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3 Science Fiction Stories by Frank Herbert - Frank Herbert · Mr. Zytztz Goes to Mars

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  Speaker 1: Missing link by Frank Herbert. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit librevox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Phil schinever Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Missing link by Frank Herbert.
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  Speaker 1: This story was first published in Astounding Science Fiction February
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  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine. We ought to scrape this planet clean
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  Speaker 1: of every living thing on it, muttered Umbo Stetson, Section
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  Speaker 1: Chief of Investigation and Adjustment. Stetson paced the landing control
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  Speaker 1: bridge of his Scout cruiser. His footsteps grated on a
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  Speaker 1: floor that was the rear wall of the bridge during flight,
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  Speaker 1: but now the ship rested on its tail fins, all
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  Speaker 1: four hundred glistening red and black meters of it. The
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  Speaker 1: open ports of the bridge looked out on the jungle
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  Speaker 1: roof of Guyana three, some one hundred fifty meters below.
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  Speaker 1: A butter yellow sun hung above the horizon, perhaps an
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  Speaker 1: hour from setting. Clean as an egg, he barked. He
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  Speaker 1: paused in his round of the bridge, glared out the
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  Speaker 1: starboard port, spat into the fire blackened circle that the
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  Speaker 1: cruiser's jets had burned from the jungle. The I a
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  Speaker 1: section chief, was dark haired, gangling, with large head and
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  Speaker 1: big features. He stood in his customary slouch, a stance
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  Speaker 1: not improved by sacklike patched blue fatigues. Although on this
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  Speaker 1: present operation he rated the flag of a division admiral,
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  Speaker 1: his fatigues carried no insignia. There was a general unkempt,
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  Speaker 1: straggling look about him. Lewis Orne Junior I, a field
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  Speaker 1: old man with a maiden diploma, stood at the opposite port,
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  Speaker 1: studying the jungle horizon. Now and then he glanced at
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  Speaker 1: the bridge control console, the chronometer above it, the big
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  Speaker 1: translate map of their position tilted from the opposite bulkhead.
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  Speaker 1: A heavy planet native. He felt vaguely uneasy on this
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  Speaker 1: Guyana three, with its gravity of only seven eighths Terrance standard.
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  Speaker 1: The surgical scars on his neck where the microcommunications equipment
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  Speaker 1: had been inserted, itched maddeningly. He scratched, ha said stetson politicians.
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  Speaker 1: A thin black insect with shell like wings flew in
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  Speaker 1: orange port, settled in his close cropped red hair. Orn
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  Speaker 1: pulled the insect gently from his hair, released it again
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  Speaker 1: to try to land in his hair. He ducked. It
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  Speaker 1: flew across the bridge out the port. Beside Stetson. There
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  Speaker 1: was a thick, muscled, no fat look to Orn, but
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  Speaker 1: something about his blocky, off center features suggested a clown.
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  Speaker 1: I'm getting tired of waiting, he said, you're tired. Ha.
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  Speaker 1: A breeze rippled the tops of the green ocean below them.
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  Speaker 1: Here and there, red and purple flowers jutted from the verdure,
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  Speaker 1: bending and nodding like an attentive audience. Look at that
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  Speaker 1: blasted jungle, barked Stetson them and their stupid ardors. A
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: call bell tinkled on the bridge control console. The red
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: light above the speaker grid began blinking. Stetson shot an
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: angry glance at it. Yeah, hal okay, stett artists just
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: came through. We use plan C. Com GEO said, to
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  Speaker 1: brief the field man and jet out of here. Did
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  Speaker 1: you ask them about using another field man? Orn looked
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: up attentively. The speaker said yes. They said we have
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: to use Orn because of the records on the del Phinus. Well,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: then will they give us more time to brief him? Negative,
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  Speaker 1: it's crash priority. Com g O expects to blast the
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: planet anyway. Stetson glared at the grid, those fat headed,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: lord bottomed, pig brained politicians. He took two deep breaths, subsided. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: tell them, we'll comply one more thing, stett What now
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: I've got a confirmed contact? Instantly, Stetson was poised on
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  Speaker 1: the balls of his feet. Alert. Where about ten kilometers
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  Speaker 1: out section AA B dash six? How many? Hey, mob?
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  Speaker 1: You want I should count them? No, what are they
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  Speaker 1: doing making a bee line for us? You better get
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  Speaker 1: a move on. Okay, keep us posted all right. Stetson
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: looked across at his junior field man, Orn, if you
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: decide you want out of this assignment, you just say
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: the word. I'll back you to the hilt. Why should
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I want out of my first field assignment? Listen and
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  Speaker 1: find out. Stetson crossed to a tilt locker behind the
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  Speaker 1: big translate map. Haul ont a white coverall uniform with
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  Speaker 1: gold insignia. Tossed it to Orn get into these while
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  Speaker 1: I brief you on the map. But this is an
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  Speaker 1: R and R, you began, Orn. Get that uniform on
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  Speaker 1: your ugly frame, Yes, sir, Admiral Stetson, sir, right away, sir,
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  Speaker 1: But I thought I was through with old rediscovery and
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  Speaker 1: re education. When you drafted me off of Hummel into
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  Speaker 1: the IA, sir, he began changing from the IA blue
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  Speaker 1: to the R and R white. Almost as an afterthought,
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  Speaker 1: he said, Sir. A wolfish grin cracked Stetson's big features.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so happy you have the proper attitude of subservience
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  Speaker 1: toward authority. Orn zipped up the coverall uniform. Oh yes, sir,
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  Speaker 1: sir okay Orn, pay attention. Stetson gestured at the map
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: with its green superimposed grid squares. Here we are. Here's
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: that city we flew over on our way down. You
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: head forward as soon as we drop you. The place
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: is big enough that if you hold a course roughly
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: northeast you can't miss it. We're again. The call bell rang.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: What is it this time, hal barked Stetson. They've changed
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  Speaker 1: to plant H Stett new orders cut. Five days. That's
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: all they can give us. Come, Geo said he can't
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: keep the information out of High Commissioner Bullown's hands any
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: longer than that. It's five days for sure. Then is
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: this the usual? R and are foul up? Asked Arn.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Stetson nodded, thanks to Bologne and company. We're just one
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  Speaker 1: jump ahead of catastrophe, but they still pump the bull
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  Speaker 1: wash into the Hurrah and raw boys back. A dear
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: old Unigalacta, you're making light of my revered alma mater,
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  Speaker 1: said Arn. He struck a pose. We must reunite the
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  Speaker 1: lost planets with our centers of culture and industry and
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  Speaker 1: take up the glorious onward march of mankind that was
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: so brutally can it, snapped Stetson. We both know we're
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: going to rediscover one planet to many one day, rim
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  Speaker 1: war all over again. But this is a different breed
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  Speaker 1: of fish. It's not repeat, not a rediscovery orange sobered alien. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: a l I E N A never before contacted culture.
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  Speaker 1: That language you were force fed on the way over,
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  Speaker 1: that's an alien language. It's not complete. All we have
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  Speaker 1: off the minis, and we excluded data on the natives
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: because we've been hoping to dump this project, and nobody
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  Speaker 1: the wiser. Holy Mazoo twenty six days ago and I
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  Speaker 1: a search ship came through here, had a routine mini
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  Speaker 1: sneaker look at the place. When he combed in his
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: net of sneakers to check the tapes and films lo
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  Speaker 1: and behold he had a little stranger one of theirs. No,
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  Speaker 1: it was a many off the Delphinus. Rediscovery the Delphinis
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  Speaker 1: has been unreported for eighteen standard months. Did it crack
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: up here? We don't know. If it did. We haven't
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  Speaker 1: been able to spot it. She was supposed to be
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: way off in the Belladine system by now, but we've
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  Speaker 1: something else on our minds. It's the one item that
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  Speaker 1: makes me want to blot out this place and run
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  Speaker 1: home with my tail between my legs. We've a again. The
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  Speaker 1: call bell chimed. Now what, roared Stetson into the speaker.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I've got a many over that mob, stett they're talking
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  Speaker 1: about us. It's a definite rating party. What armament two
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: gloomy in that jungle? To be sure, the infra beams
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: out on this many looks like hard pellet rifles of
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  Speaker 1: some kind. Might even be off the Delphinus. Can't you
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  Speaker 1: get any closer? Wouldn't do any good. No light down there,
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  Speaker 1: and they're moving up fast. Keep an eye on them,
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  Speaker 1: but don't ignore the other sectors, said Stetson, you think
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  Speaker 1: I was born yesterday? Barked the voice from the grid.
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  Speaker 1: The contact broke off with an angry sound. One thing
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  Speaker 1: I like about the IA, said Stetson. It collects such
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  Speaker 1: even tempered types. He looked at the white uniform on
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Orn wiped a hand across his mouth, as though he
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  Speaker 1: tasted something dirty. Why am I wearing this thing? Asked Orn.
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  Speaker 1: Dis Guys, but there's no mustache. Stetson smiled without humor.
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  Speaker 1: That's one's answers to those fat, keistered politicians. We're setting
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  Speaker 1: up our own search system to find the planets before
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  Speaker 1: they do. We've managed to put spies and key places
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  Speaker 1: at R and R any touchy planets. Our spies report,
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  Speaker 1: we divert the files. Then what then we look into
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  Speaker 1: them with bright boys like you, disguised as are in
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  Speaker 1: our field men, goody goody. And what happens if R
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  Speaker 1: and R stumbles on to me while I'm down there
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  Speaker 1: playing patty cake? We disown you. But you said an
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  Speaker 1: IA ship found this joint? It did. And then one
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  Speaker 1: of our spies in R and R intercepted a routine
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  Speaker 1: request for an agent instructor to be assigned here with
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  Speaker 1: full equipment. Request signed by a first contact officer name
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  Speaker 1: of distance of the Delphinus. But the dealt Yeah, missing.
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  Speaker 1: The request was a forgery. Now you see why I'm
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  Speaker 1: mostly for rubbing out this place. Who would dare forge
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  Speaker 1: such a thing unless he knew for sure that the
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  Speaker 1: original FC officer was missing or dead. What the jumped
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  Speaker 1: up missoo are we doing here? Steck asked Orn. Alien
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  Speaker 1: calls for a full contact team with all of the
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  Speaker 1: it calls for one planet buster bombbuster in five days
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  Speaker 1: unless you give them a white bill in the meantime,
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  Speaker 1: High Commissioner balloone, we'll have word of this planet by then.
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  Speaker 1: If Guyana three still exists in five days, you can't
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  Speaker 1: imagine the fun the politicians will have with it. MoMA Mia,
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  Speaker 1: we want this planet cleared for contact or dead before then.
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  Speaker 1: I don't like this, ste You don't like it, look,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: said Arn. There must be another way. Why when we
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: teamed up with the Aleronoids we gained five hundred years
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  Speaker 1: in the physical sciences alone, Not to mention the the
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  Speaker 1: Aleronoids didn't knock over one of our survey ships. First,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: what if the Delphinus just crashed here and the locals
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  Speaker 1: picked up the pieces. That's what you're going in to
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  Speaker 1: find out, Arn, But answer me this, if they do
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  Speaker 1: have the Delphinus. How long before a tool using race
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  Speaker 1: could be a threat to the galaxy. I saw that
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  Speaker 1: city they built Stett. They could be dug in within
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  Speaker 1: six months and there'd be no Yeah. Arn shook his head.
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  Speaker 1: But think of it, two civilizations that matured along different lines.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: Think of all the different ways we'd approached the same problems.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: The lever that it give us for you sound like
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: a Uni Galacty lecture. Are you through marching arm in
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: arm into the misty future? Arn took a deep breath.
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  Speaker 1: Why is a freshman like me being tossed into this dish?
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  Speaker 1: You'd still be on the Delphinus master lists as an
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: R and R field man. That's important if you're masquerading.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Am I the only one I know? I'm a recent convert,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: but you went out. I didn't say that. I just
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: want to know why I'm because the Big Domes fed
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: a set of requirements into one of their iron monsters.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Your card popped out. They were looking for somebody capable, dependable,
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  Speaker 1: and expendable. Hey, that's why I'm down here briefing you
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: instead of sitting back on a flagship. I got you
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  Speaker 1: into the IA. Now you listen carefully. If if you
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: push the panic button on this one without cause, I
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: will personally flay you alive. We both know the advantages
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: of an alien contact. But if you get into a
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: hotspot and call for help, I'll dive this cruiser into
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: that city to get you out. Arn swallowed. Thanks, Stett.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: I'm We're going to take up a tight orbit. Out
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: beyond us will be five transports full of IA marines
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: and a Class nine monitor with one planetbuster. You're calling
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: the shots, God help you. First, we want to know
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: if they have the Delphinus, and if so, where it is. Next,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: we want to know just how warlike these goons are.
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  Speaker 1: Can we control them? If they're bloodthirsty? What's their potential
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: in five days? Not a second more? What do we
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: know about them? Not much. They looked something like an
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: ancient Terran chimpanzee, only with blue fur faces, hairless, pink
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: skinned stetson snapped a switch, the translant map became a
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: screen with a figure frozen on it like that. This
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: is life size. Looks like the missing link they're always
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: hunting for, said Arron. Yeah, but you've got a different
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: kind of a missing link. Vertical slit pupils in their eyes,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: said Arron. He studied the figure. It had been caught
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: from the front by a mini sneaker camera. About five
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: feet tall, The stance was slightly bent forward, long arms,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: two vertical nose slits, a flat, lipless mouth receding chin,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: four fingered hands. It wore a wide belt from which
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: dangled neat pouches and what looked like tools, although their
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: use was obscure. There appeared to be the tip of
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: a tail true from behind one of the squat legs
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: behind the creature towered the ferry spires of the city
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: they'd observed from the air. Tails, asked Orn. Yeah, there, Arboreal.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Not a road on the whole planet that we can find,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: but there are a lot of vine lanes through the jungles.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Setsen's face hardened. Match that with a city as advanced
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: as that one? Slave culture? Hm? Probably? How many cities
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: have they? We found two, this one and another on
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the other side of the planet. But the other one's
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: a ruin, a ruin? Why you tell us lots of
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: mysteries here? What's the planet like? Mostly jungle? There are
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: polar oceans, lakes and rivers. One low mountain chain follows
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: the equatorial belt, about two thirds around the planet, but
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: only two cities, are you sure, reason and the least
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: so it'd be pretty hard to miss something the size
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: of that thing we flew over. It must be fifty
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: kilometers long and at least ten wide. Swarming with these
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: creatures too. We've got a zone count estimate that places
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: the city's population at over thirty million. Who we those
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: are tall buildings too. We don't know much about this place, Orn,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: and unless you bring them into the fold, there'll be
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: nothing but ashes for our archaeologists to pick over. Seems
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a dirty shame, I agree, But the call bell jangled.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Stetson's voice sounded tired. Yeah, hell, that mob is only
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: about five kilometers outstet We've got Orn's gear outside in
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: the disguised air sled. We'll be right down. Why a
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: disguised sled, asked Oran. If they think it's a ground buggy,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: they might get careless When you most need a vantage.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: We could always scoop you out of the air. You know,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: what are my chances on this one, stett Stetson shrugged.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: I'm afraid they're slim. These goons probably have the delphiness
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: and they want you just long enough to get your
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: equipment and everything you know. Rough as that eh, according
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: to our best guess. If you're not out in five days,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: we blast. Orn cleared his throat. Want out, asked Stetson.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: No use the back door rule, son, always leave yourself
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: away out. Now, let's check that equipment the surgeon's put
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: in your neck. Stetson put a hand to his throat.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: His mouth remained closed, but there was a surf hissing
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: voice in Orange's ear. You're reared me sure I can't, no,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: hissed the voice, touch them my contact, Keep your mouth closed,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Just use your speaking muscles without speaking. Orn obeyed, okay,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: said Stetson. You come in loud and clear. I ought to.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: I'm right on top of you. They'll be a relayship
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: over you all the time, said Stetson. Now when you're
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: not touching that mic contact, this wrig will still feed
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: us which you say, and everything that goes on around
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: you too. We'll monitor everything. Got that, yes, Stetson held
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: out his right hand. Good luck. I mean that about
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: diving in for you, just say the word. I know
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the word, too, said Oran. Help Gray mud floor and
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: gloomy aisles between monstrous bluish tree trunks. That was the jungle.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Only the barest, weak glimmering of sunlight penetrated to the mud.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: The disguised sled it's paragraph, It turned off, lurched, and
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: skidded around buttress roots. Its headlights swung in wild arcs
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: across the trunks and down to the mud. Aerial creepers,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: great looping vines of them, swung down from the towering
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: forest ceiling. A steady drip of condensation splattered the windshiel,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: forcing Orn to use the wipers in the bucket seat
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: of the sledge. Cab Orn fought the controls. He was
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: plagued by the vague, slow motion, floating sensation that a
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: heavy planet native always feels in lighter gravity. It gave
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: him an unhappy stomach. Things skipped through the air around
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: the lurching vehicle, flitting and darting. Things. Insects came in
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: twin cones siphoned toward the headlights. There was an endless chittering,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: whistling talking in the gloom beyond the lights. Stetson's voice
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: hissed suddenly through the surgically implanted speaker. How's it look alien?
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Any sign of that mob? Negative? Okay? We're taking off.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Behind Orn, there came a deep, rumbling roar that receded
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: as the Scout cruiser climbed its jets. All other sounds
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: hung suspended in after silence, then resumed, the strongest first,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: and then the weakest. A heavy object suddenly arked through
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: the headlights, swinging on a vine. It disappeared behind a tree.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Another another ghostly shadows with vine pendulums on both sides.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Something banged down heavily onto the hood of the sled.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Orn breaked to a creaking stop that shifted the load
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: behind him found himself staring through the windshield at a
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: native of Diana. Three. The native crouched on the hood
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: a Mark twenty exploding pellet rifle in his right hand
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: directed at Oran's head. In the abrupt shock of meeting,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: Orn recognized the weapon, standard issue to the Marine guards
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: on all R and R survey ships. The native appeared
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: the twin of the one Orn had seen on the
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: translight screen. The four fingered hand looked extremely capable around
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the stock of the Mark twenty. Slowly, Orn put a
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: hand to his throat, pressed the contact button. He moved
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: his speaking muscles just made contact with the mob one
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: on the hood now has one of our Marke twenty
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: rifles aimed at my head. The surf hissing of Stetson's
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: voice came through the hidden speaker. Want us to come
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: back negative stand by, He looks cautious rather than hostile.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Orn held up his right hand, palm out. He had
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: a second thought. Held up his left hand too, universal
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: symbol of peaceful intentions, empty hands, the gun muzzle lowered slightly.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Orn called into his mind the language that had been
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: hypno forced into him. Oh kiro no that means the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: people ah, and he had the heavy frigative greeting sound. Farroggi, ragazzi,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: he said. The native shifted to the left, answered in pure,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: unaccented high galacates. Who were you? Orn fought down sudden panic.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: The lipless mouth had looked so odd, forming the familiar words.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Stetson's voice hissed, is that native speaking galacatees? Orn touched
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: his throat. You heard him? He dropped his hand, said,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I am Lewis Orn of Rediscovery and re Education. I
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: was sent here at the request of the first contact
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: officer on the Delphinus Rediscovery. Where is your ship? Demanded
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: the gayanan it put me down and left? Why it
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: was behind schedule for another appointment. Out of the corners
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: of his eyes, Arn saw more shadows dropping to the
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: mud around him. The sledge shifted as someone climbed onto
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: the load behind the cab. Then someone scuttled agilely for
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: a moment. The native climbed down to the CAB's side
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: step opened the door. The rifle was held at the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: ready Again. The lipless mouth formed Galacty's words, what do
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: you carry in this vehicle? The equipment every R and
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: R field man uses to help the people of a
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: rediscovered planet to prove themselves. Horne nodded at the rifle.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Would you mind pointing that weapon some other direction? It
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: makes me nervous. The gun muzzle remained unwaveringly on Orne's middle.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: The Native's mouth opened, revealing long canines. Do we not
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: look strange to you? I take it there's been a
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: heavy mutational variation in the humanoid norm on this planet,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: said Orn. What is it hard radiation? No answer, It
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: doesn't really make any difference, of course, said Orn. I'm
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: here to help you. I am Tanube high Path, chief
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: of the Grazzi, said the native. I decide who is
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: to help. Orn swallowed. Where do you go? Demanded Tanube?
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: I was hoping to go to your city? Is it permitted?
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: A long pause while the vertical slit pupils of Tanube's
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: eye is expanded and contracted. It is permitted. Stetson's voice
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: came through the hidden speaker. All bets off, We're coming
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: in after you. That marked twenty is the final straw.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: It means they have the Delphinus for sure. Orn touched
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: his throat. No, give me a little more time. Why
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: I have a hunch about these creatures. What is it?
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: No time now? Trust me. Another long pause, in which
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Orn and Toanube continue to study each other presently, Stenton said, okay,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: go ahead as planned, but find out where the delphinus is.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: If we get that back, we pull their teeth. Why
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: do you keep touching your throat? Demanded Toanube. I'm nervous,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: said Orn. Guns always make me nervous. The muzzle loweredly.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Shall we continue on to your city? Asked Orn. He
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: wet his lips with his tongue. The cab light on
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Tanub's face was giving the guyanin an eerie, sinister look.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: We can go soon, said Tanub. Will you join me
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: inside here? Asked Orn. There is a passenger seat right
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: behind me. Tanub's eyes moved catlike right left. Yes, he turned,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: barked an order into the jungle gloom, then climbed in
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: behind Orn. Where do we go? Asked Orn. The great
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: sun will be down soon, said Tanub. We can continue
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: as soon as chiron akruso rises. Chie ranak russo, our satellite,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: our moon, said Tanub. It's a beautiful word, said Orn.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Cheiron ak russo in our tongue. It means the limb
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: of victory, said Tanub. By its light, we will continue.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Orn turned looked back at Tanub. Do you mean to
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: tell me that you can see by what light gets
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: down here through those trees? Can you not see? Asked Tanub?
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Not without the headlights, Our eyes differ, said Tanub. He
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: bent toward Orn, peered the vertical slit pupils of his
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: eyes expanded, contracted. You are the same as the others,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: oh on the dolphiness pause. Yes. Presently, a greater gloom
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: came over the jungle, bringing a sudden stillness to the wildlife.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: There was a chittering commotion from the natives and the
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: trees around the slid. Tanub shifted behind Orn. We may
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: go now, said slowly, to stay behind my scouts right,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: ornees The sled forward around an obstructing route silence. While
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: they crawled ahead around them, shapes flung themselves from vine
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: to vine. I admired your city from the air, said Orn.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: It is very beautiful, yes, said Tanub. Why did you
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: land so far from it? We didn't want to come
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: down where we might destroy anything. There is nothing to
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: destroy in the jungle, said Tanub. Why do you have
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: such a big city, asked Orn silence. I said, why
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: do you? You are ignorant of our ways, said Tanub.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Therefore I forgive you. The city is for our race.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: We must breed and be born in sunlight. Once, long ago,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: we used crude platforms on the tops of the trees.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Now only the wild ones do this. Stanton's voice hissed
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: in Orn's ear. Easy on the sex line, boy, that's
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: always touchy. These creatures are oviparous. Sex glands are apparently
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: hidden in that long fur behind where their chins are
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: to be. Who controls the breeding sites controls our world,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: said Tanub. Once there was another city, we destroyed it
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: are there many wild ones, asked Orn. Fewer each year,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: said Tanub. There's how they get their slaves, hissed Stinton.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: You speak excellent galuckes, said Orn. The high path chief
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: commanded the best teacher, said Tanub, do you too know
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: many things? Orn? That's why I was sent here, said Orn.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: Are there many planets to teach? Said Tanub? Very many,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: said Orn. Your city, I saw very tall buildings of
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: what do you build them? In your tongue glass? Said Tanub.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: The engineers of the Delphinus said it was impossible, as
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: you saw. They are wrong a glass blowing culture, hissed Stetson.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: That had explained a lot of things. Slowly, the disguised
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: sled crept through the jungle. Once a scout swooped down
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: into the headlights waved. Orn stopped on Tanub's order, and
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: they waited almost ten minutes before proceeding. Wild ones, asked Orn, Perhaps,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: said Tanub. A glowing of many lights grew visible through
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: the giant tree trunks. He grew brighter as the sled
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: crept through the last of the jungle emerged in clear
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: land at the edge of the city. Arn stared upward
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: in awe. The city fluted and spiraled into the moonlit sky.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: It was a fragile, appearing lacery of bridges, winking dots
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: of light. The bridges wove back and forth from building
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: to building until the entire visible network appeared one gigantic,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: dew glittering web. All that with glass, murmured Arn, what's happening,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: hissed Stetson. Orn touched his throat contact. We're just into
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: the city clearing, proceeding toward the nearest building. This is
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: far enough, said Tanub. Arn stopped the sled. In the moonlight,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: he could see armed gayanins all around. The buttressed pedestal
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: of one of the buildings loomed directly ahead. It looked
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: taller than had the Scout Cruiser in its jungle landing circle.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Tanube leaned close to Orn's shoulder. We have not deceived
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: you have we Arn? Humph? What do you mean you
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: have recognized that we are not mutated members of your race?
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Orn swallowed into his ears. Came Stetson's voice. Better admit it,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: that's true, said Arn. I like you, Arn, said Tanub,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: you shall be one of my slaves. You will teach
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: me many things. How did you capture the Dauphinus, asked Arn.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: You know that too, You have one of their rifles,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: said Arn, Your race is no match for us, Arn
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: in cunning, in strength, in the prowess of the mind.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Your ship landed to repair its tubes, very inferior ceramics
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: in those tubes. Arn turned looked at Tanube in the
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: dim glow of the cab light. Have you heard about
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: the I A? Tanub? I A? What is that? There
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: was a weary tenseness in the Guianian's figure. His mouth
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: opened to reveal the long canines. You took the Delphinus
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: by treasury, asked Orn. They were simple fools, said Tanub.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: We are smaller. Thus they thought us weaker. The Mark
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: twenty's muzzle came around to center on Orne's stomach. You
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: have not answered my question. What is the I A?
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: I am of the I A? Said Orn? Where have
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: you hidden the Delphinus in the place that suits us best?
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: Said Tonub. In all our history there has never been
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: a better place. What do you plan to do with it?
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Asked Orn. Within a year we will have a copy
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: with our own improvements. After that, you intend to start
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: a war, asked Arn. In the jungle, the strong slay
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: the weak, until only the strong remain, said Tanub, and
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: then the strong prey upon each other, asked Arn. That
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: is a quibble for women, said Tanub. It's too bad
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: you feel that way, said Orn. When two culturers meet
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: like this, they tend to help each other. What have
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: you done with the crew of the Delphinus. They are slaves,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: said Tanub. Those who still live. Some resisted, others objected
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: to teaching us what we want to know. He waved
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: the gun muscle. You will not be that foolish, will you, Arn?
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: No need to be, said Arn, I've another little lesson
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: to teach you. I already know where you've hidden thee Delphinus.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Go boy, hissed Stetson. Where is it impossible, barked Tanub.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: It's on your moon, said Arn. Dark side. It's on
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: a mountain, on the dark side of your moon. Tanoub's
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: eyes dilated. Contracted. You read minds. The I A has
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: no need to read minds, said Arn. We rely on
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: superior mental progress. The Marines are on their way, hissed Stetson.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: We're coming in to get you. I'm going to want
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: to know how you guess that one. You are a
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: weak fool like the others, gritted Tanub. It's too bad
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: you formed your opinion of us by observing only the
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: low grades of the R and R, said Arn. Easy boy,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: hissed Stetson. Don't pick a fight with him now. Remember
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: his race is arboreal. He's probably as strong as an ape.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: I could kill you where you sit, grated Tanube. You write,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: finish for your entire planet if you do, said Arn.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: I'm not alone. There are others listening to every word
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: we say. There's a ship overhead that could split open
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: your planet with one bomb, wash it with molten rock.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: It did run like the glass you use for your buildings.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: You are lying. We'll make an offer, said Arn. We
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: don't really want to exterminate you. We'll give you limited
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: membership in the Galactic Vetterer until you prove you're no
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: menace to us. Keep talking, hissed Stetson. Keep him interested.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: You dare insult me, growled Toanub. You had better believe me,
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: said orn We. Stetson's voice interrupted him. Got it, Oran,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: They caught the Delphinus on the ground right where you
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: said it'd be. Blew the tubes off it. Marine's now
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: mopping up it's like this, said Arron. We already have
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: recaptured the Delphinus. Tanube's eyes went instinctively skyward. Except for
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: the captured armament you still hold. You obviously don't have
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: the weapons to meet us, continued Arn. Otherwise you wouldn't
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: be carrying that rifle off the Delphinus. If you speak
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: the truth, then we shall die, bravely, said Tanub. No
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: need for you to die, said Arn. Better to die
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: and be slaves, said Tanub. We don't need slaves, said Orn.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: We I cannot take the chance that you are lying,
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: said Tanub. I must kill you now. Orn's foot rested
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: on the air sled control pedal. He depressed it instantly.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: The sledge shot skyward, heavy gees, pressing them down into
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: the seats. The gun in Tanub's hands was slapped into
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: his lap. He struggled to raise it to Orn. The
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: weight was still only about twice that of his home
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: planet of Chargon. He reached over, took the rifle, found
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: the safety belts, bound Tanub with them. Then he eased
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: off the acceleration. We don't need slaves, said Orn. We
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: have machines to do our work. We'll send experts in here.
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Teach you people how to exploit your planet, how to
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: build good transportation facilities, show you how to mine your minerals,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: how to and what do we do in return, whispered Tanub.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: You could start by teaching us how to make your superior, Glass,
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: said Arn. I certainly hope you see things our way.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: We really don't want to have to come down here
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: and clean you out. It'd be a shame to have
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: to blast that city into little pieces. Tanub wilted presently,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: He said, send me back. I will discuss this with
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: our council. He stared at Orn, you, I A's are
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: too strong. We did not know. In the wardroom of
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: Stetson's Scout cruiser, the lights were low, the leather chairs comfortable,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: the green beige table set with a decanter of Hochar
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: brandy and two glasses. Orn lifted his glass, sipped the liquor,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: smacked his lips for a while there, I thought I'd
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: never tasting anything like this again. Stetson took his own glass.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Calm Geo heard the whole thing over the general monitor net.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: He said, do you know you've been brevetted to senior
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: field man. Ah, they've already recognized my sterling, Worth, said arn.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: The wolfish grin took over Stetson's big features. The senior
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: field men last about half as long as the juniors,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: he said. Mortality's terrific. I might have known, said Oran.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: He took another sip of the brandy Stetson flicked on
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: the switch of a recorder beside him. Okay, you can
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: go ahead anytime. Where do you want me to start first?
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: How do you spot right away where they'd hidden the delphinus?
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Easy ton Oabe's word for his people was grassy. Most
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: races call themselves something, meaning the people, but in his
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: tongue that's ochierro Rozzi wasn't on the translated list. I
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: started working on it. The most likely answer was that
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: it had been adopted from another language and meant enemy,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: And that told you where the Delphinus was. No, but
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: it fitted my hunch about these guy Inians. I kind
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: of felt from the first minute of meeting them that
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: they had a culture like the Indians of ancient Chha.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Why they came in like a primitive rating party. The
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: leader dropped right onto the hood of my sled, an
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: actor of bravery, no less counting coop. You see, I
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: guess so. Then he said he was high path chief.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: That wasn't on the language list either, But it was
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: easy raider chief. There's a word in almost every language
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: in history that means raider and derives from a word
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: for road path or highway highwaymen, said Stetson. Raid itself
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: said on an ancient Terran language, corruption of road. Yeah, yeah,
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: but where'd all this translation? Griff put, don't be impatient.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Glass blowing culture meant they were just out of the
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: primitive stage that we could control. Next, he said, their
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: moon was chi ranak russo, translated as the limb of victory.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: After that, it just fell into place. How the vertical
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: slit pupils of their eyes. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Maybe?
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: What's it mean to you? Night hunting predator accustomed to
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: dropping upon its victims from above. No other type of
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: creature ever has had the vertical slit. And tanub sat
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: himself that the Delphinus was hidden in the best place
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: in all their history history. That'd be a high place dark. Likewise,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: ergo a high place on the dark side of their moon.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: I'm a pie eye griepus, whispered stetson On grind said
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: you probably are sir. End of Missing Link. Operation Haystack
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: by Frank Herbert. This libre vox recording is in the
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: public domain. Recording by Phil Shinever. Operation Haystack was first
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: published in Astounding Science Fiction May nineteen fifty nine. When
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: the Investigation and Adjustment Scout cruiser landed on Morock, it
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: carried a man the doctors had no hope of saving.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: He was alive only because he was in a womblike
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: crush pod that had taken over most of his vital functions.
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: The man's name was Lewis Orne. He had been a blocky,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: heavy muscled redhead with slightly off centered features and the
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: hard flesh of a heavy planet native. Even in the
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: placid repose of near death, there was something clownish about
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: his appearance. His burned, unguent covered face looked made up
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: for some bizarre show. Morok is the League capital, and
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: the IA Medical Center there is probably the best in
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: the galaxy, but it accepted the crash pod and Orn
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: more as a curiosity than anything else. The man had
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: lost one eye, three fingers of his left hand, and
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: part of his hair, suffered a broken jaw, and various
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: internal injuries. He had been internal life shock for more
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: than ninety hours. Humbo. Stetson, ORNs Section chief, went back
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: into his cruiser's office after a hospital flitter took pod
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: and patient. There was an added droop to Stetson's shoulders
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: that accentuated his usual slouching stance. His over large features
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: were drawn into ridges of sorrow. A general straggling, strampish
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: look about him was not helped by patched blue fatigues.
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: The doctor's words still rang in Stetson's ears. This patient's
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: vital tone is too low to permit operative replacement of
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: damaged organs. He'll live for a while because of the pod.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: But and the doctor had shrugged. Stetson slumped into his
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: desk chair, looked out the open port beside him, some
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: four hundred meters below. The scurrying, beetle like activity of
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: the i a's main field sent up discordant roaring and clattering.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: Two rows of other Scout cruisers were parked in line
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: with Stetson's support, gleaming red and black needles. He stared
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: at them, without really seeing them. Had always happens on
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: some routine assignment. He thought, nothing but a slight suspicion
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: about HElib the fact that only women held high office,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: one simple unexplained fact, and I lose my best agent,
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: he sighed, turned to his desk began composing the report.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: The militant core on the planet, he lb has been eliminated.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: Occupation force on the ground. No further danger to galactic
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: peace expected from this source. Reason for Operation Rediscovery and
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: re Education. After two years on the planet failed to
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: detect signs of militancy. The major indications were one a
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: ruling cast restricted to women, and two disparity between numbers
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: of males and females far beyond the Lutig norm. Senior
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: Field Agent Lewis Orne found that the ruling cast was
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: controlling the sex of offspring at Conception Sea, attached details,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: and had raised a male slave army to maintain its rule.
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: The R and R agent had been drained of information,
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: then killed. Arms constructed on the basis of that information
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: caused critical injuries to Senior Field Agent Orn. He is
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: not expected to live. I am Hereby urging that he
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: received the Galaxy Medal and that his name be added
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: to the role of honor. Stetson pushed the page aside
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: that was enough for Goo, who never read anything but
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: the first page. Anyway, details were for his aide to
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: chew and digest. They could wait. Stetzen punched his desk
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: callbox for Orne's service record, set himself to the task
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: he most detested, notifying next to Kin. He read, pursing
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: his lips home Planet chargone notifying case of accident or
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: death Messrs Victoria Arn mother. He leaved through the pages,
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: reluctant to send the hated message. Arn had enlisted in
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: the Morock Marines at age seventeen, a runaway from home,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: and his mother had given post enlistment consent. Two years later,
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: scholarship transferred to Uni Galacta, the R and R School
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: here on Moroc Five years of school and one R
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: and R field assignment under his belt, he had been
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: drafted into the i A for brilliant detection of militancy
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: on hammel And two years later capute. Abruptly, Stetson hurled
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: the surface record at the gray metal wall across from him.
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: Then he got up brought the record back to his desk,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: smoothing the pages. There were tears in his eyes. He
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: flipped a switch on his desk dictated the notification to
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: Central Secretarial ordered it sent out priority. Then he went
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: ground side and got drunk on Hochar Brandy, Orne's favorite drink.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: The next morning there was a reply from Chargon Louis
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: Orne's mother too ill to travel, sisters being notified. Please
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: ask missrus Ipscott Bologne of Moroc, wife of High Commissioner,
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: to take over for family. It was signed Madrina orn
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: standish sister. With some misgivings. Stetson called the residence of
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: Ipscott Boulogne, leader of the majority party in the Moroc Assembly.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Missus Bologne took the call with blank screen. There was
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: a sound of running water in the background. Stetson stared
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: at the grayness swimming in his desk visor. He always
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: disliked a blank screen. A baritone husk of a voice said,
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: this is Polly Bologne. Stetson introduced himself, relay the Chargon message.
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: Victorious boy dying here, Oh the poor thing, and Madrina's
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: back on Chargon the election. Oh yes, of course, I'll
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: get right over to the hospital. Stetson signed off. Broke
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: the contact the High Commissioner's wife. Yet he thought then
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: because he had to do it, he walled off his
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: sorrow got to work at the medical center. The oval
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: crush containing orn hung from ceiling hooks in a private room.
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: There were humming sounds in the dim watery greenness of
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: the room, rhythmic chuckings, sighings occasional lyodor opened almost soundlessly,
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: and a white clad figure would check the graft tapes
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: on the CRUSH's meters. Orn was lingering. He became the
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: major conversation piece at the intern's coffee breaks. That agent
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: who was heard on he left. He's still with us, man.
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: They must build those guys different from the rest of us. Yeah, understand,
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: he's got only about an eighth of his insides, liver,
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: kidney's stomach all gone. Lay you odds he doesn't last
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: out the month. Look what old sure thing McTavish wants
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: to bet on. On the morning of the eighty eighth
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: day in the crush, the day nurse came into Arne's room,
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: lifted the inspection hood looked down at him. The day
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: nurse was a tall, lean faced professional who had learned
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: to meet miracles and failures with equal lack of expression. However,
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: this routine with a dying eye operative had lulled her
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: into a state of psychological unpreparedness. Any day now, poor guy,
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: she thought, and she gasped as he opened his soul
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: remaining eye said did they clabber those dames on his lib? Yes, sir,
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: she blurted out, They really did, sir good. Arn closed
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: his eye, his breathing deepened. The nurse rang frantically for
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: the doctor's It had been an indeterminate period in a
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: blank fog for Arn, then a time of pain, and
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: the gradual realization that he was in a crash had
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: to be He could remember his sudden exposure on his lab,
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: the explosion, then nothing good old crush. It made him
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: feel safe. Now shielded from all danger, Arn began to
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: show minute but steady signs of improvement. In another month,
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: the doctors ventured an intestinal graft that gave him a
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: new spurt of energy. Two months later, they replaced missing
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: eye and fingers, restored his scalp line, worked artistic surgery
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: on his burn scars. Fourteen months, eleven days, five hours,
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: and two minutes after he had been picked up as
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: good as dead, Arn walked out of the hospital under
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: his own power, accompanied by a strangely silent umbo stetson
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: under the dark blue eye a field cape. Arn's coverall
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: you fitted his once muscular frame like a bufflated bag.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: But the pixie light had returned to his eyes, even
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: to the eye he had received from a nameless and
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: long dead donor. Except for the loss of weight, he
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: looked to be the same Lewis Orn. If he was
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: different beyond the spare parts, it was something he only suspected,
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: something that made the idea twice born, not a joke.
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: Outside the hospital, clouds obscured Moroc's green sun. It was midmorning.
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: A cold spring wind bent the pile lawn tugged fitfully
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: at the border plantings of exotic flowers around the hospital's
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: landing pad. Orn stepped on the steps above the pad
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: breathed deeply of the chill air. Beautiful day, he said.
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: Stetson reached out a hand to help Orn down the steps. Hesitated,
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: put the hand back in his pocket. Beneath the section's
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: chief look of weary superciliousness, there was a note of anxiety.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: His big features were set in a frown. The drooping
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: eyelids failed to conceal a sharp, measuring stare. Orn glanced
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: at the sky in the southwest. The Flitter ought to
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: be here any minute. A gust of wind tugged at
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: his cape. He staggered, caught his balance. I feel good.
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: You look like something left over from a funeral, growled Stetson.
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: Sure my funeral, said Orn. He grinned anyway. I was
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: getting tired of that walk around type morgue. All my
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: nurses were married. I'd almost stake my life that I
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: could trust you, muttered Stetson. Orn looked at him. No, no,
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: stett stake my life. I'm used to it. Stetson shook
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: his head. No, damn it. I trust you, but you
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: deserve a peaceful convalescence. We've no right to saddle you
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: with stat Orran's voice was low, amused. Huh. Stetson looked up.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: Let's save the noble act for someone who doesn't know you,
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: said Oran, you've a job for me. Okay, you've made
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: the gesture for your conscience. Stetson produced a wolfish grin.
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: All right, so we're desperate and we haven't much time
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: in a nutshell since you're going to be a house
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: guest at the ballogns we suspect if Scott Blonne of
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: being the head of a conspiracy to take over the government.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: What do you mean take over the government? Demanded orran.
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: The Galactic Commissioner is the government subject to the constitution
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: and the assemblyman who elected him. We've a situation that
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: could explode into another rim war, and we think he's
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: at the heart of it, said Stetson. We've eighty one
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: touchy planets, all of them old time studies that have
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: been in the League for years, and on every one
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: of them we have reason to believe there's a clan
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: of traitors sworn to overthrow the League, even on your
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: home planet, Chargon, you want me to go home for
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: my convalescence, asked arn I haven't been there since I
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: was seventeen. I'm not sure that. No, damn it. We
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: want you as the Bologne's house guest. And speaking of that,
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: would you mind explaining how they were chosen to write
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: her on you? That's an odd thing, said Arne. All
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: those gags in the IA about old upshook Ipscott Bologne.
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: And then I find that his wife went to school
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: with my mother. Have you met him? So he brought
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: his wife to the hospital a couple of times. Again,
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: Stetson looked to the southwest, then back to Orn. A
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: pensive look came over his face. Every school kid knows
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: how the Nathians and the Moroccian League fought it out
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: in the Rim War, how the old civilization fell apart,
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: And it all seems kind of distant, he said. Five
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: hundred standard years, said Arn. And maybe no further away
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: than yesterday, murmured Stetson. He cleared his throat, and Arn
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: wondered why Stetson was moving so cautiously. Something deep troubling him.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: A sudden thought struck Orn. He said, you spoke of trust.
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: Has this conspiracy involved the I A. We think so,
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: said Stetson. About a year ago and our and our
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: are logical team was nosing around some ruins on Dobby.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: The place was all but vitrified in the Rim. Wir
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: bought a whole bank of records from a Nathian outpost. Escaped.
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: He glanced sidelong at Orn. The Raw and Raw boys
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: couldn't make sense out of the records. No surprise, they
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: called in an I a crypt analyst. He broke a
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: complicated substitution cipher. When the stuff started making sense, he
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: pushed the panic button for something the Nathians wrote five
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: hundred years ago Stetson's drooping eyelids lifted. There was a
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: cold quality to a stare. This was a routing station
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: for key Nathian families, he said, trained refugees. An old
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: dodge been used as long as there have been but
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: five hundred years, stett I don't care if it was
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: five thousand years, barked Stetson. We've intercepted some scraps since
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: then that were written in the same code. The bland
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: confidence of that, wouldn't that gall you? He shook his head.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: And every scrap we've intercepted deals with the coming elections.
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: But the election's only a couple of days off, protested Orn.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: Stetson glanced at his wrist chrono forty two hours to
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: be exact, He said, some deadline. Any names in these
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: old records, asked Orn. Stetson nodded, names of planets. Yes,
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: people know some code names, but no cover names. Code
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: name on Chargon, was winner that ring any bells with you?
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: Orn shook his head. No, what's the code name here?
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: The head, said Stetson, But what good does that do us?
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: They're sure to have changed those by now. They didn't
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: change their communications code, said Arn, No, they didn't We
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: must have something on them, some leads, said Arn. He
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: felt that Stetson was holding back something vital. Sure, said Stetson.
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: We have history books. They say that Nathians were top
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: drawer in political mechanics. We know for a fact they
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: chose landing sites for their refugees with diabolical care. Each
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: family was told to dig in, grow up with the
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: adopted culture, develop the weak spots, build an underground, train
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: their descendants to take over. They set out to bore
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: from within, to make victory out of defeat. The Nathians
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: were long on patients. They came originally from nomad stock
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: on Nathia, Io. Their mythology calls them ARBs or herbs.
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: Go review your seventh grade history. You'll know almost as
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: much as we do. Why looking for the traditional needle
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: in the haystack, muttered Orn, How come you suspect how
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: Commissioner upshook Stetson wet his lips with his tongue. One
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: of the Balloons's seven daughters is currently at home, he said,
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: names Diana, a field leader in the Ia women. One
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: of the Nathian code messages we intercepted had her name
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: as address. Who sent the message, asked Orn. What was
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: it all about? Stetson coughed, You know, Louis cross check everything.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: The message was signed MS. The only MOS that came
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: out of the comparison was on a routine next of
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: kin reply. We followed it down to the original copy
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: and the handwriting checked name of Arena orn Standish Maddie
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: orn Froze turned slowly to face Stetson. So that's what's
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: troubling you. We know you haven't been home since you
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: were seventeen, said Stetson. You reckon with us is clean?
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: The question is permit me, said Arn. The question is
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: will I turn in my own sister if it falls
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: that way. Stetson remained silent, staring at him. Okay, said Arn.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: My job is seeing that we don't have another rim war.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: Just answer me one question. How's Maddie mixed up in this?
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: My family isn't one of these traitor clans. This whole
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: thing is all tangled up with politics, said Stetson. We
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: think it's because of her husband. Ah, the member for chargone,
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: said Arne. I've never met him. He looked to the southwest,
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: where a flitter was growing larger as it approached. Who's
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: my cover contact? That many transceiver we planted in your
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: neck for the Guyana job, said Stetson. It's still there
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: and functioning. Anything happens around you, we hear it. Horn
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: touched the sub vocal stud at his neck, moved his
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: speaking muscles without opening his mouth. A surf hissing voice
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: filled the matching transceiver in Stetson's neck. You pay attention
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: while I'm making a play for this Diana bologne. You hear,
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: then you'll know how an expert works. Don't get so
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: interested in your work that you forget why you're out there,
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: growled Stetson. Missus Boulogne was a fat, little mouse of
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: a woman. She stood almost in the center of the
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: guest room of her home, hands clasped across the paunch
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: of a long, dull silver gown. She had demure gray eyes,
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: grand motherly gray hair combed straight back in a jeweled net,
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: and that shocking baritone husk of a voice issuing from
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: a small mouth. Her figures sloped out from several chins
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: to a matronly bosom, then dropped straight like a barrel.
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: The top of her head came just above orange dress epaulets.
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: We want you to feel at home here, Louis, she husked,
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: you're to consider yourself one of the family. RN looked
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: around at the Ballogne guest room, low key furnishings with
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: an old fashioned selectacol for chains of decor. A polar
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: window looked out onto an oval swimming pool. The glass
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: muted to dark blue, it gave the outside a moonlight appearance.
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 1: There was a contour bed against one wall, several built ins,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: and a door partly open to reveal bathroom tiles. Everything
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: traditional and comfortable. I already do feel at home, he said.
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: You know your house is very like our place on chargone.
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: I was surprised when I saw it from the air.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: Except for the setting, it looks all most identical. I
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: guess your mother and I shared ideas when we were
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: at school, said Polly. We were very close friends. You
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: must have been to do all this for me, said Orn.
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm ever going to ah here
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: we are. A deep, masculine voice boomed from the open
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: door behind Orn. He turned saw Ipscott Bologne, high commissioner
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: of the Moroccian League. Bologne was tall, had a face
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: of harsh angles and deep lines, dark eyes under heavy brows,
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: black hair trained in receding waves. There was a look
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: of un gainly clumsiness about him. He doesn't strike me
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: as the dictator type, thought Arne, But that's obviously what
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: Stet suspects. Glad you made it out all right, Son
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: boomed Bologne. He advanced into the room, glancing around. Hope
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: everything's to your taste here. Louis was just telling me
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: that our place is very like his mother's home on chargone,
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: said Polly. It's old fashioned, but we like it, said Bologne.
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: Just a great big tetragon on a central pivot. We
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: can turn any room we want to the sun, the shade,
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: or the breeze, but we usually leave the main salon,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: pointing northeast view of the capitol. You know, we have
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: a sea breeze on chargone that we treat the same way,
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: said arn I'm sure Louis would like to be left
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: alone for a while now, said Polly. This is his
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: first day out of the hospital. We mustn't tire him.
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: She cross to the polar window, adjusted it to neutral gray,
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: turned the select to call, and the room's color dominance
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: shifted to green. There that's more RESTful, she said. Now,
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: if there's anything you need, you just ring the bell
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: there by your bed. The auto bottle will know where
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: to find us. The balloons left, and Orn crossed to
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: the window looked out at the pool. The young woman
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: hadn't come back. When the chauffeur driven limousine flitter had
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: dropped down to the house's landing pad. Orn had seen
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: a parasol and sun hat nodding to each other on
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: the blue tiles beside the pool. The parasol had shielded
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: Polly Bologne. The sun hat had been worn by a
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: shapely young woman in swimming tights who had rushed off
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: into the house. She was no taller than Polly, but
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: slender and with gold and red hair caught under the
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: sun hat in a swimmer's chignon. She was not beautiful,
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: face too narrow, with suggestions of Bologne's crackiness, and the
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: eyes over large, but her mouth was full, lipped, chin strong,
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: and there had been an air of exquisite assurance about her.
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: The total effect had been one of striking elegance, extremely feminine.
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: Orn looked beyond the pool wooded hills, and dimly on
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: the horizon a broken line of mountains. The balloons lived
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: in expensive isolation around them stretched miles of wilderness, rugged
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: with planned neglect. Time to report in, he thought, RN.
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: Pressed the next stud on his transceiver got Stetson told
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: him what had happened to this point? All right, said Stetson,
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: Go find the daughter. She fits the description of the
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: gal you saw by the pool. That's what I was hoping,
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: said ONRN. He changed into light blue fatigues, went to
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: the door of his room, let himself out into a hall.
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: A glance at his wristchrono showed that it was shortly
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: before noon. Time for a bit of scouting before they
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: called lunch. He knew from his brief tour of the
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: house and its similarity to the home of his childhood.
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: But the hall led into the main living salon. The
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: public rooms and men's quarters were in the outside ring.
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: Secluded family apartments and women's quarters occupied the intersection. Horn
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: made his way to the salon. It was long, built
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: around two sections of the tetragon, and with low divans
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: beneath the view windows. The floor was thick piled rugs
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: pushed one against another in a crazy patchwork of reds
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: and browns. At the far end of the room, some
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: one in blue fatigues like his own, was bent over
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: a stand of some sort. The figure straightened at the
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: same time a tinkle of music filled the room. He
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: recognized the red gold hair of the young woman he
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: has seen beside the pool. She was wielding two mallets
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: to play a strained instrument that lay on his side,
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: supported by a carved wood stand. He moved up behind her,
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: his footsteps muffled by the carpeting. The music had a
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: curious rhythm that suggested figures dancing wildly around firelight. She
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: struck a final chord, muted the strings. That makes me homesick,
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: said arn Oh. She whirled, gasped, then smiled. You startled me.
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: I thought I was alone. Sorry, I was enjoying the music.
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: I'm Diana Balone. She said, you're mister Oran Lou to
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: all of the Bologne family. I hope, he said, of course, Lou.
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: She gestured at the musical instrument. This is very old.
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: Most find its music well, rather weird. It's been handed
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: down for generations in mother's family. The Chithra said, Orrin,
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: my sisters play it in a long time since I've
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: heard one. Oh, of course, she said, your mother's She
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: stopped looked confused. I've got to get used to the
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: fact that you're I mean that we have a strange
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: man around the house who isn't exactly strange. Orn grinned
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: in spite of the blue ia fatigues and a rather
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: severe pulled back hairdo. This was a handsome woman. He
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: found himself liking her, and this caused him a feeling
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: near self loathing. She was a suspect He couldn't afford
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: to like her. But the Balloons were being so decent
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: taking him in like this, And how was their hospitality
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: being being repaid by spying and prying? Yet his first
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: loyalty belonged to the i A to the piece it represented.
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: He said, rather lamely, I help you get over the
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: feeling that I'm strange. I'm over it already, she said.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: She linked arms with him and said, if you feel
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 1: up to it, I'll take you on the d Luxe
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: guided tour. By nightfall, Orran was in a state of confusion.
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: He had found Diana fascinating and yet the most comfortable
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: woman to be around that he had ever met. She
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: liked swimming, palokey, hunting, DeTar apples. She had a pooh
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: pooh attitude toward the older generation that she said she'd
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: never before reveal to anyone. They had laughed like fools
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: over utter nonsense. Orn went back to his room to
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 1: change for dinner, stopped before the polar window. The quick
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: darkness of these low latitudes had pulled an ebbon blanket
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: over the landscape. There was city glow off to the left,
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: and an orange halo to the peaks where Marrock's three
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: moons would rise. Am I falling in love with this woman?
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: He asked himself. He felt like calling Stetson, not to report,
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: but just to talk the situation out, and this made
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: him acutely aware that Stetson or an aid had heard
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: everything said between them. That afternoon, the autobutle called dinner.
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: Orn changed hurriedly into a fresh lounge uniform, found his
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: way to the small salon across the house. The balloons
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: already were seated around an old fashioned bubble slot table,
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: set with real candles golden Shardy service. Two of Marak's
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: moons could be seen out the window, climbing swiftly over
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: the peaks. You turned the house, said Arn. We like
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: the moonrise, said Polly, it seems more romantic, don't you think?
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: She glanced at Diana. Diana looked down at her plate.
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: She was wearing a low cut gown of firemesh that
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: set off her red hair. A single strand of Rheinock
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: pearls gleamed at her throat. Arn sat down in the
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: vacant seat opposite her. What a handsome woman, he thought.
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: Polly on Orn's right looked younger and softer, and a
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: green stola gown that hazed her barrel contours blown across
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: from her, wore black lounging shorts and neelft kooby jacket
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: of golden pearl cloth. Everything about the people and setting
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: reeked of wealth power. For a moment, Arn saw that
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: Stetson's suspicions could have basis. In fact, a loane might
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: go to any lengths to maintain this luxury. Arne's entrance
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: had interrupted an argument between Polly and her husband. They
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: welcomed him, went right on without inhibition, rather than embarrassing him.
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: This made him feel more at home, more accepted. But
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not running for office this time, said Belonne patiently.
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: Why do we have to clutter up the evening with
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: that many people just to our election night parties are traditional,
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: said Polly. Well. I'd just like to relax quietly at
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: home tomorrow, he said. Take it easy with just a
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: family here and not have to It's not like he
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: was a big party, said Polly. I've kept the list
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: to fifty. Diana Straitened said, this is an important election, Daddy,
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: how could you possibly relax? There are seventy three seats
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: in question, the whole balance if things go wrong in
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: just the Alkez section, and why you could be sent
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: back to the floor. You lose your job is why
• 1:19:05
  Speaker 1: someone else could take over as Welcome to the job,
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: said Bolgone. It's a headache. He glanced at Arn. Sorry
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: to burden you with this, my boy, but the women
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: of this family run me ragged. I guess from what
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: I hear that you had a pretty busy day too,
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: He smiled paternally at Diana and your first day out
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: of the hospital. She sets quite a pace. But I've
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: enjoyed it, said Arn. We're taking the small flitter for
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: a tour of the wilderness area tomorrow, said Diana. Luke
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: and relax all the way. I'll do the driving. Be
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: sure you're back in plenty of time for the party,
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: said Polly, can't have. She broke off at a low
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 1: bell from the alcove behind her. That'll be for me.
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: Excuse me, please, no, don't get up. Orn bent to
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: as gener as he came out of the bubble slot
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: beside his plate, meat in an exotic sauce, Cyric Champagne,
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: polioc ou Similee, more luxury. Presently, Polly returned, resumed her seat.
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: Anything important, asked Boulogne. Only a cancelation for tomorrow night.
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: Professor Wingard is ill. I'd just as soon it was
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: canceled down to the four of us, said Boulogne. Unless
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: this is a pose, This doesn't sound like a man
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: who wants to grab more power, thought Orn. Scotty. You
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: should take more pride in your office, snapped Polly. You're
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: an important man. If it weren't for you, I'd be
• 1:20:43
  Speaker 1: a nobody and prefer it, said Boulogne. He grinned at Orne,
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: I'm a political idiot compared to my wife. Never saw
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: any one who could call the turn like she does.
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: Runs in her family. Her mother was the same way.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: Horn stared at him, fark raised from plate and motionless.
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 1: A sudden idea had exploded in his mind. You must
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: know something of this life, Lewis said, Boulogne. Your father
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: was member for Chargon once, wasn't he yes, murmured orran.
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: But that was before I was born. He died in office.
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: He shook his head, thought it couldn't be. But do
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: you feel all right, Lou asked Diana. You're suddenly very pale,
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: just tired, said arn. I guess I'm not used to
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: so much activity, and I've been a beast keeping you
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: so busy today. She said. Don't you stand on ceremony here? Son,
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: said Polly. She looked concerned. You've been very sick, and
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: we understand if you're tired, you go right on into bed.
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: Orn glanced around the table, met anxious attention in each face.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: He pushed his chair back and said, well, if you
• 1:22:03
  Speaker 1: really don't mind, mind, barked Polly. You scooed along. Now
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: see you in the morning, Loo, said Diana. He nodded,
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: turned away, thinking what a handsome woman. As he started
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 1: down the hall, he heard Balone say to Diana die,
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: perhaps you'd better not take that boy out tomorrow, after all,
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: he is supposed to be here for a rest. Her
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: answer was lost. As Arn entered the hall, closed the door.
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: In the privacy of his room, Arn pressed the transceiver
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: stud at his neck and said, Stett. A voice hissed
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: in his ears. This is mister Stetson's relief, Arn, isn't it? Yes,
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: I want to check right away on those Nathian records
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: the archaeologists found find out if Heleb was one of
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: the planets. They seated, All right, hang on. There was
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 1: a long silence. Then, Lou, this is Stet. How come
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: the question about HElib. Was it on that Nathian list? Negative?
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: Why'd you ask? Are you sure? Stet? It'd explain a
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: lot of things. It's not on the list. But wait
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 1: a minute. Silence. Then HElib was online of flight to Ariga,
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: and Ariga was on the list. We've reason to doubt
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: they put anyone down on Aarriga if their ship ran
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: into trouble. That's it, snapped Orn. Keep your voice down
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: or talks up vocally. Ord at Stetson. Now answer my question.
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: What's up? Something so fantastic it frightens me, said Orn.
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: Remember that the women who ruled HElib bred female or
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 1: male children by controlling the sex of their offspring. Conception
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: the method was unique. In fact, our medics thought it
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: was impossible. Until you don't have to remind me of
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: something we want buried and forgotten, interrupted Steessin. Too much
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: chance for misuse of that formula, yes, said Arn, But
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: what if you're nathy and Underground is composed entirely of
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: women bred the same way. Wh If the he labbed
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: women were just the bunch you got out of hand
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: because they lost contact with the main element, Holy Moley,
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: birted Steessin. Do you have evidence nothing but a hunch,
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: said Arn. Do you have a list of the guests
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: so we'll be here for the election party tomorrow. We
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: can get it. Why check for women who mastermind their
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: husbands in politics? Let me know how many, and who?
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: Lou that's not enough to That's all I can give
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: you for now, But I I think I'll have more.
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: Remember that, He hesitated, spacing his words as a new
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: thought struck him. The Nathians were nomads. Day began early
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 1: for the balloons, in spite of its being election day.
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: Balloonne took off for his office an hour after dawn.
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: See what I mean about this job owning you? He
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: asked Arn. We're going to take it easy today, lou
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: said Diana. She took his hand as they came up
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: the steps after seeing her father to his limousine flitter.
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: The sky was cloudless. Orn felt himself liking her hand
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: in his liking the feel of it too much. He
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 1: withdrew his hand, stood aside, and said, lead on, I've
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: got to watch myself. He thought she's too charming. I
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: think a picnic, said Dianna. There's a little lake with
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: grassy banks off to the west. We'll take viewers and
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: a couple of good novels. This will be a do
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 1: nothing day. Orn hesitated. There might be things going on
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 1: at the house that he should watch, but no. If
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: he was right about this situation, then Diana could be
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: the weak link. Time was closing in on them too.
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: By tomorrow, the Nathians could have the government completely under control.
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: It was warm beside the lake. There were purple and
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: orange flowers Above the grassy bank. Small creatures flitted and
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: cheaped in the brush and trees. There was a groomis
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 1: in the reeds at the lower end of the lake,
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: and every now and then it honked like an old
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: man clearing his throat. When we girls were all at home.
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: We used to picnic here every eight day, said Diana.
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: She lay on her back on the ground mat they'd spread,
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: Orn sat before her, facing the lake. We made a
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: raft over there on the other side, she said. She
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: sat up, looked across the lake. You know, I think
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: pieces of it are still there. See she pointed at
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: a jumble of logs as she gestured, her hand brushed ORNs.
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: Something like an electric shock passed between them. Without knowing
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: exactly how it happened, Oran found his arms around Diana.
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: Their lips pressed together in a lingering kiss. Panic was
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: very close to the surface in Orn. He broke away.
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: I didn't plan for that to happen, whispered Diana, nor
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: I muttered Orn. He shook his head. Sometimes things can
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: get into an awful mess. Diana blinked. Lou don't you
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 1: like me? He ignored. The monitoring transceiver spoke his mind.
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: They'll think it's just part of the he thought, And
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 1: the thought was bitter like you, He asked, I think
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: I'm in love with you. She sighed, leaned against his shoulder.
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: Then what's wrong? You're not already married? Mother had your
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: service record checked? Diana smiled impishly. Mother has second sight.
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: The bitterness was like a sour taste in Orn's mouth.
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: He could see the pattern so clearly. Die. I ran
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: away from home when I was seventeen, he said, I know, Darling.
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: Mother's told me all about you. You don't understand, he said.
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: My father died before I was born. He It must
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: have been very hard on your mother, she said, left
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: alone with her family and a new baby on the way.
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: They'd known for a long time, said Arn. My father
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: had Broox disease, and they found out too late. It
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 1: was already in the central nervousness. How horrible, whispered Diana.
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: Arran's mind felt suddenly like a fish out of water.
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: He found himself grasping at a thought that flopped around
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: just out of reach. Dad was in politics, he whispered.
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: He felt as though he were living in a dream.
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: His voice stayed low, shocked from when I first began
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: to talk, mother started grooming me to take his place
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: in public life. And you didn't like politics, said Diana.
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: I hated it, he growled. First chance I ran away.
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: One of my sisters married a young fellow who is
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: now the member for Chargon. I hope he enjoys it.
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: That'd be Mattie, said, Diana. You know her, asked Arn.
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: Then he remembered what Stetson had told him, and the
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: thought was chilling. Of course, I know her, said Diana, Lou,
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 1: what's wrong with you? You'd expect me to play the
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 1: same game you calling the shots, he said, shoot for
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: the top cut and scramble claw and dig by tomorrow,
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 1: all that may not be necessary, she said. Arn heard
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: the sudden hiss of the carrier wave in his neck transceiver,
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: but there was no voice from the monitor. What's happening tomorrow?
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: He asked? The Election's silly, She said, Lou, you're acting
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: very strangely. Are you sure you're feeling all right? She
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 1: put a hand to his forehead. Perhaps we just a minute,
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: said Arn, about us? He swallowed. She withdrew her hand.
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: I think my parents already suspect we balloons are notorious
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: loved for as sighters. Her over large eyes studied him fondly.
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: You don't feel feverish, but maybe we'd better What a
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: dope I am, snarled Orn. I just realized that I
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: have to be a Nathian too. You just realized, She
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: stared at him. There was a hissing gasp in Orn's transceiver.
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: The identical patterns in our families, he said, even to
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: the houses, and there's the real key. What a dope.
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: He snapped his fingers the head. Polly, your mother's the
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: grand boss woman, isn't she? But darling, of course she.
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: You'd better take me to her and fast, snapped Orn.
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: He touched the stud at his neck, but Stetson's voice intruded,
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: Great work, Lou, we're moving in a special shock forse
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: can't take any chances with Orn spoke aloud in panic, Stett,
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: you get out to the balloons. You get there alone,
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 1: no troops. Diana had jumped to her feet, backed away
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: from him. What do you mean, demanded Stetson. I'm saving
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: our stupid necks, barked Orn. Alone you hear or we'll
• 1:32:15
  Speaker 1: have a worse mess on our hands than any rimoir.
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: There was an extended silence. You hear me, Stett demanded Orn. Okay, Lou,
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: we're putting the O force on standby. I'll be at
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: the balloons in ten minutes. Come Geo, we'll be with me. Pause,
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: and you'd better know what you're doing. It was an
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: angry group in the corner of the balloone's main salon.
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: Luvert shades cut the green glare of the noon sun.
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: In the background, there was the hum of air conditioning
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: and the clatter of robo servants preparing for the night's
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: election party. Stetson leaned against the wall beside DeVaan, hands
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: jammed deeply into the pocket of his wrinkled, patched fatigues.
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: The wagon tracks furrowed his high forehead. Near Stetson, Admiral
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: Sobot Spencer, the i a's commander of galactic operations, paced
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: the floor. Come Geo was a bull necked, bald man
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 1: with wide blue eyes a deceptively mild voice. There was
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: a caged animal look to his pacing. Three steps out,
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: three steps back. Polly Balonne sat on the divan. Her
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: mouth was pulled into a straight line. Her hands were
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 1: clasped so tightly in her lap that the knuckles showed white.
• 1:33:40
  Speaker 1: Diana stood beside her mother. Her fists were clenched at
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 1: her sides. She shivered with fury. Her gaze remained fixed
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: glaring at n Okay. So my stupidity set up this
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: little meeting, snarled Orn. He stood about five paces in
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: front of Polly. Hands on hips the Admiral, pacing away
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: at his right was beginning to wear on his nerves.
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: But you'd better listen to what I have to say.
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: He glanced at the calm ge o all of you.
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: Admiral Spencer stopped pacing glowered at Orn. I have yet
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: to hear a good reason for not tearing this place
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: apart getting to the bottom of this situation, you traitor, Lewis,
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: hussed Polly. I'm inclined to agree with you, Madame, said Spencer,
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: only from a different point of view. He glanced at Stetson.
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 1: Any word yet on Scottie Bologne. They were going to
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: call me the minute they found him, said Stetson. His
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: voice sounded cautious, brooding. You were coming to the party
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: here tonight, warrant you, Admiral, said Orn. What's that have
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: to do with anything? Demanded Spencer. Are you prepared to
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: jail your wife and daughters for conspiracy? Asked Orn. A
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: tight smile played around Polly's lips. Spencer opened his mouth,
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 1: closed it soundlessly. The Nathians are mostly women, said Orn.
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 1: There's evidence that your womenfolk are among them. The admiral
• 1:35:18
  Speaker 1: looked like a man who had been kicked in the stomach.
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: What evidence, he whispered. I'll come to that in a moment,
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: said Orn. Now note this, The Nathians are mostly women.
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: There were only a few accidents and a few planned
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: males like me. That's why there were no family names
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: to trace, just a tight little female society, all working
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: to positions of power through their men. Spencer cleared his
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: throat swallowed. He seemed powerless to take his attention from
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 1: Orne's mouth. My guests, said Orne, Is that about thirty
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: or forty years ago the conspirators first began breeding a
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: few males, grooming them for really choice top positions. Other
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: Nathian males the accidents where sex control failed, they never
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: learned about the conspiracy. These new ones were full fledged members.
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 1: That's what I'd have been if I'd panned out as expected.
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 1: Polly glared at him, looked back at her hands. That
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: part of the plan was scheduled to come to a
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: head with the selection, said Arn. If they pulled this
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: one off, they could move in more boldly. You're in
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: way over your head, boy, growled Polly. You're too late
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: to do anything about us. We'll see about that, bark Spencer.
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: He seemed to have regained his self control, a little
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: publicity in the right places, some key arrests, and No,
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: said Arn. She's right, it's too late for that. It
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 1: was probably too late on years ago. These dames were
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: too firmly entrenched even then. Stetson straightened away from the wall,
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: smiled grimly at Orn. He seemed to be understanding a
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: point that the others were missing. Diana still glared at Arn.
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 1: Polly kept her attention on her hands, the tight smile
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 1: playing about her lips. These women probably control one out
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: of three of the top positions in the league, said Orn.
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: Maybe more, think, Admiral, Think what would happen if you
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 1: exposed this thing? There'd be secessions, riots, sub governments would topple,
• 1:37:42
  Speaker 1: the central government would be torn by suspicions and battles.
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: What breeds in that atmosphere? He shook his head. The
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: rim wir would seem like a picnic. We can't just
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: ignore this bark spencer, He's stiffened, glared at Orn. We
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 1: can and we will, said Arn. No choice. Polly looked
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: up studied Orne's face. Diana looked confused. Once a Nathian,
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: always a Nathian. A snarled Spencer. There's no such thing,
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 1: said Arn. Five hundred years cross breeding with other races
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: sought to that they're merely a secret society of astute
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 1: political scientists. He smiled Riley at Polly, glanced back at Spencer.
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: Think of your own wife, sir, in all honesty, would
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 1: you be calm Geo today if she hadn't guided your career.
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: Spencer's face darkened. He drew in his chin, tried to
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 1: stare Orn down. Failed. Presently, he chuckled Riley. Soby is
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: beginning to come to his senses, said Polly. You're about through, son.
• 1:39:01
  Speaker 1: Don't underestimate your future son in law, said Arn. Ha
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: barked Diana. I hate you, Lewis. Arn. You'll get over that,
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: said Arne, mildly. Oh, Diana quivered with fury. My major
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: point is this, said Arn. Government is a dubious glory.
• 1:39:22
  Speaker 1: You pay for your power and wealth by balancing on
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: the sharp edge of the blade that great amorphous thing
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: out there. The people has turned and swallowed many governments.
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: The only way you can stay in power is by
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 1: giving good government. Otherwise, sooner or later your turn comes.
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: I can remember my mother making that point. It's one
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: of the things that stuck with me, he frowned. My
• 1:39:51
  Speaker 1: objection to politics is the compromises you have to make
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 1: to get elected. Stetson moved out from the wall. It's
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: pretty clear, he said, has turned toward him to stay
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: in power. The Nathians have had to give us a
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: fairly good government. On the other hand, if we expose them,
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: we give a bunch of political amateurs, every fanatic and
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: power hungry demagogue in the galaxy just the weapon they
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: need to sweep them into office. After that, chaos, said Orne.
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: So we let the Nathians continue with two minor alterations.
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: We alter nothing, said Polly. It occurs to me, Lewis
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: that you don't have a leg to stand on. You
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 1: have me, but you'll get nothing out of me. The
• 1:40:45
  Speaker 1: rest of the organization can go on without me. You
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 1: don't dare expose us. We hold the whip hand. The
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: IA could have ninety percent of your organization in custody
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: inside of ten days, said Arn. You couldn't find them,
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 1: snapped Polly, how asked Stetson, No mad's, said Arn. This
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: house is a glorified tint. Men on the outside, women
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: on the inside, look for inner courtyard construction it's instinctive
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: with Nathian blood. Add to that inclination for odd musical instruments,
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: the kaithra, the tambore, the oboe, all nomad instruments. Add
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: to that female dominance of the family and not twist
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 1: on the nomad heritage, but not completely unique. Check for
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: predominance of female offspring. Dig into political background, We'll miss
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: damn few. Polly just stared at him, mouth open. Spencer said,
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: things are moving too fast for me. I know just
• 1:41:58
  Speaker 1: one thing. I'm dedicated to preventing another rim war. If
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: I have to jail every last one of an hour
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 1: after this conspiracy became known, you wouldn't be in a
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: position to jail anyone, said Arn, the husband of a Nathian,
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 1: you'd be in jail yourself a more likely dead at
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: the hands of a mob. Spencer paled. What's your suggestion
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: for compromise, asked Polly. Number one, The IA gets veto
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: power on any candidate you put up, said Arn. Number two.
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: You can never hold more than two thirds of the
• 1:42:38
  Speaker 1: top offices. Who in the IA vetos are candidates, asked Polly.
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: Admiral Spencer stept myself. Anyone else We deem trustworthy, said Arn.
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: You think you're a god or something, demanded Polly. No
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: more than you do, said Arn. This is what's known
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: as a check and balanced system. You cut the pie,
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 1: we get first choice on which pieces to take. There
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: was They protracted silence. Then Spencer said it doesn't seem
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 1: right just to no political compromises ever. Totally right, said Polly.
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: You keep patching things up that always have flaws in them.
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 1: That's how government is. She chuckled, looked up at Orn.
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: All right, Lewis, we accept She glanced at Spencer, who
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: shrugged nodded glumly. Polly looked back at Orn. Just answer
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: me one question. How'd you know I was boss? Lady? Easy,
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: said Arn. The records we found, said the Nathian. He'd
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: almost said traitor. Family on Morok was coded as the head.
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: Your name, Polly, contains the ancient word paul, which means head.
• 1:43:59
  Speaker 1: Polly looked at Stetson. Is he always that sharp every time?
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: Said Stetson. If you want to go into politics, Lewis
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 1: said Polly, i'd be delighted to I'm already in politics
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 1: as far as I want to be, growled Orn. What
• 1:44:17
  Speaker 1: I really want is to settle down with Die, catch
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 1: up on some of the living I've missed, Diana stiffened.
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: I never want to see hear from, or hear of
• 1:44:29
  Speaker 1: mister Lewis orn ever again. She said that is final,
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: emphatically final. Orange's shoulders drooped. He turned away, stumbled, and
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: abruptly collapsed full length on the thick carpets. There was
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 1: a collective gasp behind him. Stetson borked. Call a doctor,
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 1: they warned me. At the hospital, he was still hanging
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 1: on a thin thread. There was the sound of Polly's
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: heavy footsteps running toward the hall. Lou, it was Diana's voice.
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 1: She dropped to her knees beside him, soft hands fumbling
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 1: at his neck his head. Turn him over and loosen
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: his collar. Snapped Spencer give him air gently. They turned
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 1: arn On to his back. He looked pale. Diana loosened
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: his collar, buried her face against his neck. Oh, Lou,
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, she sobbed. I didn't mean it. Please, Lou,
• 1:45:23
  Speaker 1: don't die. Please. Arn opened his eyes, looked up at
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: Spencer and Stetson. There was the sound of Polly's voice
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: talking rapidly on the phone in the hall. He could
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: feel Diana's cheek warm against his neck, the dampness of
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 1: her tears. Slowly, deliberately, Arn winked at the two men.
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: End of Operation Haystack. This recording is in the public
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: domain Old Rambling House by Frank Herbert. This LibriVox recording
• 1:46:06
  Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Recording by Phil Schinevert. Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 1: on his last night on Earth, tag Graham stepped out
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 1: of a glass walled telephone booth, ducked to avoid a
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: swooping moth that battered itself in a frenzy against a
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: bare globe above the booth. Tag Graham was a long
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: necked man with a head of pronounced egg shape topped
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: by prematurely bawling sandy hair. Something about his lanky, intense
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: appearance suggested his occupation certified public accountant. He stopped behind
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: his wife, who was studying a newspaper classified page, and frowned.
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: They said to wait here, they'll come get us, said,
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 1: the place is hard to find at night. Martha Graham
• 1:46:57
  Speaker 1: looked up from the newspaper. She was a dog faced woman,
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: heavily pregnant, a kind of pink prettiness about her. The
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 1: yellow glow from the light above the booth subdued the
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: red auburn cast of her ponytail hair. I just have
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: to be in a house when the baby's born, she said,
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 1: What did they sound like? I don't know. There was
• 1:47:20
  Speaker 1: a funny kind of interruption, like an argument in some
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 1: foreign language. Do they sound foreign in a way? He
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: motioned along the night shrouded line of trailers toward one
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: with two windows glowing amber. Let's wait inside. These bugs
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: out here are fierce. Did you tell them which trailer
• 1:47:43
  Speaker 1: is ours? Yes, they didn't sound anxious at all. To
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: look at it. That's odd them wanting to trade their
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: house for a trailer. There's nothing odd about it. They've
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 1: probably just got itchy feet like we did. He appeared
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: to hear her funniest sounding language you ever heard when
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: that argument started, like a squirt of noise inside the trailer.
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 1: Ted Graham sat down on the green couch that opened
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 1: into a double bed for company. They could use a
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: good tax accountant around here, he said. When I first
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: saw the place, I got that definite feeling. The valley
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: looks prosperous. It's a wonder nobody's opened an office here before.
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 1: His wife took a straight chair by the counter separating
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: kitchen and living area, folded her hands across her heavy stomach.
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 1: I'm just continental tired of wheels going around under me,
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: she said. I want to sit and stare at the
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 1: same view for the rest of my life. I don't
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: know how a trailer ever seemed glamorous when it was
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 1: the inheritance gave us itchy feet, he said, tires gritted
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 1: on gravel outside. Martha Graham straightened. Could that be them? Awful? Quick?
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 1: If it is. He went to the door and opened it.
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 1: Stared down at the man who was just raising a
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 1: hand to knock. Are you mister, Graham asked the man. Yes,
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: he found himself staring at the collar. I'm Clint Rush.
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: You called about the house. The man moved farther into
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 1: the light. At first, he seemed an old man, fine wrinkled,
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: the lines in his face, a tired leather looked to
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: his skin. But as he moved his head in the light,
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: the wrinkles seemed to dissolve, and with them the years
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: lifted from him. Yes, we called, said Ted Graham. He
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: stood aside. Do you want to look at the trailer now?
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: Martha Graham crossed to stand beside her husband. We've kept
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 1: it in awfully good shape, she said. We've never let
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: anything get that's seriously wrong with it. She sounds too anxious,
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: thought Ted Graham. I wish she'd let me do the
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 1: talking for the two of us. We can come back
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 1: and look at your trailer tomorrow in daylight, said Rush.
• 1:50:13
  Speaker 1: My car is right out here if you'd like to
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 1: see our house. Ted Graham hesitated. He felt a nagging
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 1: worry tug in his mind. Tried to fix his attention
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: on what bothered him. Hadn't we better take our car,
• 1:50:30
  Speaker 1: he asked, we could follow you, No need, said Rush.
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 1: We're coming back into town tonight. Anyway we can drop
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 1: you off then, Ted Graham nodded, be right with you
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 1: as soon as I lock up Inside the car, Rush
• 1:50:45
  Speaker 1: mumbled introductions. His wife was a dark shadow in the
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: front seat, her hair drawn back in a severe bun.
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: Her features suggested gipsy blood. He called her ray me
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: odd name, thought Ted Graham, and he noticed that she too,
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 1: gave that strange first impression of age that melted in
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: a shift of light. Missus Rush turned her gipsy features
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 1: toward Martha Graham. You are going to have a baby.
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: It came out as an odd, veiled statement. Abruptly, the
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: car rolled forward. Martha Graham said, it's supposed to be
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: born in about two months. We hope it's a boy.
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: Missus Rush looked at her husband. I have changed my mind,
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 1: she said. Rush spoke without taking his attention from the road.
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 1: It is too He broke off, spoke in a tumble
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: of strange sounds. Ted Graham recognized it as the language
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: he'd heard on the telephone. Missus Rush answered in the
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 1: same tongue, anger showing in the intensity of her voice.
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: Her husband replied, his voice calmer presently. Missus Rush fell
• 1:52:00
  Speaker 1: moodily silent. Rush tipped his head toward the rear of
• 1:52:05
  Speaker 1: the car. My wife has moments when she does not
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 1: want to get rid of the old house. It has
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: been with her for many years. Ted Graham said, Oh, then,
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 1: are you Spanish? Rush hesitated, No, we are a Bosque.
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 1: He turned the car down a well lighted avenue that
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 1: merged into a highway. He turned onto a side road.
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: There followed more turns left, right, right. Ted Graham lost track.
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: They had a jolting bump that made Martha gasp I
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 1: hope that wasn't too rough on you, said Rush, We're
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 1: almost there. The car swung into a lane, its lights
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 1: picking out the skeleton outlines of trees. Peculiar trees, tall, gaunt, leafless,
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 1: They added to Graham's feeling of uneasiness. The lane dipped
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: ended at a low wall of a house, red brick,
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: with celestory windows beneath overhanging eaves. The effect of the
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 1: wall and a wide beamed door they could see to
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: the left was ultra modern. Ted Graham helped his wife
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: out of the car, follow the Rushes to the door.
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 1: I thought you told me it was an old house,
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 1: he said. It was designed by one of the first modernists,
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: said Rush. He fumbled with an odd curved key. The
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 1: wide door swung open onto a hallway equally wide, carpeted
• 1:53:40
  Speaker 1: by a deep piled rug. Make a glimpse floor to
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: ceiling view windows at the end of the hall, city
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: lights beyond. Martha Graham gasped entered the hall as though
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: in a trance. Ted Graham followed, heard the door close
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 1: behind them. It's so so so big, exclaimed Martha Graham.
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: You want to trade this for our trailer, asked Taed Graham.
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 1: It's too inconvenient for us, said Rush. My work is
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: over the mountains on the coast. He shrugged, we cannot
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: sell it. Taed Graham looked at him sharply. Isn't there
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: any money around here? He had a sudden vision of
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 1: a tax accountant with no customers, plenty of money, but
• 1:54:31
  Speaker 1: no real estate customers. They entered the living room. Sectional
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: divans lined the walls. Subdued lighting glowed from the corners.
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: Two paintings hung on the opposite walls, oblongs of odd
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: lines and twists that made Taed Graham dizzy. Warning bells
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 1: clamored in his mind. Martha Graham crossed to the windows,
• 1:54:56
  Speaker 1: looked at the lights far away below. I had no
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: idea we climbed that for she said, It's like a
• 1:55:05
  Speaker 1: fairy city. Missus. Rush emitted a sharp, nervous laugh. Tag
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: Graham glanced around the room. Thought, if the rest of
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 1: the house is like this, it's worth fifty or sixty thousand.
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: He thought of the trailer, a good one, but not
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 1: worth more than seven thousand. Uneasiness was like a neon
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: sign flashing in his mind. This seems so, he shook
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 1: his head. Would you like to see the rest of
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: the house, asked Rush. Martha Graham turned from the window.
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, tag Graham shrugged. No harm in looking, he thought.
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: When they returned to the living room, tag Graham had
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 1: doubled his previous estimate on the house's value. His brain
• 1:55:53
  Speaker 1: reeled with the summing of it. A solarium with an
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 1: entire ceiling covered by sun lamps, and automatic laundry where
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: you drop soil clothing down a chute, took it washed
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 1: and ironed from the other end. Perhaps you and your
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: wife would like to discuss it in private, said Rush.
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 1: We will leave you for a moment, and they were
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: gone before Ted Graham could protest. Martha Graham said, Ted,
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: I honestly never in my life dreamed something's very wrong, honey,
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 1: but Ted, this house is worth at least one hundred
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars, maybe more, and they want to trade this.
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 1: He looked around him for a seven thousand dollars trailer. Ted.
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: They're foreigners, and if they're so foolish they don't know
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: the value of this place, then why should I don't
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: like it? He said again. He looked around the room,
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: recall the fantastic equipment of the house, but maybe you're right.
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 1: Stared out at the city lights. They had a lace
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 1: like quality, tall buildings linked by lines of flickering incandescence.
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: Something like a Roman candle shot skyward in the distance. Okay,
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 1: he said, if they want to trade, let's go push
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: the deal. Abruptly, the house shuddered. The city lights blinked out.
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: A humming sound filled the air. Martha Graham clutched her
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 1: husband's arm, ted, what was that? I don't know, he turned,
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: mister Rush No answer, only the humming. The door at
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: the end of the room opened. A strange man came through.
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: He wore a short toga like garment of gray metallic cloth,
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: belted at the waist by something that glittered and shimmered
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: through every color of the spectrum. An aura of coldness
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: and power emanated from him, a sense of untouchable hauteur.
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 1: He glanced around the room spoke in the same tongue
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: the Rushes had used. Tay Graham said, I don't understand you, mister.
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: The man put a hand to his flickering belt. Both
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: Tad and Martha Graham felt themselves rooted to the floor,
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: A tingling sensation vibrating along every nerve again. The strange
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 1: language rolled from the man's tongue, but now the words
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 1: were understood. Who are you. My name's Graham. This is
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 1: my wife. What's going? How did you get here? The
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 1: Rushes they wanted to trade us this house for our
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 1: trailer they brought us. Now look we what is your talent?
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: Your occupation? Tax accountant? Say? Why all these? That was
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: to be expected, said the man. Clever, oh s sensively clever.
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 1: His hand moved again to the belt. Now be very quiet,
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 1: this may confuse you. Momentarily, cauter lights filled both the
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: Graham's mines. They staggered. You are qualified, said the man.
• 1:59:18
  Speaker 1: You will serve. Where are we demanded Martha Graham. The
• 1:59:24
  Speaker 1: coordinates would not be intelligible to you, he said. I
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: am of the Rojack. It is sufficient for you to
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 1: know that you are under Rojack sovereignty. Ted Graham said,
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: But you have in a way been kidnapped, and the
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 1: Ramis have fled to your planet, an unregistered planet. I
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 1: am afraid, Martha Graham said, shakily. You have nothing to fear,
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: said the man. You are no longer on the planet
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 1: of your birth, nor even in the same galaxy. He
• 1:59:58
  Speaker 1: glanced at Ted Grahm Sam's wrist. That device on your
• 2:00:02
  Speaker 1: wrist it tells your local time. Yes, that will help
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 1: in the search and your son. Can you describe its
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 1: atomic cycle? Ted Graham groped in his mind for his
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: science memories from school. From the Sunday supplements, I can
• 2:00:21
  Speaker 1: recall that our galaxy is a spiral, like most galaxies
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 1: are spiral. Is this some kind of a practical joke,
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: asked Ted Graham. The man smiled a cold, superior smile.
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: It is no joke. Now I will make you a proposition.
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 1: Ted nodded warily. All right, let's have the stinger. The
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: people who brought you here were tax collectors we rojack
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: recruited from a subject planet. They were conditioned to make
• 2:00:58
  Speaker 1: it impossible for them to leave their job untended. Unfortunately,
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: they were clever enough to realize that if they brought
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: someone else in who could do their job, they were
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: released from their mental bonds. Very clever. But you may
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 1: have their job, said the man. Normally you would be
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 1: put to work in the lower echalons, but we believe
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: in meeting out justice wherever possible. The Rams undoubtedly stumbled
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: on your planet by accident. And lure you into this
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: position without How do you know I can do your job?
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: That moment of brilliance was an aptitude test you passed,
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: Well do you accept? What about our baby, Martha Graham
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: warrily wanted to know. You will be allowed to keep
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 1: it until it reaches the age of decision, about the
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: time it will take the child to reach adult stature. Then,
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 1: what insisted Martha Graham. The child will take its position
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 1: in society according to its ability. Will we ever see
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 1: our child after that? Possibly? Ted Graham said, what's the
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: joker in this? Again? The cold superior smile. You will
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: receive conditioning similar to that which we gave the Rummies,
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: and we will want to examine your memories to aid
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: us in our search for your planet. It would be
• 2:02:33
  Speaker 1: good to find a new inhabitable place. Why do they
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 1: drap us like this, asked Martha Graham. It's lonely work.
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: The man explained, your house is actually a type of
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 1: space conveyance that travels along your collection route, and there
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: is much travel to the job, and then you will
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: not have friends nor time for much other than work.
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 1: Our methods are necessarily severe at times. Travel. Martha Graham
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 1: repeated in dismay, almost constantly. Ted Graham felt his mind whirling,
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 1: and behind him he heard his wife sobbing. The Ramis
• 2:03:17
  Speaker 1: sat in what had been the Graham's trailer for a
• 2:03:21
  Speaker 1: few moments. I feared he would not succumb to the bait,
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 1: She said, I knew you could never overcome the mental
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 1: compulsion enough to leave them there without their first agreeing.
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 1: Remy chuckled, Yes, And now I'm going to indulge in
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 1: everything the road Jack never permitted. I'm going to write
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: ballads and poems, and I'm going to paint. She said, Oh,
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: the delicious freedom greed won this for us, He said.
• 2:03:53
  Speaker 1: The long study of the Grams paid off. They couldn't
• 2:03:57
  Speaker 1: refuse the trade. I knew they'd agree. The looks in
• 2:04:02
  Speaker 1: their eyes when they saw the house they both had.
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 1: She broke off, a look of horror coming into her eyes.
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: One of them did not agree. They both did. You
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 1: heard them? The baby, He stared at his wife. But
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 1: but it is not at the age of decision. In
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 1: perhaps eighteen of this planet's years, it will be at
• 2:04:29
  Speaker 1: the age of decision. What then His shoulders sagged. He shuddered,
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 1: I will not be able to fight it off. I
• 2:04:42
  Speaker 1: will have to build a transmitter called the Roejack and confess,
• 2:04:47
  Speaker 1: and they will collect another inhabitable place, she said, her
• 2:04:53
  Speaker 1: voice flat and toneless. I've spoiled it, he said, I've
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 1: spoiled it. End of Old Rambling House by Frank Herbert.
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: End of three science fiction stories by Frank Herbert. This
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 1: recording was by Phil Schinevert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I
• 2:05:16
  Speaker 1: certainly hope you enjoyed it.