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became the finest organization of its kind ever known. (Baird, A Study of
Security, Ed. 2447, p. 291).
The Brawl in the Dunedin Arms
The city of Tampeta, Florida, had a population of over fifteen million. It
included, not only what had once been
Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, but also all the other cities and
villages between Sarasota on the south and
Port Richey on the north. Just outside Tampeta's city limit, well out toward
Lakeland, Jay the Pinellas Fair Ground.
There the Circus of the Galaxy had been playing to capacity crowds for over a
week, with a different show
especially with an entirely different climax-every night.
Jules and Yvette d'Alembert, as top stars of the show, of course had private
dressing rooms. They also had private
entrances. Thus no one connected with the show saw, and no one else either
noticed or cared, that two short, fat
Delfians, muffled to the eyes in the shapelessly billowing robes and hoods of
their race, joined one of the columns
of people moving slowly toward the exit leading to the immense parking lot. It
took them half an hour to get to
their car, but they were in no hurry.
Out of the traffic jam at last, Jules maneuvered his heavy vehicle up into the
second-level, west-bound Interstate
Four and sped for the Dunedin district and the Dunedin Arms" one of the
plushiest night spots in all North
America. At the Arms, he gave a dollar to the parking-lot attendant" another
to the resplendently-uniformed
doorman and a third to the usher who escorted them ceremoniously into the
elevator and up to the fourth floor. At
the check-stand the two Delfians refused-as expected-to part with any of their
mufflings Jules did, however-also as
expected give the provocatively clad hat-check girl a dollar before he handed
his reservation slip and a five-dollar
bill to the bowing captain.
"Thank you, sir and madam," that worthy said. "We are very glad indeed to have
you with us this evening" Mister and
Miss Tygven. Will you have your table now, or perhaps a little later?"
"A little later, I think," Jules said, using faultlessly the Russo-English
"Empirese" that was the court language of the
Empire. He paused then, and gazed about the huge room. At his right, along the
full two-hundred-foot length of the
room, ran the subduedly ornate, mirror-backed bar. At his left were three
tremendous windows overlooking the
beach and the open Gulf. Heavy tables of genuine oak, not too closely spaced,
filled the place except for a large
central dance floor. On a stage at the far end of the room a spotlighted,
red-haired stripper was doing her stuff.
Priceless paintings and fabulous tapestries adorned the walls. Suits of armor
dating from the ancient days of
chivalry stood on pedestals and niches here and there. The place was jammed
with a gay, colorful and festive
crowd; there were only a few vacant places even at that tremendously long bar.
It was quite evident why the captain had suggested a short delay, so Jules
said, "Yes, later, please. We will do a little
serious drinking at the bar before we eat."
And at the bar, Jules laid a fifty-dollar bill on the oak and said, "A liter
of vodnak, please. Estvan's, if you have it. In
the original bottle-sealed."
"We have it, Mister." The bar-tender set out two glasses, a bowl of ice and
the heavy, crudely molded, green-glass
bottle of the one-hundred-and-twenty-proof beverage that was the favored
tipple of the rim-world, Delf. "We've got
everything. And don't worry about it not being the clear quill. We don't
cheat. With our prices we don't have to"and
he put down on the bar a dollar and fifteen cents in change, which Jules waved
away.
Before Jules opened the bottle-he was looking into the mirror, and so was
Yvette-the man at Yvette's left finished
his drink and moved away, and a tall, slim Earthman came up to take his place.
Holding up one finger to the
bartender" the newcomer said" "I'll take a jigger of the. . . ."
That was as far as he got. "Rube!" Yvette snapped throughout the years, half
of the old-time circus battle-cry of
"Hey Rube!" had survived. She grabbed the heavy bottle by its neck, and
hurling it even as she dropped-dropped
safely under the vicious blaster-beam that, having incinerated the slender
Earthman, swept through the space her
chest bad occupied an instant before. Still in air" falling almost flat, she
braced one foot against the bar, dived head-
long under the nearest table, bent her back and heaved.
The blaster-beam, however, had already expired. The heavy bottle" still full
and still sealed, hurled with a Des.
Plainian's strength and with an aerialist's sure control, had struck bottom-on
squarely in the middle of the gunner's
face-and that gunner now had no face at all and scarcely enough head to be
recognizable as human.
Jules, too, was busy. He too had dropped at his sister's warning word,
scanning the room as he fell. He too made a
dive; but his was high and far, toward a table for six at which only two
couples sat. One of the men at that table, half
hidden behind a tall and statuesque blonde, had started to rise to his feet
and was reaching for his left armpit.
Jules lit flat on the table and slid angle-wise across its length, in a welter
of breaking and flying dishes" glassware"
silverware, food and drink, directly at the man trying so frantically to draw
his weapon. En route" Jules brushed the
blonde aside. He didn't push her hard at all-just a one handed gentle shove;
just enough to get her out of the way.
Nevertheless, she went over backward, chair and all" and performed an [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]