And Kallee, their Cargo-master,
swaggered straight to the bargaining point. The chatter of Salariki
voices was stilled, the Sargolians withdrew a little, letting one party
of Terrans face the other, sensing drama to come. Neither Van Rycke nor
Jellico spoke, it was left to Kallee to state his case.
"You've crooked your orbit this time, bright boys," his jeer was a paean
of triumph. "Code Three--Article six--or can't you absorb rules tapes
with your thick heads?"
Code Three--Article six, Dane searched his memory for that law of the
Service. The words flashed into his mind as the auto-learner had planted
them during his first year of training back in the Pool.
"To no alien race shall any Trader introduce any drug, food, or drink
from off world, until such a substance has been certified as nonharmful
to the aliens."
There it was! I-S had them and it was all his fault. But if he had been
so wrong, why in the world did Van Rycke sit there trading, condoning the
error and making it into a crime for which they could be summoned before
the Board and struck off the rolls of the Service?
Van Rycke smiled gently.
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