XI
A submarine surfaced on the Atlantic, far below Superior.
It was obvious to the commander of the submarine, which bore themarkings of the Soviet Union, that the runaway town of Superior, beingpopulated entirely by capitalist madmen, was a menace to humanity. Thesubmarine commander made a last-minute check with the radio room, thengave the order to launch the guided missiles which would rid the worldof this menace.
The first missile sped skyward.
Superior immediately took evasive action.
First, in its terrific burst of acceleration, everybody was knockedflat.
Next, Superior sped upward for a few hundred feet and everybody wascrushed to the ground.
At the same time the first missile, which was now where Superior wouldhave been had it maintained its original course, exploded. A miniaturemushroom cloud formed.
The submarine fired again and a second missile streaked up.
Superior dodged again. But this time its direction was down. Everyonewho was outdoors--and a few who had been under thin roofs--found himselfmomentarily suspended in space.
Don and Alis, among the hundreds who had had the ground snatched outfrom under them, clung to each other and began to fall. All around themwere the various adversaries who had been about to clash. ProfessorGaret had been separated from his machine and they were followingseparate downward orbits. Many of Thebold's men had dropped their gunsbut others clung to them, as if it were better to cling to somethingthan merely to fall.
The downward swoop of Superior had taken it out of the immediate path ofthe second missile, but whoever had changed the townoid's course hadapparently failed to take the inhabitants' inertia into immediateconsideration. The missile was headed into their midst.
Then two things happened. The missile exploded well away from thefalling people. And scores of kangaroo-like Gizls appeared fromeverywhere and began to snatch people to safety.
Great jumps carried the Gizls into the air and they collected three orfour human beings at each leap. The leaps appeared to defy gravity,carrying the creatures hundreds of feet up. The Gizls also appeared tohave the faculty of changing course while airborne, saving their chargesfrom other loose objects, but this might have been illusion.
At any rate, Geneva Jervis, who had been hurled up from the roof ofHector's palace, where she had gone in hopes of catching a glimpse ofSenator Thebold, was reunited with the Senator when they were rescued bythe same Gizl, whose leap had carried him in a great arc virtually fromone edge of Superior to the other.
Don Cort, pressed close to Alis and grasped securely against the hairychest of their particular rescuer, was experiencing a combination ofsensations. One, of course, was relief at being snatched from certaindeath.
Another was the delicious closeness of Alis, who he realized he hadn'tbeen paying enough attention to, in a personal way.
Another was surprise at the number of Gizls who had appeared in themoment of crisis.
Finally he saw beyond doubt that it was the Gizls who were running theentire show--that Hector I, Bobby the Bold, and the pseudo-scientificGaret-Rubach Axis were merely strutters on the stage.
It was the Gizls who were maneuvering Superior as if it were a giantvehicle. It was the Gizls who were exploding the missiles. And it wasthe alien Gizls who, unlike the would-be belligerents among theEarth-people, were scrupulously saving human lives.
"Thanks," Don said to his rescuing Gizl as it set him and Alis downgently on the hard ground of the golf course.
"Don't mention it," the Gizl said, then leaped off to save others.
"He talked!" Alis said.
Don watched the Gizl make a mid-air grab and haul back a man who hadlooked as if he might otherwise have gone over the edge. "He certainlydid."
"Then that must have been a masquerade, that other time--all thatmumbo-jumbo with the Anagrams."
"It must have been, unless they learn awfully fast."
He and Alis clutched each other again as Superior tilted. It remainedsteady otherwise and they were able to see the ocean, whose surface wasmarked with splashes as a variety of loose objects fell into it. Don hada glimpse of Professor Garet's machine plummeting down in the midst ofmost of Superior's vehicular population.
"There's a plane!" Alis cried. "It's going after something on thesurface."
"It's the Hustler," Don said. "It's after the submarine."
The B-58's long pod detached itself, became a guided missile and hit thesubmarine square in the middle. There was a whooshing explosion, theB-58 banked and disappeared from sight under Superior, and the sub wentdown.
* * * * *
"Sergeant Cort," a voice said, and because Alis was lying with her headon Don's chest she heard it first.
"Is that somebody talking to you, Don? Are you a sergeant?"
"I'm afraid so," he said. "I'll have to explain later. Sergeant Corthere," he said to the Pentagon.
"Things are getting out of hand, Sergeant," the voice of Captain Simmonssaid.
"Captain, that's the understatement of the week."
"Whatever it is, we can't allow the people of Superior to be endangeredany longer."
"No, sir. Is there another submarine?"
"Not as far as we know. I'm talking about the state of anarchy inSuperior itself, with each of three factions vying for power. Four,counting the kangaroos."
"They're not kangaroos, sir. They're Gizls."
"Whatever they are. You and I know they're creatures from some otherworld, and I've managed to persuade the Chief of Staff that this is thecase. He's in seeing the Defense Secretary right now. But the StateDepartment isn't buying it."
"You mean they don't believe in the Gizls?"
"They don't believe they're interplanetary. Their whole orientation atState is toward international trouble. Anything interplanetary sendsthem into a complete flap. We can't even get them to discuss theexploration of the moon, and that's practically around the corner."
"What shall we do, sir?"
"Between you and me, Sergeant--" Captain Simmons' voice interrupteditself. "Never mind that now. Here comes the Defense Secretary."
"Foghorn Frank?" Don asked.
"Sh."
Frank Fogarty had earned his nickname in his younger years when hecommanded a tugboat in New York Harbor. That was before his quick risein the shipbuilding industry where he got the reputation as a wartimeexpediter that led to his cabinet appointment.
"Is this the gadget?" Don heard Fogarty say.
"Yes, sir."
"Okay. Sergeant Cort?" Fogarty boomed. "Can you hear me?" It was nowonder they called him Foghorn.
"Yes, sir," Don said, wincing.
"Fine. You've been doing a topnotch job. Don't think I don't know what'sbeen going on. I've heard the tapes. Now, son, are you ready for alittle action? We're going to stir them up at State."
"Yes, sir," Don said again.
"Good. Then stand up. No, better not if Superior is still gyrating. Justraise your right hand and I'll give you a field promotion to major.Temporary, of course. I can do that, can't I, General?"
Apparently the Chief of Staff was there, and agreed.
"Right," Fogarty said. "Now, Sergeant, repeat after me...."
Don, too overwhelmed to say anything else, repeated after him.
"Now then, Major Cort, we're going to present the State Department withwhat they would call a _fait accompli_. You are now Military Governor ofSuperior, son, with all the power of the U.S. Defense Establishmentbehind you. A C-97 troop carrier plane is loading. I'll give you theETA as soon as I know it. A hundred paratroopers. Arrange to meet themat the golf course, near the blimp. And if Senator Thebold tries tointerfere--well, handle him tactfully. But I think he'll go along. He'sgot his headlines and by now he should have been able to find hismissing lady friend. Help him in that personal matter if you can. As forHector Civek and Osbert Garet, be firm. I don't think they'll give youany trouble."
"But, sir
," Don said. "Aren't you underestimating the Gizls? If they seeparatroops landing they're liable to get unfriendly fast. May I make asuggestion?"
"Shoot, son."
"Well, sir, I think I'd better go try to have a talk with them and seeif we can't work something out without a show of force. If you couldhold off the troops till I ask for them...."
Foghorn Frank said, "Want to make a deal, eh? If you can do it, fine,but since State isn't willing to admit that there's such a thing as anintelligent kangaroo, alien or otherwise, any little deals you can makewith them will have to be unofficial for the time being. All right--I'llhold off on the paratroopers. The important thing is to safeguard thecivilian population and uphold the integrity of the United States. Youhave practically unlimited authority."
"Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I'll do my best."
"Good luck. I'll be listening."
* * * * *
"As I see it," Alis said after Don had explained his connection with thePentagon, "Senator Thebold licked Hector Civek. Father, who defectedfrom Hector, captured the Senator and vice versa. But now the Gizls havetaken over from everybody and you have to fight them--all by yourlonesome."
"Not fight them," Don said. "Negotiate with them."
"But the Gizls are on Hector's side. It seems to come full circle. Wheredo you start?"
Superior had returned to an even keel and Don helped her up. "Let'sstart by taking a walk over to the bubble gum factory. We'll try to seethe Gizl-in-Chief."
There didn't seem to be anyone on the grounds of the McFerson place. Theboxcar which had been on the siding near the factory was gone. It wasprobably at the bottom of the Atlantic by now, along with everythingelse that hadn't been fastened down. Don wondered if Superior'sgyrations had been strong enough to dislodge the train that hadoriginally brought him to town. The Pennsylvania Railroad wouldn't behappy about that.
They saw no one in the mansion and started for the basement room inwhich they'd had their talk with the Gizl, passing through rooms wherethe furniture had been knocked about as if by an angry giant. They werestopped en route by Vincent Grande, ex-police chief now Minister ofDefense. "All right, kids," he said, "stick 'em up. Your Majesty," hecalled, "look what I got."
Hector Civek, crownless but still wearing his ermine, came up thestairs. "Put your gun away, Vince. Hello, Alis. Hello, Don. Glad to seeyou survived the earthquake. I thought we were all headed for kingdomcome."
Vincent protested, "This is that traitor Garet's daughter. We can holdher hostage to keep her father in line."
"Nuts," the king said. "I'm getting tired of all this foolishness. I'msure Osbert Garet is just as shaken up as we are. And that crazySenator, too. All I want now is for Superior to go back where it camefrom, as soon as possible. And that's up to Gizl, I'm afraid."
"Have you seen him since the excitement?" Don asked.
"No. He went down that elevator of his when the submarine surfaced. Iguess his control room, or whatever it is that makes Superior go, isdown there. Let's take a look. Vince, will you put that gun away? Gohelp them clean up the mess in the kitchen."
Vincent Grande grumbled and went away.
In the basement room, Hector went to the corner and said, "Hey! Anybodydown there?"
A deep voice said, "Ascending," and the blue-gray kangaroo-like creatureappeared. He stepped off the elevator section. "Greetings, friends."
"Well," Hector said, "I didn't know you could talk."
"Forgive my lack of frankness," Gizl said. "Alis," he said, bowingslightly. "Your Majesty."
"Frankly," Hector said, "I'm thinking of abdicating. I don't think Ilike being a figurehead. Not when everybody knows about it, anyhow."
"Major Cort," Gizl said.
Don looked startled. "What? How did you know?"
"We have excellent communications. We thank your military for itsassistance with the submarine."
"A pleasure. And we thank you and your people for saving us when we wentflying."
"Mutuality of effort," Gizl said. "I'll admit a dilemma ensued when thesubmarine attacked. But our obligation to safeguard human livesoutweighed the other alternative--escape to the safety of space. Nowsuppose we have our conference. You, Major, represent Earth. I, Rezar,represent the survivors of Gorel-zed. Agreed?"
"Rezar?" Don said. "I thought your name was Gizl. And what's Gorel-zed?"
"Little Marie Bendy called me Gizl," Rezar said. "She couldn't pronounceGorel-zed. I'm afraid I haven't been entirely candid with you about anumber of things. But I think I know you better now. I heard yourconversation with Foghorn Frank."
Don smiled. "Do you mean you've been listening in ever since I strappedon the transceiver?"
"Oh, yes," Rezar said. "So recapitulation is unnecessary. But we Gizls,so-called, are still a mystery to you, of course. I suppose you'd likesome background. Where from, where to, when, and all that."
"I certainly would," Don said. "So would everybody else, I imagine,especially King Hector here, and Mr. Fogarty."
"By all means let us communicate on the highest level," Rezar said."First, where from, eh?"
"Right. Are you listening, Mr. Secretary?"
"I sure am," Fogarty said. "What's more, son, you're being pipeddirectly into the White House--and a few other places."
"Good," Rezar said. "Now marvel at our saga."