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with 'em. Can't spit without hitting someone. Other times, he probably
doesn't have more'n ten or twelve people here."
"What's that smell?" Peruge demanded.
"What smell?" Kraft asked, then realized Peruge meant the Hive odor, most of
which was washed from the vented air but was always detectable here in the
valley. Kraft rather enjoyed the odor. It reminded him of his childhood.
"That animal smell!" Peruge said.
"Oh, that. Probably something to do with the doc's work. He keeps mice and
things in cages up there. I saw them once. Regular menagerie."
"Oh. Is that a year-round waterfall?"
"Yep. It's pretty, isn't it?"
"If you like that sort of thing. What happens to all the water? The creek
seems rather small down here." Peruge stopped as Kraft looked directly at
him, forcing the deputy to come to a halt, also.
"I expect the ground soaks it up," Kraft said. He appeared impatient to
continue, but unable to think of a good argument. "The doc may take part of
it up there for irrigation or cooling or something. I dunno. Let's get on
up, eh?"
"Just a minute," Peruge said. "I thought you said Hellstrom didn't do much
farming."
"Doesn't! But what he does still takes some water. Why you so curious about
his creek?"
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"I'm curious about everything on this place," Peruge said. "There's something
wrong about it. No insects. I don't even see any birds."
Kraft made a swallowing motion in a dry throat. Obviously, there'd been a
very thorough night sweep recently. Trust this Peruge to notice the absence
of local fauna! "Birds often hide where it's cool in the hot part of the
day," he ventured.
"Is that right?"
"Didn't your bird-watching friend ever tell you that?"
"No." Peruge glanced around him, peering carefully at everything in sight.
It was a quick and intense motion of head and eyes which alarmed Kraft. "What
he did say, once," Peruge continued, "was that there was an animal or a bird
for every time of day or night. I don't believe the birds are hiding; you
can't hear them. There are no birds here and no insects."
"Then what was your friend doing here?" Kraft asked. "If there are no birds,
what was he watching?"
Ahhh, my friend, not so fast, Peruge thought. We aren't ready yet to take off
the gloves. He was convinced now that Kraft was in league with Hellstrom.
"Carlos would've noticed the absence of birds and he might've gone hunting for
an explanation. If he found an explanation that could cause trouble for
someone, that might explain why he's missing."
"You sure got a suspicious mind," Kraft said.
"Haven't you?" Peruge asked. He moved into willow shadows at a bend in the
creek, forced Kraft to follow. "What's this Hellstrom really like, Deputy?"
Kraft didn't care for being called Deputy in that tone of voice, but he kept
his manner casual.
"Ohhh, he's just a plain, ordinary, run-of-the-mill scientist type."
Peruge noted how Kraft's voice came out flat and reasonable, but something in
the set of his body, especially in the watchful turn of head and eyes, put the
lie to this mask. Peruge nodded, as though he understood this, silently
urging Kraft to continue.
"They're all crazy, of course," Kraft said, "but not dangerous."
"I've never really agreed with that harmless, crazy scientist picture," Peruge
said. "I don't think they're all innocent and harmless. To me, no atomic
physicist is completely responsible and trustworthy."
"Ohh, come now, Mr. Peruge." Kraft was making a valiant attempt to sound
jovial and hearty.
"The doc makes movies about bugs. Educational. I expect the worst thing he's
ever done is bring some pretty girls up here for some moonlight nooky."
"Not even dope?" Peruge pressed.
"You believe all that stuff you read about Hollywood types?" Kraft asked.
"Some of it."
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"I'd bet my bottom dollar that the doc is clean," Kraft said.
"Would you?" Peruge asked. "How many missing-persons cases have you really
had in his area over, say, the past twenty-five years?"
With a sinking feeling, Kraft thought: He's seen all of the old records!
Nils had been right about this one without even seeing him. The Outsiders had
sent a sharp and prying mind this time.
Peruge was aware of all the old mistakes the Hive had made. Bad, bad, bad.
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