Chapter XVI
GET THE DOME!
To Gordon's surprise, the publicity Randolph wrote about his being aSecurity Prime seemed to bring the other sections of Outer Marsportunder the volunteer police control even faster. But he was too busy toworry about it. He left general co-ordination in the hands of MotherCorey, while Izzy and Schulberg ran the expanding of the police force.
Praeger arrived with the first load of food, and came storming up tohim. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Security Prime! I'm grade threemyself."
"And I suppose that would have meant you'd have shipped in all the foodwe needed free?" Gordon asked.
The other stopped to think it over. Then he laughed roughly. "Nope.You're right. The growers would starve next year if they gave it allaway now. Well, we'll get in enough food this way to keep you going fora while--couple of weeks, at least."
It sounded good, and might have worked if there had been the normal foodreserve, or if the other three quadrants had been willing to do as much.But while the immediate pressure of starvation was lifted, Gordon's ownstomach told him that it wasn't an adequate diet. Signs of scurvy andpellagra were increasing.
Bruce Gordon whipped himself into forgetting some of that. His army wasgrowing. Or rather, his mob. There was no sense in trying to get morethan the vaguest organization.
It was the eighth day when he led them out in the early dawn. He hadissued extra dope and managed a slight increase in the ration, so theymade a brave showing--until they reached the dome.
There were no rifles opposed to him, as he had expected, and the guardat the gate was no heavier. But the warning had somehow been given, andboth forces were ready.
Stretching north from the gate were the Municipals with members of someof the gangs; the other gangmen were with the Legals to the south. Andthey stood within inches of the dome, holding axes and knives.
A big Marspeaker ran out from the gate, and the voice of Gannett cameover it. "Go back! If just one of you gets within ten feet of the domeor entrance, we're going to rip the dome! We'll destroy Marsport beforewe'll give in to a doped-up crowd of riffraff! You've got five minutesto get out of sight, before we come out with rifles and knock you off!Now beat it!"
Gordon got out of the car the Kid was driving and started toward theentrance, just as the moaning wail of the crowd behind him built up.
"You fools!" he yelled. "They're bluffing. They wouldn't dare destroythe dome! Come on!"
But already the men were evaporating. He stared at the rout, andsuddenly stopped fighting the hands holding him. Beside him, the Kid wascrying, making horrible sounds of it. He turned slowly back to the car,and felt it get under way. His final sight was that of the Legals andMunicipals wildly scrambling for cover from each other.
Mother Corey met him, dragging him back to a small room where he dug upan impossibly precious bottle of brandy. "Drink it all, cobber. So oneof your Security badges had the wrong man attached to it, and word gotback. Couldn't be helped. You just ran into the sacred law ofMarsport--the one they teach kids. Be bad, and the dome'll collapse. Thedome made Marsport, and it's taboo!"
Gordon nodded. Maybe the old man was right. "If the dome gives them aperfect cover, why let me make a jackass of myself, Mother?" he askednumbly.
Corey shook his head, setting the heavy folds of flesh to bouncing."Gave them something to live for here, cobber. And when you get overthis, you're gonna announce new plans to try again. Yes, you are! Butright now, you get yourself drunk!"
He left Gordon and the bottle. After a while, the bottle was gone. Hefelt number, but no better, by the time Izzy came in.
"Trench is outside in a heavy-armored car, Bruce. Says he wants to seeyou. Something to discuss--a proposition!"
Gordon stood up, wobbling a little, trying to think. Then he swore, andheaded for his room. "Tell him to go to hell!"
He saw Izzy and Sheila leave, wondering vaguely where she had been.Through the opening in the seal, he spotted them moving toward the bigcar outside. Then he shrugged. He finally made the stairs and reachedhis bed before he passed out.
Sheila was standing over him when he finally woke. She dumped a headachepowder into her palm and held it out, handing him a small glass ofwater. He swallowed the fast-acting drug, and sat up, trying toremember. Then he wished he couldn't.
"What did Trench want?" he asked thickly.
"He wanted to show you a badge--a Security badge made out for him," sheanswered. "At least he said he wanted to show you something, and it wasabout that size. He wouldn't talk with us much. But I remember his namein the book--"
Gordon shook his head and sat up. The book, he thought, trying to focushis thoughts. The book with all the names...
"All right, Cuddles," he said finally. "You got your meal ticket, andyou've outgrown it in this mess. Now I want that damned book! I've beenoperating in the dark. It's time I found out how to get in touch withsome of those people. Where is it?"
She shook her head. "It isn't. Bruce--I don't have it. That time I gaveyou the note, you didn't come when I said, and I thought you wouldn't.Then Jurgens' men broke in, and I thought they'd get it, so--so I burnedit. I lied to you about using it to make you keep me."
"You burned it!" He turned it over, staring at her. "Okay, Cuddles, youburned it. You were trying to kill me then, so you burned it to keepJurgens from getting it and putting the finger on me! Where is it,Sheila? On you?"
She backed away, biting her lips. "No, Bruce. I burned it. I don't knowwhy. I just did! No!"
She turned toward the door as he pushed up from the bed, but his armcaught her wrist, dragging her back. She whimpered once, then shriekedfaintly as his hand caught the buttons on the dress, jerking them off.Then suddenly she was a writhing, biting, scratching fury. He tightenedhis hand and lifted her to the bed, dropping a knee onto her throat andbeginning to squeeze, while he jerked the dress and thin slip off.
She sat up as he released his knee, her hoarse voice squeezed frombetween her writhing lips. "Are you satisfied now, you mechanical beast!Do you still think I have it on me?"
He grinned, twisting the corners of his mouth. "You don't. Don't youknow a _wife_ shouldn't keep secrets from her _husband_? A warm-blooded,affectionate husband, to boot." He bent down, knocking aside herflailing arms, and pulled her closer to him. "Better tell your husbandwhere the book is, Cuddles!"
She cursed and he drew her closer. He bent down, forcing her head backand setting his lips on hers.
From somewhere, wetness touched his cheek; he lifted his head and lookeddown. The wetness came from tears that spilled out of her eyes and ranoff onto the mattress. She was making no sound, and there was noresistance, but the tears ran out, one drop seeming to trip overanother.
"All right, Sheila," he said. His voice was cracked in his ears."Another week of being a failure on this planet of failures, and Imight. Go ahead and tell me I'm the same as your first husband. If Ican't even keep my word to you, I can at least get out and stay out." Heshook his head, waiting for her denunciation. "For your amusement, I'mgoing to miss having you around!"
He stood up. Something touched his hand, and he looked down to see herfingers.
"Bruce," she said faintly, "you meant it! You don't hate me any more."She rubbed her wrist across her eyes, and the ghost of a smile touchedher lips. "I don't think you're a failure. And maybe--maybe I'm not.Maybe I don't have to be a failure as a woman--a wife, Bruce. I don'twant you to go!"
* * * * *
Two worlds. One huddled under its dome, forever afraid of losing thatprotection and having to face the life the other led; and yet driven towork together or to perish together. The sacred dome!
And suddenly he was shaking her. "The dome! It has to be the answer!Cuddles, you broke the chain enough for me to think again! We've beenblind--the whole damned planet has been blind."
She blinked and then frowned. "Bruce--"
"I'm all right! I'm just half sane instead of all insane for a chan
ge."He got up, pacing the floor as he talked.
"Look, most of the people here are Martians. They've left Earth behind,and they're meeting this planet on its own terms. And they're adapting.Third-generation children--not all, but a lot of them--are breathing theair we'd die on, and they're doing fine at it. Probablysecond-generation ones can keep going after we'd pass out. It's just astrue out here as it is on the frontier. But Marsport has that sacreddome over it. It's still trying to be Earth. And it can't do it. It'snever had a chance to adjust here, and it's afraid to try."
"Maybe," she agreed doubtfully. "But what about this part of Marsport?"
"Obvious. Here, they grow up under the shadow of it. They live in ahalf-world, and they have to live on the crumbs the dome tosses them.Sheila, if something happened to that dome--"
"We'd be killed," she said. "How do we do it?"
He frowned, and then grinned slowly. "Maybe not!"
They spent the rest of the night discussing it. Sometime during thediscussion, she made coffee, and first Randolph, then the Kid came infor briefing. Randolph was a natural addition, and the Kid had beenalternately following Gordon and Sheila around since he'd first heardthey were fighting against the men who'd robbed him of his right tospeak. In the end, as the night spread into day, there were more peoplethan they felt safe with, and less than they needed.
But later, as he stood beside the dome when night had fallen again,Gordon wasn't so sure. It was huge. The fabric of it was thin, and eventhe webbing straps that gave it added strength were frail things. But itwas strong enough to hold up the pressure of over ten pounds per squareinch, and the webbing was anchored in a metal sleeve that went too highfor cutting. They could rip it, but not ruin it completely; and it hadto be done so that no repair could ever be made.
Under it, and anchoring it, was a concrete wall all around the city.
Izzy came back from a careful exploration. "We can work enough powderunder those webbing supports, and lay the fuse wire beside the plasticring that keeps it airtight," he reported. "But God help us, gov'nor, ifany gee spots us."
They worked through the night, while Rusty went back to requisition moreexplosives from the dwindling supply, and while the Kid and Izzy tooktime off to break into a closed converter plant and find wire enough toconnect the charges. But dawn caught them with less done than they hadhoped. Gordon went to connect a wire and switch from the battery andcoil they had installed, but jerked backwards as he saw a suspiciousguard staring at him.
"Let him think we're just scouting," Randolph advised.
There were suspicious looks as the group came back to the Coop, butMother Corey waddled over to meet them. "Did you find them, cobber?" heasked quickly, and one of his eyelids flickered.
Izzy answered before Gordon could rise to it. "Not yet, Mother. May haveto go back tonight."
Gordon left them discussing the mythical search for certain suppliesthat Mother Corey had apparently used as an alibi for their absence fromthe building. Sheila started to make coffee, but he shook his head andheaded for the bed. She yawned and nodded, fingering the stitches thatstill ran down the blanket to divide it. Then she grimaced faintly anddropped down beside him on top of the blanket. Her head hit his arm, andshe seemed to be asleep almost at once.
He awoke to find Izzy shaking his shoulder. He looked down for Sheila,but she was gone. Izzy followed his eyes, and shook his head.
"The princess took off in a car three hours ago," he said. "She said itwas something that had to be done, gov'nor, so I figured you'd knowabout it."
Gordon shrugged, and let it pass. He found the rest of the group ready,with Mother Corey wishing them better luck tonight. The Mother obviouslyknew something; but he kept his suspicions to himself, and gave them acover from the others.
There was no sign of Sheila near the dome. But inside, there were guardspacing along it. Gordon spotted them first, and drew the others back. Ifthey'd found the carefully worked-in powder...
The Kid ducked down and out of the car, worming his way around thebuilding that concealed them. He waited for the guard to vanish, andthen went crawling forward. Gordon swore, but there was no sense in twoof them risking themselves, only to attract more attention. And at lastthe Kid came back. He ducked into the truck, nodding.
"Wire and explosive still there?" Gordon asked.
The Kid made the sound he used for assent.
It made no sense; there was no reason for the sudden vigilance insidethe dome.
"We might be able to run the wire in," Izzy said doubtfully.
Gordon grunted. "And tip them off to where it is, probably. No, we'llhave to do it under some kind of covering, the way I had it planned inthe first place, only with one more damned complication. We'll pullanother false raid on the dome. As soon as we get chased off, I'llmanage to set it off while they're relaxing and laughing at us."
"It smells!" Izzy told him. "Who elected you chief martyr around here?You'll be blown up, gov'nor--and if you ain't, they'll rip you toribbons for knocking off the dome."
Then he stopped suddenly, staring. Bruce Gordon leaned forward, withIzzy's hands grabbing for him. But he'd seen it, too.
Standing next to the dome was Trench, talking to one of the guards. Andbeside him stood Sheila, with one hand resting on the man's elbow!
He could feel the thickness of the silence and misery in the truck, buthe pushed it away, with all the other things. "Get us back, Izzy," heordered. "We've got to round up whatever group we can and get them backhere on the double. They must be counting on our original time, sothey're in no hurry to remove the powder and wiring. But we can't counton any more time."
"You're going through with it?" Randolph asked doubtfully.
"In one hour. And you might pass the word along that we're doing it tosave the dome. Tell the men we just found out that Trench is losing andintends to blow it up instead of letting the Legals win."
Rumor would travel fast enough, he hoped. And it should give him a fewextra seconds before his forces cracked.
He lifted the switch in his hands and stared at it. It wasn't necessarynow. All he had to do was to reach the battery and drop any metal acrossthe two terminals there--if they could get back before Trench--andSheila--could remove the battery.
It was a period of complete fog to him, but it wasn't until his motleyarmy reached the dome, straggling up in trucks and on foot, that hesnapped into focus again. There was no sign of Sheila this time, and hedidn't look for her. His whole mind was concentrated down to a singlepoint: Get the dome!
This time, there was no scattering of Municipals and Legals. TheMunicipal forces were rushing up toward the dome, and surprised Legalswere frantically arriving in trucks. There was the beginning of apitched battle right at the spot where Gordon needed his own cover.
It made no sense to him, and he didn't care. He marched his men up, withthe thin wailing of a banshee in his ears.
"Dome warning!" Izzy shouted in his ear. "Hear that siren, gov'nor?Means they're scared we may do it. Give me that damned switch!"
He grabbed for it, but Gordon held firmly to the copper strap. And nowthe men inside caught sight of the approaching force. For a second,consternation seemed to reign.
Then a huge truck with a speaker on top drove into the struggling group,and the thin whisper of unintelligible words reached Gordon. The wholedevelopment made no more sense than any part of it to him, but he sawthe Municipals and Legals suddenly begin to turn as a single man to facethe outside menace that had crept up on them while they were boilinginto a fight.
And suddenly the Marspeaker over the entrance blasted into life. "Getback! The dome is mined! Any man comes near it, it'll blow! Get back!The dome is mined!"
By Gordon's side, a sudden gargling sound came from the Kid. His handsnaked out, caught the strap from Gordon's hand, and jerked it free.Then he was running frantically forward.
Rifles lifted inside, and shots rang out, clipping bullets through thedome. In one place it began to tear, and there was
a sudden savage roarfrom the men around Gordon. He had started forward after the Kid, butIzzy was in front of him, holding him back.
The Kid stumbled and slid across the ground, while blood spurted outfrom a gash across his head, and the helmet fell into pieces. Then, witha jerk, he was up. His hand reached out, the strap hit the terminals...
And where the dome had been, a clap of thunder seemed to take visibleform. The webbing straps broke, and the dome jerked upwards, twistingoutwards, and then falling into ribbons. The shock wave hit Gordon,knocking him from his feet into the crowd around him.
He struggled to his feet to see helmeted men pouring out of the housesaround, and other men pouring forward from his own group. The few ofeither police force still standing and helmeted broke into a wild run,but they had no chance! The mob had decided that they had mined andexploded the dome.
He turned back toward the Coop, sick with the death of the Kid and theviolence. For once, he'd had more than his fill of it.
Then a small truck drew up, and an arm went out to draw him inside thecab. He stared into the face of Isaiah Trench. And driving the truck wasSheila.
"Your wife took a helluva chance, Gordon," Trench said heavily. "And Itook quite a chance, too, to set this up so nobody could ever believeyou were behind it. Getting that fight started in time, after you firstshowed up--oh, sure, we spotted you--was the toughest job I ever did!But I guess Sheila had the roughest end, not even knowing for sure whereI stood."
Gordon stared at them slowly, not quite believing it, even though it wasno crazier than anything else during the past few hours.
Trench shrugged. "I was railroaded here by Security, told to be good andthey'd let me go home. A lot of men got that treatment. So when Waynewas still talking about building a perfect Marsport, I joined up. Hetreated me right, and I took orders. But a man gets sick of working withpunks and cheap hoods; he gets sicker of killing off a planet he'slearned to like. I learned to take orders, though--and I took them untilWayne tried to put a bullet through me. That ended that, and I came outto join up with you. You were soused, I hear--but your wife guessedenough to take the chance of coming to me, when she thought you weregoing to get yourself killed. Well, I guess you get out here."
He indicated the Coop. Gordon got down, followed by Sheila as Trenchtook the wheel. "What happens to you now?" Gordon asked. "They'll beblaming you for the end of the dome."
"Let them. I planned on that. Too bad Trench got torn to bits by themob, isn't it? And it's a good thing I've always kept myself a placeunder a safe incognito out in the sticks. Got a wife and two kids outthere that even Wayne didn't know about." He stuck out a hand. "You'relike Security, Gordon. You do all the wrong things, but you get theright results. Goodbye!"
Sheila watched him go, shaking her head. "He likes you, Bruce. But hecan't say it. Men!"
"Women!" Gordon answered.
Then he stiffened. Coming down through the thin air of Mars was thebright blue exhaust of a rocket. The real Security was arriving!