The crowd was thinning now. Robotcabs were swerving in, hovering above
the ground to pick up passengers, then veering away. The gap in the
starship's side was closing, and still Bart had not seen the tall, slim,
flame-haired figure of his father. The port on the other side of the
ship, he knew, was for loading passengers. Bart moved carefully through
the thinning crowd, almost to the foot of the stairs. One of the Lhari
checking papers stopped and fixed him with an inscrutable gray stare,
but finally turned away again.
Bart began really to worry. Captain Steele would never miss his ship!
But he saw only one disembarking passenger who had not yet been
surrounded by a group of welcoming relatives, or summoned a robotcab and
gone. The man was wearing Vegan clothes, but he wasn't Bart's father. He
was a fat little man, with ruddy cheeks and a fringe of curling gray
hair all around his bald dome. Maybe he'd know if there was another
Vegan on the ship.
Then Bart realized that the little fat man was staring straight at him.
He returned the man's smile, rather hesitantly; then blinked, for the
fat man was coming straight toward him.
"Hello, Son," the fat man said loudly. Then, as two of the Lhari started
toward him, the strange man did an incredible thing. He reached out his
two hands and grabbed Bart.
"Well, boy, you've sure grown," he said, in a loud, cheerful voice, "but
you're not too grown-up to give your old Dad a good hug, are you?" He
pulled Bart roughly into his arms. Bart started to pull away and stammer
that the fat man had made a mistake, but the pudgy hand gripped his
wrist with unexpected strength.
"Bart, listen to me," the stranger whispered, in a harsh fast voice. "Go
along with this or we're both dead. See those two Lhari watching us?
Call me Dad, good and loud, if you want to live. Because, believe me,
your life's in danger--right now!"