As the rainbow took her away from earth, Rainbow thought about her new friend. When he came to Rainbowland, it would be like old times again.
Abruptly she thought about the mystery of Plock's death, and wondered about the progress in solving it Violet had made. She decided not to wait for her to come home, but go there. Mentally she directed the Color Belt, and it changed course for Plock's Asteroid, where he had made his home. She looked forward to being with Doris, the computer, again.
Some time later she arrived at the airlock, and cycled through.
"Welcome home, Mistress Rainbow Brite!" said Doris.
"Thank you, Doris," she answered, "Status report?"
"All systems nominal, Mistress. That anomaly has been back twice, but I'm still having no luck analysing it."
"Keep at it. Where is Violet?"
"She's not here, Mistress. She left yesterday for the planet where Plock died," answered Doris.
"Was she coming back here?" asked Rainbow.
"Yes, she decided to come back for some books, then go back to Rainbowland," said Doris.
"Okay, any messages?"
"Yes, routine ones about the book and curio chains. I have done as you instructed and answered them using Plock's image."
"Thank you. I think that until we find out what happened to him, the fewer people who know he's gone, the better."
"I agree, Mistress," said Doris.
"Well, I'm tired. It's been a long journey from Rainbowland to earth to here. I want to eat something, then I'm taking a bath and going to bed."
"Very good, Mistress," said Doris.
"If Violet comes back tonight, please tell her I'll see her in the morning unless it's serious."
"Acknowledged," said Doris.
Several hours later, Doris woke Rainbow.
"Uh? What is it?" she asked.
"The anomaly is back. It's in the Memorial Room, and seems to be stationary for the moment."
"Okay, I'll take a look," said Rainbow, throwing back the covers.
"Shall I wake Violet?"
"Yes, please do. Tell her to meet me at the end of the corridor. And don't turn on any lights."
"Acknowledged."
A minute later, a sleepy Violet joined Rainbow at the door to the Memorial Room. No lights were on, just the faint glow of the night lights set at regular intervals.
She opened the door slowly, and was astonished at what she saw. A glowing, transparent image of Plock stood there. It was very faint, and if the lights had been on, they couldn't have seen it at all.
The...ghost?...was looking at the various items the Kids and Rainbow had left in Plock's memory, which was a custom of her culture.
"Wow," whispered Violet, "An actual ghost. As a scientist, I've never believed in such things, but I can't deny what I'm seeing."
"Let's find out if it's real," said Rainbow. She touched the star on the Belt, and a very faint rainbow formed from it.
"Why is it so faint?" asked Violet.
"I told the Belt to make it so. This way it won't ruin our night vision, and lose track of the ghost."
The rainbow extended toward the ghost, and passed through. The figure made no acknowledgement of it, but kept staring at the items. The rainbow swooped around and passed in front of the ghost, cutting off his view. This time there was a reaction. The figure looked surprised, and stepped back. He looked around, and spotted Rainbow and Violet in the door. He smiled at them, and faded away.
"The anomaly has disappeared," said Doris.
"What did you see, Doris?" asked Violet.
"My visual sensors detected nothing," answered Doris, "Did you really see Plock?"
"What appeared to be him. He was looking at the memorial items" said Violet.
"Let's see if we can figure out why," said Rainbow.
They stepped into the room and went over to the table.
"I don't see anything unusual," said Rainbow, "Violet, do you have any ideas?"
Violet thought for a minute. "No, I don't have any experience with something like this. Let me do some research, and see if I can figure something out. This is fascinating!"
"Well, I know I won't be getting any more sleep tonight," said Rainbow, "Let's go get a midnight snack, and you can tell me what you found. Doris, please turn up the lights to a low level."
They went to the kitchen, and fixed a light snack. To no one's surprise they found a supply of coffee from Earth. Following Doris' directions, they put on a pot of decaffienated, then went back to the living room. They sat down in the comfortable chairs that were really too large for their small statures.
"I found the journey log in Plock's ship," began Violet, "And discovered the planet he was killed on was not too far away.
"Those papers you found in the ship and translated? I'm afraid the translations were rather poor. They were actually veiled threats for Plock to bring the Books of Dal there, or suffer the consequences. He went, but left the Books here. About a day after he arrived, he was killed."
"Excuse me, the coffee's ready," said Doris.
"Bring us each a cup, please," said Rainbow.
"I couldn't find out anything more from here, so decided to go there. I got the information from the ship's computer as to where on the planet it happened, and left on my violet stripe."
When I got there, I found the police to be very cooperative. I guess being a Color Kid has some advantages. You know, it's amazing. We Color Kids and you are honored everywhere we go, except Earth."
"Yes, I'm still waiting for them to develop space travel. When they do, we can reveal ourselves generally. But until then..."
"It is frustrating, isn't it?" asked Violet. There was a pause while they fixed their coffee to their tastes.
"I like this stuff," said Violet, "It's one of the best things Earth ever produced, apart from Brian."
Rainbow smiled, "I agree."
A moment later, Violet continued the narrative.
"As best the police could reconstruct things, Plock met two humanoid men at a park. Passerby remember them arguing, but nothing else until Plock was found dead in an alley near the park.
But here's the real surprise: by their descriptions, the two men were of Count Blogg's race."
Rainbow sat up strait, spilling her coffee.
"What!"
Violet nodded. "Green skin, white hair and beards, large bodies, red eyes."
"That does sound like him," Rainbow admitted.
"The records on Plock's ship indicate they tried to break in, but failed. It was before they killed Plock."
"How could you know that?"
"When he died, the ship received a signal indicating that. It immediately took off, sending you and Doris those messages."
"When they tried to break in, the ship took pictures of them, which I have sent to the police on the planet."
"When did you find the pictures?"
"I looked when I got back here, a few hours ago."
Rainbow sat in thought for a few minutes.
"I wonder. Sorrell denied having anything to do with Plock's death, and I believe him. So I'd guess they are working for Blogg, who would use the information in the books to increase his own power,
like Sorrell was going to do."
"That must be it," said Violet, "Also, I checked. Nobody of Sorrell's description was anywhere near the murder scene."
"He seems in the clear, then. That's good," said Rainbow.
"So we seem to have solved the mystery of Plock's murder. Now we have the mystery of Plock's ghost to worry about."
"Well, do that research on it, and keep me posted on what you find out," said Rainbow, and yawned.
"I will," said Violet, and yawned in her turn.
Rainbow stood up. "I guess the excitement over the ghost has about worn off. I'm sleepy again. Goodnight, Violet."
Violet stood up too. "I am, too. Can't think clearly without enough sleep. Goodnight, Rainbow. See you in the morning."
"Orders?" asked Doris.
"Just let us sleep," answered Rainbow,
"Very good, Mistress."
The next morning, they ate a leisurely breakfast, then they composed and sent a message to Sorrell about Plock. It would take several hours for the message to arrive at Sorrell's castle, and an equal amount of time for a reply to return.
Rainbow spent most of the day catching up on Plock's wheelings and dealings. Violet spent her time in the library, doing research and collecting books to take back to Rainbowland.
That evening a reply arrived from Sorrell.
"Glad to hear you're making progress," said the sorcerer's image from the computer screen. "I was beginning to wonder if you people are really as competent as you pretend. Now don't bother me again until you have the ones responsible identified." The screen darkened.
Rainbow smiled. "Sorrell is getting soft in his old age. That's the friendliest he's ever been."
"Don't fool yourself, Rainbow," said Violet, "He's dangerous and powerful."
"I know," she replied, "But I think he's worth winning over."
"I hope you're right," said Violet.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. My pack is in the airlock."
"I wish you didn't have to go," said Doris.
"Me too," said Rainbow. "I'll miss you, Doris."
Violet snapped her fingers. "That's what I wanted to ask you. Doris, the Rainbowland computer has no personality or intelligence. Would you like a copy of yourself to be installed there? With Rainbow's permission, of course."
There was no reply.
"Doris?"
"I--I'll have to think about it..." she finally said.
"I can bring you files that will give you an idea of what's involved," said Violet.
"Yes, that would be fine. Please," said Doris.
The two turned and went to the airlock where Rainbow had first come into the asteroid.
"Mistress?"
"Yes, Doris?"
"A-as my owner, you can order me to go..."
"No, I couldn't. It's a decision you have to make. I'll abide by whatever you decide."
A beat. "Thank you, Mistress Rainbow Brite."
"You're welcome. We'll be back soon."
"Very good, Mistress. I'll be waiting."
They closed the inner airlock door, and Rainbow touched the star on the Belt, and the rainbow formed under their feet. The outer door opened, and the rainbow took them into space, and towards home.