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it’s not there.” He came closer. They saw he was carrying the hand computer, holding it out almost as an offering. “I went through the box four times, and searched all the chips I had out on my bed, on the table, everywhere. It’s not here. I’m sorry. Unless one of you took it?” Jefri Lion glanced about the room. No one spoke. “I must have left the codes back on ShanDellor,” he said. “We were in such haste to leave, I… ”
    “You senile old fool,” said Kaj Nevis. “I ought to kill you right now, and save a little air for the rest of us.”
    “We’re dead,” wailed Celise Waan, “we’re dead, dead, dead.”
    “Madam,” said Haviland Tuf, petting Mushroom, “you continue to be premature. You are no more deceased now than you were wealthy a short time ago.”
    Nevis turned to face him. “Oh? You have an idea, Tuf?”
    “Indeed,” said Haviland Tuf.
    “Well?” prompted Nevis.
    “The
Ark is
our only salvation,” Tuf said. “We must board her. Without Jefri Lion’s code crystal, we cannot move the
Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices
closer for a docking, for fear of being fired upon once again. This much is obvious. Yet an interesting concept has occurred to me.” He raised a finger. “Perhaps the
Ark
might display less hostility toward a smaller target—a man in a pressure suit, say, propelled by air jets!”
    Kaj Nevis looked thoughtful. “And when this man reaches the
Ark
, what then? Is he supposed to knock on the hull?”
    “Impractical,” admitted Haviland Tuf, “and yet I believe I have a method of dealing with this problem as well.”
    They waited. Tuf stroked Mushroom. “Go on,” Kaj Nevis said impatiently.
    Tuf blinked. “Go on? Indeed. I fear I must beg your indulgence. My mind is most distracted. My poor ship has suffered grievous harm. My modest livelihood lies ruined and devastated, and who will pay for the necessary repairs? Will Kaj Nevis, soon to enjoy such wealth, shower me with largesse? I fear not. Will Jefri Lion and Anittas buy for me a new ship? Unlikely. Will the esteemed Celise Waan grant me a bonus above and beyond my fee to compensate for my great loss? She has already promised to seek legal redress against me, to have my poor vessel confiscated and my landing license revoked. How then am I to cope? Who will succor me?”
    “Never mind about that!” Kaj Nevis said. “How do we get inside the
Ark?
You said you had a way!”
    “Did I?” said Haviland Tuf. “I believe you are correct, sir. Yet I fear the weight of my woes has driven the concept from my poor, distracted mind. I have forgotten it. I can think of nothing but my sorry economic plight.”
    Rica Dawnstar laughed, and clapped Tuf soundly across his broad back.
    He looked up at her. “And now I am roughly pummeled and beaten as well, by the fierce Rica Dawnstar. Please do not touch me, madam.”
    “This is blackmail,” screeched Celise Waan. “We’ll have you put in prison for this!”
    “And now my integrity is impugned, and I am showered with threats. Is it any wonder I cannot think, Mushroom?”
    Kaj Nevis snarled. “All right, Tuf. You win.” He looked around. “Do I hear any objections to making Tuffy here a full partner? A five-way split?”
    Jefri Lion cleared his throat. “He deserves at least that, if his plan works.”
    Nevis nodded. “You’re in, Tuf.”
    Haviland Tuf rose with immense, ponderous dignity, brushing Mushroom from his lap. “My memory returns to me!” he announced. “There are four pressure suits in the locker, yonder. If one of you would be so kind as to don one and render me your aid, together we shall go to procure a most useful piece of equipment from storage compartment twelve.”
     
    “What the hell,” Rica Dawnstar exclaimed when they came back, carrying their booty between them. She laughed.
    “What is it?” demanded Celise Waan.
    Haviland Tuf, who loomed large in his silver-blue pressure suit, lowered the legs to the ground and helped