"Sall right ole buddy. Dint mean to stay. Only thought you'd like to know natural sci-yen-tiffy fack. Diomed is nine plan' system."
He rose on wobbly but cheerful legs.
"No favoritism there, hey? Science. I just tell you a fack, you take it from there. No favoritism tall."
He lurched away mumbling cheerily, his obligation fulfilled.
Travis stared after him, wheels turning in his brain. Fack? A nine planet system. It jelled slowly, then broke.
Nine planets.
The key.
He turned slowly on Trippe, his eyes swivelling like twin dark cannon.
"What's he say?" Trippe said, half-smiling. "Boy, he was sure—"
"Did you know this was a nine planet system?"