Lurulu by Jack Vance

fare?”
    “Well enough, all taken with all. We watched the young folk of the town engaged in what seemed to be an energetic courtship rite in the public square. We dined at the Three Feathers Inn and also took breakfast in a special breakfast saloon. A serving girl named Buntje accused Myron of peering at her ankles, and reported his conduct to the cook. More importantly, we learned that ‘Loy Tremaine’ is in fact ‘Orlo Cavke’, who killed three children. He was captured but broke free and fled to Coro-Coro, then escaped off-world. The Krenks were surprised to learn that he had returned to Fluter. They want him badly.”
    “Amazing!” said Serle. “I marvel at Cavke’s audacity!”
    “So long as he could avoid the Civil Servants he was in no great danger — not until we came looking for him.”
    “So it would seem,” Serle agreed. “But the presence of Lady Maloof reduces his options. It would not be practical for him to take a house in Coro-Coro; too much paperwork is involved and Lady Maloof would surely want to make sorties to the O-Shar-Shan and other places of high fashion, and after a month the Agents would wonder about her entry papers, whereupon both she and Cavke would be in serious trouble. He could set up a romantic camp in the wilderness, but Lady Maloof might not enjoy the cold water, bad food, insects, or crouching over a hole in the ground when the need became urgent.”
    “This option may be dismissed,” said Maloof.
    “Another possibility exists, which is more probable. I refer to the use of a houseboat. They come in all sizes, configurations and degrees of luxury. The vessels can be taken to where scenery is most appealing and anchored without restriction, and supplies can be obtained at waterside villages. From Cavke’s point of view, a houseboat would seem the optimum solution to his problems.”
    “Perhaps so, but what then?” demanded Myron. “Fluter is a world with a hundred rivers, and probably hundreds of houseboats. Once Orlo Cavke is anchored on some lonely river he is lost.”
    “Not necessarily,” said Serle. “There is a method to check out every houseboat on Fluter without leaving Coro-Coro.”
    “That sounds useful,” Myron admitted. “How is it done?”
    “In a most logical fashion,” said Serle. “Suppose that you owned a fleet of rental houseboats, what would be your greatest fear?”
    Myron reflected, then said: “I would be afraid that a drunken tourist would run my best boat up on a reef, then go off and leave my boat to rot. By the time I learned what had happened, the tourist would be back on his home-world.”
    Serle nodded. “To guard against this event, the renter installs a tracer button aboard each of his houseboats. On a map in his office, the position of each of his houseboats is plotted. You need only learn which vessel Orlo Cavke has rented, copy the coordinates, proceed to this position, board the houseboat, apprehend Cavke and the job is done.”
    “Simple enough,” said Maloof, “especially if Cavke makes no objection.”
    “That is the only dubious link in the chain,” Serle agreed. “Sorry to say, I am restricted by IPCC protocol with the Agency; otherwise Jervis and I, wearing field uniforms, could board the houseboat and put Cavke under arrest, which would finalize the matter very neatly — except for a furious wrangle with the Agency, which looks bad on my record.”
    “No matter,” said Maloof. “One way or another, we will get the job done, even if we have to set fire to the houseboat and make the capture as Cavke jumps overboard.”
    3
    The Tourist Guide to Fluter listed two concerns from which houseboats might be rented or leased. The Tarquin Transit Company maintained premises on Pomare Boulevard, next to the Pingis Tavern. Maloof and Myron visited Tarquin Transit and sought out the yardmaster, a debonair young man with a fine set of silky yellow side-whiskers. When Maloof put his initial questions, the yardmaster looked