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"Mr Director"

As usual, Spider Nevi&039;s face was unreadable, even to Flattery&039;s expert training as a Chaplain/Psychiatrist Nevi had been proray cut of a Merht at the first blood of dawn

"Zentz hasn&039;t found theer than he wished

"It was Zentz who lost therunted He hadn&039;t needed the reminder, especially froer at the air between the what you can from the others Save Ozette for a special occasion He&039;s at the bottoot to be shut do"

Nevi nodded, and the agreement was struck Bounty would be worked out later, as usual Nevi&039;s terms were always reasonable, even on difficult matters, because he liked his work His was the kind of work that o unpracticed if it weren&039;t for the Director

Every art has its canvas Flattery thought

"The airstrip is secure," Nevi said "There were preparations for the a half-dozen collaborators, so we have cut the the usual screws in the village They will be forced to irl soon Overland is out, that would be insane It would have to be by water, and under diversion to get out of here My guess would be Victoria It would pay to wait anda sweep as possible, don&039;t you think?"

"You have the docks under watch?"

"Of course The Holovision foil is bugged, a precaution Your sensor systelanced at the clock on Flattery&039;s console "You should be able to tune thehtly in his co his uneasiness at this loss of control Nevi was second-guessing his moves, and he didn&039;t like it

"Well," Flattery said, splitting his face with a snificent! We will have theruet the job done" He slapped his palm on the tabletop and held the se, and he said nothing His only response was the barest perceptible nod of his horrible head The shape of it was more or less normal, except for the mucous slit where the nose should be Nevi&039;s dark skin was shot through with a gloork of red veins His dark eyes glittered,

"What do you want done with the Tatoosh woman?"

Flattery felt his smile droop, and he tried to pick it up a bit

"Beatriz Tatoosh is very helpful to us," Flattery said "She has a passion for the Voidship project that we could not buy" He raised his hand to stop Nevi&039;s interruption "I knohat you&039;re thinking - that little tryst between her and Ozette That&039;s been over for over a year -"

"It wasn&039;t a &039;little tryst,&039;" Nevi interrupted "It lasted years They ounded together at the o -"

"I knoomen," Flattery hissed, "and she will hate hi Holovision and the Voidship Didn&039;t she do the broadcast as written last night?"

A nod from Nevi, and silence

"She knows as well as we do thatOzette as party to this abduction would lend it a popularity and a credence that we cannot afford It is over between the will be over for Ben Ozette The Tatoosh woman will be aboard the orbital assembly station this afternoon and out of our hair"

At Nevi&039;s continued silence, Flattery rubbed his hands together briskly

"Now," he said, "let me show you how I&039;ve kept the kelp pruned back for the last couple of years You kno the people resist this, it always takes a disaster to get the with it Well, the kelp&039;s as breached long ago by our lab at Orcas Too complex to explain, but suffice it to say it is notcurrents and the like Thanks to the neurotoxin research we tapped into its emotions Remember that stand of kelp off Lilliwaup, the one that hid the Shadow commando team?"

Nevi nodded "I remember You told Zentz &039;Hands off&039;"

"That&039;s right," Flattery said He drew hiht in his recliner and snapped the backrest up to hts dimmed further Between the two men, in the center of the room, appeared in miniature several monitor views of a Merrowth stand Kelp lights flickered from the depths beyond the outpost The kelp station had been built atop the remnants of an old Oracle

Oracles, as the Pandorans called them, were those points where the kelp rooted into the crust of the planet itself Because of the incredible depth of these three-hundred-year-old roots, and because the Merht lines, Pandora&039;s crust often fractured along root lines It was such a series of fractures that had given birth to Pandora&039;s new continents and rocky island chains

Flattery&039;s private garden, "the Greens," lay underground in a cavern that had once been an Oracle Flattery had had his people burn out the three-hundred- plans

Three views clarified on the holo stage in front of the two men: The first was of the inside of a kelp station, with a balding Mer at his control console; the second, outside the station, from the kelp perimeter, focused on the station&039;s ray mass of kelp from the rear hatch The Merman looked very, very nervous

"His children have been swi in the kelp," Flattery said "He is worried Their airfish are due for replace their antidote The kelp, when treated with my new blend, shows an unhealthy attraction for the antidote"

There were occasional gli the kelp fronds They moved in the ultra-slow-motion of dreams, much slower than underseawriggle of children

The Mer tone that shut itself off after a few blinks

"That&039;s the third time he&039;s sounded &039;Assembly,&039;" Flattery said Anticipation made it difficult for him to sit still

The Merman spoke to a female, dressed in a worksuit, wet fro up the kelp stand for Current Control

"Linna," he said, "I can&039;t get them out of the kelp Those airfish will be dr what&039;s happening out there?"

She was thin and pale, much like her husband, but she appeared dreamy-eyed and unfocused Most of those orked the outposts did not wear their dive suits inside their living quarters She worked the fringes of what the Mermen called "the Blue Sector"

"Maybe it&039;s the touch of it," she murmured "The touc special You don&039;t work in it, you don&039;t know Not slick and cold, like before Now the kelp feels like, wel" She hesitated and even on the holo Flattery could detect a blush

"Like what?" the Merman asked

" lately it feels like you when it touches me" Her blush accented her crop of thick blonde hair "Warle inside It hed "Where are those wots?"

He glanced out the plaz beside him into the dim depths beyond the co He felt a niggling sense of glee at the Mer apprehension

The Merain and the proper systeer snapped the scanner screen

"They were just there," thecode red" He unlocked the one button on the console that Flattery knew no outpost wanted to press: Code Red That would notify Current Control in the Orbiter overhead and Communications Central at the nearest Merer

"You see?" Flattery said "He&039;s getting the idea"

"I&039; out there," the man announced to his wife, "you stay put Do you understand?"

No answer She sat, still drea fronds of blue kelp that reached her way from the perimeter

The Merman scooped an airfish out of the locker beside the hatch and buckled on a toolbelt He grabbed up a long-handled laser pruner and a set of charges As if on second thought, he picked up the whole basket of airfish, the Meren fros, Flattery thought with a shudder Unconsciously, he rubbed his neck where they were custoht barely illue This holo had been ht above the scene coupled with the depth darkened the holo and made it difficult to see detail of the ood chronicle of the test itself

As the Mere of the kelp&039;s longest fronds, he whirled at the click-hiss of an opening hatch His wife swam lazily out of it directly into deep kelp The atmosphere from their station bubbled toward the surface in a rush Hewas lost as he watched the sea rush into their quarters through the un-dogged hatch All sensors went blank

Flattery switched off the holo and turned up the lights Nevi sat unmoved with the same unreadable expression on his horrible face

"So the kelp lured them and ate them?" Nevi asked

"Exactly"

"On command?"

"On command - my command"

Flattery was pleased at the trace of a smile that flickered across Spider Nevi&039;s lips It must have been a luxury that he allowed himself for the moment

"We both knoill come of the hue and cry," the Director said, and puffed hi "There will be a deeance My men will be forced, by popular demand, to prune this stand back You see how it&039;s done?"

"Very neat I always though"

"Yes," Flattery gloated, "so has everyone else The kelp has been a very sensitive subject, as you know Religious overtones and whatnot" Another dis

"I had to accoet control of Current Control, and I had to find the point at which the kelp became sentient Not necessarily sasbags it&039;s too late - the only solution there is to stuood kelpways for a lot of years that way"

"So, what&039;s the key?"

"The lights," Flattery said He pointed out his huge plaz port at the bed just off the tideline "When the kelp starts to flicker, it&039;s waking up It&039;s like an infant, then, and only knohat it&039;s told The language it speaks is che?"