They had their drinks in an establishment where the almost naked waitresses made it plain that they were willing to oblige in more ways than the serving of drinks and who regarded the few female customers with open hostility. After having had a glass of ouzo spilled in her lap Maggie decided that it was time to leave. Jason, who had been getting on well with the hostess who had joined him at his table, sharing the large bottle of retsina that had been purchased at Grimes' expense, got to his feet reluctantly. His companion glared at him when he corked the wine bottle and took it with him.
"Waste not, want not, Commodore," he said.
"Too right," agreed Grimes.
"I thought that this wine was a present," complained the overly plump blonde.
"It is," said Jason. "To me."
They made their way to the parked hovercar, got in. The drive back to the palace was uneventful. They entered the building, as they had left it, by a back door. Amazon guards, or guards of any kind, were conspicuous by their absence. Security seemed to be nonexistent. Grimes said as much.
Jason laughed. "If you'd tried to get in this way without me along with you there'd have been a few surprises. Unpleasant ones."
"Such as?" asked Grimes.
"That'd be telling, Commodore. Just take my word for it."
"You're not a native, are you?" asked Grimes, who had detected more than a trace of American accent.
"No sir. No way. Before I came here I was an operative with Panplanet Security, home office Chicago. Paulus and I brought all the tricks of our trade with us. And now good night to you, Commodore Grimes and Commander Lazenby. I take it that you know the way back to your quarters."
Maggie assured him that they did.
They went to Grimes' suite.
They sat down and talked, discussing the events of the evening, comparing notes.
Maggie asked, "However did you get to know those two New Alice wenches, or, come to that, Fenella Pruin?"
"It's a long, sad story," he said. "At the finish of it I had all three of them as passengers aboard Little Sister—the deep space pinnace of which I was owner-master before I bought Sister Sue."
"It must have been an interesting voyage."
"Too interesting at times. But there were . . . compensations."
"I'm sure. Knowing you." She sipped from the drink that he had poured her. "It's a pity that we have no power to recruit the Pruin woman. She impresses me as being a really skillful investigator."
"Only when there's a story with sex involved, the only kind of story that Star Scandal prints."
"There are other stories, you know, equally interesting, and other media with good money to pay for them. Perhaps if I could get her interested . . . Or if you could. You know her better than I do. Come to that, Shirl and Darleen could do some work for us . . . ."
"Shirl and Darleen? Oh, they'd make quite good bodyguards. They're at their best in a rough and tumble. But as intelligence agents? Hardly."
"As intelligence agents," she said firmly. "Not very high grade ones, but useful. They told you where they were staying."
"The Hippolyte Hotel. But what's that got to do with it?"
"The Hippolyte Hotel is owned by a company made up of members of the New Hellas Association, mainly well-to-do female members. The Lady Ellena is a major shareholder. The name of the place is her choice. As you must have already gathered she has a thing about Amazons. In case you don't already know, Hippolyte was Queen of the Amazons."
"I'm not altogether ignorant of Terran history and mythology."
"All right, all right. But the Hippolyte is much frequented by NHA people. Too, I found out that the Hippolyte offered special rates to the stars now appearing at Aristotle's Arena."
"What's so sinister about that?"
"I . . . don't know. But there have been rumors. All those performers are alleged to be specialists in various offplanet martial arts. As far as your girlfriends Shirl and Darleen are concerned it's more than a mere allegation. Could Ellena be thinking of recruiting instructors in exotic weaponry and techniques for her Amazon Guards?"
"Terrible as an army with boomerangs," misquoted Grimes.
"Very funny. But our own Survey Service Marine Corps Commandos are trained to inflict grievous bodily harm with a wide variety of what many would consider to be archaic weapons."
"Mphm."
"Officially," she said, "you're in charge of this Intelligence Branch operation, whether you like it or not. Not only do you rank me, but you've had more experience in Intelligence work."
"But I didn't have the intelligence to realize it."
"You do now. Anyhow, although I'm officially subordinate to you, I can make suggestions, recommendations. I recommend that you exercise your influence on Shirl and Darleen—they seem to like you, the Odd Gods of the Galaxy alone know why!—and persuade them to accept the Lady Ellena's offer. If she makes it, that is. And if she does, and they do, then perhaps your other girlfriend might stay on here to do a story on their experiences instead of following the rest of the troupe across the Galaxy . . . ."
"This used to be an all-male planet," said Grimes. "But now . . . First you, then Fenella, then Shirl and Darleen. It never rains but it pours."
"You're not complaining, are you?" she asked.
"Certainly not about you," he told her gallantly.
They finished their drinks and extinguished their smokes and went to bed, the bed that Maggie would have to leave to return to her own before the domestic staff was up and about.