The Space Guardian Read Online Free Page B

equal efficiency. Lahks did not watch it go, although she pressed the door release at the appropriate time. She rose, undressed, and put Transform I’s clothes into the pouch, which she had turned inside-out. A cheap shift and alteration into Transform V turned her into a nondescript middle-aged woman who might easily be employed in some low capacity in such a place. By dropping her pulse rate to forty and lowering her body temperature to twenty degrees Centigrade, she convinced the Watcher that she was not herself (or was not there at all). Then it was quite safe to slip down the service stairs and out through the delivery entrance.
    A secluded W.C. and a quick change back to Transform I permitted Lahks to walk into the first hotel with impunity. If anyone noticed, she was a guest who had gone out and was returning. Up to her room, shift back to Transform II, and stage one of phase two was successfully completed. Now she need only remove the essentials from the luggage that would go to Terra and carry on the normal activities of Transform II until “she” boarded ship. A reversal of the series of shifts of personality removed Lahks from the Terra-bound liner and brought her back to the second hotel in time for a late breakfast.
    One thing Lahks noticed was that with each transformation she had an increasing desire to go on transforming, to giggle, to dance, to sing, to match her skin and hair color to the various wall surfaces and neon lights that flickered around her. It was a most interesting compulsion. Some day, she thought, when she had adequate supervision, she would have to yield to it and find out whether it would wear off naturally or become increasingly compulsive and dangerous. Perhaps Ghrey or Zuhema could have told her. With the thought came a cold wash of emptiness. Lahks rose hurriedly and began to think hard about outfitting herself for Wumeera.
    An open stall on the night street yielded spider-silk blankets and a sleeping bag, worn but serviceable. An expensive shop on the day street provided a stillsuit, the best available. A full tu was spent in fitting. 4 tu more in a hot-dry chamber. When Lahks emerged she was 0.572 kilos lighter. The stillsuit yielded 0.570 kilos of water. Another tu was devoted to finer fitting. The deserts of Wumeera are wide and hot; 0.002 kilos of water every 4 tu might easily be the difference between life and death.
    Lahks also purchased a used stun-gun, a narcotic needler, and a laser. The weapons were primitive from a Guardian’s point of view, but they might be useful and they were what a visitor to Wumeera would be expected to carry. The Watcher, which had been waiting faithfully at the second hotel, accompanied her throughout the several days she waited for the Wumeera transport. Only when she was on board and in her cabin did the small beep of its presence shut off. Lahks smiled and began to arrange her possessions commodiously. The continued interest of the Guild in her movements virtually guaranteed that the code frequency she had been given would summon a ship to Wumeera to take her off—if she could pay the price.

Chapter 3
    Wumeera spaceport was something new in Lahks’ experience. No guards or customs officials emerged to greet the ship. If that was a pleasant change, the fact that no robot cargo and baggage handlers were available was not. Lahks’ luggage was unceremoniously dumped near some sheds at the periphery of the field, where it became her responsibility. The Free Traders were neither rude nor unkind; they were unable to help. As soon as the cargo they carried for Wumeera had been unloaded, they would space again. Although it was a regular stop, no man had ever been beyond the sheds where cargo was left.
    “Where is the town?” Lahks asked.
    “Somewhere there.” The Cargomaster of the vessel gestured northwest over a sharp range of hills. “The spaceport was put in this cup because when the winds come they can topple a ship. I think the town is in