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Remembering Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen
Pearson Canada grieves the loss of both Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen, the beloved
authors of Canadian Tax Principles. For more than 35 years, Clarence and Ida
have been extensively involved in Canadian accounting education. Their book,
Canadian Tax Principles, has been used by thousands of instructors and students
and continues to be read and relied upon by learners across the country.
Our thoughts are with their family, friends, and the education community who
worked with them and knew them personally.
Husband and wife, Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen, authors of Canadian Tax Principles,
passed away on May 30, 2020, and November 6, 2019, respectively. Their impact on
accounting education will not be forgotten.
In Memoriam of Ida Chen
On November 6, 2019, Ida Chen, my wife of 43 years, died would have had no success without the synergy resulting from
from cancer. our unusually complementary contributions.
In our years together, Ida and I authored some 150 books on While Ida’s efforts were essential to the success of our publi-
financial accounting and tax. cations, her contributions to our life together were even more
important to me. We were best friends from the beginning of
These books were used by tens of thousands of students, as our marriage and, during the last 15 years, after my teaching
well as by many accounting professionals. was restricted to online efforts, we spent pretty much 24/7
Canadian Tax Principles has been, by far, our most successful together. We skied, hiked, climbed, and biked all over North
effort. Through more than 25 annual editions, we piloted this America. We shared great food and, over the years, had several
publication from a niche product that we self-published to its beautiful homes. Both the success of our books and the joy we
position today as the most widely adopted text in Canadian found in our life together were beyond our wildest dreams.
university and college tax courses. We had an ongoing discus- We have lived the greatest love story that I have ever wit-
sion about responsibility for this success. Ida believed that it nessed. I miss her terribly.
was based on the quality of my writing, while I was equally
convinced that its success resulted from her editing work on Clarence Byrd
my often rough first drafts. The truth is that this publication May 6, 2020
Tax
With contributions by
GARY DONELL
Principles
2020–2021 EDITION
Volume I
Please contact https://support.pearson.com/getsupport/s/contactsupport with any queries on this content.
Pearson Canada Inc., 26 Prince Andrew Place, North York, Ontario M3C 2H4.
Copyright © 2021 Pearson Canada Inc. Copyright © 2020, 2019, 2014 Clarence Byrd, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission should be obtained
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Pearson Canada or its affiliates, authors, licensees, or distributors.
If you purchased this book outside the United States or Canada, you should be aware that it has been imported
without the approval of the publisher or the author.
ISBN 978-0-13-674537-2
ScoutAutomatedPrintCode
iii
CONTENTS
Chapter VO L U M E I Chapter VO L U M E II
18 Partnerships
Other Income, Other Deductions,
9
And Other Issues
19 Trusts And Estate Planning
Retirement Savings And Other
10
Special Income Arrangements 20 International Issues In Taxation
CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2
Introduction To Procedures And Administration
Federal Taxation In Canada
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
The Canadian Tax System . . . . . . . . . 1 Administration Of The Department . . . . 49
Alternative Tax Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Taxable Entities In Canada . . . . . . . . . . 2 Returns And Payments - Individuals . . . . 50
Federal Taxation And The Provinces . . . . . . 3 Requirement To File - ITA 150 . . . . . . . . . . 50
Due Date For Individual Returns . . . . . . . . 51
Tax Policy Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Withholdings For Income Tax - ITA 153 . . . . . 52
Taxation And Economic Policy . . . . . . . . 5 Instalment Payments For Individuals - ITA 156 . 53
Taxation And Income Levels . . . . . . . . . 5 Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Tax Incidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Tax Expenditures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Due Date For Balance Owing - Living Individuals . 59
Qualitative Characteristics Of Tax Systems . . 9 Deceased Taxpayers - Balance Due Dates
Income Tax Reference Materials . . . . . 11 And Final Returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Returns And Payments - Corporations . . . 59
The Income Tax Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Due Date For Corporate Returns - ITA 150 . . . 59
Other Income Tax Legislation . . . . . . . . . 15 Filing Alternatives For Corporations . . . . . . . 60
Other Sources Of Income Tax Information . . 16 Instalment Payments For Corporations . . . . . 60
Liability For Part I Income Tax . . . . . . 18 Due Date For Balance Owing - Corporations . . 62
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Interest And Penalties For Corporations . . . . 63
Charging Provision For Canadian Residents. . 18 Returns And Payments - Trusts . . . . . . . 63
Charging Provision For Non-Residents . . . . 19 Types Of Trusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Filing Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Due Dates For Returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Residence Of Individuals . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Payment Of Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Residence Of Corporations . . . . . . . . . . 27 Interest And Penalties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Residence Of Trusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Income Tax Information Returns . . . . . . 64
Alternative Concepts Of Income . . . . . 29 Books And Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
The Economist’s View. . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Accountant’s View . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Assessments And The CRA
The Income Tax Act View . . . . . . . . . . . 30 My Account Service . . . . . . . . . . . 64
CRA Website - My Account Service. . . . . . . 64
Net Income For Tax Purposes . . . . . . 30 Notice Of Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Notice Of Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Combining The Components - ITA Section 3 . 32 Refunds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Loss Carry Overs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Net Income For Tax Purposes - Example . . . 35 Adjustments To Income Tax Returns . . . . 66
Appendix - CCA Rates For Selected Assets . . 233 Taxation Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
General Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
Problems For Self Study (Online) . . . . . 235 Unincorporated Businesses - Non-Calendar
Fiscal Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
Assignment Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Special Business Income Situations. . . . 278
Income For Farmers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
(Continued)
viii Table Of Contents (Volume 1)
Other Income - Subdivision d Inclusions . 392 Problems For Self Study (Online) . . . . . 437
Pension Benefits - ITA 56(1)(a)(i) . . . . . . . .392 Assignment Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Retiring Allowances - ITA 56(1)(a)(ii) . . . . . .393
Death Benefits - ITA 56(1)(a)(iii) . . . . . . . .393
Income Inclusions From Deferred Income
Plans -ITA 56(1)(h), (h.1), (h.2), (i), and (t) .
Scholarships And Prizes - ITA 56(1)(n) . .
. . .394
. . .394 CHAPTER 10
Research Grants - ITA 56(1)(o) . . . . . . . . .394
Social Assistance And Workers’ Retirement Savings And Other
Compensation Payments - Special Income Arrangements
ITA 56(1)(u) And (v) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395
(Continued)
x Table Of Contents (Volume 1)
Transfers Between Plans . . . . . . . . . . 485 The chapters of this Study Guide correspond to the
Accumulated Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . .485 chapters of Byrd & Chen’s Canadian Tax Principles.
Retiring Allowances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .486 Each of these Study Guide chapters contains the
Retirement Compensation Arrangements 486 following:
The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .486
• Detailed guidance on how to work through the
Arrangements Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . .487
Part XI.3 Refundable Tax . . . . . . . . . . . .487
text and problems in the chapter.
• Detailed solutions to the Exercises and Self
Salary Deferral Arrangements . . . . . . . 488
The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .488 Study Problems in the textbook for the chapter.
The Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .488 • A list of learning objectives for the material in
Individual Pension Plans (IPPs). . . . . . . 489 the chapter.
Key Terms Used In This Chapter . . . . . . 490 In addition, the Study Guide contains:
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 • Two sample personal tax returns and two Self
Study Tax Software Problems in Chapters 4
Problems For Self Study (Online) . . . . . 491 and 11.
Assignment Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 491 • A sample corporate tax return in Chapter 13.
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1 • An extensive Glossary.
xi
PREFACE
Level Of Coverage
In terms of style, we have attempted to strike a balance between the kind of complete docu-
mentation that can render the material incomprehensible to anyone other than a tax profes-
sional, and the total elimination of references that would make it impossible for readers to
expand their understanding of particular points. In those situations where we feel the issue is
sufficiently complex that further investigation could be helpful, we have provided a list of refer-
ences to the relevant Sections of the Income Tax Act or other related materials. In contrast, no
direction has been provided when the material is either very straightforward or where the rele-
vant parts of the Act would be obvious.
This book can be used with or without additional source material. Some instructors require stu-
dents to acquire a copy of the Income Tax Act and permit its use as a reference during examina-
tions. For instructors wishing to take this approach, frequent references to the Act have been
included. For instructors not wishing to require the use of the Income Tax Act, we have designed
the problem material so that students should be able to solve all of the included problems rely-
ing solely on the text as a reference.
which material is omitted and which material is included. Given this, it would not be possible to
produce separate volumes that meet the needs of all of our users.
Problem Material
For Students
The Canadian Tax Principles package contains a large number of problems with detailed solu-
tions. See the MyLab section of this preface for more information. The various types of prob-
lems and their location are as follows:
Exercises These are short problems that are focused on a single issue. Each Exercise
is presented in the Canadian Tax Principles text, directly following the material that is
relevant to its solution. This provides you with immediate feedback as to whether you
have understood the material that you have just read. Solutions to the Exercises can be
found in the Study Guide.
Self Study Problems These problems are more complex than the Exercises and
include a number of comprehensive problems. We have marked the point within the
text that you should work each Self Study Problem. Solutions to the Self Study Problems
are included in the Study Guide, while the problems are available on MyLab.
Tax Software Self Study Problems These problems are designed to be solved using
the ProFile software that is available with Canadian Tax Principles. These problems are
found in the Study Guide. The completed tax returns and solutions are available on MyLab.
Supplementary Self Study Problems Additional Self Study Problems, along with
their detailed solutions, are available on MyLab for each chapter.
Practice Examinations A 90 minute practice examination and solution is available on
MyLab for each chapter.
For Instructors
Canadian Tax Principles contains several types of problems designed for instructors:
Assignment Problems These problems vary in difficulty and include the most difficult
non-comprehensive problems in the text. They are found at the end of each chapter of
Preface xiii
MyLab Accounting
Canadian Tax Principles. They are sometimes adapted from professional examinations
and may involve a number of different issues. Solutions to these problems are available
only to instructors, through the Instructor’s Resources links on MyLab.
Assignment Problems (Comprehensive) These comprehensive problems are the
most challenging type of problem material in the text. They are cumulative in that they
incorporate issues from previous chapters. There are two comprehensive assignment
problems per chapter in Chapters 6 through 11 and they are found at the end of the
Assignment Problems for the chapter. Solutions to these problems are available only to
instructors, through the Instructor’s Resources links on MyLab.
Tax Software Assignment Problems Tax Software Assignment Problems dealing
with personal tax returns are found at the end of Chapters 4 and 11. An additional
Assignment Tax Software Problem, involving a corporate tax return, is located at the
end of Chapter 14. Solutions to Assignment Tax Software Problems are available only to
instructors, through the Instructor’s Resources links on MyLab.
Examination Problems For instructors adopting Canadian Tax Principles, a large
and comprehensive selection of problems and solutions for use on examinations is
available. These include multiple choice questions (over 700), true/false questions
(over 200), essay questions (over 400), exercises (over 400), as well as more than 350
comprehensive types of problem ranging in difficulty from easy to very difficult. These
are available only to instructors, through the Instructor’s Resources links on MyLab.
MyLab Accounting
The various items that are included on MyLab can be described as follows:
• Pearson eText This eText gives you access to the text whenever and wherever you
have access to the Internet, through various devices. It contains the content of both vol-
umes of the text and the Study Guide. The eText pages look exactly like the printed text
and offer powerful functionality. You can create notes, highlight text in different colours,
create bookmarks, zoom, and search.
• NEW Data Analytics Project With this new assignable project, students analyze a
comprehensive data set and make a series of accounting decisions. This assignment
is designed to prepare students for the data analytics competencies that have been
included in the most recent CPA Competency Map. Students will use Excel-based tools
to assess data for accuracy, then organize and filter large quantities of information to
make the data appropriate for income tax calculations. Students will then incorporate
income tax concepts, including the calculation of Net Income, Taxable Income, and Tax
Payable using the outputs of their data analysis in Excel. This assignment also includes
data visualization and incorporates tax planning concepts for a business.
• Self Study Problems Self Study Problems are available on MyLab, with solutions in
your Study Guide. In the textbook, we have marked the point within the text that you
should work each Self Study Problem.
• Supplementary Self Study Problems Additional Self Study Problems for each chap-
ter, along with their detailed solutions, are available for further practice in problem solv-
ing. These are separated out by chapter.
• EY’s Federal Income Tax Collection (FITAC) This comprehensive electronic tax
research library contains the Income Tax Act, Income Tax Folios, and other official mate-
rials. In addition, it includes an electronic version of the Canadian Tax Principles text.
Designed for reference purposes, this version provides electronic links from the text
material to the various references contained in FITAC (e.g., the Income Tax Act). Note
xiv Preface
Recent Changes
however, it only includes the text and does not have the Exercises and other problem
material that are provided with the printed text.
• ProFile Tax Return Preparation Software Intuit’s professional tax preparation soft-
ware, ProFile, is available free of charge to users of Canadian Tax Principles. You can use
this software to prepare returns for individuals, corporations, and trusts and includes a
large number of tax forms. This software is for educational use only and cannot be used
to file tax returns.
• Corrections Any corrections to the text, Study Guide, or other student material are pro-
vided on MyLab throughout the year. Please check periodically to help avoid frustration.
• Practice Examinations A 90-minute practice examination, along with a solution and
suggested marking guide, is available for each chapter. These examinations contain a
variety of problems, including multiple choice, essay questions, and longer problems.
• Power Point Presentations There is a PowerPoint presentation for each chapter.
These provide the basis for a quick review of the material covered in the chapter.
• Glossary Flashcards These flashcards help you test your understanding of the key
terms used in each chapter.
• 2020 Tax Rates, Credits, and Common CCA Classes This is available as a PDF file,
for reference. This tax information is also available at the front of Volumes 1 and 2, and
CCA classes are available in the Chapter 5 Appendix.
• Tax Returns The Study Guide contains tax return examples and Self Study tax soft-
ware problems, along with notes to their solutions. The completed tax returns are avail-
able on MyLab, to download and use with your ProFile software, or to view in PDF files.
Recent Changes
2020 COVID-19
The tax system in Canada, as in many countries, is premised on regular tax reporting, regular
withholdings, remittances, and payment obligations all based upon a normal functioning econ-
omy. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is mandated to ensure the continuity and smooth
operation of the tax system, which includes the disbursement of benefits such as the GST/HST
credits and the Canada Child Benefit, an audit function to ensure the accuracy of tax reporting,
and many other complementary functions such as Collections, Appeals, and Objections. The
CRA administers both the Income Tax Act (ITA) and Excise Tax Act (ETA) and provides administra-
tive positions for a multitude of issues all with the purpose of upholding its mandate and the
integrity of the Canadian tax system.
The March 11, 2020, announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring a pan-
demic changed the lives of Canadians as COVID-19 found its way into Canadian homes and
institutions. Aside from the devastating impact on Canadian lives the necessary action to con-
tain the virus effectively shut down a significant part of the Canadian economy, resulting in mil-
lions of Canadians unable to work as businesses shut down. We no longer had a smooth func-
tioning economy, and both the Federal and provincial governments were called on to address
the unprecedented financial impact upon Canadians.
The Federal government quickly rose to the challenge by instituting targeted financial assistance
measures. We all have become familiar with acronyms such as the CERB (Canadian Emergency
Response Benefit), the CEWS (Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy), and the CESB (Canadian
Emergency Student Benefit) to name but a few. In the interim Canadians found themselves facing
income tax reporting obligations such as the standard April 30 deadline for filing individual income tax
returns, instalment payments for both income tax and GST/HST, various tax withholding obligations,
etc. In step with the Federal government announcements, the CRA issued numerous releases
Preface xv
Recent Changes
delaying the filing of individual tax returns, payment obligations for outstanding amounts owing for
2019, delayed instalment payments for 2020, and a promise that no interest or penalties would be
charged until the extended times had lapsed. The audit and appeals functions came to an abrupt halt
for the most part as CRA employee efforts were redirected to dealing with COVID-19 related mat-
ters. There remains a plethora of additional, albeit temporary, administrative changes that the CRA
has announced to give some breathing room to Canadians as we all struggle with this unprece-
dented pandemic in modern times. Most of these announcements are supported by new legislation.
Given the temporary nature of these government initiatives and administrative changes by the
CRA it is our view that providing detail of the numerous COVID-19 measures would not further
the fundamental understanding of Canadian Tax Principles and as a result we have opted not to
include coverage of these measures within the textbook. We would direct any of our readers
who seek additional detailed information to visit the CRA website specifically at https://www.
canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/covid-19-update.html, which provides all the neces-
sary and continually updated tax related information concerning COVID-19.
brought to an end plans to go ahead with that budget. In May 2020 Prime Minister Trudeau
announced that there were no plans to release a budget this year given the circumstances. In
June the government announced a July 8 release date for an “Economic and Fiscal Snapshot”
that appears to be designed to disclose the financial and economic affairs of the country follow-
ing the unprecedented expenditure programs to assist Canadians throughout the pandemic. As
a result we find ourselves in an interesting position without any significant tax changes that
would typically accompany an annual Federal budget. There are, of course, plenty of changes to
incorporate the numerous indexed amounts that are adjusted each year.
In addition it has become standard practice that Federal budgets introducing tax changes generally
apply those changes to the immediately following or later years. As a result, the 2020 taxation year
for example is impacted much more as a result of the 2019 Federal budget than it would have
been by a 2020 Federal budget. We discuss this in the next section.
Previously Announced Measures
There are several measures that were announced in previous budgets that are still working their
way through the system in 2020. They can be described as follows:
Employee Stock Options In the 2019 Federal budget the government announced that
draft legislation would be released to address perceived unfairness in the taxation of
employee stock options, particularly the 50 percent stock option deduction that results
in only one-half of stock option employee benefits included in income. The government
identified that their primary concern was that employee stock options were being used
to compensate wealthy executives of large mature companies when in their view such
tax deferred compensation should be limited to CCPCs and non-CCPCs in the start-up
or emerging phase of their existence.
Draft legislation was released June 2019 giving interested persons a six month
consultation period to provide feedback to the Department of Finance by December
2019. The government subsequently indicated that revised legislation would accompany
the 2020 Federal budget, which as we have seen has been postponed with no future
date in sight. As a result the taxation of employee stock options remains unchanged at
the moment.
New Trust Reporting Requirements In the 2017 Federal budget the government
announced their intention to enhance the information requirements for both resident
and non-resident trusts. Details were released when the 2018 Federal budget was
tabled February 27, 2018. The new reporting requirements will apply to the 2021 taxation
year of most trusts, require the completion of a T3 return even though one may not have
previously been required, and the completion of a new information schedule that will
oblige the trust (subject to penalties) to identify all trustees and beneficiaries. In addition
the trust will be required to identify persons who have the ability to exert control or
override trustee decisions with respect to allocations of income and capital.
As a rule trusts have historically only been required to file a tax return (T3) if they owe
tax or have made distributions of income or capital to beneficiaries. The new information
reporting requirements will now oblige trusts to file an income tax return to provide the
additional information beginning with the 2021 taxation year. Certain trusts, however,
are exempted from these new reporting requirements. Notable exemptions include
trusts that have been in existence less than three months, have less than $50,000 of
assets, Graduated Rate Estates, Qualified Disability Trusts, and RRSP trusts.
2020 Content
The March 19, 2019, budget contained a fairly large number of proposals that were of varying
importance. The following lists many of the changes that are relevant to this textbook.
Preface xvii
Recent Changes
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the many students who have used this book, the instructors who have
adopted it at colleges and universities throughout Canada, as well as the assistants and tutors
who have been involved in these courses.
In terms of the content of the book, we would like to give special thanks to:
Gary Donell After many years with the CRA, Gary is now affiliated with the Ottawa
office of Welch LLP. Gary has been a significant contributor to this text for nearly
20 years, bringing to it an outstanding knowledge of income tax issues. He has made
many valuable suggestions that have contributed greatly to the accuracy and clarity
of the material. In addition, he was responsible for writing much of the Chapter 18
material on partnerships and the Chapter 20 material on international taxation. Gary
has undertaken this work independently of his work with Welch LLP. The views that are
contained in this publication do not, in any way, reflect the policies of Welch LLP.
Ruth Ann Strickland (a.k.a. Eagle Eye) - Western University (London) Over the last
few years, Ruth Ann has shown an uncanny ability to spot both major and minor errors.
She has been responsible for helping us eliminate many such items, greatly enhancing
the quality of our material. We are very grateful for her assistance.
Also of great help in improving the text over the years were the comments and corrections pro-
vided by the following instructors:
• Joseph Armanious - McGill University (Montreal)
• Ann Bigelow - Western University (London)
• Laura Cumming - Dalhousie University (Halifax)
• Larry Goldsman - McGill University (Montreal)
• Susan Hurley - NAIT (Edmonton)
• Patrick Massicotte - St. Lawrence College
• Jay Perry - Niagara College (Niagara-On-The-Lake)
• Victor Waese - BCIT (Burnaby)
• Ronald Wong - Capilano University (Vancouver)
Federal Tax Credits For Individuals – Personal Tax Credits (ITA 118)
Reference
118(1.1) Basic Personal Amount (BPA) There are three alternatives dependent upon Net Income.
(1) For individuals with Net Income of $150,473 or less the BPA is $13,229, (2) for individuals
with Net Income of $214,368 or higher the BPA is $12,298, and (3) for individuals with Net
Income between $150,474 and $214,367 the BPA is calculated as $13,229 – [$931][(Net Income
– $150,473) ÷ $63,895]
118(1)(a) Married Persons 15% the of BPA for the individual
118(1)(a) Spousal 15% of the BPA for the individual and:
if the spouse of the married individual is dependent because of a mental or physical
infirmity, there is an additional amount of $2,273 added to the BPA. The total of these
two amounts ($15,502) is reduced by the income of the individual's spouse.
118(1)(d) Canada Caregiver 15% of $7,276 ($1,091), reduced by 15% of the dependant’s income in
excess of $17,085.
118(2) Age 15% of $7,637 ($1,146). The base for this credit is reduced by the lesser of $7,637 and
15% of the individual’s net income in excess of $38,508. Not available when income is more
than $89,421. If the individual cannot use this credit, it can be transferred to a spouse or
common-law partner.
118(3) Pension 15% of up to $2,000 of eligible pension income for a maximum credit of $300 [(15%)
($2,000)]. If the individual cannot use this credit, it can be transferred to a spouse or common-
law partner.
118(10) Canada Employment Credit 15% of up to $1,245. This produces a maximum credit of $187.
xx 2020 Rates, Credits And Other Data
Information Applicable To Individuals
118.02 Digital News Subscriptions 15% of the lesser of $500 and the cost of qualifying subscription
expenses.
118.041 Home Accessibility Credit 15% of lesser of $10,000 and the amount of qualifying expendi-
tures for the year.
118.05 First Time Home Buyer’s Credit 15% of $5,000 ($750) of the cost of an eligible home.
118.06 Volunteer Firefighters Credit 15% of $3,000 ($450) for qualifying volunteers.
118.07 Volunteer Search And Rescue Workers Credit 15% of $3,000 ($450) for qualifying
volunteers.
118.1 Charitable Donations - Regular The general limit on amounts for this credit is 75% of Net
Income. There is an addition to this general limit equal to 25% of any taxable capital gains and
25% of any recapture of CCA resulting from a gift of capital property. In addition, the income
inclusion on capital gains arising from a gift of some publicly traded shares is reduced from one-
half to nil. For individuals, the credit is equal to:
118.2 Medical Expenses The medical expense tax credit is determined by the following formula:
B is the total of an individual’s medical expenses for him- or herself, his or her spouse
or common-law partner, and any of his or her children who have not reached
18 years of age at the end of the year.
C is the lesser of 3% of the individual’s Net Income For Tax Purposes and $2,397
(2020 figure).
D is the total of all amounts each of which is, in respect of a dependant of the individual
(other than a child of the individual who has not attained the age of 18 years before
the end of the taxation year), an amount determined by the formula:
E - F, where:
118.3 Disability - All Ages 15% of $8,576 ($1,286). If not used by the disabled individual, it can be
transferred to a person claiming that individual as a dependant.
2020 Rates, Credits And Other Data xxi
Information Applicable To Individuals
118.3 Disability Supplement - Under 18 And Qualifies For The Disability Tax Credit 15% of
$5,003 ($750), reduced by the total of amounts paid for attendant care or supervision in excess
of $2,930 that are deducted as child care costs, deducted as a disability support amount, or
claimed as a medical expense in calculating the medical expense tax credit.
118.7 Employment Insurance 15% of amounts paid by employees up to the maximum Employ-
ment Insurance premium of $856 (1.58% of $54,200). This produces a maximum tax credit of
$128 [(15%)($856)].
118.7 Canada Pension Plan 15% of 4.95 percent of contributions. The maximum credit base for
all individuals is $2,732 [(4.95%)($58,700 - $3,500)]. This produces a maximum tax credit of
$410 [(15%)($2,732)].
122.51 Refundable Medical Expense Supplement The individual claiming this amount must be
over 17 and have earned income of at least $3,714. The amount is equal to the lesser of
$1,272 and 25/15 of the medical expense tax credit. The refundable amount is then reduced
by 5% of family Net Income in excess of $28,164. Not available when family income is more
than $53,604.
122.9 Refundable Teacher And Early Childhood Educator School Supply Tax Credit A maximum
of 15% of up to $1,000 ($150) of eligible expenditures that are made by eligible educators.
122.91 Canada Training Credit The lesser of training amount limit and 50% of eligible training costs
incurred in the previous year.
127(3) Political Donations Three-quarters of the first $400, one-half of the next $350, one-third of
the next $525, to a maximum credit of $650 on donations of $1,275.
127.4 Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations (LSVCC) Credit The federal credit is equal
to 15 percent of acquisitions of provincially registered LSVCCs.
xxii 2020 Rates, Credits And Other Data
Information Applicable To Individuals
Chapter 4 EI Clawback Limits The tax (clawback) on Employment Insurance (EI) benefits under the
Employment Insurance Act is based on the lesser of 30% of the EI benefits received, and 30%
of the amount by which “threshold income” exceeds $67,750 (1.25 times the maximum insur-
able earnings of $54,200). For this purpose, “threshold income” is Net Income For Tax Purposes,
calculated without the OAS or EI clawbacks.
Chapter 10 RRSP Deduction Room For 2020, the addition to RRSP deduction room is equal to:
• the lesser of $27,230 and 18% of 2019 Earned Income,
• reduced by the 2019 Pension Adjustment and any 2020 Past Service Pension Adjustment,
• and increased by any 2020 Pension Adjustment Reversal.
Chapter 11 Lifetime Capital Gains Deduction For 2020, the deduction limit for dispositions of shares of
qualified small business corporations is $883,384. There is an additional amount for farm or fish-
ing properties of $116,616, providing a total of $1,000,000 for such properties.
Provincial Tax Rates And Provincial Credits For Individuals Provincial taxes are based on Taxable
Income, with most provinces adopting multiple rates. The number of brackets range from three to
five. Provincial tax credits are generally based on the minimum provincial rate applied to a credit base
that is similar to that used for federal credits. In addition to regular rates, two provinces, Ontario and
Prince Edward Island, use surtaxes.
2020 Rates, Credits And Other Data xxiii
Information Applicable To Corporations
Note Different rates apply in the provinces that have adopted an HST system.
• Tax Otherwise Payable for the year, less any foreign tax credit taken on non-business
income under ITA 126(1).
129(4) Refundable Portion Of Part I Tax Payable is defined as the least of three items:
1. the amount determined by the formula
A - B, where
2020 Rates, Credits And Other Data xxv
Information Applicable To Corporations
A is 30-2/3% of the corporation’s aggregate investment income for the year, and
B is the amount, if any, by which the foreign non-business income tax credit
exceeds 8% of its foreign investment income for the year.
2. 30-2/3% of the amount, if any, by which the corporation’s taxable income for the
year exceeds the total of:
• the amount eligible for the small business deduction;
• 100 ÷ 38-2/3 of the tax credit for foreign non-business income; and
• 4 times the tax credit for foreign business income.
3. the corporation’s tax for the year payable under Part I.
129(4) Aggregate Investment Income is the sum of:
• net taxable capital gains for the year, reduced by any net capital loss carry overs
deducted during the year; and
• income from property including interest, rents, and royalties, but excluding divi-
dends that are deductible in computing Taxable Income. Since foreign dividends are
generally not deductible, they would be included in aggregate investment income.
129(4) ELIGIBLE 2019 Refundable Dividend Tax On Hand (RDTOH) is defined as follows:
Beginning Balance The balance in the Eligible RDTOH at the end of the preceding taxation
year.
Additions
• Part IV taxes paid on eligible dividends from non-connected taxable Canadian corpo-
rations. These are commonly referred to as portfolio dividends.
• Part IV taxes paid on eligible dividends from connected corporations to the extent
that such dividends included a refund from the paying corporation's Eligible RDTOH.
Deduction Deducted from this total would be any dividend refund claimed from the
Eligible RDTOH account in the previous taxation year.
186(1) Part IV Tax is assessed at a rate of 38-1/3% of portfolio dividends, plus dividends received
from a connected company that gave rise to a dividend refund for the connected company as a
result of the payment.
xxvi 2020 Rates, Credits And Other Data
Tax Related Web Sites
CPA FIRMS
BDO www.bdo.ca/en-ca/services/tax/domestic-tax-services/overview/
Deloitte. www2.deloitte.com/ca/en/pages/tax/topics/tax.html
Ernst & Young www.ey.com/CA/en/Services/Tax
KPMG www.kpmg.com/ca/en/services/tax
PricewaterhouseCoopers www.pwc.com/ca/en/tax/publications.html
OTHER
CPA Canada www.CPAcanada.ca
Canadian Tax Foundation www.ctf.ca
ProFile Tax Suite www.profile.intuit.ca
1
CHAPTER 1
1-4. Figure 1-1 makes it very clear that the dominant form of Canadian taxation at the federal
level is the income tax that is levied on individuals. More than 50 percent of federal revenues
come from this source.
1-5. Running a distant second is income taxes on Canadian corporations at 13.7 percent of
federal revenues, closely followed by GST collections at 12 percent. These two sources have
been moving closer together as GST collections have become a more important source.
1-6. Employment insurance revenues at 6.5 percent of the total are also important. Taken
together, non-resident revenues, customs duties, and excise taxes, provide 8.4 percent of the
total. Other revenues consist of revenues from Crown corporations, fuel charges, other pro-
grams, and net foreign exchange.
GST
1-11. The requirement to register to collect and remit GST generally extends to any person
engaged in commercial activity in Canada. You should note that the definition of a person for GST
purposes is different from that used in the Income Tax Act. For income tax purposes, a “person”
is generally restricted to an individual, a corporation, or a trust. Unincorporated businesses do
not file separate income tax returns.
Introduction To Federal Taxation In Canada 3
The Canadian Tax System
1-12. Under GST legislation, the concept of a person is much broader, including individuals,
partnerships, corporations, estates of deceased individuals, trusts, charities, societies, unions,
clubs, associations, commissions, and other organizations. Chapter 21, “GST/HST” includes
detailed coverage of the goods and services tax and the harmonized sales tax.
Exercise One - 1
Exercise One - 2
1-16. The provincial differences complicate the preparation of tax returns. The level of complica-
tion varies from province to province, depending on the degree to which provincial tax brackets
and provincial tax credits resemble those applicable at the federal level.
1-17. Because of these complications, the problem material in this text will, in general, not require
the calculation of provincial taxes for individuals. However, because the combined federal/
provincial rate is important in many tax-based decisions (e.g., selecting between alternative
investments), we will continue to refer to overall combined rates, despite the fact that such
figures are very specific to the province in which the income is taxed.
Exercise One - 3
1-25. The various provincial sales tax regimes have left Canada with a fragmented sales tax
system. The effective rates range from 5 percent (GST only) to 15 percent (HST rate).
Exercise One - 4
1-29. In contrast to the regressive nature of sales taxes, the present system of personal income
taxation is designed to be progressive, since higher rates are applied to higher levels of income.
A low Federal rate of 15 percent applies to roughly the first $50,000 of Taxable Income, with the
rate increasing to 33 percent as Taxable Income approaches $215,000.
Tax Concessions The high brackets associated with progressive systems lead to
pressure for various types of tax concessions to be made available. Because high
income individuals have a greater ability to take advantage of favourable provisions in the
income tax legislation, they may actually wind up paying taxes at lower effective rates.
In response to the possibility that, in extreme cases, some high income individuals pay
no income taxes at all, there is an alternative minimum income tax that is imposed on
certain taxpayers (see Chapter 11).
Tax Avoidance And Evasion Progressive rates discourage income reporting and
encourage the creation of various means to evade taxation. Evasion strategies range from
simple bartering, to cash only transactions, to offshore tax havens, and finally to criminal
activities.
Reduced Tax Revenues There is evidence that, if tax rates are too high, the result
may be reduced aggregate tax revenues. Some authorities believe that this begins to
occur at tax rates between 40 and 50 percent.
We would note that, with the maximum federal rate at 33 percent, the maximum
combined federal/provincial rate in most provinces exceeds 50 percent, going as
high as 54 percent in some provinces for income approaching $250,000. While it
is difficult to determine the degree to which this will encourage tax evasion, it is
almost certain that maximum tax rates at this level has and will be a major factor
in decisions involving significant amounts of income being moved out of Canada.
Without resorting to tax evasion, high income individuals have great flexibility in
relocating their income.
Of particular importance is the possibility of moving to the U.S. The maximum Federal
rate in that country is around 35 percent, and there are several states, including Florida,
that have no income tax. This means that income is only taxed at the Federal level.
The maximum Federal rate is around 35 percent in the U.S. Further, this rate is not
reached until the individual’s Taxable Income exceeds one-half million dollars. For some
individuals this could involve an annual tax savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It is not surprising that some research has found that when the Canadian maximum
Federal rate was increased from 29 percent to 33 percent, the change resulted in
reduced revenues.
Tax Incidence
1-35. Tax incidence refers to the issue of who really pays a particular tax. While statutory inci-
dence refers to the initial legal liability for tax payment, the actual economic burden may be
passed on to a different group. For example, certain taxes on production might be the legal liabil-
ity of the producer. However, they may be partly or entirely shifted to consumers through price
increases on the goods produced.
1-36. Policy makers must be concerned with this to ensure that the system is working as
intended. It is generally assumed that the incidence of personal income tax falls on individuals.
In addition, in their role as consumers, individuals also assume the responsibility for a large por-
tion of the various sales taxes that are levied in Canada. The incidence of corporate taxes is more
open to speculation. Shareholders may bear the burden of corporate taxes in the short run.
However, most authorities believe that, in the long run, this burden is shared by employees and
consumers.
Tax Expenditures
1-37. In contrast to government funding programs that provide payments to various entities in
the economy, tax expenditures reflect revenues that have been given up by the government
through the use of tax preferences, concessions, and other tax breaks. These expenditures may
favour selected individuals or groups (senior citizens), certain kinds of income (capital gains), or
certain characteristics of some taxpayers (the disabled).
1-38. In an effort to quantify the importance of these expenditures, the Department of Finance
produces the publication, “Tax Expenditures And Projections” each year. Using this source,
some examples of these costs are found in Figure 1-2:
1-39. It is clear that such tax expenditures are of considerable significance in the management
of federal finances. It is equally clear that the provision of this type of government benefit has
become entrenched in our tax system. This situation can be explained by a number of factors:
• It is less costly to administer tax expenditures than it is to administer government fund-
ing programs.
• More decisions are left to the private sector so that funds may be allocated more efficiently.
• Tax expenditures reduce the visibility of certain government actions. This is particularly
beneficial if some social stigma is attached to the programs. For example, a child tax
benefit system is more acceptable than increasing social assistance (welfare) payments.
• Tax expenditures reduce the progressivity of the tax system. As many of the tax expen-
ditures, such as tax shelters, are more available to higher income taxpayers, they serve
to reduce effective tax rates in the higher rate brackets.
Actual Projected
2013 2020
Low Rate For Small Corporations 2,950 5,575
Accelerated Investment Incentive For CCA NA 3,005
Non-Taxation Of Gains On Principal Residences 4,160 5,915
Registered Retirement Savings Plans 13,435 17,515
Basic Personal Tax Credit 31,055 38,410
Introduction To Federal Taxation In Canada 9
Tax Policy Concepts
1-40. Tax expenditures are not only very substantial, they are also difficult to control. This was
expressed several years ago by a former auditor general, as follows:
A cost conscious Parliament is in the position of a team of engineers trying to design a
more fuel efficient automobile. They think they have succeeded, but the engine seems
to go on consuming as much gas as it did before. They cannot understand the problem
until they notice that, hidden from view, a myriad of small holes have been punched
through the bottom of the gas tank. This is too often the way of tax expenditures.
Revenue leaks away, and MPs do not know about it until it is too late.
Draft Legislation
1-62. It is traditional for the federal government to issue a Budget in the first half of each year.
Budgets are presented as a Notice Of Ways And Means Motion. While such proposals some-
times contain the relevant draft legislation, often the budget content is of a general nature and
does not contain the actual legislative provisions that are required for implementation. In either
case, considerable time may pass before the actual proposals pass through parliament.
1-63. These time lags can create a somewhat difficult situation in which returns for a particular
taxation year must sometimes be filed prior to the actual passage of the legislation relevant to
that year.
1-69. There are also over 20 Tax Information Exchange Agreements, which generally involve
small countries and are less comprehensive in nature. Chapter 20 will provide additional discus-
sion of Canada’s tax treaties. Particular attention will be given to the tax treaty between Canada
and the U.S.
CRA Website
1-72. The CRA has an extensive website at www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes. Almost all of
the forms, Guides, Income Tax Folios, Interpretation Bulletins, and other documents provided by
the CRA that are described in Paragraph 1-73 are available on the website. The forms and publi-
cations can be viewed and printed online or downloaded to a computer in one or more formats.
The website is constantly being expanded to provide more forms and publications and more
personalized information on a taxpayer’s various tax accounts.
CRA Publications
1-73. The CRA provides several publications to the public which, while they do not have the
force of law, can be extremely helpful and influential in making decisions related to income
taxes. These can be described as follows:
Income Tax Folios In 2013, the CRA introduced a new type of technical publication, called
Income Tax Folios, a.k.a. IT Folios or simply Folios. Their goal is to update the information
currently found in Interpretation Bulletins and to introduce improved web functionality. The
Income Tax Folios are organized into seven Series with each Series divided into Folios that
contain Chapters on specific topics. For example, under Series 1, Individuals, Folio 1 is
Health and Medical, and Chapter 1 covers the Medical Expense Tax Credit. This Chapter is
designated S1-F1-C1, which stands for Series 1, Folio 1, Chapter 1.
This is, of course, a huge project that will require a number of years to complete. To date,
progress has been very slow, with many important areas not yet covered.
The CRA stopped issuing new Interpretation Bulletins in 2003, but continued to issue many
revisions until 2013. The content of the existing Bulletins is being gradually replaced by the
series titled Income Tax Folios (see preceding material).
Information Circulars While over 300 of these circulars have been issued, there are
currently about 60 in effect. The objective of these publications is to provide information
regarding procedural matters that relate to both the Income Tax Act and the provisions of
the Canada Pension Plan, and to announce changes in organization, personnel, operating
programs, and other administrative developments.
Introduction To Federal Taxation In Canada 17
Income Tax Reference Materials
Guides And Pamphlets The CRA publishes a large number of non-technical Pamphlets
and Guides that provide information on particular topics of interest to taxpayers. Examples
of Pamphlets are “Canadian Residents Going Down South” (P151) and “Tax Information
For People With Disabilities” (P149). Examples of Guides are “Canadian Residents Abroad”
(T4131), “Preparing Returns For Deceased Persons” (T4011), and “RRSPs And Other
Registered Plans For Retirement” (T4040).
CRA News Releases, Tax Tips, And Fact Sheets The CRA publishes News Releases on a variety
of subjects, such as prescribed interest rates, corporate EFILE, deferral of taxation on employee
stock options, and maximum pensionable earnings. They also provide information on when monthly
payments will be released under the Canada Child Benefit system and when quarterly payments
will be released under the GST tax credit program. Some of the News Releases take the form of
questions and answers, while others deal with the subject in some depth.
Advance Income Tax Rulings And Technical Interpretations In recognition of the
considerable complexity involved in the interpretation of many portions of the Income
Tax Act, the Income Tax Rulings Directorate of the CRA will, for a fee, provide an Advance
Income Tax Ruling on how it will tax a proposed transaction, subject to certain limitations and
qualifications. Advance Income Tax Rulings are available to the public, but only in severed
format with much of the relevant information that may permit identification of the parties
deleted. The result is that such publications are of questionable value.
The Income Tax Rulings Directorate of the CRA also provides both written and telephone
Technical Interpretations to the public (other than for proposed transactions where an
Advance Income Tax Ruling is required) free of charge. Such interpretations however are not
considered binding on the CRA.
Income Tax Technical News Prior to 2012, the CRA issued newsletters titled Income Tax
Technical News, which provided up-to-date information on current tax issues. None have
been issued since 2011 and existing newsletters are being cancelled as new Income Tax
Folios are gradually incorporating their content.
Court Decisions
1-74. Despite the huge volume of information available for dealing with income tax matters,
disputes between taxpayers and the CRA regularly find their way into the Canadian court sys-
tem. Of the hundreds of tax cases that are reported each year, the great majority do not involve
tax evasion or other criminal offences. Rather, they involve an honest difference of opinion
between the taxpayer and the CRA. Common areas of litigation include:
• the deductibility of both business and employment related expenses;
• whether an individual is working as an employee or an independent contractor;
• establishing a property’s fair market value;
• the question of whether a transaction took place at arm’s length;
• the deductibility of support payments;
• distinguishing between profits that are capital in nature and those that are ordinary
business income; and
• the deductibility of farm losses against other sources of income.
1-75. With the large number of court cases and the fact that they cover the great majority of
issues that might arise in the application of income tax legislation, attention must be given to
the precedents that have been established in the court decisions. While court decisions cannot
be used to change the actual tax law, court decisions may call into question the reasonableness
of interpretations of the ITA made by either the CRA or tax practitioners. Given the volume and
complexity of court cases on income tax, we will cite only very important cases in our coverage
of the various subjects in this text. However, a careful review of all relevant case material would
be essential in researching any complex tax issue.
We suggest you work Self Study Problem One-4 and 5 at this point.
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face so close to hers. “That’s inherent in the design of all really fast
machines . . . and we simply don’t know any way of getting away
from it. . . . Why? What has that to do with the case?”
“A lot—I hope. When I was working in a flitter I had to wait up to
half an hour sometimes, for the sigma curve to stabilize enough so
that the equations would hold valid will give a longer valid
prediction.”
“Stabilize? How? I’ve never seen a sigma curve flatten out. Or
does ‘stabilize’ have a special meaning for you vortex experts?”
“Could be. It’s what happens when a sigma becomes a little more
regular than usual, so that a simpler equation will give a longer valid
prediction.”
“I see; and a difference in wave-form that would be imperceptible
to me might mean a lot to you.”
“Right. It just occurred to me that a similar line of reasoning may
hold for this seemingly entirely different set of conditions. The less
unstable the curve, the less complicated the equations and the
smaller the volume of actual data. . . .”
“Oh!” Joan’s thought soared high. “So Margie may work yet, if we
wait a while?”
“Check. Browning can’t take the ship away from you, can he?”
“No. Nobody can do anything until the job is done or I punch that
red ‘stop’ button there. D’you suppose she can do it? Storm? How
long can we wait?”
“Half an hour, I’d say. No, to settle the point definitely, let’s wait
until I can get a full ten-second prediction and see what Margie’s
doing about the situation then.”
“Wonderful! But in that case, it might be a good idea for you to be
looking at the chart, don’t you think?” she asked, pointedly. His eyes,
at the moment, were looking directly into hers, from a distance of
approximately twelve inches.
“I’ll look at it later, but right now I’m. . . .”
The ship quivered under the terrific, the unmistakable trip-
hammer blow of propellant heptadetonite. Unobserved by either of
the two scientists most concerned, the sigma curve had,
momentarily, become a trifle less irregular. The point of the saw-
tooth wave had touched the zero line. Margie had acted. The
visiplate, from which the heavily-filtered glare of the vortex had
blazed so long, went suddenly black.
“She did it, Storm!” Joan’s thought was a mental shriek of pure
joy. “She really worked!”
Whether, when the ship went free, Joan pulled Storm down to her
merely to anchor him, or for some other reason; whether Cloud
grabbed her merely in lieu of a safety-line or not; which of the two
was first to put arms around the other; these are moot points
impossible of decision at this date. The fact is, however, that the two
scientists held a remarkably unscientific pose for a good two minutes
before Joan thought that she ought to object a little, just on general
principles. Even then, she did not object with her mind; instead she
put up her block and used her voice.
“But, after all, Storm,” she began, only to be silenced as beloved
women have been silenced throughout the ages. She cut her screen
then, and her mind, tender and unafraid, reached out to his.
“This might be the perfect time, dear, to merge our minds? I’ve
been scared to death of it all along, but no more . . . let’s?”
“Uh-huh,” he demurred. “I’m still afraid of it. I’ve been thinking
about it a lot, and doing some drilling, and the more I play with it the
more scared I get. It’s dangerous. It’s like playing with duodec. I’ve
just about decided that we’d better let it drop.”
“Afraid? For yourself, or for me? Don’t try to lie with your mind,
Storm; you can’t do it. You’re afraid only for me, and you needn’t be.
I’ve been thinking, too, and digging deep, and I know I’m ready.” She
looked up at him then, her quick, bright, impish grin very much in
evidence. “Let’s go.”
“QX, Joanie, and thanks. I’ve been wanting this more than I ever
wanted anything before in my life. But not holding hands, this time.
Heart to heart and cheek to cheek.”
“Check—the closer the better.”
They embraced, and again mind flowed into mind; this time with
no thought of withholding or reserve on either side. Smoothly,
effortlessly, the two essential beings merged, each fitting its tiniest,
remotest members into the deepest, ordinarily most inaccessible
recesses of the other; fusing as quickly and as delicately and as
thoroughly as two drops of water coalescing into one.
In that supremely intimate fusion, that ultimate union of line and
plane and cellule, each mind was revealed completely to the other; a
revealment which no outsider should expect to share.
Finally, after neither ever knew how long, they released each
other and each put up, automatically, a solid block.
“I don’t know about you, Storm,” Joan said then, “but I’ve had just
about all I can take. I’m going to bed and sleep for one solid week.”
“You and me both,” Storm agreed, ungrammatically, but feelingly.
“Good night, sweetheart . . . and this had all better be strictly hush-
hush, don’t you think?”
“I do think,” she assured him. “Can’t you just imagine the field-
day the psychs would have, taking us apart?”
In view of the above, it might be assumed that the parting was
immediate, positive, and undemonstrative; but such was not exactly
the case. But they did finally separate, and each slept soundly and
long.
And fairly early the next morning—before either of them got up, at
least—Cloud sent Joan a thought.
“Awake, dear?”
“Uh-huh. Just. ’Morning, Storm.”
“I’ve got some news for you, Joanie. My brain is firing on ten
times as many barrels as I ever thought it had, and I don’t know what
half of ’em are doing. Among other things, you made what I think is
probably a top-bracket perceiver out of me.”
“So? Well, don’t peek at me, please . . . but why should I say that,
after having studied in Rigel Four for two years? Women are funny, I
guess. But, for your information, I have just extracted the ninth root
of an eighteen-digit number, in no time at all and to the last
significant decimal place, and I know the answer is right. How do you
like them potatoes, Buster?”
“Nice. We really absorbed each other’s stuff, didn’t we? But how
about joining me in person for a soupcon of ham and eggs?”
“That’s a thought, my thoughtful friend; a cogent and right
knightly thought. I’ll be with you in three jerks and a wiggle.” And she
was.
Just as they finished eating, Vesta breezed in. “Well, you two
deep-sleepers finally crawled out of your sacks, did you? It is
confusing, though, that ship’s time never agrees with planetary time.
But I live here, you know, in this city you call ‘Vegiaton,’ so I went to
bed at noon yesterday and I’ve got over half a day’s work done
already. I saw my folks and bought half of my uncle’s bank and made
the no-gambling declaration and I want to ask you both something.
After the Grand Uproar here at the ’port in your honor, will you two
and Helen and Joe and Bob and Barbara come with me to a little
dance some of my friends are having? You’ve been zo good to me,
and I want to show you off a little.”
“We’ll be glad to, Vesta, and thanks a lot,” Joan said, flashing a
thought at Cloud to let her handle this thing her own way, “and I
imagine the others would be, too, but . . . well, it’s for you, you know,
and we might be intruding. . . .”
“Why, not at all!” Vesta waved the objection away with an airy flirt
of her tail. “You’re friends of mine! And everybody’s real friends are
always welcome, you know, everywhere. And it’ll be small and quiet;
only six or eight hundred are being asked, they say. . . .” she paused
for a moment: “. . . of course, after it gets around that we have you
there, a couple of thousand or so strangers will come in too; but
they’ll all smell nice, so it’ll be QX.”
“How do you know what they’ll smell like?” Cloud asked.
“Why, they’ll smell like our crowd, of course. If they didn’t they
wouldn’t want to come in. It’s QX, then?”
“For us two, yes; but of course we can’t speak for the others.”
“Thanks, you wonderful people; I’ll go ask them right now.”
“Joan, have you blown your stack completely?” Cloud demanded.
“Small—quiet—six or eight hundred invited—a couple of thousand or
so gate-crashers—what do you want to go to a brawl like that for?”
“The chance is too good to miss—it’s priceless. . . .” She paused,
then added, obliquely: “Storm, have you any idea at all of what Vesta
thinks of you? You haven’t snooped, I’m sure.”
“No, and I don’t intend to.”
“Maybe you ought to,” Joan snickered a little, “except that it
would inflate your ego too much. It’s hard to describe. It’s not exactly
love—and not exactly worship, either god-worship or hero-worship. It
isn’t exactly adoration, but it’s very much stronger than mere
admiration. A mixture of all these, perhaps, and half a dozen others,
coupled with a simply unbelievable amount of pride that you are her
friend. It’s a peculiarly Vegian thing, that Tellurians simply do not feel.
But here’s why I’m so enthused. It has been over twenty years since
any non-Vegian has attended one of these uniquely Vegian parties
except as an outsider, and a Vegian party with outsiders looking on
isn’t a Vegian party at all. But we Storm, will be going as insiders!”
“Are you sure of that?”
“Positive. Oh, I know it isn’t us she wants, but you; but that won’t
make any difference. As Vesta’s friend—‘friend’ in this case having a
very special meaning—you’re in the center of the inner circle. As
friends of yours, the rest of us are in, too. Not in the inner circle,
perhaps, but well inside the outside circle, at least. See?”
“Dimly. ‘A friend of a friend of a friend of a very good friend of
mine,’ eh? I’ve heard that ditty, but I never thought it meant
anything.”
“It does here. We’re going to have a time. See you in about an
hour?”
“Just about. I’ve got to check with Nordquist.”
“Here I am, Storm,” the Lensman’s thought came in. Then, as
Cloud went toward his quarters, it went on: “Just want to tell you we
won’t have anything for you to do here. This is going to be a straight
combing job.”
“That won’t be too tough, will it? A Tellurian, sixty, tall, thin, grave,
distinguished-looking . . . or maybe. . . .”
“Exactly. You’re getting the idea. Cosmeticians and plastic
surgery. He could look like a Crevenian, or thirty years old and two
hundred pounds and slouchy. He could look like anything. He
undoubtedly has a background so perfectly established that fifteen
thoroughly honest Vegians would swear by eleven of their gods that
he hasn’t left his home town for ten years. So every intelligent being
on Vegia who hasn’t got a live tail, with live blood circulating in it, is
going under the Lens and through the wringer if we have to keep
Vegia in quarantine for a solid year. He is not going to get away from
us this time.”
“I’m betting on you, Nordquist. Clear ether!”
The Lensman signed off and Cloud, at the end of the specified
hour, undressed and redressed and went to the computer room. All
the others except Joe were already there.
“Hi, peoples!” Cloud called; then did a double-take. “Wow! And
likewise, Yipes! How come the tri-di outfits didn’t all collapse, Joan,
when those two spectaculars took up cybernetics?”
“I’ll never know, Storm.” Joan shook her head wonderingly, then
went on via thought; and Cloud felt her pang of sheer jealousy. “Why
is it that big girls are always so much more beautiful than little ones?
And the more clothes they take off the better they look? It simply isn’t
fair!”
Cloud’s mind reached out and meshed with hers. “Sure it is,
sweetheart. They’re beauties; you can’t take that away from
them. . . .”
And beauties they certainly were. Helen, as has been said, was
lissom and dark. Her hair was black, her eyes a midnight blue, her
skin a deep, golden brown. Barbara, not quite as tall—five feet
seven, perhaps—was equally beautifully proportioned, and even
more striking-looking. Her skin was tanned ivory, her eyes were gray,
her hair was a shoulder-length, carefully-careless mass of gleaming,
flowing, wavy silver.
“. . . they’ve got a lot of stuff: but believe me, there are several
grand lots of stuff they haven’t got, too. I wouldn’t trade half of you
for either one of them—or both of them together.”
“I believe that—at least, about both of them,” Joan giggled
mentally, “but how many men. . . .”
“Well, how many men do you want?” Cloud interrupted.
“Touché, Storm . . . but do you really. . . .”
What would have developed into a scene of purely mental
lovemaking was put to an end by the arrival of Joe Mackay, who also
paused and made appropriate noises of appreciation.
“But there’s one thing I don’t quite like about this deal,” he said
finally. “I’m not too easy in my mind about making love to a moll who
is packing a Mark Twenty Eight DeLameter. The darn thing might go
off.”
“Keep your distance, then, Lieutenant Mackay!” Helen laughed.
“Well, are we ready?”
They were. They left the ship and walked in a group through the
throng of cheering Vegians toward the nearby, gaily-decorated
stands in which the official greetings and thank-yous were to take
place. Helen and Babs loved it; just as though they were parading as
finalists in a beauty contest. Bob and Joe wished that they had
stayed in the ship and kept their clothes on. Joan didn’t quite know
whether she liked this kind of thing or not. Of the six Tellurians, only
Neal Cloud had had enough experience in public near-nudity so that
it made no difference. And Vesta?
Vesta was fairly reveling—openly, unashamedly reveling—in the
spotlight with her Tellurian friends. They reached the center stand,
were ushered with many flourishes to a reserved section already
partly filled by Captain Ross and the lesser officers and crewmen of
the good-will-touring Patrol ship Vortex Blaster II. Not all of the
officers, of course, since many had to stay aboard, and
comparatively few of the crew; for many men insist on wearing
Tellurian garmenture and refuse to tan their hides under ultra-violet
radiation—and no untanned white Tellurian skin can take with
impunity more than a few minutes of giant Vega’s blue-white fury.
Of the ceremonies themselves, nothing need be said; such things
being pretty much of a piece, wherever, whenever, or for whatever
reason held. When they were over, Vesta gathered her six friends
together and led them to the edge of the roped-off area. There she
uttered a soundless (to Tellurian ears) whistle, whereupon a group of
Vegian youths and girls formed a wedge around the seven and drove
straight through the milling crowd to its edge. There, by an evidently
pre-arranged miracle, they found enough copters to carry them all.
Chapter 16
▂▂▂▂▂▂VEGIAN JUSTICE
THE NEARER THEY got to their destination the more fidgety Vesta
became. “Oh, I hope Zambkptkn could get away and be there by
now—I haven’t seen him for over half a year!”
“Who?” Helen asked.
“My brother. Zamke, you’d better call him, you can pronounce
that. The police officer, you know.”
“I thought you saw him this morning?” Joan said.
“I saw my other brothers and sisters, but not him—he was tied up
on a job. He wasn’t sure just when he could get away tonight.”
The copter dropped sharply. Vesta seized Cloud’s arm and
pointed. “That’s where we’re going; that big building with the landing-
field on the roof. The Caravanzerie. Zee?” In moments of emotion or
excitement, most of Vesta’s sibilants reverted to Z’s.
“I see. And this is your Great White Way?”
It was, but it was not white. Instead, it was a blaze of red, blue,
green, yellow—all the colors of the spectrum. And crowds! On foot,
on bicycles, on scooters, motorbikes, and motortricycles, in cars and
in copters, it seemed impossible that anything could move in such a
press as that. And as the aircab approached its destination Neal
Cloud, space-hardened veteran and skillful flyer though he was,
found himself twisting wheels, stepping on pedals, and cutting in
braking jets, none of which were there.
How that jockey landed his heap and got it into the air again all in
one piece without dismembering a single Vegian, Cloud never did
quite understand. Blades were scant fractional inches from blades
and rotors; people were actually shoved aside by the tapering
bumpers of the cab as it hit the deck; but nothing happened. This, it
seemed, was normal!
The group re-formed and in flying-wedge fashion as before,
gained the elevators and finally the ground floor and the ballroom.
Here Cloud drew his first full breath for what seemed like hours. The
ballroom was tremendous—and it was less than three-quarters filled.
Just inside the doorway Vesta paused, sniffing delicately. “He is
here—come on!” She beckoned the six to follow her and rushed
ahead, to be met at the edge of the clear space in head-on collision.
Brother and sister embraced fervently for about two seconds. Then,
reaching down, the man broke his sister’s grip and flipped her
around sidewise, through half of a vertical circle, so that her feet
pointed straight up. Then, with a sharp “Blavzkt!” he snapped into a
back flip.
“Blavzkt—Zemp!” she shouted back, bending beautifully into such
an arch that, as his feet left the floor, hers landed almost exactly
where his had been an instant before. Then for a full minute and a
half the joyous pair pinwheeled, without moving from the spot; while
the dancers on the floor, standing still now, applauded
enthusiastically with stamping, hand-clapping, whistles, cat-calls,
and screams.
Vesta stopped the exhibition finally, and led her brother toward
Cloud and Joan. The music resumed, but the dancers did not.
Instead, they made a concerted rush for the visitors, surrounding
them in circles a dozen deep. Vesta, with both arms wrapped tightly
around Cloud and her tail around Joan, shrieked a highly
consonantal sentence—which Cloud knew meant “Lay off these two
for a couple of minutes, you howling hyenas, they’re mine”—then,
switching to English: “Go ahead, you four, and have fun!”
The first two men to lay hands on the two tall Tellurian beauties
were, by common consent and without argument, their first partners.
Two of the Vegian girls, however, were not so polite. Both had hold
of Joe, one by each arm, and stood there spitting insults at each
other past his face until a man standing near by snapped a few
words at them and flipped a coin. The two girls, each still maintaining
her grip, leaned over eagerly to see for themselves the result of the
toss. The loser promptly relinquished her hold on Joe and the winner
danced away with him.
“Oh, this is wonderful, Storm!” Joan thought. “We’ve been
accepted—we’re the first group I ever actually knew of to really
break through the crust.”
The Vegians moved away. Vesta released her captives and
turned to her brother.
“Captain Cloud, Doctor Janowick, I present to you my brother
Zamke,” she said. Then, to her brother: “They have been very good
to me, Zambktpkn, both of them, but especially the captain. You
know what he did for me.”
“Yes, I know.” The brother spoke the English “S” with barely a
trace of hardness. He shook Cloud’s hand firmly, then bent over the
hand, spreading it out so that the palm covered his face, and inhaled
deeply. Then, straightening up: “For what you have done for my
sister, sir, I thank you. As she has said, your scent is pleasing and
will be remembered long, enshrined in the Place of Pleasant Odors
of our house.”
Turning to Joan, and omitting the handshake, he repeated the
performance and bowed—and when an adult male Vegian sets out
to make a production of bowing, it is a production well worth seeing.
Then, with the suddenest and most complete change of manner
either Cloud or Joan had ever seen he said: “Well, now that the
formalities have been taken care of, Joan, how about us hopping a
couple of skips around the floor?”
Joan was taken slightly aback, but rallied quickly. “Why, I’d love it
. . . but not knowing either the steps or the music, I’m afraid I couldn’t
follow you very well.”
“Oh that won’t make any. . . .” Zamke began, but Vesta drowned
him out.
“Of course it won’t make any difference, Joan!” she exclaimed.
“Just go ahead and dance any way you want to. He’ll match your
steps—and if he so much as touches one of your slippers with his
big, fat feet, I’ll choke him to death with his own tail!”
“And I suppose it is irrefutable that you can and will dance with
me with equal dexterity, aplomb, and insouciance?” Cloud asked
Vesta, quizzically, after Joan and Zamke had glided smoothly out
into the throng.
“You zaid it, little chum!” Vesta exclaimed, gleefully. “And I know
what all those words mean, too, and if I ztep on either one of your
feet I’ll choke my zelf to death with my own tail, zo there!”
Snuggling up to him blissfully, Vesta let him lead her into the
crowd. She of course was a superb dancer; so much so that she
made him think himself a much better dancer than he really was.
After a few minutes, when he was beginning to relax, he felt an itchy,
tickling touch—something almost impalpable was creeping up his
naked back—the fine, soft fur of the extreme tip of Vesta’s ubiquitous
tail!
He grabbed for it, but, fast as he was, Vesta was faster, and she
shrieked with glee as he missed the snatch.
“See here, young lady,” he said, with mock sternness, “if you
don’t keep your tail where it belongs I’m going to wrap it around your
lovely neck and tie it into a bow-knot.”
Vesta sobered instantly. “Oh . . . do you really think I’m lovely,
Captain Nealcloud—my neck, I mean?”
“No doubt about it,” Cloud declared. “Not only your neck—all of
you. You are most certainly one of the most beautiful things I ever
saw.”
“Oh, thanks . . . I hadn’t. . . .” she stared into his eyes for
moments, as if trying to decide whether he really meant it or was
merely being polite; then, deciding that he did mean it, she closed
her eyes, let her head sink down onto his shoulder, and began to
purr blissfully; still matching perfectly whatever motions he chose to
make.
In a few minutes, however, they heard a partially-stifled shriek
and a soprano voice, struggling with laughter, rang out.
“Vesta!”
“Yes, Babs?”
“What do you do about this tail-tickling business? I never had to
cope with anything like that before!”
“Bite him!” Vesta called back, loudly enough for half the room to
hear. “Bite him good and hard, on the end of the tail. If you can’t
catch the tail, bite his ear. Bite it good.”
“Bite him? Why, I couldn’t—not possibly!”
“Well, then give him the knee, or clout him a good, solid tunk on
the nose. Or better yet; tell him you won’t dance with him any more
—he’ll be good.”
“Now you tell us what to do about tail-ticklers,” Cloud said then.
“S’pose I’d take a good bite at your ear?”
“I’d bite you right back,” said Vesta, gleefully, “and I bet you’d
taste just as nice as you smell.”
The dance went on, and Cloud finally, by the aid of both Vesta
and Zamke, did finally manage to get one dance with Joan. And, as
he had known he would, he enjoyed it immensely. So did she.
“Having fun, chum? I never saw you looking so starry-eyed
before.”
“Oh, brother!” she breathed. “To say that I was never the belle of
any ball in my schooldays is the understatement of the century, but
here . . . can you imagine it, Storm, me actually outshining Barbara
Benton and Helen Worthington both at once?”
“Sure I can. I told you. . . .”
“Of course it’s probably because their own women are so big that
I’m a sort of curiosity,” she rushed on, “but whatever the reason, this
dance is going down in my memory book in great big letters in the
reddest ink I can find!”
“Good for you—hail the conquering heroine!” he applauded. “It’ll
do you good to have your ego inflated a little. But what do you do
about this tail-tickling routine?”
“Oh, I grab their tails”—with her sense of perception, she could,
of course—“and when they try to wiggle them free I wiggle back at
them, like this,” she demonstrated, “and we have a perfectly
wonderful time.”
“Wow! I’ll bet you do—and when I get you home, you
shameless. . . .”
“Sorry, Storm, my friend,” the big Vegian who cut in wasn’t sorry
at all, and he and Cloud both knew it. “You can dance with Joan any
time and we can’t. So loosen all clamps, friend. Grab him, Vzelkt!”
Vzelkt grabbed. So, in about a minute, did another Vegian girl;
and then after a few more minutes, it was Vesta’s turn again. No
other girl could dance with him more than once, but Vesta, by some
prearranged priority, could have him once every ten minutes.
“Where’s your brother, Vesta?” he asked once. “I haven’t seen
him for an hour.”
“Oh, he had to go back to the police station. They’re all excited
and working all hours. They’re chasing Public Enemy Number One—
a Tellurian, they think he is, named Fairchild—why?” as Cloud
started, involuntarily, in the circle of her arm. “Do you know him?”
“I know of him, and that’s enough.” Then, in thought: “Did you get
that, Nordquist?”
“I got it.” Cloud was, as the Lensman had said that he would be,
under surveillance every second. “Of course, this one may not be
Fairchild, since there are three or four other suspects in other places,
but from the horrible time we and the Vegians both are having, trying
to locate this bird, I’m coming to think he is.”
The dance went on until, some hours later, there was an unusual
tumult and confusion at the door.
“Oh, the police are calling Vesta—something has happened!” his
companion exclaimed. “Let’s rush over—oh, hurry!”
Cloud hurried; but, as well as hurrying, he sent his sense of
perception on ahead, and meshed his mind imperceptibly with
Vesta’s as well.
Her mind was a queerly turbid, violently turbulent mixture of
emotions: hot with a furiously passionate lust for personal, tooth-and-
claw-revenge; at the same time icily cold with the implacable,
unswervable resolve of the dedicated, remorseless, and merciless
killer.
“Are you sure, beyond all doubt, that this is the garment of my
brother’s slayer?” Vesta was demanding.
“I am sure,” the Vegian policeman replied. “Not only did
Zambkptkn hold it pierced by the first and fourth fingers of his left
hand—the sign positive, as you know—but an eyewitness verified
the scent and furnished descriptions. The slayer was dressed as an
Aldebaranian, which accounts for the size of the garment your
brother could seize before he died; his four bodyguards as
Tellurians, with leather belts and holsters for their blasters.”
“QX.” Vesta accepted a pair of offered shears and began to cut
off tiny pieces of the cloth. As each piece began to fall it was seized
in mid-air by a Vegian man or girl who immediately ran away with it.
And in the meantime other Vegians, forming into a long line, ran past
Vesta, each taking a quick sniff and running on, out into the street.
Cloud, reaching outside the building with his perceptors, saw that all
vehicular traffic had paused. A Vegian stood on the walkway, holding
a bit of cloth pinched between thumb and fingernail. All passersby,
on foot or in any kind of vehicle, would pause, sniff at the cloth, and
—apparently—go on about their business.
But Cloud, after reading Vesta’s mind and the policeman’s,
turned as white as his space-tan would permit. In less than an hour
almost every Vegian in that city of over eight million would know the
murderer by scent and would be sniffing eagerly for him; and when
any one of them did find him. . . .
Except for the two Vegians and the six Tellurians, the vast hall
was now empty. Vesta was holding a pose Cloud had never before
seen—stiffly erect, with her tail wrapped tightly around her body.
“Can they get a scent—a reliable scent, I mean—that fast?”
Cloud asked.
“Zertainly,” Vesta’s voice was cold, level, almost uninflected.
“How long would it take you to learn that an egg you started to eat
was rotten? The man who wore this shirt is a class A Triple Prime
stinker—his odor is recognizable instantly and anywhere.”
“But as to the rest of it—don’t do this thing, Vesta! Let the law
handle it.”
“The law comes second. He killed my brother; it is my right and
my privilege to kill him. . . .”
Cloud became conscious of the fact that Joan was in his mind.
“You been here all along?” he flashed.
“In or near. You and I are one, you know,” and Vesta’s voice went
on:
“. . . and besides, the law is merciful. Its death is instant. Under
my claws and teeth he will live for hours—for a full day, I hope.”
“But officer, can’t you do something?”
“Nothing. The law comes second. As she has said, it is her right
and her privilege.”
“But it’s suicide, man—sheer suicide. You know that, don’t you?”
“Not necessarily. She will not be working alone. Whether she
lives or dies, however, it is still her right and her privilege.”
Cloud switched to thought. “Nordquist, you can stop this if you
want to. Do it.”
“I can’t, and you know I can’t. The Patrol does not and cannot
interfere in purely planetary affairs.”
“You intend, then,” Cloud demanded furiously, “to let this girl put
her naked hands and teeth up against four trigger-happy gunnies
with DeLameters?”
“Just that. There’s nothing else I or any other Patrolman can do.
To interfere in this one instance would alienate half the planets of
Civilization and set the Patrol back five hundred years.”
“Well, even though I’m a Patrolman—of sorts—I can do
something about it!” Cloud blazed, “and by God, I will!”
“We will, you mean, and we will, too,” Joan’s thought came
forcibly at first, then became dubious: “That is, if it doesn’t mean
getting you blasted, too.”
“Just what?” Nordquist’s thought was sharp. “Oh, I see . . . and,
being a Vegian, as well as a Patrolman, and the acknowledged
friend of both the dead man and his sister. . . .”
“Who’s a Vegian?” Cloud demanded.
“You are, and so are the other five of your group, as you would
have been informed if the party had not been broken up so violently.
Honorary Vegians, for life.”
“Why, I never heard of such a thing!” Joan exclaimed, “and I
studied them for years!”
“No, you never did,” Nordquist agreed. “There haven’t been many
honorary Vegians, and to my certain knowledge, not one of them has
ever talked. Vegians are very strongly psychic in picking their off-
world friends.”
“You mean to tell me that that bleached blonde over there won’t
spill everything she knows fifteen minutes after we leave here?”
Cloud demanded.
“Just that. You can’t judge character by hair, even if it were
bleached, which it isn’t. You owe her an apology, Storm.”
“If you say so, I do, and I hereby apologize, but. . . .”
“But to get back to the subject,” the Lensman went on, narrowing
his thought down so sharply as to exclude Joan. “You can do
something. You’re the only one who can. Such being the case, and
since you are no longer indispensable. I withdraw all objections. Go
ahead.”
Cloud started a thought, but Joan blanked him out. “Lensman,
has Storm been sending—can he send information to you that I can’t
dig out of his mind?”
“Very easily. He is an exceptionally fine tuner.”
“I’m sorry, Joanie,” Cloud thought, hastily, “but it sounded too
much like bragging to let you in on. However, you’re in from now on.”
Then, aloud, “Vesta, I’m staying with you,” he said, quietly.
“I was sure you would,” she said, as quietly. “You are my friend
and Zamke’s. Although your customs are not exactly like ours, a
man of your odor does not desert his friends.”
Cloud turned then to the four lieutenants, who stood close-
grouped. “Will you four kids please go back to the ship, and take
Joan with you?”
“Not on Thursdays, Storm,” Joe said, pointing to an
inconspicuous bronze button set into a shoulder-strap. “We both rate
Blaster Expert First. Count us in,” and Bob added:
“Joan has been telling us an earful, and what she didn’t tell us a
couple of Vegian boys did. The Three Honorary Vegian Musketeers;
that’s us. Lead on, d’Artagnan!”
“Bob and Joe are staying, too, Vesta,” Cloud said then.
“Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t get to tell you myself about being
adopted, but I knew somebody would. But you, Joan and Barbara
and Helen, you three had better go back to the ship. You can be of
no use here.”
Two of them were willing enough to go, but:
“Where Neal Cloud goes, I go,” Joan said, and there was no
doubt whatever that she meant exactly that.
“Why?” Vesta demanded. “Commander Cloud, the fastest
gunman in all space, is necessary for the success of this our
mission. He can, from a cold, bell-tone start, at thirty yards, burn the
centers out of six irregularly-spaced targets. . . .”
“Nordquist! Lay off! What in hell do you think you’re doing?”
Cloud thought, viciously.
“I don’t think—I know,” came instant reply. “Do you want her
hanging on your left arm when the blasting starts? This is the only
possible way Joan Janowick can be handled. Lay off yourself!” and
Vesta’s voice went calmly on:
“. . . in exactly two hundred and forty nine mils. Lieutenant
Mackay and Lieutenant Ingalls, although perhaps not absolutely
necessary, are highly desirable. They are fast enough, and are of
deadly accuracy. When either of them shoots a man in a crowd,
however large, that one man dies, and not a dozen bystanders. Now
just what good would you be, Lieutenant-Commander Janowick?
Can you fire a blaster with any one of these men? Or bite a man’s
throat out with me?”
For probably the first time in her life, Joan Janowick stood mute.
“And suppose you do come along,” Vesta continued relentlessly.
“With you at his side, in the line of fire, do you suppose. . . .”
“Just a minute—shut up, Vesta!” Cloud ordered, roughly. “Listen,
all of you. The Lensman is doing this, not Vesta, and I’ll be damned if
I’ll let anybody, not even a Lensman, bedevil my Joan this way. So,
Joan, wherever we go, you can come along. All I ask is, you’ll keep a
little ways back?”
“Of course I will, Storm,” and Joan crept into the shelter of his
arm.
“Ha—I thought you’d pop off at about this point,” Nordquist’s
thought came chattily into Cloud’s mind. “Good work, my boy; you’ve
consolidated your position no end.”
“Well, what do we do now?” Joe Mackay broke the somewhat
sticky silence that followed.
“We wait,” Vesta said, calmly. “We wait right here until we receive
news.”
They waited; and, as they waited the tension mounted and
mounted. Before it became intolerable, however, the news came in,
and Cloud, reading Vesta’s mind as the ultra-sonic information was
received, relayed it to other Tellurians. The murderer and his four
bodyguards were at that moment entering a theater less than one
city block away. . . .
“Why, they couldn’t be!” Helen protested. “Nobody could be that
stupid . . . or . . . I wonder. . . ?”
“I wonder, too.” This from Joan. “Yes, it would be the supremely
clever thing to do; the perfect place to hide for a few hours while the
worst of the storm blows over and they can complete their planned
getaway. Provided, of course, they’re out-worlders and thus don’t
know what we Vegians can do with our wonderful sense of smell. Of
course they aren’t a Tellurian and four Aldebaranians any more, are
they?”
“No, they are five Centralians now. Perfectly innocent. They think
their blasters are completely hidden under those long over shirts, but
now and again a bulge shows—they’ve still got blasters on their hips.
The theater’s crowded, but the five friends want to sit together. The
manager thinks it could be arranged, by paying a small gratuity to a
few seat-holders who would like to make a fast credit that way . . .
he’ll place them and it’s almost time for us to go. ’Bye, Joanie—stay
back, remember!” and she was in his arms.
“How about it, Helen?” Joe asked. “Surely you’re going to kiss
your Porthos good-bye, aren’t you?”
“Of a surety, m’enfant!” she exclaimed, and did so with
enthusiasm. “But it’s more like Aramis, I think—he kissed everybody,
you know—and since I’m not hooked like Joan is—yet—don’t think
that this is establishing a precedent.”
“Well, Babs, that leaves you and me.” Bob reached out—she was
standing beside him—and pulled her close. “QX?”
“Why, I . . . I guess so.” Barbara blushed furiously. “But Bob . . . is
it really dangerous?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. Not very, really, I don’t think. At least I certainly
hope not. But blasters are not cap-pistols, you know, and whenever
one goes off it can raise pure hell. Why? Would you really miss me?”
“You know I would, Bob,” and her kiss had more fervor than either
she or he would have believed possible a few minutes before. And at
its end she laughed, shakily, and blushed again as she said, “I’ve got
sort of used to having you around, so be sure and come back.”
They left the building and walked rapidly along a strangely quiet
street to the theater. Without a word they were ushered up a short
flight of stairs.
“Hold up, Vesta!” Cloud thought sharply. “We can’t see a thing—
wait a couple of minutes.”
They waited five minutes, during which time they learned exactly
where the enemy were and discussed every detail of the proposed
attack.
“I still can’t see well enough to shoot,” Cloud said then. “Can they
give us a little glow of light?”
They could. By almost imperceptible increments the thick, soft
blackness was relieved.
“That’s enough.” The light, such as it was, steadied.
“Ready?” Vesta’s voice was a savage growl, low, deep in her
throat.
“Ready.”
“No more noise, then.”
They walked forward to the balcony’s edge, leaned over it, looked
down. Directly beneath Vesta’s head was seated a man in Centralian
garb; four others were behind, in front of, and at each side of, their
chief.
“Now!” Vesta yelled, and flung herself over the low railing.
At her shout four Vegians ripped four Centralian shirts apart,
seized four hip-holstered blasters, and shouted with glee—but they
shouted too soon. For the real gun-slick, then as now, did not work
from the hip, but out of his sleeve; and these were four of the
coldest, fastest killers to be found throughout the far flung empire of
Boskone. Thus, all four flashed into action even before they began
rising to their feet.
But so did Storm Cloud; and his heavy weapon was already out
and ready. He knew what those hands were doing, in the instant of
their starting to do it, and his DeLameter flamed three times in what
was practically one very short blast. He had to move a little before he
could sight on the fourth guard—Vesta’s furiously active body was in
the way—so Joe and Bob each got a shot, too. Three bolts of
lightning hit that luckless wight at once, literally cremating him in air
as he half-crouched, bringing his blaster to bear on the catapulting
thing attacking his boss.
When Vesta went over the rail she did not jump to the floor below.
Instead, her hands locked on the edge; her feet dug into the
latticework of the apron. She squatted. Her tail flashed down,
wrapping itself twice around the zwilnik’s neck. She heaved, then,
and climbed with everything she had; and as she stood upright on
the railing, eager hands reached down to help her tail lift its burden
up into the balcony. The man struck the floor with a thud and Vesta
jumped at him.
“Your fingers first—one at a time,” she snarled; and, seizing a
hand, she brought it toward her mouth.
She paused then as if thunderstruck; a dazed, incredulous
expression spreading over her face. Bending over, she felt, curiously,
tenderly, of his neck.
“Why, he . . . he’s dead!” she gasped. “His neck . . . it’s . . . it’s
broken! From such a little, tiny pull as that? Why, anybody ought to
have a stronger neck than that!”
She straightened up; then, as a crowd of Vegians and the
Tellurian women came up, she became instantly her old, gay self.
“Well, shall we all go back and finish our dance?”
“What?” Cloud demanded. “After this?”
“Why certainly,” Vesta said, brightly. “I’m sorry, of course, that I
killed him so quickly, but it doesn’t make any real difference. Zamke
is avenged; he can now enjoy himself. We’ll join him in a few years,
more or less. Until then, what would you do? What you call ‘mourn’?”
“I don’t know . . . I simply don’t know,” Cloud said, slowly, his arm
tightening around Joan’s supple waist. “I thought I’d seen everything,
but . . . I suppose you can have somebody take that body out to the
ship, so they can check it for identity?”
“Oh, yes, I’ll do that. Right away. You’re sure you don’t want to
dance any more?”
“Very sure, my dear. Very sure. All I want to do is take Joan back
to the ship.”
“QX. I won’t see you again this trip, then; your hours are so funny.
I’ll send for my things. And I won’t say good-bye, Captain Nealcloud
and you other wonderful people, because we’ll see each other again,
soon and often. Just so-long, and thanks tremendously for all you
have done for me.”
And Vesta the Vegian strode away, purring contentedly to herself
—tail high.