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payments I could do all
right!
    "I'll
sell!"
    I used the com
to tell TR to send a floater with the chits to pick up the
painting. Tei helped to load it and asked if I would look at
another fine painting in the bedroom. It was another Parf painting
by some artist I had TR check on. It was, as all Parf paintings
are, magnificent. It was a scene from the shore of Z's island on
EC, with the red sun and the green both influencing the light.
    As we had all
the paintings we could ever want of EC, I wasn't interested in
buying it. "Freew didn't paint many, but she was considered one of
the best at catching the light so well on EC. There's one she
painted for him almost identical to that in Z's bedroom. That one
was painted almost a hundred years ago. It should be worth more
than two million credits. Tell him to take it to one of the better
dealers on Bypass for the best price," TR reported. "If he wants to
spend the time and trouble he can enter it in the yearly auction at
Castle Drove in Octeen. That's seven tenthyears from now, but he
could get three point five million easily there."
    I told Tei, but
he said he loved that painting and didn't want to part with it, but
it was good to know he had some assets.
    I took my leave
and went back to TR.
    "Well, we now
know pretty much where the brain is," TR announced. "Gorg reported
they found two robots here and Hedda says they found three in
various other places. The one on the satellite was easy, as there
are only two hundred people there. There aren't many people on any
of the stations, so they should identify all of them within a
couple more hours.
    "I think
probably we should move against PPF oh forty five and the robots at
the same time."
    "I want to find
all the robots we can and move against them at once. I want to make
that brain leave populated areas if we can.
    "Your trace
will follow it anywhere?"
    "It doesn't
know anything about fastcom. If it messes with the set aboard the
ship it'll screw it up. It can't find the trace. It doesn't have
the technology."
    I called Hedda
and Gorg and arranged to meet with them.
    I had seen a
Flimt around a bit and saw him again as I left TR. He was obviously
watching us, so I made it a point to go directly toward him from
the ship. He had to act casual and I used my new sensor as I passed
within a meter of him. He didn't smell anything like a Flimt. He
smelled of ozone and plastic.
    I moved around
the port building for a couple of minutes until I spotted a girl
helping a blind woman to a seat. I went to them and said there was
something fishy about the guy over behind the potted plant. He was
following me and he gave me the creeps for some reason. I said I
only stopped to talk to them so maybe he'd go away, because I
couldn't think of any reason anyone would want to follow me.
    I then walked
toward the snack bar so he'd have to pass within a few feet of them
to follow me.
    I sat around
the counter a ways and saw the woman nod as he passed and the girl
stifle a yawn and manage to point to his back. I didn't see the
follower, but didn't doubt this one had a tight tail. TR also had a
minifloater there very quickly.
    I went on to
meet with Gorg and Hedda. I explained we thought we knew where the
leader of the robots was, but wanted to find all of the robots
possible, then to make the leader run so the people of Flimt would
be in no danger.
    "We have to be
realistic," I cautioned. "If the leader sits right here on Flimt we
have a problem. I don't believe there are any really big weapons,
but a small one can do horrible damage. I've got to get that ship
to run!"
    They had no
suggestions, but said they knew there was danger from the first.
The people of Flimt would cooperate in any way they could. If
possible they would have a very slow evacuation of the immediate
area. Most people left the spaceports in the small hours of the
morning and they could arrange for more than usual to leave. We
could strike at such an hour, leaving the machine with