Free Manalone by Colin Kapp Page A

looking for you sometime or another.’
    ‘It’s nice to know you’re wanted, Mau. You don’t know what that does for a man.’
    She realized that he was teasing her, and her eyebrows raised in incredulous amusement.
    ‘You’re in a rare mood today, Manalone. You sneak in here in a suit you’ve obviously slept in, and having avoided nearly a day’s work, you finish up talking like a human being. Something’s got into you, that’s for sure!’
    ‘Could be it’s spring.’ He continued watching the coordination of his programme. No less than seven magnetic readers were filing their carefully selected instructions into the central processor, and the sole visible output of the operation was a punched tape from the verifier, which Manalone tore off in lengths and fed straight into the destructor. ‘You know, Mau, you’re wasted here. What’s a girl like you doing in an automated industry like this? Why don’t you let me take you away from it all?’
    Her twisted,sardonic grin became increasingly wry and increasingly bemused.
    ‘You’re up to something,’ she said. ‘With some people it’s the spring, but when
you
start acting human you definitely need watching.’
    He saw the programme run to an end, tore off the verification print and dropped it into the destructor. Then he turned back to meet her deeply analytical gaze.
    ‘You know, you’re quite a character, Mau. Whenever I’ve a problem and feel like talking about it, you’re always ready with a shoulder for me to cry on. And whenever I’ve a problem and don’t feel like talking, you still seem to know and try to get me to share it.’
    ‘That’s what secretaries are for.’ Somewhere in the depths of her multi-layered personality a tiny alarm seemed to sound, and a shadow crossed her brow as she realized Manalone’s formidable intelligence was this time being directed against her. She dropped into a convenient chair and faced him fully, acknowledging the game in which the exact words did not count, and only the hidden meanings spoke aloud.
    ‘What are you saying, Manalone?’
    ‘I’m saying, Mau, sometimes you seem to know I have a problem even before I do. With a rapport like that, we should have a great deal going for us.’
    ‘Are you making love-talk to me, Manalone?’
    ‘Perhaps!’ Manalone was enjoying the contest. ‘How long have we known each other, Mau?’
    ‘About three years is all.’
    ‘And do you know that for all that time there’s been something I’ve wanted to ask you – but never quite had the nerve.’
    She leaned a little closer towards him. ‘Ask me now, boy.’
    ‘Maurine – why the hell do you wear a gun?’
    He struck at her at the same moment as he spoke. She had seen the hardening of his eyes, but had not known the intention behind it, and was therefore taken by surprise. The gun, unseated from its leg holster, fell out and slid across the polished floor. She was on her feet in an instant to recover it, looking down furiously into his quietly smiling face.
    ‘That wasn’tvery clever, Manalone!’
    ‘Wasn’t it? I thought it was.’ He gave no indication of what conclusions he had drawn from the incident. Instead he began quietly to close down the computer peripherals he had been using, and moved to put the programme tapes back into the library. She watched him steadily. Knowing that her charade was broken, and knowing Manalone’s gift of insight, she saw no point in further pretence.
    ‘You know you’re heading into trouble, don’t you, Manalone? You’re too rare a character to get hurt. Why the hell don’t you stop?’
    ‘No, Maurine. Why don’t you stop? You’re the ones who’ve started a game you’ll never be able to finish.’
    ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
    ‘I didn’t think you would. But listen to this, Mau. I’ve just taken out an insurance policy. If anything happens to me, I’m afraid your nice tight security operation will blow up in your faces. It could