The Galaxy Primes

  CHAPTER 7

  Since everyone, including the ebullient ComOff, slept late the followingmorning, they all had brunch instead of breakfast and lunch. All duringthe meal Garlock was preoccupied and stern.

  "Hold everything for a while, Jim," he said, when everyone had eaten."Before we move, Belle and I have got to have a conference."

  "Not a Fatso Ferber nine-o'clock type, I hope." James frowned in mockreproach and ComOff Flurnoy cocked an eyebrow in surprise."Monkey-business on company time is only for Big Shots like him; not forsmall fry such as you."

  "Well, it won't be exclusively monkey-business, anyway. While we're goneyou might clear with the control tower and take us up into take-offposition. Come on, Belle." He took her by one elbow and led her away.

  "Why, _Doctor Garlock_." Mincing along beside him, pretending highreluctance, she looked up at him wide-eyed. "I'm _surprised_, I reallyam. I'm _shocked_, too. I'm _not_ that kind of a _girl_, and if I wasn't_afraid_ of losing my _job_ I would _scream_. I _never_ even _suspected_that _you_ would use your _position_ as my _boss_ to _force_ your_unwelcome attentions_ on a _poor_ and _young_ and _innocent_ and_suffering_...."

 

  In an unparalleled blast of Gunther power the primes of many worlds head toward the meeting on Tellus.]

  Inside his room Garlock, who had been grinning, sobered down and checkedevery Gunther block--a most unusual proceeding.

  * * *

  Belle stopped joking in the middle of the sentence.

  "Yeah, _how_ you suffer," he said. "I was just checking to be sure we'reprime-proof. I'm not ready for Deggi Delcamp yet. That guy, Belle, asyou probably noticed, has got one God-awful load of stuff."

  "Not as much as you have, Clee. Nor as much push behind what he has got.And his shield wouldn't make patches for yours."

  "Huh? How sure are you of that?"

  "I'm positive. I'm the one who is going to get bumped, I'm afraid. ThatFao Talaho is a hard-hitting, hard-boiled hellcat on wheels."

  "I'll be damned. You're wrong. I checked her from stem to gudgeon andyou lay over her like a circus tent. What's the answer?"

  "Oh? Do I? I'm mighty glad ... funny, both of us being wrong ... it mustbe, Clee, that it's sex-based differences. We're used to each other, butneither of us has ever felt a Prime of the same sex before, and theremust be more difference between Ops and Primes than we realized.Suppose?"

  "Could be--I hope. But that doesn't change the fact that we aren'tready. We haven't got enough data. If we start out with this grandioseGalactic Service thing and find only two or three planets Gunthered, wemake jackasses of ourselves. On the other hand, if we start out with asmall organization or none, and find a lot of planets, it'll be onecontinuous cat-fight. On the third hand...."

  "Three hands, Clee? What are you, an octopussy or an Arpalone?"

  "Keep your beautiful trap shut a minute. On the third hand, we've _got_to start somewhere. Any ideas?"

  "I never thought of it that way.... Hm-m-m-m ... I see." She thought fora minute, then went on, "We'll have to start without starting, then ...quite a trick.... But how about this? Suppose we take a fast tour, withyou and I taking quick peeks, without the peekees ever knowing we'vebeen peeking?"

  "That's using the brain, Belle. Let's go." Then, out in the Main, "Jim,we want to hit a few high spots, as far out as you can reach withoutlosing orientation. Beta Centauri here is pretty bright, Rigel andCanopus are real lanterns. With those three as a grid, you could reachfifteen hundred or two thousand light-years, couldn't you?"

  "More than that. That many parsecs, at least."

  "Good. Belle and I want to make a fast, random-sampling check of Primesand Ops around here. We'll need five minutes at each planet--quite aways out. So set up as big a globe as you can and still be dead sure ofyour locations; then sample it."

  "Not enough data. How many samples do you want?"

  "As many as we can get in the rest of today. Six or seven hours,say--eight hours max."

  "Call it seven.... Brownie on the guns, me on Compy.... Five minutes foryou.... I should be able to lock down the next shot in five ... oneminute extra, say, for safety factor ... that'd be ten an hour. Seventyplanets enough?"

  "That'll be fine."

  "Okay. We're practically at Number One now," and James and Lola donnedtheir scanners, ready for the job.

  * * *

  "Miss Flurnoy," Garlock said, "you might tell Mr. Entlore thatwe're...."

  "Oh, I already have, sir."

  "You don't have to come along, of course, if you'd rather stay here."

  "Stay here, sir? Why, he'd _kill_ me! I'm off the air for a minute,"this last thought was a conspiratorial whisper. "Besides, do you thinkI'd miss a chance to be the first person--and just a girl, too--of awhole world to see other planets of other suns? Unless, of course, youinvite Mr. Entlore and Mr. Holson along. They're both simply dying togo, I know, but of course won't admit it."

  "You'd be just as well pleased if I didn't?"

  "What do you think, sir?"

  "We'll be working at top speed and they'd be very much in the way, sothey'll get theirs later--after you've licked the cream off the top ofthe...."

  "Ready to roll, Clee," James announced.

  "Roll."

  "Why, I lost contact!" Miss Flurnoy exclaimed.

  "Naturally," Garlock said. "Did you expect to cover a distance it takeslight thousands of years to cross? You can record anything you see inthe plates. You can talk to Jim or Lola any time they'll let you. Don'tbother Miss Bellamy or me from now on."

  Garlock and Belle went to work. All four Galaxians worked all day, withhalf an hour off for lunch. They visited seventy planets and got back toMargonia in time for a very late dinner. ComOff Flurnoy had less than aquarter of one roll of recorder-tape left unused, and the Primes hadenough information to start the project they had in mind.

  And shortly after dinner, all five retired.

  "In one way, Clee, I'm relieved," Belle pondered, "but I can't figureout why all the Primes--the grown-up ones, I mean--on all the worlds arejust about the same cantankerous, you-be-damned, out-and-out stinkers asyou and I are. How does _that_ fit into your theory?"

  "It doesn't. Too fine a detail. My guess is--at least it seems to me tomake sense--it's because we haven't had any competition strong enough tosmack us down and make Christians out of us. I don't know what apsychologist would say...."

  "And I know _exactly_ what you'd think of whatever he did say, so youdon't need to tell me." Belle laughed and presented her lips to bekissed. "Good night, Clee."

  "Good night, ace."

  * * *

  And the next morning, early, Garlock and Belle teleported themselves--byarrangement and appointment, of course--across almost the full width ofa nation and into the private office in which Deggi Delcamp and FaoTalaho awaited them.

  For a time which would not have been considered polite in Telluriansocial circles the four Primes stood still, each couple facing the otherwith blocks set tight, studying each other with their eyes. Delcamp was,as Garlock had said, a big bruiser. He was shorter and heavier than theTellurian. Heavily muscled, splendidly proportioned, he was a man oftremendous physical as well as mental strength. His hair, clipped closeall over his head, was blonde; his eyes were a clear, keen, cold darkblue.

  Fao Talaho was a couple of inches shorter than Belle; and a good fifteenpounds heavier. She was in no sense fat, however, or evenplump--actually, she was almost lean. She was wider and thicker than wasthe Earthwoman; with heavier bones forming a wider and deeper frame.She, too, was beautifully--yes, spectacularly--built. Her hair, fully asthick as Belle's own and worn in a free-falling bob three or four incheslonger than Belle's, was bleached almost white. Her eyes were not reallyspeckled, nor really mottled, but were regularly _patterned_ in lighterand darker shades of hazel. She was, Garlock decided, a reallyremarkable hunk of woman.

  Both Na
rgodians wore sandals without either socks or stockings. Bothwere dressed--insofar as they were dressed at all--in yellow. Fao'ssingle garment was of a thin, closely-knitted fabric, elastic and sleek.Above the waist it was neckless, backless, and almost frontless; below,it was a very short, very tight and clinging skirt. Delcamp wore asleeveless jersey and a pair of almost legless shorts.

  Garlock lowered his shield enough to send and to receive a thin layer ofsuperficial thought; Delcamp did the same.

  "So far, I like what I see," Garlock said then. "We are well ahead ofyou, hence I can help you a lot if you want me to and if you want to befriendly about it. If you don't, on either count, we leave now. Fairenough?"

  "Fair enough. I, too, like what I have seen so far. We need help, and Iappreciate your offer. Thanks, immensely. I can promise full cooperationand friendship for myself and for most of our group; and I assure youthat I can and will handle any non-cooperation that may come up."

  "Nicely put, Deggi." Garlock smiled broadly and let his guard down to acomfortable lepping level. "I was going to bring that up--the fasterit's cleared the better. Belle and I are paired. Some day--unless wekill each other first--we may marry. However, I'm no bargain and she'sone-third wildcat, one-third vixen, and one-third cobra. How do you twostand?"

  "You took the thought right out of my own mind. Your custom of pairingis not what you call 'urbane' on this world. Nevertheless, Fao and I arepaired. We had to. No one else has ever interested either of us; no oneelse ever will. We should not fight, but we do, furiously. But no matterhow vigorously we fly apart, we inevitably fly together again just asfast. No one understands it, but you two are pretty much the same."

  "Check. Just one more condition, then, and we can pull those women ofours apart." Belle and Fao were still staring at each other, both stillsealed tight. "The first time Fao Talaho starts throwing her weight atme, I'm not going to wait for you to take care of her--I'm going to giveher the surprise of her life."

  "It'd tickle me silly if it could be done," Delcamp smiled and wasperfectly frank, "But the man doesn't live that can do it. How would yougo about trying it?"

  "Set your block solid."

  Delcamp did so, and through that block--the supposedly impenetrableshield of a Prime Operator--Garlock insinuated a probe. He did not crackthe screen or break it down by force; he neutralized and counter-phased,painlessly and almost imperceptibly, its every component and layer.

  * * *

  "Like this," Garlock said, in the depths of the Margonian's mind.

  "My God! You can do _that_?"

  "If I tell her, this deep, to play ball or else, do you think she'd needtwo treatments?"

  "She certainly oughtn't to. This makes you Galactic Admiral, noquestion. I'd thought, of course, of trying you out for Top Gunther, butthis settles that. We will support you, sir, wholeheartedly--and myheartfelt thanks for coming here."

  "I have your permission, then, to give Fao a little discipline when shestarts rocking the boat?"

  "I wish you would, sir. I'm not too easy to get along with, I admit, butI've tried to meet her a lot more than half-way. She's just too damnedcocky for _anybody's_ good."

  "Check. I wish somebody would come along who could knock hell out ofBelle." Then, aloud, "Belle, Delcamp and I have the thing going. Do youwant in on it?"

  Delcamp spoke to Fao, and the two women slowly, reluctantly, loweredtheir shields to match those of the men.

  "Your Galaxian shaking of the hands--handshake, I mean--is very good,"Delcamp said, and he and Garlock shook vigorously.

  Then the crossed pairs, and lastly the two girls--although neither putmuch effort into the gesture.

  "Snap out of it, Belle!" Garlock sent a tight-beamed thought. "She isn'tgoing to bite you!"

  "She's been trying to, damn her, and I'm going to bite her rightback--see if I don't."

  * * *

  Garlock called the meeting to order and all four sat down. TheTellurians lighted cigarettes and the others--who, to the Earthlings'surprise, also smoked--assembled and lit two peculiar-looking thingshalf-way between pipe and cigarette. And both pairs of smokers, after afew tentative tests, agreed in not liking at all the other's taste intobacco.

  "You know, of course, of the trip we took yesterday?" Garlock asked.

  "Yes," Delcamp admitted. "We read ComOff Flurnoy. We know of the seventyplanets, but nothing of what you found."

  "Okay. Of the seventy planets, all have Op fields and all have two ormore Operators; one planet has forty-four of them. Only sixty-one of theplanets, however, have Primes old enough for us to detect. Each of theseworlds has two, and only two, Primes--one male and one female--and oneach world the two Primes are of approximately the same age. On fifteenof these worlds the Primes are not yet adult. On the forty-six remainingworlds, the Primes are young adults, from pretty much like us four downto considerably younger. None of these couples is married-for-family.None of the girls has as yet had a child or is now pregnant.

  "Now as to the information circulating all over this planet about us.Part of it is false. Part of it is misleading--to impress the militarymind. Thus, the fact is that the _Pleiades_, as far as we know, is theonly starship in the whole galaxy. Also, the information is veryincomplete, especially as to the all-important fact that we were lost inspace for some time before we discovered that the only possiblecontroller of the Gunther Drive is the human mind...."

  "_What!!!!_" and argument raged until Garlock stopped it by declaringthat he would prove it in the Margonians' own ship.

  Then Garlock and Belle together went on to explain and to describe--noteven hinting, of course, that they had ever been outside the galaxy orhad even thought of trying to do so--their concept of what the GalaxianSocieties of the Galaxy would and should do; or what the GalaxianService could, should, and _would_ become--the Service to which theyboth intended to devote their lives. It wasn't even in existence yet, ofcourse. Fao and Deggi were the only other Primes they had ever talked toin their lives. That was why they were so eager to help the Margoniansget their ship built. The more starships there were at work, the fasterthe Service would grow into a really tremendous....

  "_Fao's getting ready to blow her top_," Delcamp flashed Garlock atight-beamed thought. "_If I were doing it I'd have to start rightnow._"

  * * *

  "_I'll let her work up a full head of steam, then smack herbow-legged._"

  "_Cheers, brother! I hope you can handle her!_"

  ... organization. Then, when enough ships were working and enoughGalaxian Societies were rolling, there would be the Regionalorganizations and the Galactic Council....

  "So, on a one-planet basis and right out of your own little fat head,"Fao sneered, "you have set yourself up as Grand High Chief Mogul, andall the rest of us are to crawl up to you on our bellies and kiss yourfeet?"

  "If that's the way you want to express it, yes. However, I don't knowhow long I personally will be in the pilot's bucket. As I told you, Iwill enforce the basic tenet that top Gunther is top boss--man, woman,snake, fish, or monster."

  "Top Gunther be damned!" Fao blazed. "I don't and won't take orders from_any_ man--in hell or in heaven or on this Earth or on any planet ofany...."

  "Fao!" Delcamp exclaimed, "Please keep still--_please_!"

  "Let her rave," Garlock said, coldly. "This is just a three-year-oldbaby's tantrum. If she keeps it up, I'll give her the damnedest jolt sheever got in all her spoiled life."

  Belle whistled sharply to call Fao's attention, then tight-beamed athought. "If you've got any part of a brain, slick chick, you'd betterstart using it. The boy friend not only plays rough, but he doesn'tbluff."

  "To hell with all that!" Fao rushed on. "We don't have anything to dowith your organization--go on back home or anywhere else you want to.We'll finish our own ship and build our own organization and run it tosuit ourselves. We'll...."

  "That's enough of that." Garlock penetrated h
er shield as easily as hehad the man's, and held her in lock. "You are _not_ going to wreck thisproject. You will start behaving yourself right now or I'll spread yourmind wide open for Belle and Deggi to look at and see exactly what kindof a half-baked jerk you are. If that doesn't work, I'll put you into aGunther-blocked cell aboard the _Pleiades_ and keep you there until theship is finished and we leave Margonia. How do you want it?"

  Fao was shocked as she had never been shocked before. At first she triedviciously to fight; but, finding that useless against the appallingpower of the mind holding hers, she stopped struggling and began reallyto think.

  "That's better. You've got what it takes to think with. Go ahead and doit."

  And Fao Talaho did have it. Plenty of it. She learned.

  "I'll be good," she said, finally. "Honestly. I'm ashamed, really, butafter I got started I couldn't stop. But I can now, I'm sure."

  "I'm sure you can, too. I know exactly how it is. All us Primes have toget hell knocked out of us before we amount to a whoop in Hades. Deggigot his one way, I got mine another, you got yours this way. No, neitherof the others knows anything about this conversation and they won't.This is strictly between you and me."

  "I'm awfully glad of that. And I think I ... yes, damn you, thanks!"

  Garlock released her and, after a few sobs, a couple of gulps, and adabbing at her eyes with an inadequate handkerchief, she said: "I'msorry, Deggi, and you, too, Belle. I'll try not to act like such a foolany more."

  Delcamp and Belle both stared at Garlock; Belle licked her lips.

  "No comment," he thought at the man; and, to Belle, "She just took abeating. Will you sheathe your claws and take a lot of pains to be extranice to her the rest of the day?"

  "Why, surely. I'm _always_ nice to anybody who is nice to me."

  "Says you," Garlock replied, skeptically, and all four went to work asthough nothing had happened.

  * * *

  They went through the shops and the almost-finished ship. They studiedblueprints. They met all the Operators and discussed generators andfields of force and mathematics and paraphysics and Guntherics. Theyargued so hotly about mental control that Garlock had James bring the_Pleiades_ over to new-christened Galaxian Field so that he could provehis point then and there.

  Entlore and Holson came along this time, as well as the ComOff; and allthree were nonplussed and surprised to see each member of the "crackpot"group hurl the huge starship from one solar system to any other onedesired, apparently merely by thinking about it. And the "crackpots"were extremely surprised to find themselves hopelessly lost in unchartedgalactic wildernesses every time they did not think, definitely andpositively, of one specific destination. Then Garlock took a chance. Hehad to take it sometime; he might just as well do it now.

  "See if you can hit Andromeda, Deggi," he suggested.

  While Belle, James, and Lola held their breaths, Delcamp tried. Thestarship went toward the huge nebula, but stopped at the last suitableplanet on the galaxy's rim.

  "Can _you_ hit Andromeda?" Delcamp asked, more than half jealously, andBelle tensed her muscles.

  "Never tried it," Garlock said, easily. "I suppose, though, since youcouldn't kick the old girl out of our good old home galaxy, she'll justsit right here for me, too."

  He went through the motions and the _Pleiades_ did sit rightthere--which was exactly what he had told her to do. And everybody--eventhe "crackpots"--breathed more easily.

  * * *

  And Belle was "nice" to Fao; she didn't use her claws, even once, allday. And, just before quitting time--

  "Does he ... I mean, did he ever ... well, sort of knock you around?"Fao asked.

  "I'll say he hasn't!" Belle's nostrils flared slightly at the merethought. "I'd stick a knife into him, the big jerk."

  "Oh, I didn't mean physically...."

  "Through my blocks? A _Prime's_ blocks? Don't be ridiculous, Fao!"

  "What do you mean, 'ridiculous'?" Fao snapped. "You tried _my_ blocks.What did they feel like to you--mosquito netting? What I thought was....Oh, all he really said was that all Primes had to have hell knocked outof them before they could be any good. That he had had it one way, Deggianother, and me a third. I see--you haven't had yours yet."

  "I certainly haven't. And if he ever tries it, I'll...."

  "Oh, he won't. He couldn't, very well, because after you're married, itwould...."

  "Did the big lug tell you I was going to marry him?"

  "Of course not. No fringes, even. But who else are you going to marry?If the whole universe was clear full of the finest men imaginable--puredreamboats, no less--can you even conceive of you marrying any one ofthem except him?"

  "I'm not going to marry anybody. Ever."

  "No? You, with your Prime's mind and your Prime's body, not have anychildren? And you tell _me_ not to be ridiculous?"

  That stopped Belle cold, but she wouldn't admit it. Instead--"I don'tget it. What did he _do_ to you, anyway?"

  Fao's block set itself so tight that it took her a full minute to softenit down enough for even the thinnest thought to get through. "That'ssomething nobody will ever know. But anyway, unless ... unless you findanother Prime as strong as Clee is--and I don't really think there areany, do you?"

  "Of course there aren't. There's only one of his class, anywhere. He'sit," Belle said, with profound conviction.

  "That makes it tough for you. You'll have the toughest job imaginable.The _very_ toughest. I know."

  "Huh? What job?"

  "Since Clee won't do it for you, and since nobody else can, you'll haveto just simply knock hell out of yourself."

  And in Garlock's room that night, getting ready for bed, Belle askedsuddenly, "Clee, what in hell did you do to Fao Talaho?"

  "Nothing much. She's a mighty good egg, really."

  "Could you do it, whatever it was, to me?"

  "I don't know; I never tried it."

  "_Would_ you, then, if I asked you to?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Answer that yourself."

  "And it was 'nothing much,' it says here in fine print. But I think Iknow just about what it was. Don't I?"

  "I wouldn't be surprised."

  "You knocked hell out of yourself, didn't you?"

  "I lied to her about that. I'm still trying to."

  "So I've got to do it to myself. And I haven't started yet?"

  "Check. But you're several years younger than I am, you know."

  * * *

  Belle thought it over for a minute, then stubbed out her cigarette andshrugged her shoulders. "No sale. Put it back on the shelf. I like mebetter the way I am. That is, I _think_ I do.... In a way, though, I'msorry, Clee darling."

  "Darling? Something new has been added. I wish you really meant that,ace."

  "I'm still 'ace' after what I just said? I'm glad, Clee. 'Ace' is everso much nicer than 'chum.'"

  "Ace. The top of the deck. You are, and always will be."

  "As for meaning it, I wish I didn't." Ready for bed, Belle was much morecompletely and much less revealingly dressed than during her workinghours. She slid into bed beside him, pulled the covers up to her chin,and turned off the light by glancing at the switch. "If I thoughtanything could ever come of it, though, I'd do it if I had to poundmyself unconscious with a club. But I wouldn't be here, then,either--I'd scoot into my own room so fast my head would spin."

  "You wouldn't have to. You wouldn't be here."

  "I wouldn't, at that. That's one of the things I like so much about you.But honestly, Clee--seriously, screens-down honestly--can you see anypossible future in it?"

  "No. Neither of us would give that much. Neither of us can. And there'snothing one-sided about it; I'm no more fit to be a husband than you areto be a wife. And God help our children--they'd certainly need it."

  "We'd never have any. I can't picture us living in marriage for ninemonths without committing at
least mayhem. Why, in just the little timewe've been paired, how many times have you thrown me out of this veryroom, with the fervent hope that I'd drown in deep space before you eversaw me again?"

  "At a guess, about the same number of times as you have stormed outunder your own power, slamming the door so hard it sprung half the seamsof the ship and swearing you'd slice me up into sandwich meat if I everso much as looked at you again."

  "That's what I mean. But how come we got off on _this_ subject, Iwonder? Because when we aren't fighting, like now, it's purelywonderful. So I'll say it again. Good night, Clee, darling."

  "Good night, ace." In the dark his lips sought hers and found them.

  The fervor of her kiss was not only much more intense than any he hadever felt before. It was much, very much more intense than Belle Bellamyhad either wanted it or intended it to be.

  * * *

  Next morning, at the workman's hour of eight o'clock, the fourTellurians appeared in the office of Margonia's Galaxian Field.

  "The first thing to do, Deggi, is to go over in detail your blueprintsfor the generators and the drive," Garlock said.

  "I suppose so. The funny pictures, eh?" Delcamp had learned much, theprevious day; his own performance with the _Pleiades_ had humbled himmarkedly.

  "By no means, my friend," Garlock said, cheerfully. "While your stuffisn't exactly like ours--it couldn't be, hardly; the field is so big andso new--that alone is no reason for it not to work. James can tell you.He's the Solar System's top engineer. What do you think, Jim?"

  "What I saw in the ship yesterday will work. What few of the prints Isaw yesterday will fabricate, and the fabrications will work. The maintrouble with this project, it seems to me, is that nobody's building theship."

  "What do you mean by _that_ crack?" Fao blazed.

  "Just that. You're a bunch of prima donnas; each doing exactly as hepleases. So some of the stuff is getting done three or four times, inthree or four different ways, while a lot of it isn't getting done atall."

  "Such as?" Delcamp demanded, and--

  "Well, if you don't like the way we are doing things you can...." Faobegan.

  "Just a minute, everybody." Lola came in, with a disarming grin. "Howmuch of that is hindsight, Jim? You've built one, you know--and from allaccounts, progress wasn't nearly as smooth as your story can be taken toindicate."

  "You've got a point there, Lola," Garlock agreed. "We slid back twosteps for every three we took forward."

  "Well ... maybe," James admitted.

  "So why don't you, Fao and Deggi, put Jim in charge of construction?"

  Fao threw back her silvery head and glared, but Delcamp jumped at thechance. "Would you, Jim?"

  "Sure--unless Miss Talaho objects."

  "She won't." Delcamp's eyes locked with Fao's, and Fao kept still."Thanks immensely, Jim. And I know what you mean." He went over to acabinet of wide, flat drawers and brought back a sheaf of drawings. Notblueprints, but original drawings in pencil. "Such as this. I haven'teven got it designed yet, to say nothing of building it."

  * * *

  James began to leaf through the stack of drawings. They were full oferasures, re-drawings, and such notations as "See sheets 17-B, 21-A, and27-F." Halfway through the pile he paused, turned backward three sheets,and studied for minutes. Then, holding that one sheet by a corner, hewent rapidly through the rest of the stack.

  "This is it," he said then, pulling the one sheet out and spreading itflat. "What we call Unit Eight--the heart of the drive." Then,tight-beamed to Garlock:

  "This is the thing that you designed _in toto_ and that I never couldunderstand any part of. All I did was build it. It must generate thosePrime fields."

  "Probably," Garlock flashed back. "I didn't understand it any too wellmyself. How does it look?"

  "He isn't even close. He's got only half of the constants down, and halfof the ones he has got down are wrong. Look at this mess here...."

  "I'll take your word for it. I haven't your affinity for blueprints, youknow, or your eidetic memory for them."

  "Do you want me to give him the whole works?"

  "We'll have to, I think. Or the ship might not work at all."

  "Could be--but how about intergalactic hops?"

  "He couldn't do it with the _Pleiades_, so he won't be able to withthis. Besides, if we change it in any particular he _might_. You see, Idon't know very much more about Unit Eight than you do."

  "_That_ could be, too." Then, as though just emerging from hisconcentration on the drawings, James thought at Delcamp and Fao, but onthe open, general band.

  "A good many errors and a lot of blanks, but in general you're on theright track. I can finish up this drawing in a couple of hours, and wecan build the unit in a couple of days. With that in place, the rest ofthe ship will go fast.

  "_If_ Miss Talaho wants me to," he concluded, pointedly.

  "Oh, I do, Jim--really I do!" At long last, stiff-backed Fao softenedand bent. She seized both his hands. "If you can, it'd be too wonderfulfor words!"

  "Okay. One question. Why are you building your ship so small?"

  "Why, it's plenty big enough for two," Delcamp said. "For four, in apinch. Why did you make yours so big? Your Main is big enough almost fora convention hall."

  "That's what we figured it might have to be, at times," Garlock said."But that's a very minor point. With yours so nearly ready to flit, nochange in size is indicated now. But Belle and I have got to haveanother conference with the legal eagle. So if you and Brownie, Jim,will 'port whatever you need out of the _Pleiades_, we'll be on our way.

  "So long--see you in a few days," he added, and the _Pleiades_ vanished;to appear instantaneously high above the stratosphere over what was tobecome the Galaxian Field of Earth.

  * * *

  "Got a minute, Gene?" he sent a thought.

  "For you two Primes, as many as you like. We haven't started building orfencing yet, as you suggested, but we have bought all the real estate.So land the ship anywhere out there and I'll send a jeep out after you."

  "Thanks, but no jeep. Nobody but you knows that we've really got controlof the _Pleiades_, and I want everybody else to keep on thinking it'sstrictly for the birds. We'll 'port in to your office whenever you say."

  "I say now."

  In no time at all the two Primes were seated in the private office ofEugene Evans, Head of the Legal Department of the newly re-incorporatedGalaxian Society of Sol, Inc. Evans was a tall man, slightly thin,slightly stooped, whose thick tri-focals did nothing whatever to hidethe keenness of his steel-gray eyes.

  "The first thing, Gene," Garlock said, "is this employment contractthing. Have you figured out a way to break it?"

  "It can't be broken." The lawyer shook his head.

  "Huh? I thought you top-bracket legal eagles could break anything, ifyou really tried."

  "A good many things, yes, especially if they're long and complicated.The Standard Employment Contract, however, is short, explicit, andiron-clad. The employer can discharge the employee for any one of anumber of offenses, including insubordination; which, as a matter offact, the employer himself is allowed to define. On the other hand, theemployee cannot quit except for some such fantastic reason as thenon-tendering--not non-payment, mind you, but non-_tendering_--ofsalary."

  "I didn't expect that--it kicks us in the teeth before we get started."Garlock got up, lighted a cigarette, and prowled about the big room."Okay. Jim and I will have to get ourselves fired, then."

  "Fired!" Belle snorted. "Clee, you talk like a man with a paper nose!Who else could run the Project? That is," her whole manner changed; "hedoesn't know I can run it as well as you can--or better--but I couldtell him--and maybe you think I wouldn't!"

  "You won't have to. Gene, you can start spreading the news that BelleBellamy is a real, honest-to-God Prime Operator in every respect. Thatshe knows more about Project Gunther than I do and could run it
better.Ferber undoubtedly knows that Belle and I have been at loggerheads eversince we first met--spread it thick that we're fighting worse than ever.Which, by the way, is the truth."

  "Fighting? Why, you seemed friendly enough...."

  "Yeah, we can be friendly for about fifteen minutes if we try real hard,as now. The cold fact is, though, that she's just as much three-quartershellcat and one-quarter potassium cyanide as she...."

  "I like _that!_" Belle stormed. She leaped to her feet, her eyesshooting sparks. "All _my_ fault! Why, you self-centered, egotistical,domineering jerk, I could write a book...."

  "That's enough--let it go--_please!_" Evans pleaded. He jumped up, tookeach of the combatants by a shoulder, sat them down into the chairs theyhad vacated, and resumed his own seat. "The demonstration was eminentlysuccessful. I will spread the word, through several channels. ChancellorFerber will get it all, rest assured."

  "And _I'll_ get the job!" Belle snapped. "And maybe you think I won'ttake it!"

  "Yeah?" came Garlock's searing thought. "You'd do anything to get it andto keep it. Yeah. I _do_ think."

  "Oh?" Belle's body stiffened, her face hardened. "I've heard stories, ofcourse, but I couldn't quite ... but surely, he can't be _that_stupid--to think he can buy me like so many pounds of calf-liver?"

  "He surely is. He does. And it works. That is, if he's ever missed,nobody ever heard of it."

  "But how could a man in such a big job _possibly_ get away with suchfoul stuff as that?"

  "Because all the SSE is interested in is money, and Alonzo P. Ferber isa tremendously able top executive. In the big black-and-red money bookshe's always 'way, 'way up in the black, and nobody cares about hisconduct."

  * * *

  Belle, even though she was already convinced, glanced questioningly atEvans.

  "That's it, Miss Bellamy. That's it, in a precise, if somewhat crude,nutshell."

  "That's that, then. But just how, Clee--if he's as smart as you say heis--do you think you can make him fire you?"

  "I don't know--haven't thought about it yet. But I could be prettyinsubordinate if I really tried."

  "That's the understatement of the century."

  "I'll devote the imponderable force of the intellect to the problem andcheck with you later. Now, Gene, about the proposed Galactic Service,the Council, and so on. What is the reaction? Yours, personally, andothers?"

  "My personal reaction is immensely favorable; I think it the greatestadvance that humanity has ever made. I have been very cautious, ofcourse, in discussing, or even mentioning the matter, but the reactionof everyone I have sounded--good men; big men in their respectivefields--has been as enthusiastic as my own."

  "Good. It won't surprise you, probably, to be told that you are to bethis system's councillor and--if we can swing it and I think we can--thefirst President of the Galactic Council?"

  Evans was so surprised that it was almost a minute before he could replycoherently. Then: "I _am_ surprised--very much so. I thought, of course,that you yourself would...."

  "Far from it!" Garlock said, positively. "I'm not the type. You are.You're better than anyone else of the Galaxians--which means than anyoneelse period. With the possible exception of Lola, and she fits better onour exploration team. Check, Belle?"

  "Check. For once, I agree with you without reservation. _That's_ a jobwe can work at all the rest of our lives, and scarcely start it."

  "True--indubitably true. I appreciate your confidence in me, and if thevote so falls I will do whatever I can."

  "We know you will, and thank _you_. How long will it take to organize? Acouple of weeks? And is there anything else we have to cover now?"

  "A couple of _weeks!_" Evans was shocked. "You are naive indeed, youngman, to think anything of this magnitude can even be started in such ashort time as that. And yes, there are dozens of matters--hundreds--thatshould be discussed before I can even start to work intelligently."

  Hence discussions went on and on and on. It was three days beforeGarlock and Belle 'ported themselves up into the _Pleiades_ and thestarship displaced itself instantaneously to Margonia.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, on Margonia, James James James the Ninth went directly to theheart of his job by leading Lola and Fao into Delcamp's office andsetting up its Gunther blocks.

  "You said you want me to build your starship. Okay, but I want youboth--Fao especially--to realize exactly what that means. I know what todo and how to do it. I can handle your Operators and get the job done.However, I can't handle either of you, since you both out-Gunther me,and I'm not going to try to. But there can't be two bosses on any onejob, to say nothing of three or seventeen. So either I run the job or Idon't. If either of you steps in, I step out and don't come back in. Andremember that you're not doing us any favors--it's strictly vice versa."

  "Jim!" Lola protested. Fao's hackles were very evidently on the rise;Delcamp's face was hardening. "Don't be so rough, Jim, _please_. That'sno way to...."

  "If you can pretty this up, pet, I'll be glad to have you say it for me.Here's what you have to work on. If I do the job they'll have theirstarship in a few weeks. The way they've been going, they won't have itin twenty-five years. And the only way to get that bunch out there toreally work is to tell each one of them to cooperate or else--andenforce the 'or else.'"

  "But they'd quit!" Delcamp protested. "They'll _all_ quit!"

  "With suspension or expulsion from the Society the consequences?Hardly." James said.

  "But you wouldn't do that--you couldn't."

  "I wouldn't?"

  "Of course he wouldn't," Lola put in, soothingly, "except as a very lastresort. And, even at worst, Jim could build it almost as easily withcommon labor. You Primes don't really _have_ to have any Operators atall, you know; but all your Operators together would be perfectlyhelpless without at least one Prime."

  "How come?" and "In what way?" Delcamp and Fao demanded together.

  "Oh, didn't you know? After the ship is built and the fields are chargedand so on, everything has to be activated--the hundred and one thingsthat make it so nearly alive--and that is strictly a Prime's job. EvenJim can't do it."

  "I see ... or, rather, I don't see at all," Fao said, thoughtfully. Shewas no longer either excited or angry. "A few weeks against twenty-fiveyears ... what do you think of his time estimate, Deg my dear?"

  "I hadn't thought it would take nearly that long; but this 'activation'thing scares me. Nothing in my theory even hints at any such thing.So--if there's so much I don't know yet, even in theory, it would take along time. Maybe I'd never get it."

  "Well, anyway, I want our _Celestial Queen_ done in weeks, not years,"Fao said, extending her hand to James and shaking his vigorously. "So Ipromise not to interfere a bit. If I feel any such urge coming on, I'lldash home and lock myself up in a closet until it dies. Fair enough?"

  Since Fao really meant it, that was fair enough.

  * * *

  For a whole day James did nothing except study blueprints; going over indetail and practically memorizing every drawing that had been made. Hethen went over the ship, studying minutely every part, plate, member,machine and instrument that had been installed. He noted what each manand woman was doing and what they intended to do. He went over materialon hand and material on order, paying particular attention to times ofdelivery. He then sent a few--surprisingly few--telegrams.

  Finally he called all fourteen Operators together. He told them exactlywhat the revised situation was and exactly what he was going to do aboutit. He invited comments.

  There was of course a riot of protest; but--in view of what James hadsaid anent suspensions and expulsions from the Galaxian Society--not oneof them actually did quit. Four of them, however, did appeal to Delcamp,considerably to his surprise, to oust the interloper and to put thingsback where they had been; but they did not get much satisfaction.

  "James says that he can finish buil
ding this starship in a few weeks,"Delcamp told them, flatly. "Specifically, three weeks, if we can get thespecial stuff made fast enough. Fao and I believe him. Therefore, wehave put him in full charge. He will remain in charge unless and untilhe fails in performance. You are all good friends of Fao's and mine, andwe hope that all of you will stay with the project. If, however, we mustchoose now between you--any one of you or all of you--and James, thereis no need to tell you what the choice will be."

  Wherefore all fourteen went back to work; grudgingly at first anddragging their feet. In a very few hours, however, it became evident toall that James did in fact know what he was doing and that the work wasgoing faster and smoother than ever before; whereupon all opposition andall malingering disappeared. They were Operators, and they were allintensely interested in their ship. Morale was at a high.

  Thus, when the _Pleiades_ landed beside the now seething _CelestialQueen_, Garlock found James with feet on desk, hands in pockets, andscanner on head; doing--apparently--nothing at all. Nevertheless, he wasa very busy man.

  "Hey, Jim!" A soprano shriek of thought emanated from a gorgeousseventeen-year-old blonde. "I can't read this funny-picture, it's beenfolded too many times. Where does this lead go to?"

  "Data insufficient. Careful, Vingie; I'd hate to have to send you backto school."

  "'Scuse, please, Junior. Unit Six, Sub-Assembly Tee Dash Ni-yun.Terminal Fo-wer. From said terminal, there's a lead--Bee Subsomething-or-other--goes somewhere. Where?"

  "B sub Four. It goes to Unit Seven, Sub-Assembly Q dash Three, TerminalTwo. And watch your insulation--that's a mighty hot lead."

  "Uh-huh, I got that. Double Sink Mill Mill; Class Albert Dog Kittens.Thanks, boss!"

  * * *

  "Hi, Jim," Garlock said. Then, to Delcamp. "I see you're rolling."

  "_He's_ rolling, you mean." Delcamp had not yet recovered fully from astate of near-shock. "So _that's_ what an eidetic memory is? He knowsevery nut, bolt, lead, and coil in the ship!"

  "More than that. He's checking every move everybody makes. When they'redone, you won't have to just hope everything was put togetherright--you'll _know_ it was."

  Jim was their man.

  * * *

  And Fao sidled over toward Belle. There was something new about thesilver-haired girl, Belle decided instantly. The difference wasslight--Belle couldn't put her finger on it at first. Sheseemed--quieter? Softer? More subdued? No, definitely. More feminine?No; that would be impossible. More ... more adult? Belle hated to admitit, even to herself, but that was what it was.

  "Deg and I got married day before yesterday," Fao confided, via tightbeam.

  "Oh--so you're _pregnant!_"

  "Of course. I saw to that the first thing. I knew you'd want to be thefirst one to know. Oh, isn't it _wonderful_?" She seized Belle's arm andhugged it ecstatically against her side. "Just too perfectly marvelousfor _anything_?"

  "Oh, I'm sure it is; and I'm so happy for you, Fao!" And it would havetaken the mind of a Garlock to perceive anything either false or forcedin thought or bearing.

  Nevertheless, when Belle went into Garlock's room that night, stormsignals were flying high in her almost-topaz eyes.

  "Fao Talaho-Delcamp is _pregnant_!" she stormed, "and it's all _your_fault!"

  "Uh-huh," he demurred, trying to snap her out of her obviously savagemood. "Not me, ace. Not a chance in the world. It was Deggi."

  "You ... you _weasel_! You know very well, Clee Garlock, what I meant.If you hadn't given her that treatment she'd have kept on fighting withhim and they wouldn't have been married and had any children forpositively _years_. So now she'll have the first double-Prime baby andit ought to be _mine_. I'm older than she is--our group is 'way ahead oftheirs--we have the first and _only_ starship--and then you do _that_.And you wouldn't give _me_ that treatment. Oh, no--just to _her_, thatbleached-blonde! I'd like to strangle you to death with my own barehands!"

  "What a hell of a logic!" Garlock had been trying to keep his own temperin leash, but the leash was slipping. "Assume I tried to work onyou--assume I succeeded--what would you be? What would I have? What agedo you think this is--that of the Vikings? When SOP in getting a wifewas to beat her unconscious with a club and drag her into the longboatby her hair? Hardly! I do not want and will not have a conquered woman.Nor a spoiled-rotten, mentally-retarded brat...."

  "You unbearable, conceited, overbearing jerk! Why, I'd rather...."

  "Get out! And _this_ time, _stay_ out!"

  Belle got out--and if door and frame had not been built of super-steel,both would have been wrecked by the blast of energy she loosed inclosing the door behind her.

  In her own room, with Gunther blocks full on, she threw herself facedown on the bed and cried as she had not cried since she was a child.

  And finally, without even taking off her clothes, she cried herself tosleep.