"I'll not contribute to the Policeman's Ball this year." I grimaced.
She laughed warmly and squeezed my hand. And the old, cold deadly Angelina
slipped away.
"Let's make tracks," I said. "Before they discover that they were fighting
the robot pilot."
"Let us not," she said. "This is a nice big tree that we are under. It will
shield us from visual observation, perhaps infrared imaging as well. If they
suspect that we were not in the hoverfloat they could backtrack and look for
us."
"Your logic is impeccable," I said, rooting through the survival kit. Guns,
grenades, all the necessities of life. "And to carry that logic a bit
further-why were the police trying to shoot us up?"
"I haven't the foggiest. As far as the authorities know we are simple
tourists who dabble in the market. Sometimes losing..."
"Most times winning!"
"What do you have there?" she asked as I pulled a silver form out from
behind a belt of ammunition.
"Jolly Barman Instant Cocktails. I bought a couple of these on sale." I
pulled the tab and two plastic beakers dropped into my hand. There was a
hissing sound and the can turned cold in my hand; moisture condensed on it.
I handed Angelina a beaker, poured it full of sparkling liquid. The gray
scraps in the bottoms of the mugs were instantly reconstituted by the liquid
to pieces of fruit. I poured another drink for myself and we sipped
appreciatively.
"Not too bad." I smacked my lips and cudgeled my brain. "Those police were
out to blast us-not arrest us. Are we missing something?"
"Obviously. I think that we should get out of the forest now and see what we
can find out about this mystery attack."
"We can't exactly call the police and ask them why they were gunning for
us-can we?"
"We can't. Therefore I will think of something more subtle. Call our son
James and have him do a computer search of our problem. After all-he is in
the computer business here and should know how to get information."
"An excellent idea. We can also have him come pick us up since it is a long
walk home."
We finished the drinks and I shouldered the survival kit. There was no sound
