Lone Star Planet | Page 9

The other
cars kept coming, but neither of them were firing at us. There was also
no indication that Hoddy's salvo had had any effect on them. Our
chauffeur went into a perfect frenzy of twisting and dodging, at the
same time using his radiophone to tell somebody to get the goddamn
gate open in a hurry. I saw the blue skies and green plains of New
Texas replacing one another above, under, in front of and behind us.
Then the car set down on a broad stretch of concrete, the wings were
retracted, and we went whizzing down a city street.

We whizzed down a number of streets. We cut corners on two wheels,
and on one wheel, and, I was prepared to swear, on no wheels. A
couple of times, with the wings retracted, we actually jetted into the air
and jumped over vehicles in front of us, landing again with
bone-shaking jolts. Then we made an abrupt turn and shot in under a
concrete arch, and a big door banged shut behind us, and we stopped, in
the middle of a wide patio, the front of the car a few inches short of a
fountain. Four or five people, in diplomatic striped trousers, local dress
and the uniform of the Space Marines, came running over.
Thrombley pulled himself erect and half-climbed, half-fell, out of the
car. Gomez got out on the other side with Hoddy; I climbed out after
Thrombley.
A tall, sandy-haired man in the uniform of the Space Navy came over.
"What the devil's the matter, Thrombley?" he demanded. Then, seeing
me, he gave me as much of a salute as a naval officer will ever bestow
on anybody in civilian clothes.
"Mr. Silk?" He looked at my costume and the pistols on my belt in
well-bred concealment of surprise. "I'm your military attaché,
Stonehenge; Space-Commander, Space Navy."
I noticed that Hoddy's ears had pricked up, but he wasn't making any
effort to attract Stonehenge's attention. I shook hands with him,
introduced Hoddy, and offered my cigarette case around.
"You seem to have had a hectic trip from the spaceport, Mr.
Ambassador. What happened?"
Thrombley began accusing our driver of trying to murder the lot of us.
Hoddy brushed him aside and explained:
"Just after we'd took off, two other cars took off after us. We speeded
up, and they speeded up, too. Then your fly-boy, here, got fancy. That
shook 'em off. Time we got into the city, we'd dropped them. Nice job
of driving. Probably saved our lives."

"Shucks, that wasn't nothin'," the driver disclaimed. "When you drive
for politicians, you're either good or you're good and dead."
"I'm surprised they started so soon," Stonehenge said. Then he looked
around at my fellow-passengers, who seemed to have realized, by now,
that they were no longer dangling by their fingernails over the brink of
the grave. "But gentlemen, let's not keep the Ambassador standing out
here in the hot sun."
So we went over the arches at the side of the patio, and were about to
sit down when one of the Embassy servants came up, followed by a
man in a loose vest and blue Levis and a big hat. He had a pair of
automatics in his belt, too.
"I'm Captain Nelson; New Texas Rangers," he introduced himself.
"Which one of you-all is Mr. Stephen Silk?"
I admitted it.
The Ranger pushed back his wide hat and grinned at me.
"I just can't figure this out," he said. "You're in the right place and the
right company, but we got a report, from a mighty good source, that
you'd been kidnapped at the spaceport by a gang of thugs!"
"A blond source?" I made curving motions with my hands. "I don't
blame her. My efficient and conscientious chargé d'affaires, Mr.
Thrombley, felt that I should reach the Embassy, here, as soon as
possible, and from where she was standing, it must have looked like a
kidnapping. Fact is, it looked like one from where I was standing, too.
Was that you and your people who were chasing us? Then I must
apologize for opening fire on you ... I hope nobody was hurt."
"No, our cars are pretty well armored. You scored a couple of times on
one of them, but no harm done. I reckon after what happened to Silas
Cumshaw, you had a right to be suspicious."
I noticed that refreshments, including several bottles, had been placed

on a big wicker table under the arched veranda.
"Can I offer you a drink, Captain, in token of mutual amity?" I asked.
"Well, now, I'd like to, Mr. Ambassador, but I'm on duty ..." he began.
"You can't be. You're an officer of the Planetary Government of New
Texas, and in this Embassy, you're in