As I opened my mouth to speak he raised his cane and sighed. “Yes, I know, don’t bother to say it, four million a day and let us leave it there. I find business so boring.”

“You will have to give me complete details of all the previous thefts,” I said. “And a list of banks where you have accounts, as well as banks that you own.”

“That has already been done. You will find all of the information in your computer’s memory banks.”

“You are pretty sure of yourself.”

“I am.”

“And you work pretty fast.”

“I have to-and at the price I am paying you, why you better do so as well. I want results yesterday. However I will settle for information instantly. Might I offer you a lift-so you can get right to work?”

“You will have to,” Angelina said coldly. “After what you did to our hoverfloat. And our picnic basket.”

“The value of your craft has already been credited to your highly secret, known to no one, account in the Banco di NAPSLO. And as some recompense for hardship I do hope that you will be my guests at dinner tonight at the Earth light Room. Just tell the maitre d’ to bill Kaia’s account. You will dine as you have never dined before.”

A black and silent overalls dropped down into the clearing: the door opened.

“After you, Mrs. diGriz. Or, might I be so bold, Angelina?”

“Buster,” she said, swaying ever so gracefully up the stairs, “for what you are paying my husband you can call me anything you want.”

Chapter 2

So far Chaise had kept his word. The promised money had been deposited to my account in the Banco di NAPSLO. Despite the fact that I was sure that this cache of money was unknown to anyone. Chaise must really know about banks and banking. This could not be ignored. I made a mental note to find a new and more secure bank now that Chaise knew about this one. And an even newer and more secure way of transferring all my funds from my present bank. I was sure that if Chaise knew how to put credits into my account he might very well be able to siphon them out as well.

I shuddered when I turned on my computer. There was so much information about Kaia’s banks and bank accounts jammed into the machine’s memory that bits and bytes were falling out of the memory banks; pixels were dropping off the screen.

“You will need lots more computer memory than you have now,” Angelina said, frowning at the electronic debris.

“I feel that I need lots more computer as well. Since we will be accessing far more data than this. Don’t I recall our good son James telling me far more about super computers he was designing than I really cared to know?”

“I’m surprised that you remember that much. You fell sound asleep.”

“Food and drink no doubt responsible for that.”

“I doubt it. You mumbled something about concepts the mind cannot stomach as you dozed off.”

“I apologize! I’ll eat humble pie! But, yes, you are right. I clearly remember passing through a computer-enthusiast phase in my mouth. But those days are long gone. All I want to know now about computer hardware now is where the switch is that turns the thing on.”

“James will take care of our computer problems,” she said with the firm knowledge of our son’s talent that only a mother could have.

But she was right. If it had not been for the hard work of James, and his twin brother Believer, our recent adventures in parallel-galaxy trotting could very well have ended in disaster. When Angelina had gone to Heaven it had been my turn to go to Hell. Or something very much like it. It took us a long time to sort out our time and space difficulties with a multi-charactered individual who was causing immense problems in a number of places. We could never have been able to do it without the boys’ help. But, unlike the failures that we occasionally experience when we clash with the evils of the universe, this time all had ended very well indeed. In fact the whole affair had been consummated in matrimonial bliss. The twins had both been in love with the same woman, Sybil, the top agent in the Special Corps. As intelligent as she was beautiful, she had made the fatal decision that had turned the possibility of sibling rivalry into the enduring knot of marriage. Double marriage that is.

One of the more interesting side effects of Professor Coypu’s universe-hopping machine was the doubling of one of its passage portals. That is if one person went through it, he or she came back doubled. Two people that really were the same person, or had been the same person. A bit confusing to understand, but very effective if two men were in love with the same woman-and she loved them both as well. Firm of mind, Sybil had passed through the portal and Sybil and Sybill had turned. They had tossed a coin to see who got the extra 1. This had all ended in a very festive marriage indeed. We were most happy to see Sybil joyously married to James, while Sybill was happily ensconced in Bolivar’s arms. It had been a very neat solution to what could have been a rather serious problem.

“We must talk to James,” Angelina said. “Have him sort this computer problem out.”

“We must indeed,” I said, reaching for the phone.

It was not pure chance that had brought us to this dreary planet. When James had discovered that Sybil shared his passion for nanotechnology, they had moved here to utilize all of the planet’s technological know-how. We had reports, from time to time, about their progress. Everything seemed to be working as planned and the money, instead of flowing out steadily, had begun to trickle in.

So it seemed almost natural to consider Usti nad Labam. when we were looking for a site for our money-raising operation.

“It would be quite logical,” Angelina had said, “to visit the newlyweds at the same time as we begin our new financial operation. There seems to be a good deal of money in circulation on this planet.”

“And little else,” I had said, flipping through the sales brochure churned out by the planet’s tourist board. “A very dull planet if you read between the lines. Holiday camps where gambling is not allowed. At least drink isn’t banned-but I am sure that they are thinking about it.”

“Jim diGriz-you are beginning to sound like an old grouch. We are going there to visit our son and daughter-in-law. And we will make a lot of money. And leave if it is as boring as you think and blast off to a planet of pleasure.”

So we had gone. And it was nowhere near as bad as I had thought. Since gambling was illegal, there proved to be a good bit of clandestine gambling. I had studied magic since I was a stripling and had been a pretty fair cardician, as the professionals call it. That is someone who specializes in card manipulation. Very handy on stage-and equally useful in playing poker. When the stock market became boring I joined some payday card games and always managed to win more than I lost.

Angelina had greatly enjoyed, as did I, visiting James and his wife. This was always an excuse for a party and my gambling proceeds turned into joyful celebrations at the best restaurants.

As good as this was, the rest of this world left a lot to be desired. The planet must have evolved from a supernova because the ground was rich in heavy metals for doping computer chips. Not to mention vast fields of the purest silicon for making the chips themselves. The computer manufacturers had thronged to Silicon Gulch. Followed by the software nerds and all the other people who lived off technological industry.

We had come for a quick visit, then stayed on when we discovered that the local and badly organized stock exchange could be a cash cow. Perhaps we had stayed too long. Kaia’s arrival had raised our morale—and the promise that it would lead to our exodus from this none too attractive world.

“I’m going to call them now,” Angelina said, and called out the number to our telephone.