"Not exactly," Dasinger said. "Considering everything that's happened, the Kyth Interstellar Detective Agency would have to be extremely ungrateful if it didn't feel you'd earned the same split we were going to give Dr. Egavine." Miss Mines gazed at him in startled silence, flushed excitedly. "Think you can talk the Kyth people into _that_, Dasinger?" "I imagine so," Dasinger said, "since I own the agency. That should finance your Willata Fleet operation very comfortably and still leave a couple of million credits over for your old age. I doubt we'll clear anything on Hovig's generators...." Miss Mines looked uncomfortable. "Do you have those things aboard?" "At the moment. Disassembled of course. Primarily I didn't want the Fleet gang to get their hands on them. We might lose them in space somewhere or take them back to the Federation for the scientists to poke over. We'll discuss that on the way. Now, do you feel perky enough to want a look at the stuff that's cost around a hundred and fifty lives before it ever hit the Hub's markets?" "Couldn't feel perkier!" She straightened up expectantly. "Let's see them...." Dasinger turned away towards the wall where he had put down the little steel case with the loot of the Dosey Asteroids robbery. Behind him, Duomart screamed. He spun back to her, his face white. "What's the matter?" Duomart was staring wide-eyed past him towards the instrument console, the back of one hand to her mouth. "That ... the thing!" "Thing?" "Big ... yellow ... wet ... _ugh_! It's ducked behind the console, Dasinger! It's lurking there!" "Oh!" Dasinger said, relaxing. He smiled. "That's all right. Don't worry about it." "_Don't worry about_ ... are you crazy?" "Not in the least. I thought you were for a second, but it's very simple. You've worked off the kwil and now you're in the hangover period. You get hallucinations then, just as I usually do. For the next eight or nine hours, you'll be seeing odd things around from time to time. So what? They're not real." * * * * * "All right, they're not real, but they seem real enough while they're around," Duomart said. "I don't want to see them." She caught her breath and her hand flew up to her mouth again. "Dasinger, please, don't you have something that will put me back to sleep till I'm past the hangover too?" Dasinger reflected. "One of Doc Egavine's hypno sprays will do it. I know enough of the mumbo jumbo to send you to dreamland for another ten hours." He smiled evilly. "Of course, you realize that means you're putting yourself completely in my power." Duomart's eyes narrowed for an instant. She considered him, grinned. "I'll risk it," she said. THE END Transcriber's Note: