Page 198 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Investigating the Mystery of the Talking Plant
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‘‘No, but it was deducible from the remarks of Kortokox and
Reverend Emenoy. It’s relatively easy to tell when humanoids are
reacting emotionally to sp ecific stimuli—if you’re one yourself. But
when it comes to detecting lies expressed by an alien, you’ve got no
background of shared responses to draw upon for judgement. So, I’ve
been investigating the emissaries’ statements from the point of view of
extracting biographical, exobiological, and ethnological information.
And, of course, a bit of simple logic helps, too.”
“I wondered what you were doing while I was away,” said Lugo.
“Did you come up with anything new?”
“Yes, I did, and Miss Woswoot’s story provided yet more clues.”
“Do you think she was telling the truth about Farnitt? He had
access both to the control room and the gallery right up until 0230.”
“That I hope to settle tonight. Since we have neither confession nor
conclusive evidence, we shall have to set a trap. First, I want you to
announce that I have found a way to resuscitate the sonopor plant,
based on osmotic plasmatology, and that all we need is some
chemically equivalent sap to replace what was lost; before that,
however, we have to leave the thing in the Tzigian habitat overnight to
recharge it with Tzigian ions. Tell everyone in the Center. Go back to
the emissaries, ostensibly to announce Bulakko’s demise, and mention
the regeneration scheme in passing. And, most important, you must
tell them all that you and I will be spending the night at the PKU
Science Center next to Pontenga Port to get things ready. Then reset
the Tzigian habitat and make a big show of transporting the sonopor
plant there from the gallery. Make sure it is covered and handled as
though it were an injured person.”
“But the plant is beyond repair. It’s as dead as Bulakko,” protested
Lugo.
Kaga shook his head. “This is the first specimen of that fungus ever
seen outside Tzigi. Nobody can be sure what it takes to kill it, short of
incineration; I’m banking on the persistence of the motive to destroy
it. Anyway get going. It’s already past 1500. I’m going to take a nap.
Meet me in the commissary for supper at 1800.”

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