition." Drummer paused. "And there's another reason."
"Oh?"
"I know who you are, and the circumstances that brought you and your associates to Planet Pluto. I want to know more."
"Why?"
"My answer to that depends on what I learn about you and your companions."
Drummer slowed to a fast walk, searching spaces between the bundles of the thick cables.