female on this bench?"

"Not me," Rafeel said. "And I been sitting here continuous since ten
this morning."

"I didn't see her neither," the third man said. "And I got sharp eyes."

Barrent turned back to Frendlyer. "Why are you lying to me?"

"I've told you the simple truth," Frendlyer said. "There has been no
girl in here all day. I lent you the gun, as is my privilege as
President of the Victim's Protective Society. I would now appreciate its
return."

"No," Barrent said. "I'm keeping the gun until I find the girl."

"That might not be wise," Frendlyer said. He hastily added, "Thievery, I
mean, is not condoned under these circumstances."

"I'll take my chances on that," Barrent said. He turned and left the
Victim's Protective Society.

Chapter Five

Barrent needed time to recuperate from his violent entry into Omegan
life. Starting from the helpless state of a newborn, he had moved
through murder to the ownership of an antidote shop. From a forgotten
past on a planet called Earth, he had been catapulted into a dubious
present in a world full of criminals. He had gotten a glimpse of a
complex class structure, and a hint of an institutionalized program of
murder. He had discovered in himself a certain measure of self-reliance,
and a surprising quickness with a gun. He knew there was a great deal
more to find out about Omega, Earth, and himself. He hoped he would live
long enough to make the necessary discoveries.

First things first. He had to earn a living. To do so, he had to find
out about poisons and antidotes.

He moved into the apartment in back of his store and began reading the
books left by the late Hadji Draken.

The literature on poisons was fascinating. There were the vegetable
poisons known on Earth, such as hellebore, setterwort, deadly
nightshade, and the yew tree. He learned about the action of
hemlock--its preliminary intoxication and its final convulsions. There
was prussic acid poisoning from almonds and digitalin poisoning from
purple foxglove. There was the awesome efficiency of wolfsbane with its
deadly store of aconite. There were the fungi such as the amanita
toadstools and fly agaric, not to mention the purely Omegan vegetable
poisons like redcup, flowering lily, and amortalis.

But the vegetable poisons, although dismayingly numerous, were only
one part of his studies. He had to consider the animals of Earth,
sea, and air, the several species of deadly spiders, the snak