Creatures of the Abyss
By Murray Leinster
[Transcriber Note: Extensive research did not uncover any evidence thatthe U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
A BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOK
published by
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING CORPORATION
COPYRIGHT © 1961, BY MURRAY LEINSTER
Published by arrangement withthe author
BERKLEY EDITION, AUGUST, 1961
BERKLEY MEDALLION BOOKS are published by
Berkley Publishing Corporation
101 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, N. Y.
Printed in the United States of America
One
The moment arrived when Terry Holt realized that he was simply holdingthe bag for Jimenez y Cía.—Jimenez and Company—in the city of Manila.He wasn't getting anywhere, himself. So, painfully, he prepared to windup the company's affairs and his own, and start over. It seemedappropriate to take inventory, consult the police—they'd been bothamiable and co-operative—and then make new plans. But first it would bea good idea to go somewhere else for a while, until the problempresented by La Rubia and radar and fish and orejas de ellos hadbeen settled. He was at work on the inventory when the door opened, thewarning-bell tinkled, and the girl came into the shop.
He looked up with a wary eye, glancing over the partition separating theworkshop area in which the merchandise sold by Jimenez y Cía. wasassembled. There were certain people he felt should not come into theshop. The police agreed with him. He was prepared to throw out anybodywho came either to demand that he build something or else, or to demandthat he not build it or else. In such forcible ejections he would bebacked by the authorities of the city and the Philippine Republic.
But this customer was a girl. She was a pretty girl. She was pleasantlytanned. Her make-up, if she wore any, looked natural, and she carried asizable parcel under her arm. She turned to close the door behind her.She was definitely from the United States. So Terry said in English,"Good afternoon. Can I do something for you?"
She looked relieved.
"Ah! We can talk English," she said gratefully. "I was afraid I'd havetrouble. I do have trouble with Spanish."
Terry came out from behind the partition marking off the workshop. Theshop was seventeen feet wide and its larger expanse of plate glass said,"Jimenez y Cía." in large letters. Terry's now-vanished partnerJimenez had liked to see his name in large print. Under the name was theline "Especialidades Electrónicas y Físicas." This was Terry's angle.He assembled specialties in the line of electronics and modern physics.Jimenez had sold them, not wisely but too well. At the bottom corner ofthe window there was a modest statement: "Orejas de Ellos," whichmeant nothing to anybody but certain commercial fishermen, all of whomwould deny it.
The girl looked dubiously about her. The front of the shop displayed twoglaringly white electric washing machines, four electric refrigerators,and two deep-freeze cabinets.
"But I'm not sure this is the right shop," she said. "I'm not lookingfor iceboxes."
"They're window-dressing," said Terry. "My former business associatetried to run an appliance shop. But the people who buy such things inManila only want the latest models. He got stuck with these from lastyear. So we do—I did do—especialidades electrónicas y físicas. ButI'm shutting up shop. What are you looking for?"
The shop was in an appropriate