"Well, that tears it," I told Leroy. "Drake Thastus is missing."
"Are you sure?" he replied. "I heard the rumor, but I didn't believe it."
I shook my head. "I do. I saw a dozen men on Ames sitting around in the bar comparing notes on when they'd last seen 'the boss.' I saw almost the same thing on Freeport 4. Pilots in Navy bars are talking about the same thing and speculating about when they'll get to move on Vespucci. Besides, he hasn't answered my message."
I could tell that Leroy wasn't quite convinced, although he looked a bit worried.
"Look, " I continued, "a character like Thastus doesn't just disappear. Either something's happened to him or he's decided to hide for some reason. In either case, it seems that nobody knows how to get ahold of him right now." My fingers drummed irritably on the cafe table. This time, I'd met Leroy on Houston. The dusty atmosphere of the outdoor cafe irritated me too, but this place served the best T-bones to be found anywhere. Although small, it was very well known: people had been killed for daring to insult their famous pepper sauce.
"Well, " said Leroy, "there's nothing we can do but wait. Either Thastus will reappear, or someone will take over and answer your message. And if they don't, we'll just have to try again."
As usual, Leroy Fenning was right. I bit off a chunk of beef and thought, then nodded. "OK. I'm going to get back to my usual business then. I refuse to sit around and worry like a schoolgirl. I'll find you if...when I've heard more."
"Good. Safe travels, my friend."
A few minutes later, I was warming the Aedos up for launch. I'd found some other things out on my last trip to Ames, including some interesting information about a wrecked ship. There was also something about a vaporized planet and a black hole... at any rate, it seemed worth investigating.
Time for some good, honest exploration, I thought as the Aedos roared into a deeper and deeper blue sky. This should be fun.
![[Image: aedos_mini.jpg]](http://students.cs.byu.edu/~sushi/aedos_mini.jpg)