II
It was after dark when Nathan reached Aquatown. The streets of the Venusian frontier village literally flowed with water, proving the accuracy of its naming.
Lights on the corners and in front of the taverns were ghostly blobs in the rain. Few Earthmen were about, but the little polite Greenies of Venus swarmed the streets nodding and smiling when they saw Nathan. They knew and revered him as the great engineer from Earth who had brought lights and power to their wet, primitive world.
Aquatown was only a frontier village with more than its quota of taverns to drain away the savings of the restless spacemen who stopped for a day or a week, waiting for a new cargo or for ship repairs in the nearby Universal Yards.
Nathan's plan was fixed in his mind. He left Perseus at his lodgings and then headed for the taverns. The night's crowds were beginning to swarm in as he entered the first one.
It was hot and steamy inside, and the fog of smoke made it impossible to see the opposite wall. Bearded miners, lean adventurers, smooth fingered confidence men were the customers. Dance hall girls who had come from Earth for the adventure and stayed because of the utter dejection with which Venus filled them were the men's companions for the most part.
Nathan went directly to the bar and began ordering drinks. He grew more boisterous and his voice grew unsteady as he boasted and shouted of his good fortune in coming into possession of two of the Jewels of Chamar.
Then he left. He went to the next tavern and repeated the performance. During the night he made a tour of the taverns that would have done credit to old Thymar Ormondy himself.
And when the first light of Venusian dawn came he was stiff and immobile in the last of the taverns. The bouncers pitched him out into the mud and rain as the place closed up.
When he was alone Nathan rose and shook himself. He had accomplished his purpose. Every thug and murderer on Venus knew by now that Nathan Ormondy was going today to the secret cache of Jewels left by his father.