The Stars Must Wait by Keith Laumer

Author:Keith Laumer [Laumer, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 0671698591
Publisher: Baen
Published: 1990-02-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

The following day Betsy led me out cautiously into the former stadium which had become a sort of market-cum-forum where all the activity went on. “Well, you’re gonna hafta learn how to handle yourself sometime,” were her parting words.

I soon lost sight of Betsy in the crowd, and within a minute five tall men in black-dyed clothes hemmed me in silently and jabbed something hard into my spine. They conducted me to a former office in the field house where an immensely fat man with a bald kewpie-head with odd, pointy ears sat, or lolled, on an upholstered recliner loaded with cushions.

He waved a cigarette holder at me and said, “What’s this?” in a high, squeaky voice. “Where did you find him, General?”

The Blackie thus addressed stepped forward, gave a Hollywood, or shade-the-eyes salute and said,

“Come out the Old Place with Admiral Betsy, sir.”

“Overpowered the Admiral, eh?” Bunny—it had to be him—squeaked.

“Nossir; she was with the Strangy,” someone volunteered.

“Prolly her prisoner,” Bunny squeaked. “Bring her in.” He snapped his fingers and dismissed the man with a glance; he turned and looked expectantly at the door. General muttered to one of his party, who hurried away, and came back half an hour later with a furious Betsy.

Once hauled to her feet in front of Bunny’s desk she spat. “I got to report these here scummies of yours laid hands on me, Bunny,” she screeched, as if he hadn’t seen them haul her into his presence.

“Had to, Bett,” he piped mildly. “You was aiding this here Strangy, come to kill me.”

“He never done no sich of a thang!” she came back, shooting me a glance. Her dialect seemed to have reverted to the bucolic. “Try to use what little brains you got!” she yelled. “This here feller is from the Baron hisself! Got a hot personal message for ya!”

Bunny shifted a little in his big chair. “Hold on, Bett—” He was cut off by another yell from Betsy.

“Don’t ‘Bett’ me, you, Bunny! that’s ‘Admiral,’ I’ll thank ya to remember!”

He held up a pudgy hand, “All right, all right,” he squeaked. “Git yer hands offin the Admiral,” he ordered the two gorillas who were holding her down. They complied and stepped back, not looking at each other, or at the General, who started to puff himself up for a blast, but thought better of it.

“Now, Admiral,” Bunny squeaked. “What’s this about a message from his Grace yonder? Heard a lotta activity from the palace last few days: shots fired, vehicles on the move. Figgered he had a little revolution on his hands.”

“You figgered wrong!” Betsy snarled. “Got the Great Troll broke loose from the ‘chantment is what he done! Got big new plans, and you was lucky he was gonna give you a ‘portant job of work to do! Sent this here feller to tell you all about it. Could be now he might not wanta, you treating him—and me—the way you done!” She pulled her five feet of muscle and fury into a defiant pose.

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