CHAPTER 8
Next morning, early, Belle tapped lightly on Garlock's door.
"Come in."
She did so. "Have you had your coffee?"
"Yes."
"So have I."
Neither Belle nor Garlock had recovered; both faces showed strain anddrain.
"I think we'd better break this up," Belle said, quietly.
"Check. We'll have to, if we expect to get any work done."
Belle could not conceal her surprise.
"Oh, not for the reason you think," Garlock went on, quickly. "Yourrecord as a man-killer is still one hundred point zero zero zeropercent. I've been in love with you ever since we paired. Before that,even."
"Flapdoodle!" she snorted, inelegantly. "Why, I...."
"Keep still a minute. And I'm not going to fight with you again. Ever.I'm not going to touch you again until I can control myself a lot betterthan I could last night."
"Oh? That was mostly my fault, of course. But in love? Uh-uh, I've seenmen in love. You aren't. I couldn't make you be, not with the best Icould do. Not even in bed. You aren't, Clee--if you are, I'm anAustralian bushman."
"Perhaps I'm an atypical case. I'm not raving about your perfectbody--you know what that is like already. Nor about your mind, which isthe only one I know of as good as my own. Maybe I'm in love with what Ithink you ought to be ... or what I hope you will be. Anyway, I'm inlove with _something_ connected with you--and with no other woman alive.Shall we go eat?"
"Uh-huh--let's."
They joined Lola and James at the table; and if Lola noticed anythingout of the ordinary, she made no sign.
And after breakfast, in the Main--
"About three weeks, Jim, you think?" Garlock asked.
"Give or take a couple of days, yes."
"And Belle and I would just be in the way--at least until time to showDeggi about the activation ... and all those Primes to organize ... we'dbetter leave you here, don't you think, and get going?"
"I'll buy that. We'll finish as soon as possible."
Lola and James moved a few personal belongings planetside; Garlock andBelle shot the _Pleiades_ across a vast gulf of space to one of theplanets they had scanned so fleetingly on their preliminary survey. Itsname was, both remembered, Lizoria; its two Primes were named RezdoSemolo and Mirea Mitala--male and female, respectively.
After sending down a very brief and perfunctory request foraudience--which was in effect a declaration of intent and nothingelse--Garlock and Belle teleported themselves down into Semolo's office,where both Lizorian Primes were.
Both got up out of peculiar-looking chairs to face their visitors. Bothwere tall; both were peculiarly thin. Not the thinness of emaciation,but that of bodily structure.
"On them it looks good," Belle tight-beamed a thought to Garlock.
Both moved fast and with exquisite control; both were extraordinarilygraceful. "Snaky" was Belle's thought of the woman; "sinuous" wasGarlock's of the man. Both were completely hairless, of body and ofhead--not by nature, but via electric-shaver clipping. Both woresandals. The man wore shorts and a shirt-like garment of nylon or itslike; the woman wore just enough ribbons and bands to hold a hundredthousand credits' worth of jewels in place. She appeared to be abouttwenty years--Tellurian equivalent--old; he was probably twenty-three ortwenty-four.
"We did not invite you in and we do not want you here," Semolo said,coldly. "So get out, both of you. If you don't, when I count three I'llthrow you out, and I won't be too careful about how many of your bones Ibreak. One.... Two...."
"Pipe down, Rezdo!" the girl exclaimed. "They have something we haven't,or they wouldn't be here. Whatever it is, we want it."
"Oh, let him try, Miss Mitala," Garlock said, through her hard-heldblock, in the depth of her mind. "He won't hurt us a bit and it may dohim some good. While he's wasting effort I'll compare notes with mypartner here, Galactic Vice-Admiral Belle Bellamy. I'm glad to see thatone of you has at least a part of a brain."
"... Three!" Semolo did his best, with everything he had, without evenattracting Garlock's attention. He then tried to leap at the intruderphysically, despite the latter's tremendous advantage in weight andmuscle, but found that he could not move.
Then, through Belle's solidly-set blocks, "How are you doing, ace?Getting anywhere?"
"My God!" came Belle's mental shriek. "What--how can--but no, you_didn't_ give _that_ to Fao, surely!"
"I'll say I didn't--nor to Delcamp. But you're going to need it, I'mthinking."
"But _can_ you? Even if you _would_--and I'm just beginning to realizehow big a man you really are--can that kind of stuff be taught? Iprobably haven't got the brain-cells it takes to handle it."
"I'm not sure, but I've reworked our Prime Fields into one and made acouple of other changes. Theoretically, it ought to work. Shall I comein and try it?"
"Don't be an idiot, darling. _Of course!_"
* * *
As impersonally as a surgeon exploring an organ, Garlock went intoBelle's mind. "Tune to the field ... that's it--fine! Then--I'll do itreal slow, and watch me close--you do like so ... get it?"
"Uh-huh!" Belle breathed, excitedly. "Got it!"
"Then this ... and this ... and there you are. You can try it on me, ifyou like."
"Uh-uh. No sale. I don't need practice and I'd like to preserve thebeautiful illusion that maybe I _could_ crack your shield if I wantedto. I'll work on Miss Snake-Hips here, the serpentine charmer--but say,I'll bet there's a bone in it. _You_ can block it, can't you?"
"Yes. It goes like this." He showed her. "It takes full mastery of thePrime Field, but you've got that."
"Oh, wonderful! Thanks, Clee darling. But do you mean to actually say Ican now completely block you or any other Prime out?"
"You're going too far, ace. Me, yes--but don't forget that there verywell may be people--or things--as far ahead of us as we are ahead ofpointer pups."
"Huh! Balloon-juice and prop-wash! I just _know_, Clee, that you're theabsolute tops of the whole, entire, macrocosmic universe."
"Well, we can dream, of course." Garlock withdrew his mind from Belle'sand turned his attention to the now quiet Semolo. "Well, myover-confident and contumacious young squirt; are you done horsingaround or do you want to keep it up until you addle completely what fewbrains you have?"
The Lizorian made no reply; but merely glared.
"The trouble with you half-baked, juvenile--I almost added 'delinquent'to that, and perhaps I should have--Primes is that you know too damnedmuch that isn't true. As an old Tellurian saying hath it, 'you'realtogether too big for your britches.'
"Thus, simply because you have lived a few years on one single planetand haven't encountered anyone able to stand up to you, you've soldyourself on the idea that there's nobody, anywhere, who can. You'rewrong--you couldn't be more so if you had an army to help you.
"What, actually, have you done? What, actually, have you got?Practically nothing. You haven't even started a starship; you'vescarcely started making plans. You realize dimly that the theory is notin any of the books, that you'll have to slug it out for yourself, butthat is _work_. So you're still just posing and throwing your weightaround.
"As a matter of fact, you're merely a drop in a lake. There arethousands of millions of planets, and thousands of millions of PrimeOperators. Most of them are probably a lot stronger than you are; manyof them may be stronger than my partner and I are. I am not at allcertain that you will pass even the first screening; but since you arewithout question a Prime Operator, I will deliver the message we came todeliver. Miss Mitala, do you want to listen or shall we drive it intoyou, too?"
"I want to listen to anyone or anything who has a working starship andwho can do what you have just done."
"Very well," and Garlock told the general-distribution version of thestory of the Galactic Service.
"Quite interesting," Semolo said loftily, at its end. "Whether or not Iwould be interested depends, of c
ourse, on whether there's a positionhigh enough for...."
"I doubt very much if there's one low enough," Garlock cut in sharply."However, since it's part of my job, I'll get in touch with you later.Okay, Belle."
And in the Main--"What a jerk!" Belle exclaimed. "What a half-cooked,half-digested _pill_! I simply marvel at your forbearance, Clee. Youshould have turned him inside out and hung him up to dry--especiallybehind the ears!" Then, suddenly, she giggled. "But do you know what Idid?"
"I can guess. A couple of shots in the arm?"
"Uh-huh. Next time he pitches into her she'll slap his ears right off.Oh, _brother_!"
"Check and double-check. But let's hop to Number Two.... Here it is."
* * *
"Oh, yes," came a smooth, clear, diamond-sharp thought in reply toGarlock's introductory call. "This world, as you have perceived, isFalne. I am indeed Baver 14WD27, my companion Prime is indeed Glarre12WD91. You are, we perceive, Bearers of the Truth; of great skill andof high advancement. Your visit here will, I am sure, be of immensebenefit to us and possibly, I hope, of some small benefit to you. Wewill both be delighted to have you both 'port yourselves to us at once."
The Tellurians did so--and in the very instant of appearance Garlock wasmet by a blast of force the like of which he had never even imagined.The two Falnian Primes, capable operators both, had built up theirhighest possible potentials and had launched both terrific bolts withoutany hint of warning.
Belle's mind, however, was already fused with Garlock's. Their combinedblocks were instantaneous in action; their counter-thrust was nearly so.Both Falnians staggered backward until they were stopped by the room'swall.
"Ah, yes," Garlock said, then. "You are indeed, in a small and feebleway, Seekers after the Truth; of which we are indeed Bearers. LesserBearers, perhaps, but still Bearers. You will indeed profit greatly fromour visit. You err, however, in thinking that we may in any respectprofit from you. You have nothing whatever that we have not had forlong. Now let us, if you please, take a few seconds of time to getacquainted, each with the other."
"That, indeed, is the logical and seemly thing to do." Both Falniansstraightened up and stepped forward; neither arrogantly norapologetically, but simply as though nothing at all out of the ordinaryhad taken place.
Each pair studied the other. Physically, the two pairs were surprisinglyalike. Baver was almost as big as Garlock; almost as heavily muscled.Glarre could have been cast in Belle's own mold.
* * *
With that, however, all resemblance ceased.
Both Falnians were naked. The man wore only a belt and pouch in lieu ofpockets; the woman only a leather carryall slung from one shoulder--bigenough, Garlock thought, to hold a week's supplies for an ExplorerScout.
His hair was thick, bushy, unkempt; sun-bleached to a nondescript blendof pale colors. Hers--long, heavy, meticulously middle-parted anddressed--was a startling two-tone job. To the right of the part it was asearingly brilliant red; to the left, an equally brilliant royal blue.
His skin was deeply tanned. The color of hers was completely masked by abizarrely spectacular overlay of designs done in semi-indelible,multi-colored dyes.
"Ah, you are worthy indeed of receiving an increment of Truth. Hear,then, the message we bring," and again Garlock told the story.
"We thank you, sir and madam, from our hearts. We will accept with joyyour help in finishing our ship; we will do all that in us lies tofurther the cause of the Galactic Service. Until a day, then?"
"Until a day." Then, to Belle, "Okay, ace. Ready? Go!"
And up in the Main--"Sweet Sin!" Belle exclaimed. "What a pair _they_turned out to be! Clee, that simply scared me witless."
"You can play that in spades." Garlock jammed his hands into his pocketsand prowled about the room, his face a black scowl of concentration.
Until, finally, he pulled himself out of the brown study and said: "I'vebeen trying to think if there's any other thing, however slight, that Ihave and you haven't. There isn't. You've got it all. You're just asfast as I am, just as sharp and as accurate--and, since we now draw onthe same field, just as strong."
"Why Clee! You're worrying about _me_? You've done altogether too muchfor me, already."
"Anything I can do, I've got to do ... well, shall we go?"
"We shall."
* * *
They visited four more planets that day. And after supper that night,standing in the corridor between their doors, Belle began to soften hershield, as though to send a thought. Almost instantly, however, shechanged her mind and snapped it back to full on.
"Good night, Clee," she said.
"Good night, Belle," and each went into his own room.
The next day they worked nine planets, and the day after that theyworked ten. They ate supper in friendly fashion; then strolled togetheracross the Main, to a davenport.
"It's funny," Belle said thoughtfully, "having this tremendous ship allto ourselves. To have a private conference right out here in the Main... or is it?"
He triggered the shields, she watched him do it. "It is now," he assuredher.
"Prime-proof? Not ordinary Gunther blocks?"
"Uh-huh. Two hundred kilovolts and four hundred kilogunts. Backed byall the force of the Prime and Op fields and the full power of theengines. I told you I'd made some changes in the set-up."
"Private enough, I guess ... what a mess those Primes are! And we'llhave to make the rounds twice more--when we alert 'em and when we pick'em up."
"Not necessarily. This new set-up ought to give us a galaxy-wide reach.Let's try Semolo, on Lizoria, shall we?"
"Uh-huh--Let's."
"Tune in, then ace."
"_Ace_, darling?"
"Ace, _Darling_?"
"Darling. You said you weren't going to fight with me any more.Okay--I'm not going to try any more to lick you until after I've lickedmyself. I'm tuned--you may fire when ready, Gridley."
They fired--and hit the mark dead center. Top-lofty and arrogant andbelligerent as ever, the Lizorian Prime took the call. "I thought allthe time you wanted something. Well, I neither want nor need...."
"Cut it, you unlicked cub, until you can begin to use that half-liter ofgolop you call a brain," Garlock said, harshly. "We're just trying out anew ultra-communicator. Thanks for your help."
On the fourth day they worked eleven planets; the fifth day saw theforty-sixth planet done and the immediate job finished. All duringsupper, it was very evident that Belle had something on her mind.
After eating, she went out into the Main and slumped down on adavenport. Garlock followed her. A cigarette leaped out of a closed boxand into place between her lips. It came alight. She smoked it slowly,without relish; almost as though she did not know that she was smoking.
"Might as well get it out of your system, Belle," Garlock said aloud."What are you thinking about at the moment?"
Belle exhaled; the half-smoked butt vanished. "At the moment I wasthinking about Gunther blocks. Specifically, their total inability tocope with that new Prime probe of yours." She stared at him,narrow-eyed. "It goes through them just like nothing at all." Shepaused; eyed him questioningly.
"No comment."
"And yet you gave it to me. Freely, of your own accord. Even before Ineeded it. Why?"
"Still no comment."
"You'd better comment, Buster, before I blow my top."
"There is such a thing as urbanity."
"I've heard of it, yes; even though you never did believe I ever hadany. You _talk_ a good game of urbanity, but your brand of it wouldnever carry you _that_ far...."
She paused. He remained silent. She went on.
"Of course, it does put a lot of pressure on me to develop myself."
"I'm glad you used the word 'develop' instead of 'treat.'"
"Oh, sometimes--at rare intervals--I'm not exactly dumb. But youknew--you _must_ have known--what a horrible risk yo
u took in making meas tremendously powerful as you are."
* * *
"Some, perhaps, but very definitely less risky than not doing it."
"Getting information out of you is harder than pulling teeth. CleeGarlock, I want you to tell me _why!_"
"Very well." Garlock's jaw set. "You've had it in mind all along thatthis is some kind of a lark; that you and I are Gunther Tops of theuniverse. Or did that belief weaken a bit when we met Baver 14WD27?"
"Well, perhaps--a little. However, the probability is becoming greaterwith every planet we visit. After all, _some_ race has to be tops. Why_shouldn't_ it be us?"
"_What_ a logic--excuse me, skip it...."
"Oh, you really _meant_ it when you said you weren't going to fight withme any more?"
"I'm going to try not to. Now, remembering that I don't consider yourpremise valid, just suppose that when we visit some planet some day, youget your mind burned out and I don't--solely because I had something Icould have given you and wouldn't. What then?"
"Oh. I thought that was what you ... but suppose I can't...."
"We won't suppose anything of the kind. But that wasn't all that was onyour mind. Nor most."
"How true. Those Primes. The women. Honestly, Clee, I never saw--neverimagined--such a bunch of exhibitionistic, obstreperous, obnoxious,swell-headed, hussies in my whole life. And every day it was borne in onme more and more that I was--am--exactly like the rest of them."
Garlock was wise enough to say nothing, and Belle went on: "I've beentalking a good game of licking myself, but this time I'm going to _do_it."
She jumped up and doubled her fists. "If you can do it, I can," shedeclared. "Like the ancient ballad--'Anything you can do I can dobetter.'" She tried to be jaunty, but the jauntiness did not ring quitetrue.
"That's an unfortunate quotation, I'm afraid. The trouble is, Ihaven't."
"Huh? Don't be an idiot, Clee. You certainly have--what else do _you_suppose put me so far down into the dumps?"
"In that case, you _certainly_ will. So come on up out of the dumps."
"Wilco--and I certainly will. But for a woman who has been talking sobig, I feel low in my mind. A good-night kiss, Clee, darling? Justone--and just a little one, at that?"
"Sweetheart!"
There were more than one, and none of them was little. Eventually,however, the two stood, arms still around each other, in the corridorbetween their doors.
"But kissing's as far as it goes, isn't it," Belle said. The remark wasnot a question; nor was it quite a statement.
"That's right."
"So good night, darling."
"Good night, ace."
* * *
And when they next saw each other, at the breakfast table, Belle wasapparently her usual dauntless self.
"Hi, darling--sit down," she said, gaily. "Your breakfast is on thetable. Bacon, eggs, toast, strawberry jam, and a liter of coffee."
"Nice! Thanks, ace."
They ate in silence for a few minutes; then her hand crept tentativelyacross the table. He pressed it warmly. "You look a million, Belle. Outof the dumps?"
"Pretty much--in most ways. One way, though, I'm in deeper than ever.You see, I know exactly what you did to Fao Talaho; and why neither youor anybody else could do it to me. Or if they could, what would happenif they did."
"I was hoping you would. I couldn't very well tell you, before, but...."
"Of course not. I see that."
"... the fact is that Fao, and all the others we've met, are youngenough, unformed enough--plastic enough--yes, damn it, _weak_ enough--tobend. But you are tremendously strong, and twelve Rockwell numbersharder than a diamond. You wouldn't bend. If enough stress could beapplied--and that's decidedly questionable--you wouldn't bend. You'dbreak, and I can't figure it. You're a little older, of course, but notenough to...."
"How about the fact that I've been banging myself for eight yearsagainst Cleander Garlock, the top Prime of the universe and the hardest?That might have something to do with it, don't you think?"
Garlock said, "Indefensible conclusions drawn from insufficient data.That's just what I've been talking about. No matter how we got the waywe are, though, the fact is that you and I have got to fight our ownbattles and bury our own dead."
"Check. Like having a baby, but worse. There's nothing anybody else cando--even you--except maybe hold my hand, like now."
"That's about it. But speaking of holding hands, would it help if wepaired again?"
Belle studied the question for two full minutes; her fine eyes clouded."No," she said, finally. "I would enjoy it too much, and you'd ... well,you wouldn't...."
"Huh?" he demanded.
"Oh, physically, of course; but that isn't enough, or good enough, now.You see, I know what your personal code is. It's unbelievable, almost--Inever heard of one like it, except maybe a priest or two--but I admireyou tremendously for it. You would never, willingly, pair with a womanyou really loved. That was why you were so glad to break ours off. Youcan't deny it."
"I won't try to deny it. But you can't bluff me, Belle, so please quittrying. Basically, your code is the same as mine. Why else did youinitiate our break?"
Belle's block went solid, and Garlock said hastily, aloud, "Excuse it,please. Cancel. I've just said, and know as an empirical fact, thatyou've got to do the job alone--but I can't seem to help putting my big,flat foot in it by blundering in anyway. Let's get to work, shall we?"
"What at? Interview the Primes, I'd say--tell them to hold themselves inreadiness to attend...."
"On very short notice...."
"Yes. To attend the big meeting on Tellus. We'll have to make aschedule. It shouldn't be held until after Fao and Deggi get their shipbuilt--it _can't_ be held, of course, until after you and Jim are out ofSSE. Have you got _that_ figured out yet?"
"Pretty much." He told her his plan.
Belle giggled, then burst into laughter. "So _I'm_ in it, too?_Wonderful!_"
"You have to be. If we make him mad enough, he'll fire you, too."
"Without hiring me first? He couldn't."
"He could, very easily. He doesn't know one-tenth of one percent of hispeople. If we work it right he'll assume that you're one of uswage-slaves, too. Lola, too, for that matter."
"Careful, Clee. You and I think this is funny, but Lola wouldn't. She'dbe shocked to her sweet little core, and she'd louse up the whole deal.So be very sure she doesn't get in on it."
"I guess you're right ... well, shall we go out and insult our touchyyoung friend Semolo? Ready.... Go!"
* * *
"Oh, it's _you_ again. I tell you...." the Lizorian began.
"You will tell me nothing. You will listen. Link your mind to Mitala's,"and the linked Tellurian minds enforced the order. "In about two weeksthe Primes of many worlds will meet in person on Tellus. Arrange youraffairs so that on ten minutes' notice you both can leave Lizoria forTellus aboard our starship, the _Pleiades_. That is all."
"He'll come, too," Belle chortled. "He'll writhe and scream, but he'llcome."
"You couldn't keep him away," Garlock agreed.
On the next planet, Falne, the procedure was a little different. Theinformation was the same, but--"One word of warning," Garlock added. "Itis to be a meeting of minds; not a contest to set up a pecking-order. Ifyou try any such business you will be disciplined; sharply and inpublic."
"Suppose that, under such conditions, we refuse to attend the meeting?"
"That is your right. There is no coercion whatever. Whether or not youcome will depend upon whether or not you two are in reality Seekersafter Truth. Until a day."
And so it went. Planet after planet. On not one of those worlds had anyPrime changed his thinking. Not one was really interested in theGalactic Service as an instrument for the good of all mankind. Therewere almost as many attitudes as there were Primes; but all wereessentially self-centered and selfish.
"That tears it, Belle--busts it wide open. I can--I mean we together cando either job. That is, either be top boss and run the thing or put infull time beating some sense into those hard skulls. We can't do both."
"On paper, we should," Belle said, thoughtfully. "You're GalacticAdmiral; I'm your Vice. One job apiece. But we're _not_ going to beseparated. Besides...."
"Two (minds) (brains) are much better than one," both said, except forone word, in unison.
Belle laughed. "That settles that. The Garlock-Bellamy fusion isGalactic Admiral--so we need a good Vice. Who? Deggi and Fao? They'recooperative and idealistic enough, but.... Oh, I don't know exactly whatit is they lack. Do you?"
"No; I can't put it into words or thoughts. Probably the concept is toonew for pigeon-holing. It isn't exactly strength or hardness ortoughness or resilience or brisance--maybe a combination of all five.What we need is a pair like us but better."
"There _aren't_ any."
"Don't be too sure." Belle glanced at him in surprise and he went on:"Not that we've seen, no. But each of those worlds centers a volume ofspace containing thousands of planets. Including the Tellurian and theMargonian, we now have forty-eight regions defined. Let's run a veryfast search-pattern of Region Forty-nine and see what we come up with."
"All right ... but suppose we do find somebody who out-Gunthers us?"
"I'd a lot rather have it that way than the way it is now. I'll do thehopping, you the checking. Here's the first one--what do you read?"
"N. G."
"And this one?"
"The same."
"And this?"
"Ditto."
Until, finally: "Clee, just how long are you going to keep this up?"
"Until we find something or run out of time for the meeting. Belle, Ireally _want_ to find somebody who amounts to something."
"So do I, really, so go ahead."
* * *
But they did not run out of time. At planet number four-hundred-something,Belle suddenly emitted a shriek--vocally as well as mentally. "Clee!Hold it! Here's something, I think!"
"I'm sure there is, and I'm gladder to see you two people than canpossibly be expressed."
Belle whirled; so did Garlock. A man stood in the middle of the Main; aman shaped very much like Garlock, but with long, badly-tousled hair anda bushy wilderness of fiery-red whiskers.
"Please excuse this intrusion, Admiral--or should it be plural? Improperaddress, I'm sure, but your joint tenure is a concept so new and so vastthat I am not yet able to grasp it fully--but you are working at suchhigh speed that I had to do something drastic. You will, I trust, remainhere long enough to discuss certain matters with my wife and me?"
"We'll be very glad to."
"Thank you. I will return, then, more decorously, and bring her. Onemoment." He disappeared.
"_Wife!_" Belle exclaimed, more than half in dismay. "They must be,then...."
"Yeah." The thought of a wife did not bother Garlock at all. "Talk about_power!_ And _speed!_ To get all that stuff and 'port up here in themillisecond or so we had the screens open? Baby Doll, there's a guy whois what a Prime Operator _ought_ to be!"
In less than a minute the man reappeared, accompanied by a woman who wasvery obviously pregnant--eight months or so. Like the man, she wasdressed in tight-fitting coveralls. Her hair, however--it was a naturalred, too--was cut to a uniform length of eight inches, and each hairindividually stood out, perfectly straight and perfectly perpendicularto the element of the scalp from which it sprang.
"Friends Belle and Clee of Tellus, I present Therea, my wife; andAlsyne, myself; of this planet Thaker. We have numbers, too, but theyare never used among friends."
Acknowledgments were made and a few minutes of conversation ensued,during which the two couples studied each other.
"This looks mighty good to me," Garlock said then. "Shall we go screenshalf-down, Alsyne, and cry in each other's beer?"
* * *
In thirty seconds of flashing communication each became thoroughlyinformed. Those minds could send, and could receive, an incredibly vastamount of information in an incredibly brief space of time.
"Your ship should work and doesn't," Garlock said. "Show me; in detail."
Alsyne showed him.
"Oh, I see. You didn't work out quite all the theory. It has to beactivated. Like this...." Garlock showed Alsyne.
"I see. Thanks." Alsyne disappeared and was gone for some ten minutes.He reappeared, grinning hugely behind his flaming wilderness of beard."It works perfectly; for which our heartfelt thanks. And now that mymind is at complete peace with the universe, we will consider theutterly fascinating subject of your proposed Galactic Service. You twoTellurians, immature although you are, have made two tremendouscontributions to the advancement of the Scheme of Things--three, if youcount the starship, which is comparatively unimportant--each of suchimport that no human mind can foresee any fraction of its consequences.First, your Prime Field, the probe and its screen...."
"Clee!" Belle drove the thought. "You _didn't_ give him _that_, surely!"
"Tut-tut, my child," Therea soothed her. "You are alarming yourselfabout nothing."
"The only trouble with you two youngsters is that you aren't quite--verynearly, of course, but very definitely not quite--grown up." Alsynesmiled again; not only with mouth and eyes, but with his whole hairyface. "To the mature mind there is no such thing as status. Each knowswhat he can do best and does it as a matter of course. Rank is notnecessary.
"Second, the unimaginably important contribution of the ability tocombine two dissimilar but intimately compatible minds into onetremendously effective fusion. While Therea and I have had only a fewmoments to play with it, we realize some of its possibilities. Thus,since she is a Doctor of Humanities...."
"Oh," Belle interrupted. "_That's_ why you knew what I was thinkingabout, even though I tight-beamed the thought and my screens weretight?"
"Exactly so. But to continue. With her sympathy and empathy, and mydriving force and so on, the job of licking these young Primes intoshape is, as your idiom has it, 'strictly our dish.' It is a trulydelicious thought.
"You two, on the other hand, have much that we lack. Breadth and depthand scope of imagination and of vision; yet almost incredible will-powerand stamina and resolve...."
"_That's the word I was trying to think of--will-power_," Belle flasheda thought at Garlock.
"... qualities virtually always mutually exclusive; but the combinationof which makes your fusion uniquely qualified to lead and direct thisnew and magnificent movement. But Therea and I have been idle andfrustrated far too long. We can be of most use, at the moment, onMargonia; working with the Fao-Deggi unit. Therefore, with renewed deepthanks, we go."
* * *
Man and wife disappeared; and, ten seconds later, the Thakern starshipvanished from its world.
"Well, _what_ do you think of _that_?" Belle gasped. "I was actuallyafraid to think, even behind a Prime screen. I don't know _yet_ whetherI want to kiss 'em or kill 'em."
"I do. That guy is really a Prime, Belle. He's older, bigger, and a lotbetter than I am."
"Uh-uh," she demurred, positively. "Older, yes. More mature--you _baby_,you!" She snickered gleefully. "If he hadn't included you in that crackI'd've stabbed him, so help me, even though it wasn't true. He saidhimself it's _you_ who has got what it takes to lead and direct, nothim."
"Us. We, I mean," he corrected, absently.
"Uh-huh; us-we. One, now and forever. Hot Dog! Anyway, he wants us toand we want to so everything's lovely and so let's get to work on Fatsoand his Foster. I think we ought to have some fun for a change andthat'll be a lot. When do we want to hit him?"
"Any day Monday through Friday. Nine-fifteen A.M. Eastern Daylight time.Plus or minus one minute."
"Nice! Catch him _in flagrante delicto_. Lovely--shovel on the coal, myintrepid engineer!"
On a Wednesday
morning, then, at twelve minutes past nine EDT, the_Pleiades_ hung poised, high over the Chancellery of Solar SystemEnterprises, Incorporated.
"Remember, Belle!" Garlock was pacing the Main. "To keep 'em staggeringwe'll have to land slugging and beat 'em to every punch. You did awonderful job on her last time, and it's been eating on her ever since.She's probably been rehearsing in front of a mirror just how she's goingto tear you apart next time and just how she's going to spit out thepieces. Last time, you were cold, stiff, rigidly formal, and polite. Sothis time it'll be me, and I'll be hot and bothered, dirty, low, coarse,lewd, and very, very rough."
Belle threw back her head and laughed. "Rough? Yes. Vicious,contemptuous, or ugly; yes. A master of fluent, biting, and pyrotechnicprofanity; yes. But low or dirty or coarse or lewd, Clee? Or any one ofthe four, to say nothing of them all? Uh-uh. Ferber's a filthy beast, ofcourse; but even he knows you're one of the cleanest men that everlived. They'd _know_ it was an act."
"Not unless I give 'em time to think--or unless you do, before he firesJim--in which case we'll lose the game anyway. But how about you? If Ican knock 'em too groggy to think, will you carry on and keep 'em thatway?"
"Watch my blasts!" Belle giggled gleefully. "I never tried anything likethat--any more than you have--but I'll guarantee to be just as low,dirty, coarse, lewd, and crude as you are. Probably more so, because inthis particular case it'll be fun. You see, you're a man--you can'tpossibly despise and detest that slimy stinker either in the same way oras much as I do."
"This ought to be good. Cut the rope, Jim."
Even before the starship came to rest, Garlock drove a probe into the_sanctum sanctorum_ of the Chancellery--an utterly unheard-of act ofinsolence.
"Foster! This is the _Pleiades_ coming in. Garlock calling. Hot up thetri-di and the recorder, Toots. Put Fatso on, and snap into it.... Isaid shake a leg!"
"Why, I.... You...."
"Stop stuttering and come to life, you half-witted bag! Gimme Ferber andhurry it up--this ship's tricky."
"Why, you ... I never...." Ferber's outraged First Secretary couldscarcely talk. "He ... he is...."
"I know, Babe, I know--I could set that to music and sing it, withgestures. 'Chancellor Ferber is in conference and cannot be disturbed,'"he mimicked, savagely. "Put him on now--but _quick_!"
* * *
The tri-di tank brightened up; Chancellor Ferber's image appeared. Hewas disheveled, surprised and angry, but Garlock gave him no chance tospeak.
"Well, Fatso--at last! Where the _hell_ have you been all morning? Iwant some stuff, just as fast as God will let you get it together," andhe began to read off, as fast as he could talk, a long list of highlytechnical items.
Ferber tried for many seconds to break in, and Garlock finally allowedhim to do so.
"Are you crazy, Garlock?" he shouted. "What in hell's name are youbothering _me_ with _that_ stuff for? You know better than that--makeout your requisitions and send them through channels!"
"Channels, hell!" Garlock shouted back. "Hasn't it got through yourfour-inch-thick skull into your idiot's brain yet that I'm in a hurry? Idon't want this stuff today; I want it day before yesterday--this damnedjunk-heap is apt to fall apart any minute. So quit goggling andslobbering at me, you wall-eyed, slimy, fat toad. Get that three hundredweight of suet into action. _Hump_ yourself!"
"You ... you ... Why, I was never so insulted...."
"Insulted? You?" Garlock out-roared him. "Listen, Fatso. If I ever setout to really insult you, you'll know it--it'll blister all the paintoff the walls. All I'm trying to do now is get you off that fat butt ofyours and get some action."
Ferber became purple and pounded his desk in consuming anger.
Garlock yelled louder and pounded harder. "Start rounding up thisstuff--but _fast_--or I'll come down there and take your job away fromyou and do it myself--and for your own greasy hide's sake you'd betterbelieve I'm not just chomping my choppers, either."
"You'll _What?_" Ferber screamed. "_You're fired!_"
"_You_ fire _me_?" Garlock mimicked the scream. "And make it stick?You'd better write that one up for the funnies. Why, you lard-brain, youcouldn't fire a cap-pistol."
"Foster!" Ferber yelled. "Terminate Garlock as of now. Insubordination,and misconduct, abuse of position, incompetence, malfeasance--everythingelse you can think of. Blacklist him all over the System!"
At the word "fired" Belle, had leaped to her feet and had stoppedlaughing.
"Miss Bellamy!" Ferber snapped.
"Yes, sir?" she answered, sweetly.
"You are hereby promoted to be Head of the...."
"Oh, yeah?" Belle sneered, her voice cutting like a knife. "Youunprincipled, lascivious, lecherous _Hitler!_ Have you got theunmitigated gall to take _me_ for a floozie? To think you can add _me_to your collection of bootlicking, round-heeled tramps?"
"You're fired and blacklisted too!"
"How nice! You know, I don't know of _anything_ I'd rather have happento me?"
* * *
"Get James on there--you, James...."
"You don't need to fire me, you fat-headed old goat," James said,contemptuously. "I've already quit--the exact second you fired Clee."
"No you didn't!" Ferber screamed. "Resignation not accepted. You're_Fired_! Dishonorably discharged--blacklisted everywhere--you'll _never_get another job--_anywhere_! And here's your slip, too!" Miss Foster wasvery fast on the machines.
James 'ported his slip up into the _Pleiades_, just as Garlock and Bellehad done with theirs, and disappeared with it as they had; reappearingalmost instantly.
"Montandon!"
"Chancellor Ferber, are you completely out of your mind? You can'tdischarge either Miss Bellamy or me."
"I can't?" he gloated. "Why not?"
"Because neither of us is employed. By anybody."
"That's right, Fatso," Belle said. "We just came along. Just to keep theboys company. It's lonesome, you know, 'way out in deep space."
Miss Foster ripped a half-filled-out termination form out of her machineand hurled it into a waste-basket. Ferber's jaw dropped and his eyesstared glassily, but he rallied quickly.
"I can blacklist her, though, and maybe you think I won't. Belle Bellamywill never get another job in this whole solar system as long as shelives, except through me! Maybe I'll hire her some day, for something,and maybe I won't. Are you listening, Bellamy?"
"Not only listening, I'm reveling in every word." Belle laughedderisively. "I hate to shatter such wonderful dreams--or do I? You see,the _Pleiades_ really works, and the Galaxians own her; lock, stock, andbarrel. You wouldn't have any part of her, remember? Insisted on paymentfor every nut, wire, and service? Now, they want to hire us four for abig operation with this starship. Since you only loaned Garlock andJames to them, you might have made some legal trouble on that score, butnow that you've fired them both--and in such _conclusive_language!--we're all set. So when you blacklist us with the Society,_please_ let me know--I want to take a tri-di in technicolor of youdoing it. How do you like _them_ parsnips, Your Royal Fatness?"
"I'll see about that!" Ferber stormed. "We'll have an injunction out inan hour!"
"Go ahead," Garlock said, with a wide grin. "Have fun--the Galaxianshave legal eagles too, you know. One thing Belle forgot. Just in caseyou recover consciousness some time and want to steal our terminationpapers back--especially Belle's; what a howler _that_ was!--don't tryit. They're in a Gunther-blocked safe."
Then, as comprehension began to dawn on Ferber's face:
"S-u-c-k-e-r," Garlock drawled.
The _Pleiades_ disappeared.