Chapter 14
Alain’s flight from Earth to the Bakalta’s next port of call—the planet Panjow—took four days. The crew treated him almost reverently—none of them had ever met a member of their world’s intelligence service before, and they were thrilled at the prospect of aiding their government in a top secret mission. They hardly let him do any work, but insisted on treating him as a celebrity. Alain was not used to such attention, and basked in its glow. In payment, he regaled them with stories—some only slightly fictionalized versions of the truth—about the espionage business in general and some of his own exploits in particular. He refused, though, to give them any details of his current “mission” to Earth.
“It’s for your own safety,” he explained. “If you don’t know anything, it’s not w
