Through the Eye of a Needle Part 6

"Oh, I know what you mean," Daphne explained excitedly. "It's mostly grown over with coral, isn't it?" Jenny did not know what to say, Bob for some seconds was unable to speak, and the Hunter was not sure he was hearing correctly.

"It could be," Bob said at last. "You've seen something like that? When were you out on Apu?"

"Never. It isn't there. It's on top of a book case in the library; it's been there for years."

6. The Moral of a White Lie

The fact that neither Bob nor the Hunter could accept the face value of Daphne's statement carried no weight at all; Jenny was in control. Paying no attention to Bob's expression, which was rather ambiguous anyway, she congratulated Daphne for solving the problem, asked her to lead the way, suggested that they stop at the Kinnaird's to get bicycles, and explained that Bob would have to wait by the boat to meet someone.

The girl's indifference to the truth or falsehood of what she said was bothering the Hunter more, and more. The long average life of his species had made it a matter of common knowledge, many generations before, that even the most trivial lie is eventually revealed for what it is; it comes home to roost, because the false information leaves a trail through so many memories.

But Jenny seemed to have no scruples at all about tampering with facts in order to achieve even a short-term end. Worse still, the Hunter's host, while obviously very annoyed, seemed to be more bothered by the girl's a.s.sumption of command than by anything else. The feeling of futility which so often drives an immature human being into a temper tantrum was as close to taking over as it ever had been in one of the alien's species. Since Bob was still overcome by his fatigue, neither of them could go with the girls to the library; they-could not use the boat, not that there seemed much need to; they couldn't save time by checking up on the metal-finder while Jenny went with Daphne, as she so clearly intended to do-and both Bob and the Hunter were sure they would still need the finder, even for the s.h.i.+eld. They did not know what Daphne was talking about, but neither believed it was the real object of their search; though, to make matters even more annoying, they knew they would have to get to the library themselves sooner or later to make certain. In fact, this would have to precede any useful work, since Jenny appeared to be taking Daphne's report entirely uncritically, and would accept nothing less than a direct examination by Bob and the Hunter as grounds for denying it.

All the partners could do was wait, worry, and wonder.

Perhaps the worst part was the impossibility of ignoring the chance that the child might be right- which would force extensive re- planning. The library was some two miles away, south of the main road and a little east of where this was joined by the one from the dock. The girls would have to cover the first half mile to Bob's house on foot. Bob wasn't wearing his watch, since it was not waterproof, and they could only guess how long they had been gone. Without saying anything, the Hunter was wondering whether the annoyance would trigger Bob's stomach troubles. That would at least have taken care of the boredom for a while, but he was not really sorry that it failed to happen.

In fact, the girls were back in little more than half an hour, though it naturally seemed much longer. Their voices, well before they arrived, indicated that the enthusiasm was still boiling, and Daphne cried out to her brother the moment they came in sight. "It's still there! Jenny says that must be it! We tried to find out where it came from, but all anyone could tell us was that they thought Maeta had found it before the library was built, and brought it in for decoration when she started working there. She wasn't there today, and wasn't home, we asked as we went by and they said she was out on the water with friends, and she never said where she got it, but we ought to go back and wait for her to come home, and-"

"Throttle back, little one. There are at least four Maetas on the island. I suppose, since you talk about her house being 'on the way,' you mean Charlie Teroa's sister, but I didn't know she worked at the library."

"She does. Also for Dad, sometimes," Jenny affirmed.

"But I still want to see this thing for myself," Bob said firmly, "before I go asking Maeta or anyone else where it came from.

Jenny, you never saw the thing we're looking for, and you can't possibly be really sure that this is it." Bob was looking at the older girl as he spoke, but paid no attention to her expression-the eyeb.a.l.l.s-rolled-to-the-sky one established by Earth's visual entertainment industry as indicating that some-thing of incredible stupidity has just been uttered.

"You went off too fast for me to point that out, Silly. Now I've got to go myself sometime-"

"Well, go ahead," retorted his sister. "We saw Andre coming away from there, and Jenny said he was the one you were waiting here for. But he wasn't headed this way, so you don't have to wait here. Come on back now."

"What?-Oh, I see-well, I don't-" Bob was completely lost for the moment, and even the Hunter had not expected Jenny's fabrications to come home quite so soon. The redhead covered quickly, however, demonstrating an ability which the Hunter was beginning to feel might not be so desirable after all. Quick wit was one thing, but if its owner used it only for keeping lies more or less up to date it might not be available for more serious matters.

"If Andre was going toward the dock, Bob and I can meet him with the boat," Jenny said quickly.

"You take Bob's bike back home, and then wait for us if you like library. We may be pretty late getting there, though, so if you want to do something else, don't wait too long."

"All right." The small brown figure with the almost-white pigtails disappeared up the path without argument. Jenny turned to Bob and the Hunter, but spoke only to the former.

"You get back in the boat. I have something to say to you." Her tone was clearly, even to the Hunter, expressive of extreme annoyance. Nothing else was said until they were afloat and reasonably out of ear-shot of land; then she went on, "You didn't say any-thing about these medical problems affecting your brain. I never saw anyone so slow on the uptake. Do you really want your kid sister chasing around after us on this job?"

"No, of course not."

"Then why didn't you let me convince her that we'd found the thing, and send her off investigating Maeta's past or whatever else might amuse her and keep her out of trouble-and out of our hair?"

"You mean you know that isn't the casing?"

"How would I know? It does fit the description as far as I can tell, but I've never seen the real thing- as you had to go and point out to the kid. Why didn't you go along with my line?"

Bob answered with unusual speed and vehemence.

"Partly because you're right-I'm slow on the up-take. Partly because even if I'd seen what you were up to, or rather been sure of it, I'd still be worried about being around when she learned the truth. I don't want anyone, least of all any of my own family, to be in a position to call me a liar."

"Of course not." Jenny seemed surprised at Bob's seriousness.

"Of course no one likes to tell a real lie, but she wouldn't find out until she was older, and you could explain why we'd done it. She'd take it all right. And isn't it important that we get on with this job, without having to baby-sit the kid at the same time? Look, Bob, unless you've been lying too, you're dying. This is serious. Are a couple of white lies really more important than that?"

Bob made no answer. The Hunter could have provided him with a full-length speech on the subject, but Jenny's words had forced even him to realize that he hadn't thought of the situation quite that way. He had, after all, been willing to bend regulations in the interest of saving his host's life-though there had been other matters of principle which had helped with the bending-and with a short-lived species such as Bob's perhaps lying wasn't quite so serious. He was still un-sure of the answer, though not very much inclined to change his long-term att.i.tude, when Bob finally spoke again.

"We'd better head for the library. Do you have a story ready to cover this meeting with Andre we're supposed to have had- especially if she's met him and mentioned it to him?"

"No, but I'll manage. She's not suspicious, if you mean your sister."

"I do. Not yet." The last two words were pointedly rather bitter, and even Jenny caught their implication. Nothing more was said during the mile and a quarter paddle until near the end, when they saw Daphne waiting for them on the beach by the causeway.

"I suppose you'll tell her it's not the right thing, when you see it." Jenny's tone was more resigned than indignant.

"I'll tell her whether it is or isn't, according to what I see. I appreciate your worry about my health, Jen, but there are some things I can't see doing. I'll kid young Silly in situations we both know aren't serious, and she knows I will, but real out-and-out lying on important matters-no. Maybe I care too much about what she thinks of me after she finds out, but that's the way I feel.

Maybe I've been living with the Hunter too long."

"Thanks," the alien muttered.

"Why should she ever have to find out?" asked Jenny, quite seriously.

"Maybe you haven't been living with the Hunter long enough,"

was Bob's answer. They were ash.o.r.e by then, and the child was running toward them across the sand.

Bob was not completely restored, but was able to get to the library without letting his condition become obvious to Daphne.

Both he and the Hunter were worrying about the other possibility, but nothing more had happened to his stomach since they had left Apu; and now, fortunately, his stomach was practically empty.

The library was a surprisingly large structure, considering the general environment. The reason was another of PFI's policies.

Employees' children not only had the option of a college education at company expense, in return for the work contract afterward; the company also covered book expenses, but required that the books come back to the island afterward. Thorvaldsen was not really trying to start a college on Ell, he insisted, but he wanted for both himself and everyone else on the island good access to as much of human culture, as possible. It was said that he had once read all the nasty things ever said about capitalists and had set out to prove that none of them had to be true. Whatever his intentions, Ell's population formed a generally well read group, from the relatively few pure-blooded Polynesians, through the mixtures which formed the majority, to the relatively few pure-blooded Europeans. It was also a prosperous population; PFI oil had made the island dependent on the rest of the world for everything but food, but no one was worried; it was likely to be a long time before the oil market failed. Even the foresighted ones who felt that man should s.h.i.+ft to nuclear power because of the probable effects of carbon-burning on the planet's climate admitted that PFI was taking as much carbon dioxide from the environment as its customers were putting in. In any case, the library was large and accessible. It was open, with people on duty, every day from sunrise to three hours after sunset.

The librarian on duty at the moment was a middle-aged woman unknown to the Hunter, though Bob was able to call her by name.

"Hi, Mrs. Moetua. Did my pile of books get here?"

The woman looked up and nodded, without interrupting work on a card she was typing. Then she saw Daphne and glanced toward one of the cases; she was the one who had borne the brunt of the little girl's questioning a short time before, and could guess why the group was there. She swung her gaze back to Daphne, who caught her eye and lowered her voice to a whisper as she led the others toward her discovery.

It was well above eye level even for Bob and Jenny, on top of a case of encyclopedias, and certainly from distance answered the verbal description which Bob had supplied and his sister modified.

It was half hidden by the coral which had grown around it in a complex pattern which fully justified its present use as an ornament.

However, enough of the underlying alloy could be seen to make recognition easy, and Bob and the Hunter looked at it for only a few moments. Neither had any doubt about its ident.i.ty. The Hunter would have liked to examine it more closely, as a feature he had not noticed in the brief glimpse seven years before now caught his attention, but he decided to wait -Bob was heading back toward the librarian's desk by now, and the alien decided to let him finish what-ever he had in mind.

"You told Daphne that Maeta Teroa brought that thing in?"

"I said I thought she did," the woman replied. "That's still the way I remember it. It's been here as long as the building, but so has Maeta, and I'm not absolutely sure. She isn't here today, but shouldn't be hard to find. Why are you interested?"

"I saw something like it years ago out on the reef, and wondered if this might be the same thing. It's certainly curious; I wonder it didn't go out with Museum Exchange."

"They don't get everything," the woman smiled. "Don't make remarks about the Exchange if you want Mae to help you. She does a lot of collecting for them, and we have a lot of stuff here- books and specimens both-as a result."

"Thanks, I'll be careful. I didn't mean to sound critical; I have some minerals at the house which I got from a German museum through that outfit, when I was on my rock-loving bug years ago. I'll ask Mae when I see her; thanks, Mrs. Moetua."

Outside, Bob turned to the girls. "That saves a lot of time. Silly, I'll have to think of a real prize for you; start making a list of things you want."

"It really is the thing?" Jenny asked.

"It really is-if you can believe me." The young woman had the grace to blush, but kept on with her questions.

"What can we do now?"

"We'll have to get Maeta to tell us as exactly as possible where she found it, so we can try backtracking the way we'd planned."

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne. "Backtracking what?"

"Part of the secret," replied her brother. "Maybe I can tell you later, but I don't promise. You may as well go off and play. There's nothing we can do until I see Maeta, so you won't miss anything.

They said she was out on the water?" Both girls nodded affirmatively. "All right. I suppose we could go out in the boat again and try to spot her, but the chances wouldn't be very good-she could be picnicking on any of the islets, even around on the south side, and not just cruising around the lagoon. She could even be fis.h.i.+ng or sailing outside the reef."

"But it wouldn't hurt to go see, and you could take me with you in the boat," pointed out Daphne.

Bob looked at Jenny, who smiled and shrugged.

"All right, small sister, if you get on your bike, dash home, and put on something sun proof over that sc.r.a.p of tape you call a bathing suit. Scoot!"

The child vanished.

The rest of the day was spent, not very productively, on the lagoon. Daphne enjoyed herself, and even the older human beings had a good time, but the Hunter was impatient and bored. He could not, in spite of his long life and general tendency toward calm, understand how Bob could apparently put the problem of his own life so casually and completely out of mind. Granted that the trouble was the Hunter's fault, it was Bob's life. It did occur to the alien that this might be another consequence of the relatively short human life span; but that could not be the whole story. The Castorian humanoids he knew lived an even shorter time on the average and he doubted that any of these could have been so casual in such a situation. Certainly none of the individuals he had known personally would have been.

Since most of Ell ate the evening meal shortly after sundown, there was no great difficulty about intercepting Maeta at her home.

Daphne had been sent off with the message that her brother would be home a few minutes later; Jenny accompanied him to the home of the Teroas, who lived in the middle of a fairly extensive garden just at the point where the roads met, and only a few score yards from the library.

Bob and Jenny were greeted cordially. Charles, the son of the family, had been one of Bob's close friends for many years. He and his father were at sea just now, as usual, and the older sister was working in the Tahiti office of PFI, but Maeta, her mother, two of the latter's sisters and a brother-in-law were all there. More time than Bob would have wished was consumed in answering their questions about his college life-not the sort of questions a Boston or New York provincial would have expected from Polynesians. For once, the Hunter was not bored by human conversation, even though it had no connection with his problem.

It did take a while to steer the talk toward the object in the library, but Bob eventually succeeded, Maeta nodded when he mentioned Daphne's calling attention to it, and admitted, with no particular surprise at the question, that she was the donor of the ornament. When he asked where she had found it she did show a polite curiosity about the reason for his interest, and he told the partial truth that he had used before.

"I thought I saw it in the water years ago, but never tried to collect it," he said. "It was on the outer side of Apu, and I didn't want to be served up as hamburger. You must have had a very calm day, or else you are an awfully good swimmer."

One of the aunts chuckled. "Maeta is a better swimmer and a better sailor than any man on Ell." The girl accepted the compliment with a nod, and Bob remembered hearing something similar from Charles in the past. It was quite believable; her strength was not obvious to the eye, but her coordination was, whenever she moved. Bob did not consciously look at her particularly, but Jenny felt that he was and, to her own surprise, she felt a bit annoyed about it. It would not have been surprising if he had; Maeta Teroa might not have been better looking than Jenny, who had a high and quite justified opinion of her own appearance, but she was at very little disadvantage compared to the much taller redhead. Maeta was just over five feet tall, weighing just over a hundred pounds. Names meant little on Ell as far as ancestry was concerned; she showed her Polynesian background in her brown skin and black hair, but Europe- Scotland, Charles had once mentioned -was visible in her blue eyes and relatively straight nose and pointed chin.

"I won't argue," she said in response to the aunt's compliment.

"One doesn't contradict one's elders even to be modest, and I'm not that modest. There really wasn't any risk, though, Bob; I didn't find it on Apu. I spotted it from the Haerehaere on the bottom of the lagoon at least a mile from there-oh, about midway between Tanks Seven and Twelve, as I remember. I was a little surprised to see such a growth there-it's a species you expect out in the reef-so I went down to get it. It was pretty, and I didn't let it go to the Exchange, but kept it at home. When the new library was finished and I started working there I took it over-we all helped decorate the place. I've never figured out how it got so far from the reef. I thought at first that someone had found it there and dropped it overboard bringing it in, but, I couldn't see why the person didn't get it back, in that case. It was in less than twenty feet of water.

Besides, you'd think that any previous owner would have noticed when it appeared in the library; there can't be many people, on the island who haven't seen it there."

The Hunter put a question to Bob which puzzled him, but the young man pa.s.sed it on as his own.

"Did you improve on it any? That is, did you break off any of the coral to make it look prettier, or is it just the way you found it?"

"I certainly didn't. I can't see anything pretty about a broken coral branch, and I remember how glad I was that all the branches were whole. As far as I know it's still that way, though I haven't looked closely at it for a long while. I meant to ask Dad or Charlie what the piece of machinery inside it might be-I suppose it must have come from some s.h.i.+p-but I never happened to think of it while they were around. Maybe you know? You were looking at it today."

"I don't know that much about s.h.i.+ps, I'm afraid," Bob evaded.

The Hunter prompted him again. "Would you come and look at it with me again some time, and tell me whether it's changed any?"

"Of course." Maeta was clearly puzzled by his interest, but was far too polite to ask for an explanation if Bob didn't volunteer one. "I can't go right now -we're about to have dinner-but afterward if you like. You'll stay and eat with us?"

Bob and Jenny made the standard courtesies about being expected at their homes, and left after agreeing to meet Maeta at the library the next morning. Outside, the Hunter asked why Bob hadn't arranged the examination for that night, " I doubt they'll really be through eating before the library closes up," he answered, "and I certainly wouldn't want to seem in a hurry to leave the meal, or to hurry them away from it by coming back later." Jenny, who of course had heard nothing of this exchange, interrupted it by asking Bob the purpose of the question about the coral.

"I don't know," he had to answer. "The Hunter fed them to me, and I was pa.s.sing them on for him."

"Without knowing why?" "There was no way to ask him without being obvious about it. I don't have to speak out loud-he can feel the tension in my vocal cords when I'm not quite speaking-but I'd have had to pause in my other conversation, and people would have noticed."

"Well, why not ask him now?"

"How about it, Hunter?" The alien had no reason to hold back.

"I thought I saw a regularity in the coral arrangement when we were in the library. I'm not sure enough to want to be more explicit until we have another look, and get Maeta's a.s.surance that its present condition either is or isn't the way it was when she first noticed it. Also, I'd like to see if either of you notices anything when you see it next time, so I'd rather not tell you what to look for." Bob relayed this to the girl. Neither was particularly satisfied, and Jenny kept trying to persuade the Hunter to say more all the way to her house. Bob knew better, so the conversation was less strained the rest of the way to his own home.

Predictably, his strength was back to normal when he woke up the next morning. However, a new complication had developed in the form of extreme pain in his joints, especially knees and ankles.

As usual, the Hunter could find no specific cause, certainly nothing as clear-cut as the crystals of uric or oxalic acid of gout. The Hunter looked for these with especial care; he had persuaded Bob to take a course in human physiology, and had been very conscientious in doing his host's reading with him.

Presumably one of the plates he was juggling, most probably a hormone, was wobbling in its flight, but the presumption was not very helpful. Bob was extremely uncomfortable physically, but seemed to be getting more philosophical as his condition grew worse. He was quite calm, and showed no signs of blaming the Hunter. The latter, on the other hand, felt himself being driven closer and closer to panic by the combination of guilt and helplessness. He knew that panic could hardly be expected to help, but it attacks on a level far below the reach of intelligence.

Bob was able to move around, however uncomfortably, and ate breakfast with the family without finding it necessary to tell them about the new trouble. Daphne, luckily, had plans to spend the day with friends of her own age, and presented no problem.

Bob and his companion left by bicycle as soon as the meal was over. Nothing had been specifically said about Jenny's being with the party, but she was waiting in front of her house as they pa.s.sed, and fell in beside them on her own machine for the short remaining distance to the library.

Maeta had not yet arrived, but must have seen them pa.s.s her home; they had to wait only two or three minutes for her. They entered the building together, and the smaller woman spoke briefly to the librarian on duty, not Mrs. Moetua this time. Then she led the way to the case on which the coral-encrusted generator housing stood, and gestured to Bob to lift it down-she herself could not reach it. Jenny, for reasons she probably could not have stated clearly herself, reached it first and carried it, still at Maeta's direction, to a table near the door, where sunlight fell directly on it.

They all bent over to examine it closely.

There was no doubt in either Bob's or the Hunter's minds about its being the same object they had seen Apu years before. This was no longer the main question. Bob and Jenny were trying to see what might have caught the Hunter's notice the day before; Maeta, who had no reason to expect anything special, simply reexamined it with interest.