Chapter 18
A few nights later one of the junior engineers came running into theoffice where Hanlon and Philander were playing chess.
"Trouble down in Stope Four," he gasped.
Philander jumped up, upsetting the board. He grabbed his glo-light andstarted out.
"Want me along, sir?" Hanlon asked.
"Might as well," and Hanlon ran with them.
Down in the mine they found, after examination, that it was not as badas it at first seemed. Some timbers had rotted away--or had not beengood wood in the first place--and a rock fall had occurred. But oncethey started working at it, they found it not too big. Hanlon was sentrunning for the rest of the men, and in a few hours everything was alltight again.
Back in the office Hanlon picked up the fallen chess pieces whilePhilander and the engineers talked for some time. When they left Hanlonasked, "Want to finish the game--or rather, since the board was upset,want to play another?"
"Better make it a rain-check. I've got some paper work I should do. Makeit tomorrow."
"That's okay with me. I'll go hit the hay."
"Thanks for your help tonight, George. You pitched in so gladly, whilethe others were surly and grumbling. It was very noticeable, and Iappreciate it. You're a good kid. Wish I had one just like you."
Hanlon flushed a bit, and couldn't meet his friend eye to eye. "I wasglad to do it," he said lamely. "'Night," and he ran out. Blast it, hethought, I hate using Pete that way, 'cause he's really a swell eggunderneath. But the job's more important.
A few nights later they had finished the second game, and the elder hadwon both. He was consequently in very good humor, for the two were soevenly matched it was seldom either ever won two games in the sameevening.
Philander leaned back in his chair and smiled at the younger man. "Well,George, the freighter'll be here in three days, and I'm sending you backfor your vacation."
"Gee, thanks, Chief. That's swell of you. I'm going to miss you, butI'll admit I'll be glad to get away from this awful climate for a while.This place sure gets my goat--I can't seem to get used to it all."
"Then you won't want to come back?" There was disappointment in thequestion.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean that. I sure will be back if I can make it. Maybethis job isn't exactly what I'd dreamed about," he had to hedge thatstatement a bit, and tried to make a sincere-sounding explanation, "butthat thousand credits a month is!"
"That reminds me--I want to be sure to recommend you for a good bonus.You deserve it more'n any guard we've ever had here. Then, too, yourideas of rotating your crew, and especially that fertilizer deal, haveraised the effective work-life and speed of the natives almost thirtypercent. I figured it out, and they'll be getting off cheap if they giveyou what I'm recommending--two months pay as a bonus."
"Yowie!" Hanlon yelled, making his face show excitement, and thatcurious avarice he had so carefully built up in these suspicious men'sminds. "That'll make me six thou in four months. I'll be rich yet!"
"You and your urge for money," Philander laughed, yet there was acurious undertone of almost-contempt in his voice. "Why're you so hippedon that subject?"
Hanlon grinned and misquoted, "Life is real, life is earnest, and thegravy is my goal." Then he sobered and said, "'Cause with money you cando anything. When I've made a big pile, then I can go where I want togo, be what I want to be, and make people know I'm somebody."
Philander shrugged. "Maybe you're right, but I'd say there were betterways, George."
Hanlon looked doubtful. "I have the utmost respect for your ideas andgreater experience, sir, but what's better than a big wad of credits."
Philander looked more seriously thoughtful than Hanlon had ever seen himbefore. He was silent a moment, then answered slowly, "This may sound'old-mannish,' but I believe steady advancement in whatever work youchoose; growing knowledge of many things; creative imagination put toconstructive use; the growing respect and consequent advance inresponsibility from your employers if you're working for someone, orfrom your neighbors if you're in business for yourself--those thingsare, in my opinion, of much greater value than the mere accumulation ofmoney. And the best part of it is, that if you grow in those ways, thatextra money will come to you, but merely as a corollary addition to thegreater achievements."
"I see your point," Hanlon was greatly impressed by Philander'searnestness. "Maybe you're right. I'm still just a kid, I guess, with akid's immature outlook. That's why I appreciate your friendship andadvice so much, sir. You've been almost like a second father to me."This was honest--he liked Philander now more than ever.
The look on the elder's face, too, defied description, but that he wassecretly pleased was evident.
"Well, run along then, and I'll get at that letter. Meanwhile get yourthings packed, so you'll be ready to leave when the ship comes. AndGeorge, my boy, I do hope you come back. It'll be mighty lonely herewithout you."
"I'll certainly do my best to get back, sir. Goodnight, and thanksagain ... for everything."
Hanlon hated that seeming lie, and as he walked slowly back to his roomhe determined to get the man away from those plotters, and into a betterand more legitimate position.
He would certainly so recommend to the Secret Service High Command afterthis mess was cleaned up.
The next days Hanlon spent almost his entire shift-time undergroundtalking earnestly to Geck.
"I want to impress on the minds of you and all the natives here thatI'll be working my hardest for them every minute I'm gone," he saidimpressively. "Don't let them do anything foolish unless or until itbecomes completely sure that I've failed. If I can do anything at all,it should be within a quarter year after I leave, and probably muchsooner. If I succeed, you'll all be free, and these men either chasedoff your planet or killed."
"All we understand, An-yon. We know you are true friend, know you wantto help us. We will keep working, make no attempts to escape. We know ifdo we just be killed, or hunted and caught again. Condition of we beforeyou come so bad we had come to feel only end for us be death of race.Now you bring hope. Now we know most humans good people, so we wait inhope you soon succeed."
"That's the spirit. I know it's tough on all of you, but I also knowwhat the Inter-Stellar Corps is, and what they can and will do when theylearn of your plight."
He linked his mind with Geck's as the latter telepathed the natives inother parts of the planet, and was thus enabled to get finaldescriptions of what they could tell of what was being done at each mineand factory and shipyard. He knew exactly how many ships had been builtor were under construction, and approximately how far along the hulls ofthe big ones were completed. He was also able to get a very good generalknowledge of the size and structural description of each type of vessel.
But of their armaments or propulsive methods he had not been able to getany information--such things were too far beyond the natives' simpleabilities to describe or picture for him.
Hanlon's ability to telepath, through Geck, was growing much stronger,although he was still not able to telepath direct to any of the distantGuddus. He could, however, do so to some extent to one close by.
But he still could not read anything in a human mind except the surfacethoughts. And how he could use that ability! With that, his task wouldbe much simpler.
But he had learned to be content with what he had, realizing it wasundoubtedly unique in human history. It had brought him this far along,and he had collected a lot of information which he could not have gainedin any other manner--information that he could report to the Corps assoon as he got back to Simonides and had the chance to go to the bank orcontact them in some other way.
"Liberation Day," as Hanlon had taken to calling it in his mind, finallyarrived. He was all packed and waiting for the ship. When it was sightedhe and Philander went to the field to meet it.
When the captain came out, the three stood in conversation while thecrew hurriedly unloaded the supplies they had brought, and those leavinghad gone
aboard. The captain handed Philander some letters, but thelatter shoved them in his pocket for the time beings without stopping tolook at them.
Finally it was time for blast-off, and Hanlon said his last farewells tothe superintendent, then went in to stow his bags in his stateroom andprepare for take-off. He had expected to be locked in again, and merelytried the door out of curiosity. But to his surprise it wasn't locked,so he went out. He was wise enough not to attempt to invade the controlroom, but did hunt up a viewing-screen and strap himself into the chairbefore it.
He manipulated the dials and had just got an outside view as the pilotbegan activating the tubes. Hanlon saw Philander come running from thelittle path through the jungle, back toward the field, waving a letter,trying to attract attention.
But evidently neither the captain, pilot nor any watch officer saw him,for at that moment the great wash of flame from the tubes blotted outthe scene, and Hanlon was forced deeply into his acceleration chair asthe ship lifted gravs.
The trip back was uneventful. Hanlon kept careful track of the time, andstrained all his spaceman's senses properly to evaluate their speed. Asthe ship braked for the landing on Simonides he completed hiscalculations, and was quite sure the distance between the two planetswas twelve and a quarter light years, plus or minus not over twopercent, and that Algon was somewhere near right ascension eighteenhours, and declination plus fifteen degrees.
As he passed through the airlock and started down the plank, he wassurprised and a bit dismayed to see Panek and two of the other gunmen hehad seen in that back room, waiting for him, their faces impassive andunreadable.
"A welcoming committee, eh?" he greeted them with a smile that tried tocover his disappointment. "Hiya, Panek! Hi, fellows!"
But his heart was doing flip-flops. These men were not here just becausethey were glad to see him, of that he was sure. He probed their mindsand even before Panek spoke, he knew.
"The boss sent us to bring you to see him first thing, the boss did,"Panek's voice was gruff, yet somewhat friendly.
"That's mighty nice of him," Hanlon tried not to let his feelings show,but to take this as a natural courtesy. But he had so much wanted to getto the bank immediately. "I was coming to report, of course," hecommented. "Got a letter for him from Superintendent Philander. Besides,I got a flock of credits coming. Boy, did I earn 'em! That's a stinking,hot planet up there. It'll be good seeing the bright lights again,besides living in a decent climate once more."
The two men grunted a mysterious laugh, but Panek merely indicated theway to the aircar. Again Hanlon was blindfolded, but now he didn'tcare--he knew the location of this crater field.
There was silence during most of the trip. Hanlon babbled away at first,but when no one answered him he gradually slowed his words and finallyshut up entirely.
His mind probings told him he was in for a rough time, and he got thefeeling he was not supposed to be there at all, for some reason.
"Oh, oh!" he thought, almost in panic. "Something's wrong. Did I slipsomewhere? Have they got wind of what I've learned? But how ... howcould they?"
Instead of taking him to the back room of the Bacchus, Hanlon found whenthe blindfold was finally removed that he was in a stone-walled roomthat he sensed was a sort of cellar in some huge building. It was bareof furniture except for two chairs and the glo-lights, one of which wason a standard like a spotlight.
Before he had time to try to puzzle things out, the door opened and theman he had thought of merely as "the leader" came in and sat down in oneof the chairs. He gestured, and the men pushed Hanlon into the facingseat, and adjusted the glo-light so it shone in his eyes. Then rangedthemselves behind him.
"So, you got back?" the Leader said softly.
"Sure," Hanlon made himself act as though nothing was out of the way,but it was an effort to smile and talk naturally when his mouth wassuddenly dry and his nerves tightened almost to the screaming point. "Mytime was up, so Mr. Philander sent me back. I've got a letter for youfrom him."
He started to reach into his pocket, but Panek slapped his hand down,and snaked the letter out, handing it to the Leader, who opened it andread it silently.
Then the man looked up, his face puzzled. "You seem tohave ... uh ... done very well there," he said almost pleasantly. "Oursuperintendent reports you made an excellent guard. He seems very pleasedwith you."
"I told you I'd do everything I could to make good," Hanlon answered,but now he made his voice sound very aggrieved. "What's the big idea ofall this? Seems like a mighty funny reception, after I tried so hard.Why that light in my eyes, and those thugs ready to slug me if I bat aneye-lash. It's almost like you don't trust me, or something?"
"I'm still not altogether sure we do," the Leader said slowly.
"Still harping on that?" Hanlon demanded hotly. "What makes you thinkI'm not on the up and up? I worked hard on that stinking hot planet. Igot out more ore'n anyone else ever did. And my suggestion aboutnitrates ..."
"Ah, yes, the matter of the ... uh ... fertilizer. What made you bringthat up?"
"The minute I saw those Greenies I guessed they were animated trees.When I saw how they fed themselves by sticking their fingers in the hutfloor, I figured the dirt would gradually lose whatever nourishment itcontained, same as a farmer's fields soon lose their fertility. Allplants I know about extract nitrogen and other minerals from the soil.So I figured the Greenies would need fertilizer to make up for thedepleted soil in their huts. It seemed simple to me."
"Ummm. You were right, apparently. It was a great contribution to ourwork, and we are grateful." He looked at Hanlon a long moment, thenasked sharply, "How did Rellos die?"
"A dog tore out his throat."
"We know that--but you said you killed him."
"Who d'you suppose sicced the dog on him? We were walking down thestreet, and I kicked the dog's pup to death. When she charged, I pushedRellos in her path, and it was him the dog killed."
"Ah! Good! Very unusual! Most ... uh ... ingenious!" The Leader seemedpleased, but slowly his smile died and he frowned again. "All this makesme want to believe you, Hanlon, but somehow I can't seem to rid myselfof the belief that you still are connected with the Corps. Oh, I know,"as Hanlon started to protest, "all about your dismissal and disgrace,and the fight you had with some of your former classmates a few dayslater. Incidentally, wasn't it rather straining coincidence that it wasan admiral who came along just in time to save you? You see, all thatcould easily have been done on purpose. I'm ... uh ... not that simple,young man."
"No, but you're nuts, figuring that way!" disgustedly.
"I think you will find out differently," the tone sent shivers throughthe young SS man's nerves, and he had difficulty controlling the impulseto wet his suddenly dry lips. "I may be wrong--I hope most sincerelythat I am--but I haven't so far been able to bring myself to feel so.But I intend to know for sure before we leave this room. Panek, bring inour other ... uh ... guest."
Hanlon heard the gunman leave, and in a moment return. He appeared inHanlon's line of vision, pushing before him a manacled man.
At sight of that other man, Hanlon had to gasp.