incident was not the incident itself. lt was that it fin ally pounded into the heads of the leaders of each and every planet state an awareness that any kind Of trouble, even the most trivial thing, can eventu- ally escalate tO the point that it threatens the exis- tence of the whole human race if it isn't handled properly. Th at w as the b ackground rationale for the found- ing of the WWWA six years ago. The WWWA seeks out, trains and dispatches people WhO can respond to any and all kinds of problems with the potential tO harm the species. The WWWA's agents either solve the problem themselves, or provide ad- vice that contributes tO finding a solution. lt's a unique organization even within United Galactica. TO enable it t0 perform its mission, United Galac- tica has endowed the WWWA with awesome authority. WWWA agents trouble consultants, we re called ーー have tOtal freedom Of access tO any planet state belonging t0 Galactica. We're granted complete authority tO independently pursue our in- vestigations. Trouble consultants responsible for in- vestigating criminal offences in particular, are given carte blanche t0 use any and all kinds of weapons. Even so, and I know this can be hard to under- stand - ー the WWWA is in no way an internation- al police force, or a special military force. Each 29
What's the Big ldea? ・ / e went intO orbit around Planet Dangle. Moments later ground control sent us a ・ / hO - , 人 re - You. That in itself was pretty unusual. Usually an orbital relay station handles that kind of red tape. lt takes t00 long t0 respond t0 problems from planetside. But according t0 the background materi- al l'd been boning up on on your way here, there were only five space stations gle, and all of them were research platforms belong- ing tO the Gravas Foundation. There wasn't a single public station for orbital traffic control. Giant space stations are different from dinky lit- tle satellites. There's a limit tO hOW many you can have in orbit; five is about the 1 れ ax. Seeing hOW planet state Dangle was under the de factO control of the Gravas Foundation, I don't suppose they had any chOice about giving Gravas exclusive rights tO statlon constructlon. 7
/ ho Cares About Vacations, Anyway? 。 11 , it wouldn't have happened if you weren't SO SIOW on the uptake!" Desperately pulling myself back together again, I went back to belaboring Yuri. As for Yuri, just how do you like that? She was gawking at me, her face a picture Of dazed stupefaction. "The problem with you," I continued, "is that you always pretend as if nothing concerns you at all! " "But golly," said Yuri, squirming on the seat. "You just got right up and started quarreling with the policemen, Kay. There wasn't anything I could d0' was there? ” "Humph! ” I was at a IOSS for words. Oh, for sure, there was a mountain 0f things I could have said. Lik% just what d0 you mean by that, Yuri? While you were standing there like a lump on a 10g , I was out there defending our honor all by myself. Boy, you ve got 46
"He and 1 1 researchers took 0 仟 about half an hour ago in the shuttle for rese arch station Vulcan. "What! ” Merutonan's face went white. "He got away!" cried Yuri. "He must have learned that we wiped out the gang that attacked us. " lt had to be that. "What seems to be the problem, Sir? ” asked Tay- lor. The face in the screen looked bewildered. "You will wait for further orders!" snapped Merutonan, VOice turning harsher. now, enter Class-A Alert status! ” Sir! ” Taylor's face tensed. He broke the connection. "Loan us an aircar! ” I demanded behind Meruto- back. "What? ” Merutonan swung tO face us. "Loan us an aircar! み e ' Ⅱ go to Vulcan in Lovely Angel. " "You can't dO that!" he cried in dismay. "lt's ut- terly reckless! ” "To a WWWA trouble consultant," I retorted, brushing hiS aside, "recklessness is a way Of life. ” Merutonan muttered and creased his brow. "Hurry up! We don't have much time! " 84
"Always blaming someone else. " Somewhere, something snapped inside me. I swung myself back t0 face the console, pouting, and gave Yuri a sidelong glare ・ "Why don't you just stop bitching and pay at- tention tO the controls ? If you get SO distracted you ' Ⅱ fly us flat into the ground!" "No problem," she said, shrugging 0 仟 my hyster- "l lined us up on the beacon and ical outburst. switched over tO automatic long ago. We could land in our sleep if we wanted tO. "Arrgh! ” I growled, discomfitted by her mild rejoinder. There was nothing I could use to get back at her. This just wasn't my lucky day. I reclined my seat, and gave myself up t0 brooding. MY legs, stretch- ing sexily from V-cut shorts, rested on t0P 0f the console. Looking at them, I shifted my anger back tO the space traffic controller. ln the first place, anyone who runs away from a beauty like me doesn't deserve t0 live. Oh, for sure, our reputation may be a little less than rosy. But that's the fault of the work we do for the WWWA. lt doesn't have anything to do with us personally now, does it? Look, l'm 171 centimeters tall, and weigh just 54 kilograms. I measure 91-55-91. Those are just about
been fretting about whether we could really pull it off. And then, just at that very moment, along comes this incredible 0 飛 r from the WWWA. If they'd scouted just me, or Yuri, we would have turned them down flat. NO sooner had we graduated than we were sent to the WWWA training facility on Shimogu. On Shimogu they stuff fresh recruits to the gills with new skills, from piloting spaceships t0 handling weapons or, as ln our case, techniques Of criminal investigation. We rolled our eyes at the thought 0f having to go back to school the minute we'd finished college. But we grit our teeth, and bore it. So, at the end of the year we obtained our 0 伍 - CiaI licenses as investigator trouble consult- antS and started on our new careers. AS for our jOb record, it's not something l'd want tO talk tO strangers about. lt's not exactly, you know— bad. SOlved every case we ve ever worked on. lt's just that the solutions weren't al- ways very prettY. AS I see it, there are tWO ways tO solve a case. There's the clean way, where you use peaceful means tO bring everything under control. Then there's the Other way, where you have tO use coer- cion tO force a solution on a problem whether it likes it or not. I don't know how economic trouble 32
just skip it for now, 0kay? AII you need t0 know for the moment is that along with all his other at- tributes, our pet has had his temperment improved by we humans. As for anyone else having such a pet' well, like they say, the Milky Way's a mighty big place, but you won't find anyone else out there wh0 does. Once a day we have t0 feed Mugi a special kalium capsule, SO his f00d bill costs us an arm and a leg. still, Mugi's such a fantastic pet we don't give it a second thought. "Mugi!" I said sharply. "GO back t0 your room!" Mugi shook his head obstinately at first' but at last he seemed t0 realize that I really was angry. He slowly got down 0 任 the seat. "Meeoooooow," he whined sadly, and plodded heavily from the control cabin. Don't let him f001 you. lt was all an act. They are smart. They know exactly hOW tO win a hu- man being's sympathy. I saw him 0 仟 silently. 。〇 h well," I sighed, and faced front again ・ "Kay," said Yuri as if on cue. got re-entry clearance. l'm going t0 land. "Do what you like!" I retorted coldly. NO one as unforgiving as I am was going t0 forgive Yuri for the way she had treated me just a few minutes before. Lovely Angel steadily lost altitude as she traced a spiral orbit around Dangle.
I switched on the transmitter, and hailed the ship on civilian frequencies. They responded immediate- ly. She was the 300-meter passenger liner Galapa- gos, as big as they come for planetary liftoff passenger ships. She was just making her approach to Kurutomi Spaceport. Already she was well be- low 4,000 meters. Captain Guernicca 0f the Galapagos didn't even try tO understand the situation, matter hOW desperately I explained what was happening. Even as we talked, the flying saucer plunged ever closer t0 his ship. ln the end it was the Kurutomi Spaceport con- trol tower, not Galapagos herself, that grasped the gravity Of the situation. lnstantly a warning went out. And receiving it, the liner finally began t0 plod ontO a new heading. "Oh! Ah! What the—! " Yuri shrieked, her eyes going round. "He 's not j ust attacking! He thinks he's a Kamikaze! ” "EEEH! ” I squeezed the laser trigger for all I was worth. The only way to stop him was t0 sh00t him down. But the saucer was no sluggard when it came tO running. Already he was t00 far away. The laser beams looked like they were scoring direct hits, but they weren't powerful enough t0 take him out. 23
power, leaving them lethargic and unresisting. Once Lucifer had gassed the planet, it would be child's play to take over the government and Dan- gle with it. A11 they would need to do would be t0 go t0 the president and demand that he hand it over. Neither the president, nor the citizens whO would become Lucifer's slaves, would put up the slightest resistance. Dangle and the production headquarters of Gra- vas Heavy lndustries would become Lucifer's overnight. "But somehow or Other, miscalculations dO OC- cur," grumbled Teppeus. our case' it was Angaron. "Angaron wasn't bound to Lucifer bY blood. We thought we had no choice but t0 bend our rules and let him in if we were tO complete ou て plans. lt was a gnevous error. "That f001 blew our only ground-based command center right 0 仟 the face 0f the planet. Even worse, he left a message exposing our plOt. lt was serious treason deserving Of death. "But the plan has not been stymied. For our com- mand center we were able tO use Vulcan. We may no longer be able t0 fine-tune the volume 0f gas on the ground, but the plan itself can be pulled 。任 with Vulcan alone. We can get the job done after 107
"Why are you so surprised?" asked Bayleaf with an icy 100k on his face. "Didn't you just agree t0 settle the score? ” “ No ! ” I wailed. "That's not what I meant! ” see.. Again the contemptuous gaze ・ "So I take it WWWA trouble consultants don't have the human compassion tO mourn the 。 } 40W dare you! ” I exploded at Bayleaf words. "NOW you listen tO 1 e ! ・ What on earth were you cops up t0 while we were being attacked bY uniden- tified flying saucers? ・ 7 ・ ere you sitting around suck- ing your thumbs and crying dearie dearie 1 れ e ? Or maybe you were Just enjoying the show, wait- ing for us tO make a mistake? HOW about it•? Dangle don't the police d0 anything when some- bOdy starts a battle in your airspace?" "What did you Just say!" roared Bayleaf. His face went crimson, then white, and finally black. 0 み e were waiting here tO make see reason and t0 send you back where you came from! And even while we waited ー the Galapagos tragedy! As if that by itself wasn't more than we could endure, now you come and insult us tO our faces! "Very Well! If that's how it's going to be, then to hell with the WWWA and United GaIactica! r11