In a dark covert, within the capital but beyond the feeble gleam of the apologetic city lights, I finally ran Sampson down. He’d not been easy to find. He was unpopular and had barely survived an extended stay in the city jail. He was just about to leave, to face the inevitable wrath of his superiors.
‘You almost got us killed,’ I told him.
‘It was no part of my plan,’ he assured me. ‘I just agreed to Alpart’s terms to try to cut myself back in. I didn’t know what he had planned for you. I swear it’
‘OK,’ I said, not much interested in his protests. ‘I didn’t run down to start a fight. I’ve got some of the worms. If you want them, the price is twenty thousand.’
He didn’t leap for joy. It was dark, so I couldn’t see his expression, but I was getting used to darkness. I could tell that he wasn’t interested. He was tired.
‘You’re a little late, Grainger,’ he said.
‘Somebody else had a secret stash,’ I said—I’d been half expecting it. ‘You already got supplied.’
‘Something like that,’ he said. ‘I’ve had offers from more than one source. I set up deals, too. But there’s more to it than that. When I say you’re late, I mean you’re late. I guess nobody told you the bad news?’
I put my hand in my pocket and fingered the coppery dendrites. It had, of course, been far too good to be true. I just couldn’t be carrying a fortune in my pocket. No chance. Charlot hadn’t attempted to stop anyone stealing from the grotto. He’d acted as if it simply didn’t matter.
It obviously didn’t.
‘All right,’ I said, sounding as tired as he did. ‘What’s the catch?’
‘That stuff’s been locked in a stone coffin for millions of years,’ he said. ‘It’s a bit much to expect that you can go barging into a set-up like that and not upset things somewhat. They were lucky, I suppose, not to have destroyed the whole thing before they found out what it was.
‘But there’s more to a life-system than heat and light, as you damn well know. The ringworms are half-and-half organisms. They’re walking a physiological tightrope. Each one is as sensitive and as delicate as hell. And not just to heat and light and air. Each worm is a protocoenocyte and each one manifests one hell of an allergy problem. They sensitise to human proteins and human-associated proteins in a matter of minutes. They don’t turn bright green or writhe in agony, or anything like that, but those worms you have in your pocket have a probable life-span of a couple of days. No matter how many times they divide in the meantime.
‘You don’t have to believe me, of course. But we ran a check on board the ramrod the moment Gimli gave us the first consignment. Your boss knows as well—he’s down in the grotto right now with four-foot forceps and as much sterile equipment as he can raise or improvise. You’ve been out of touch while you were catching up with your beauty sleep.
‘You were right, you know. We should all have stayed in jail. The kid and I only stayed free for a matter of minutes anyhow.’
I took the dendrites out of my pocket and held them in the palms of my hands. I couldn’t see the worms. I was feeling a mite sick, but I’d never really believed that it was going to come off.
‘The others felt just as bad,’ Sampson assured me, as if it helped. ‘Gimli lost his fortune too, and one or two of the others.’
‘Great,’ I said. ‘Just great.’
‘You can’t win them all,’ he said.
‘No,’ I agreed, ‘but it would be nice to win one now and again.’
He laughed drily, and then he was gone, leaving me alone in the shadow.
I shivered.