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subspace like that?
He shrugged. Indefinitely, probably. They re tough. We know that twenty-four
hours at a stretch won t bother it in the least, so we ve set that as the
limit it s to stay rotated except in emergencies.
And you and one other person I m not to know about, but who isn t anywhere
near here can also bring it back?
Yes. If we know the place from which it s been rotated. So the agreement is
that again except in absolute emergencies it will be rotated only from one of
the six points specified and known to all three of us.
Trigger nodded. She opened the container and went over to the table where the
plasmoid still lay on its towel. It was dry by now. She picked it up.
You re a lot of trouble, Repulsive! she told it. But these people think you
must be worth it. She slipped it into the container, and it seemed to snuggle
down comfortably inside. Trigger closed the handbag, lightened it to half its
normal weight, slipped the strap back over her left shoulder. And now, she
inquired, what am I to do with the stuff I usually keep in a purse?
You ll be in Precol uniform while you re here. We ve had a special uniform
made for you. Extra pockets.
Trigger sighed.
Oh, they re quite inconspicuous and convenient, he assured her. We checked
with the girls on that.
I ll bet! she said. Did they okay the porgee pouch too?
Sure. Porgee doping is a big thing all over the Hub at the moment. Among the
ladies anyway. Shows you re the delicate sort, or something like that. I
forget what they said. Want to start carrying it?
Hand it over, Trigger said resignedly. I did see quite a few pouches on the
ship. Might as well get people used to thinking I ve turned into a porgee
sniffer.
Holati went back to the desk safe and took out a flat pouch, the length of his
hand but narrower. He gave it to her. It appeared to be worked of gold thread;
one side was studded with tiny pearls, the opposite surface was plain. Trigger
laid the plain side against the cloth of her skirt, just below the right hip,
and let go. It adhered there. She stretched her right leg out to the side and
considered the porgee pouch.
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Doesn t look too bad, she conceded. That s real porgee in the top section?
The real article. Close to nine hundred and fifty credits worth.
Suppose somebody wants to borrow a sniff? Wouldn t be good to have them
fumbling around the pouch very much!
They can t, said the Commissioner. That s why we made it porgee. When you
buy a supply, it has to be adjusted to your individual chemistry, exactly.
That s mainly what makes it expensive. Try using someone else s, and it ll
flip you across the room.
Better get this adjusted to my chemistry then. I might have to take a
demonstration sniff now and then to make it look right.
We ve already done that, he said.
Good, said Trigger. Now let s see! She straightened up, left hand closed
lightly around the bottom of the purse, right hand loose at her side. Her eyes
searched the office briefly. Some object around here you don t particularly
value?
she asked. Something largish?
Several, the Commissioner said. He glanced around. That overgrown flower
pot in the corner is one. Why?
Just practicing, said Trigger. She turned to face the flowerpot. That will
do. Now here I come along, thinking of nothing. She started walking toward
the flowerpot. Then, suddenly, in front of me, there stands a plasmoid
snatcher.
She stopped in mid-stride. Handbag and strap vanished, as her right hand
slapped the porgee pouch. The Denton popped into her palm. The flowerpot
screeched and flew apart.
Golly! she said, startled. Come, Fido! Handbag and strap reappeared and
she reached out and caught the strap. She looked around at Commissioner Tate.
Sorry about your pot, Holati. I was just going to shake it up a little. I
forgot you people had been handling my gun. I
keep it switched to stunner myself when I m carrying it, she added pointedly.
Perfectly all right about the pot, the Commissioner said. I should have
warned you. Otherwise, I d say all you d need is a moment to see them coming.
Trigger spun the Denton to its stunner setting and laid it back inside the
slit which had appeared along the side of the porgee pouch. She ran thumb and
finger tip along the length of the slit, and the pouch was sealed again.
That s the part that s worrying me, she admitted, and left.
17
When Trigger presented herself at Commissioner Tate s personal quarters early
that evening, she found him alone.
Sit down, he said. I ve been trying to get hold of Mantelish for the past
hour. He s over on the other side of the planet again.
Trigger sat down and lifted an eyebrow. Should he be?
I don t think so, said Holati. But I ve been overruled on that. He s still
the best man the Federation has working on the various plasmoid problems, so
I m not to interfere with his investigations any more than I can show is
absolutely necessary. It s probably all right. Those U-League guards of his
aren t a bad group.
If they compare with the boys the League had watching the Plasmoid Project,
they should be just about tops, Trigger said.
The Space Scouts thank you for those kind words, the Commissioner told her.
Those weren t League guards. When it came to deciding who was to keep an eye
on you, I overruled everybody.
She smiled. I might have guessed it. What s there for the professor to be
investigating on the other side of Manon?
He s hunting for some theoretical creatures he calls wild plasmoids.
Wild plasmoids?
Uh-huh. His idea is that some of the plasmoids the Old Galactics were using
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on Manon might have got away from them, or just been left lying around, so to
speak, and could have survived till now. He thinks they might even be
reproducing themselves. He s looking for them with a special detector he
built.
Trigger held up a finger on which was a slim gold ring with a small green
stone in it. Like this one? she asked.
He s got a large version of that type of detector with him too. But he thinks
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