Vagabond of Space Read online

  an issue of it. He fluttered his wings excitedly.

  "Hey—a fang—face-fly-catcher!" the bird croaked out loudly and clearly.

  Pucky snapped his mouth shut but he still remained silent. This creature had a mind—and what a curious one it was!

  Since the potential perils of the encounter did not materialize, Rhodan was enjoying the performance both visually and audibly. Even the other officers had come closer to watch. They had never yet seen the mouse beaver at a loss for repartee. Until now. As for Graybound, he was secretly elated by the show his pet was putting on because every minute of delay now represented more security for himself. It would gain more time for the rearrangements going on inside the Lizard.

  "Hey, fathead!" squawked Torero as he looked directly beyond Pucky. His sharp eyes held steadily on Bell's flushed face. It was quite obvious that this time Bell was his target. But even Bell failed to make a comment. In his silent astonishment he swallowed the insult.

  Then Col. Claudrin stepped forward so that his mighty figure obscured Pucky and Bell simultaneously. Disregarding Rhodan he bellowed at Graybound. "Listen, you, why don't you take this circus someplace else! Are you out of your mind or something?"

  Graybound gave the native Epsalian a very jaundiced look. It was true that Claudrin was shorter than he but on the other hand he was more than twice as broad. The volume of his thundering voice was greater than anything Graybound had ever experienced and those giant fists left no doubt as to what they could be used for.

  But Graybound's unscrupulousness was matched only by his utter lack of fear. As a matter of course he had respect for Rhodan but this walking tree stump was something else again... "You ought to be left behind on this hunk of rock! With your bulk we might not be able to lift off!" he bellowed back and he noted with satisfaction that Claudrin paled. Whether from anger or fear could not be determined. "At least that would give the poor monster maybe three weeks' supply of fat to live on!"

  He then proceeded to ignore the colonel because meanwhile Bell had recovered from shock and had stepped closer to inspect the parrot intently. "So what do you want? Torero isn't for sale!"

  "Just a plain old parrot," muttered Bell disappointedly as though having expected something else. "Is he trained to talk like that?"

  Before Graybound could put an end to this whole business, Rex Knatterbull appeared in the entrance hatch of the Lizard. "Everything is ready for taking on the passengers!" he called.

  In trying to attract Graybound's attention, Rhodan touched his arm with his index finger. Torero made a treacherous jab at him with his sharp beak but Rhodan reacted with surprising swiftness. In the next second he held the struggling little ruffian in his hands.

  "Murder!" screeched the parrot as it made desperate struggles to escape. "Help! Murder! Crooks! We're only poor little smugglers...!"

  Rhodan looked at the bird in amazement and then set it back on Graybound's shoulder. He winked at the old captain confidingly. "Smart little beast—that's what you said, Captain. Do you still think so now?"

  "I also said he gets fresh sometimes, sir. And he doesn't always speak the truth." Obviously Graybound was anxious to change the subject. "Would you kindly ask your people to go on board now? My crewmen will show all of you to your quarters." After a moment's hesitation, he added: "I'd appreciate it, sir, if you would instruct your men to remain in the places assigned to them. You know, my ship isn't any too modern..."

  "I understand," Rhodan agreed with a nod. "You may rely on us."

  As the boarding operation proceeded, Graybound and Rhodan waited at the bottom of the passenger ladder.

  The old spacer took a close look at every man who passed him on the way up. Torero muttered scoldingly to himself but every once in awhile the bird would aim an appropriate barb at the men passing by.

  "Potbelly!" he crackled at Claudrin and only Rhodan's warning glance kept the Epsalian from wringing the creature's neck.

  "Beanpole!" was the title he bestowed upon the lanky Maj. Krefenbac, much to Graybound's secret amusement.

  When the diminutive Capt. Nacro came along and Torero referred to him as a 'dwarf', Rhodan was seriously startled. This was no longer a mere matter of coincidence, he reasoned. The parrot was not simply talking to itself or mimicking a number of opprobriums haphazardly. He was using the words intelligently. His

  observations were almost always related to the event or circumstance.

  In fact—could one even say almost?

  It was a two-sided question. He would have to look into the matter of this parrot later. One of the two questions only Capt. Graybound would be able to answer.

  After the Fantasy's surviving crew had been quartered and Col. Claudrin's loud complaints about the 'garbage scow' had subsided somewhat, Rhodan took John Marshall to one side and ordered him to make a quiet surveillance of Graybound's thoughts—especially whenever he was thinking of his cargo. Then he and Pucky went on into the Lizard's Control Central.

  Graybound wasn't happy about the invasion of his sanctum but even though he was co-owner of a private freightline business the fact still remained that Rhodan was the Solar Administrator and his special powers automatically made him the Commander-in-Chief over any Terran spaceman. If Rhodan wished to spend some time in the Control Central there was no way of vetoing the situation. And as for this mouse-beaver critter... In sudden startlement, Graybound remembered something else about him: the little wretch was a teleporter! He resolved not to forget that.

  "OK for take-off!" he told Rex as he turned to Rhodan. "We're not as roomy here as on the big ships. You take my seat and I'll stand."

  Rhodan accepted the offer and seated himself. Then he asked casually: "Capt. Graybound, what is it that you are actually smuggling?"

  Rex Knatterbull jumped as though stabbed. He leaned closer to Rhodan, apparently not recognizing who he was—or perhaps it was that he didn't want to recognize him.

  "You want me to bounce this guy off the ship?" he asked.

  Graybound made a wild gesture of negation. "Keep your trap shut, you donk! Bounce Rhodan off the ship? Don't make me laugh!" Then he came up for air. "Did you say smuggling, Mr. Rhodan? How did you mean that?"

  "What's your cargo?" grinned Rhodan. "You know our Pucky is also a telepath."

  "Just toys—and teddybears. They're for the Tuglan children. By the time we get there they'll probably grow beards, from the way things are going!"

  "Ah... teddybears..." Rhodan seemed to pronounce the word speculatively as he looked at Pucky. Thoughts were exchanged. Rhodan became aware of what was in Graybound's mind. "And what do you have inside the teddybears?"

  Graybound's ruddy face blanched. This must be the work of the devil. Had the world gone mad? This little mouse-beaver pest with his thought-reading—that was it! That had to be the answer! The fuzzy scoundrel had revealed everything to his Chief. And who could keep anybody from thinking?

  "Take off, I said!" he barked at Rex impatiently.

  The First Officer pulled back on the flight lever and the Lizard ascended with thundering engines. Swiftly the small rocky island fell away below—the chance haven that had saved the lives of Rhodan and his men.

  Rhodan spoke calmly to the First Officer. "Don't forget to mark this system's coordinates in the charts. Perhaps later we'll make a visit here under more favorable conditions." Then turning to Graybound he continued. "Well, Captain, do you really think you can't confide in me? After all, you know, we should be friends. You did save my life and that has bargaining power. You are in a position to ask a favor. If possible I'll try to take such facts into consideration."

  Graybound stared at Rhodan incredulously. But then his face brightened up. "Sir, where my cargo's concerned—especially the teddybears..."

  "That, my good fellow, is not in the deal. I'm granting you one wish and that would only be wasting it. No, it's not what you think. Do you think I would seek to ruin your business? Of course such a step would be necessary if you were furnish
ing alien races with weapons or narcotics without restraint. But the fact is, you're smuggling medicines because on Glatra three there's a good profit for such a commodity. Your competitors, the Aras, are too high-priced and, besides, they cut corners on quality. Actually, all you're doing, Graybound, is performing a worthwhile service. Of course, medicines have to be taxed according to our tariff laws—although I'll admit that the governing regulations may require some overhauling. Here now, what kind of a face is that?"

  Actually, Graybound looked as if somebody had just told him his ship had been confiscated. His normally magnificent red beard seemed to droop despondently and even Torero let his wings sag as though he had understood everything. Of course he was probably only responding to his master's mood without actually knowing the reason for his sadness.

  "What's the matter with you?" Rhodan insisted, while Pucky suddenly broke into a grin. "I've just given you a reprieve!"

  "Oh, I'll grant you that," replied Graybound but he remained in deadly earnest. "But how can there be any more fun in smuggling if it's made legal?"

  Rhodan had to restrain an urge to chuckle. Of course he could understand Pucky's unruffled cheerfulness in the matter but he did not share it with him. "You mean—if medicines were open for trading you'd smuggle something else?"

  "I didn't say that!" protested Graybound in alarm. "I just said it'd take all the fun out of it!" He pulled himself together. "OK, so why don't you quit playing around with me, Mr. Rhodan? Why don't you give it to me straight—I've just made my last flight. Or am I supposed to believe you're going to leave some skin on my back?"

  "Yes, that you can believe, Graybound." For a few moments Rhodan watched Rex Knatterbull, who had turned on the autopilot and was now feeding transition data into the nav-computer. "Incidentally, do you know our present position?"

  Graybound thought he wasn't hearing correctly. "What!" he gasped. "Do you mean to say you got lost before your ship exploded?" He shook his head. "How can that be possible?"

  His thoughts in this connection remained unspoken but Pucky was alert as usual. "He's getting impertinent again," the mouse-beaver chirped to Rhodan. Graybound reddened somewhat in his embarrassment but he remained silent.

  "You mean—we must be amateurs? My dear Graybound, we were test-flying one of the new linear-drive ships and we ran into trouble. That can happen, you know. We slipped off course and then the catastrophe happened."

  Graybound remembered. "The new linear drive—that figures! They even wanted to retrain me and make me a commander of one of those ships. But I told them to go whistle at the Institute. Ha! Imagine retraining me!"

  "Not a bad idea," commented Pucky unabashedly. "If I could imagine this brute to be a gentleman.

  This brought Torero out of his lethargy.. "Dirty rat!" he screeched, and then fluttered up to his cage. He scrabbled inside it and used his beak to close the door behind him. Nothing like playing it safe, he seemed to be thinking.

  There was an indefinable expression on Pucky's face as he watched the parrot. Then he shook his head. "Like master, like bird," he commented.

  Rhodan continued. "So you were named for Cosmonautic retraining at the Institute? Hm, remarkable. Very interesting! But that would mean that the robot Brain selected you among many candidates as being suitable material. That's a good sign, Captain—really a very good sign. Naturally the Brain doesn't merely check out those who apply but all space pilots in service. Anyway—you were there. Congratulations, Capt. Graybound."

  "Congratulations?" queried Graybound incredulously. There was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice, the volume of which had subsided noticeably during the past hour. "Why should you congratulate me? After all, I turned it down."

  "That makes little difference, Captain. You pass in regard to professional and character aptitudes."

  "I don't think I turned out to be suitable culturally, Mr. Rhodan," said Graybound swiftly. "A certain Col. Rumbuckle made no bones about that. Hmm... come to think of it, I had to strain a bit to show him the lower side of my nature."

  "Isn't his name Rammbuggl?" asked Rhodan, attempting to remember. "Yes, I believe that's it. Well then, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing his report!"

  Graybound half choked with embarrassment. "Sir, did you say I had one favor to ask?" As Rhodan nodded, he continued swiftly: "OK, then here it is: don't ever read that report from Col. Rambugle! When you see it you'll reject it immediately! So just do me the favor—don't read it!"

  Rhodan smiled and clapped Graybound on the shoulder. "That I can promise you. If it were not for you I'd never be able to read another report in my life. So I can just as well skip that one."

  Graybound sighed in relief. He had realized in the meantime that his comportment at the Institute would have unpleasant consequences. But now he was free of such worries.

  Without taking his gaze from the viewscreen the First Officer announced, "Transition in two minutes, Captain."

  "We're making a big jump, Mr. Rhodan," explained Graybound with new zeal. "It will bring us to a place where we can get our bearings better. In two jumps after that we'll reach the Solar System."

  • • •

  The transition was accomplished smoothly but when the normal universe materialized around the Lizard a surprise was waiting for Graybound. In addition to the stars there were other objects which came into very clear visibility. Three patrol cruisers of the Terranian Fleet hovered close by as though they had been waiting for the return of Graybound's freighter.

  The old red-bearded skipper rubbed his eyes. "Rex!" he exclaimed. "This isn't possible—am I seeing ghosts?"

  "I don't know about you, Sam, but I'm looking at three cruisers. One of them has the markings of the ship that tried to stop us before. That feisty commander must have called in some reinforcements."

  "What are you talking about?" inquired Rhodan.

  Graybound explained the former incident to him and concluded: "I don't see how that character could ever have guessed that I'd reconvert the jump coordinates to get back here but him sitting here now with two of his buddies to check my cargo is a heck of a lot more than a lousy coincidence!"

  Before Rhodan could say anything, Smith interrupted. The frail little Com man was capable of an astonishing shrill volume when it was vital for him to be heard. "They're challenging us to stop! If we try to escape again they'll open fire immediately!"

  "Did he say that?" asked Graybound in astonishment. He seemed to have forgotten Rhodan's presence completely. "Rex! Let's merk!"

  Rhodan finally got in a word. "Don't leave too hastily, Graybound. This time the commander is forewarned about your tactics. He would track you down. At this close proximity it would be easy for him to triangulate on your transition because of the warp-shock intensity. You'd no sooner materialize than he'd be there—and he'd blast you and your ship out of existence." He smiled faintly. "My Fleet has been well-trained. Those cruiser commanders are exceptional space pilots."

  Graybound's shoulders slumped. "OK, Rex—hold off," he said resignedly. "So do we submit to an inspection?"

  "I didn't say anything about that," replied Rhodan. "I'd prefer that my presence on board your ship remained a secret for now but if it can't be avoided..."

  He shrugged. "See if you can get around a full inspection. Talk with the commander and try to quiet his suspicions."

  Graybound made a wry face. "Do you know what a chore that is?" he said frankly. "These guys know all about me, actually."

  "The lousy sneaks!" scolded Torero angrily but he took the precaution to remain in his cage. "Shoot the whole kaboodle!"

  Rhodan had gotten up and now he stepped closer to the parrot. After regarding the bird in silence for a few moments he said suddenly: "If you open your beak once more at the wrong time like that, we'll have to give you a hypno-block—do you understand?"

  From that moment on, Torero acted as though he'd been transformed and he kept his beak shut.

  Smith yelled again: "We're supposed to
open the hatches! A Maj. Behnken is heading up a prize crew with four other men. What should I tell them?"

  Rhodan nodded affirmatively at the tramp ship skipper.

  "Tell them to come on board!" ordered Graybound but it was with very mixed feelings. In spite of Rhodan he did not feel at all secure. "The locks will be open for them."

  Rhodan motioned to Pucky. "Let's go hide ourselves in the Com Room." To Graybound he added: "Try to get rid of them. I'll be behind you if necessary. But remember that I'd like to avoid having them know I'm here. I don't even want the Fleet to know that our first linear-drive flight failed." He paused, then clarified the statement. "Of course it did not fail, actually. We made a tremendous discovery."

  But if Graybound assumed he was going to find out about Rhodan's discovery he was disappointed. The Administrator went with Pucky into the cramped Communications booth.

  Graybound ordered the airlocks opened. Rex Knatterbull went to receive the major and guide him back to the Control Central. Although his face was expressionless his clenched fists revealed only too well what frame of mind he was in.

  Graybound waited, gradually realizing that not much could happen to him. In an extreme emergency he'd lead the major into the Com Room where the worthy gent would certainly be in for a surprise. But if it could be avoided at all he naturally wanted to respect Rhodan's wish for secrecy. However, he mused, he had to remember that 'charity' begins at home.

  Having seen Rhodan leave, Torero probably assumed that he was alone with his master again. He batted open his cage door and flew to Graybound's shoulder.

  There was a sound of footsteps in the companionway and then a major came in with two cadets. The latter two carried energy pistols in their holsters. Maj. Hehnken took two steps and then halted. His searching gaze was fastened on Graybound for a moment and finally a scornful grin came to his hard features.