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A heavy, authoritative voice came in with much greater volume. "That's no human voice," it said harshly. "Approach its ship and send back an image. Don't fire first unless it heads for ground." The guard ship swerved and headed for the Med Ship. It was still a very long way off. "Chee-chee," said Murgatroyd encouragingly. Calhoun changed the Med Ship's course. The guard ship changed course too.
"I suppose you have heard nothing recent from poor Lord Murgatroyd," Mrs. Wrandall was saying to her, in a most sympathetic tone. Hetty scarcely grasped the importance of the remark. She looked rather blankly at their guest. Sara stepped into the breach. "What do the morning despatches say, Mrs. Wrandall?" "He is sinking rapidly, I fear. Of course, his extreme age is against him.
'Sir, cried the gauger, raising himself upon his elbow, 'I do hereby arrest you on the charge of being a traitor, a promoter of treason, a vagrant, and a masterless man within the meaning of the fourth statute of the Act. As an officer of the law I call upon you to submit to my warrant. 'Brace up his jaw with your scarf, Jim, said Murgatroyd.
If so, such a stowaway would be in the sleeping-cabin now, waiting for Calhoun to walk unsuspiciously in to be shot dead. So Calhoun made coffee. He slipped a blaster into a pocket where it would be handy. He filled a small cup for Murgatroyd and a large one for himself, and then a second large one. He tapped on the sleeping-cabin door, standing aside lest a blaster-bolt came through it.
Murgatroyd gazed about unhappily, and swung down to the control-room floor, and then paused for lack of any place to go or thing to do. He sat down and began half-heartedly to lick his whiskers. Maril stirred. Murgatroyd looked at her hopefully. "Chee?" he asked shrilly. She shook her head. It became a habit to act as if Murgatroyd were a human being. "N-no," she said unsteadily. "Not yet."
They breakfasted, with Murgatroyd eating from his own platter on the floor, a tiny cup of coffee alongside. "I've been thinking," said Maril evenly. "I think I can get you a hearing for whatever ideas you may have to help Dara." "Kind of you," murmured Calhoun. In theory, a Med Service man had all the authority needed for this or any other emergency.
Carroll, instructing him to provide her with sufficient funds to carry out the plan agreed upon; and in the seat behind sat the lady's maid who had served her for a twelve-month and more. The timely demise of the venerable Lord Murgatroyd afforded the most natural excuse for her trip to England. The old nobleman gave up the ghost, allowing for difference in time, at the very moment when Mrs.
"I'm a para," he said quietly, "and I want this car. Give me the keys and you can keep the food." The man groaned. Then he dropped the keys on the ground. He fled into the house. "Thanks," said Calhoun politely to the emptiness. He took his place in the car. He thrust Murgatroyd again out of sight.
Wrandall got up, went over to the library table and closed with a snap the bulky blue book with the limp leather cover, saying as she held it up to let him see that it was the privately printed history of the Murgatroyd family: "It came by post this evening from London. She is merely a fourth cousin, my son." He looked up with a gleam of interest in his eye.
He would usually watch the coffee-maker with bright, interested eyes. He'd even tried to imitate Calhoun's motions with it, once, and had scorched his paws in the attempt. This time he did not move. Calhoun turned his head. Murgatroyd sat on the floor, his long tail coiled reflectively about a chair-leg. He watched the door of the Med Ship's sleeping-cabin. "Murgatroyd," said Calhoun.
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