Sonnabend did talk of days far distant,
Of wonders which have lately come to be
And births and trends historic now existent
This prophecy was handed down to me:
When the minions of immortals spread Galactic,
When a thousand cultures dwell in Vega's glow, When a sailing ship for starlight is a tactic,
When these things all come to pass then we will know."
Easily ten thousand people stood in Fifth Avenue, entranced. It was in front of the old aluminum-spired Radio Corporation Building.
On the rounded tip of the spire, unnoticed over the crowd sixty-five stories below, sat the last son of Krypton, who wondered.
That a hybrid born to Vega has been spreading
Massive strength through an empire built on trade...
Chapter 14 T HE C ROOKED P HILOLOGIST
Luthor sat in his private study, poring over the document with Elvin Lovecraft, the Central Intelligence Agency's code expert.
"Got anything yet?" Luthor was testy.
"No," Lovecraft said, "but it kind of reminds me of a code British Navel Intelligence once used. I cracked that."
"Aren't the British on our side?"
"Sure they're on our side."
"Then what were you doing cracking their spy code?"
"What do you think? They send us bulletins about their state secrets? They're like everyone else. This code, see, it was based on the brand names of Moroccan coffee manufacturers."
"Come again?"
"Coffee manufacturers. There are twenty six companies listed with the Moroccan government as licensed to distribute coffee, one for each letter of the Italian alphabet."
"Why Italian?"
"Italian was picked at random, also because the Italians are preoccupied enough with their own instability. They wouldn't be interested in the affairs of the British government."
"What happened with the coffee companies?"
"Oh. Well, they looked up each coffee company in the Moroccan financial journal and got the first word in the name of the company three listings below the coffee companies. These were listed in reverse alphabetical order and each stood for one letter of the alphabet."
"The whole word stood for a letter?"
"Yeah. Really unwieldy. Like the word 'and' came out spelled, 'texture-consolidated-general' or whatever its equivalent was in Moroccan and Italian."
"And this code from Einstein reminds you of that?"
"Yeah"
"How so?"
"That one was impossible to crack too."
The code expert turned back to the document and his notes, huffing and snorting and crossing things out. Luthor stared at him trying to decide whether to feel amazed, confused or disgusted. He couldn't make up his mind so he went into the next room to watch a videotape of the news that B.J. had prepared for him every day.
The thirty-sixth floor of their Galaxy Building was bleached white with tiling on the floors, porous ceilings that ate sound, glass doors, and marble wall paneling broken only by carefully selected prints of abstract paintings with stainless steel frames. Jan Schlesiniger perched in the chair behind the reception desk, pleasant but not friendly, attractive and not sexy. The last girl to sit behind that desk was dismissed when she came to work one day wearing argyle socks.
When a swirling spout of earth-coloured clouds formed in front of Jan and then consolidated into the form of a grinning, four armed man about five feet tall she was sure she was being tested.
"May I help you, sir?"
"My purpose I will not hedge, I've come to speak with Morgan Edge."
"Yes, sir. Do you have an appointment?"
"Just tell this Edge that Towbee's here, and he will see me, never fear."
"Mr. Edge is only available by appointment, sir. Galaxy Communications is a very large company. If you would write a letter specifying what you would like to talk to Mr.Edge about I'm sure it would be a better idea."
"T-O-W-B-double E, tell him that and he'll see me."
"Towbee?"
"That's my name. The very same."
"Just a moment, sir." Jan pressed a button on her desk's inter-office picture phone and addressed the facelift that flashed on the screen.
Of wonders which have lately come to be
And births and trends historic now existent
This prophecy was handed down to me:
When the minions of immortals spread Galactic,
When a thousand cultures dwell in Vega's glow, When a sailing ship for starlight is a tactic,
When these things all come to pass then we will know."
Easily ten thousand people stood in Fifth Avenue, entranced. It was in front of the old aluminum-spired Radio Corporation Building.
On the rounded tip of the spire, unnoticed over the crowd sixty-five stories below, sat the last son of Krypton, who wondered.
That a hybrid born to Vega has been spreading
Massive strength through an empire built on trade...
Chapter 14 T HE C ROOKED P HILOLOGIST
Luthor sat in his private study, poring over the document with Elvin Lovecraft, the Central Intelligence Agency's code expert.
"Got anything yet?" Luthor was testy.
"No," Lovecraft said, "but it kind of reminds me of a code British Navel Intelligence once used. I cracked that."
"Aren't the British on our side?"
"Sure they're on our side."
"Then what were you doing cracking their spy code?"
"What do you think? They send us bulletins about their state secrets? They're like everyone else. This code, see, it was based on the brand names of Moroccan coffee manufacturers."
"Come again?"
"Coffee manufacturers. There are twenty six companies listed with the Moroccan government as licensed to distribute coffee, one for each letter of the Italian alphabet."
"Why Italian?"
"Italian was picked at random, also because the Italians are preoccupied enough with their own instability. They wouldn't be interested in the affairs of the British government."
"What happened with the coffee companies?"
"Oh. Well, they looked up each coffee company in the Moroccan financial journal and got the first word in the name of the company three listings below the coffee companies. These were listed in reverse alphabetical order and each stood for one letter of the alphabet."
"The whole word stood for a letter?"
"Yeah. Really unwieldy. Like the word 'and' came out spelled, 'texture-consolidated-general' or whatever its equivalent was in Moroccan and Italian."
"And this code from Einstein reminds you of that?"
"Yeah"
"How so?"
"That one was impossible to crack too."
The code expert turned back to the document and his notes, huffing and snorting and crossing things out. Luthor stared at him trying to decide whether to feel amazed, confused or disgusted. He couldn't make up his mind so he went into the next room to watch a videotape of the news that B.J. had prepared for him every day.
The thirty-sixth floor of their Galaxy Building was bleached white with tiling on the floors, porous ceilings that ate sound, glass doors, and marble wall paneling broken only by carefully selected prints of abstract paintings with stainless steel frames. Jan Schlesiniger perched in the chair behind the reception desk, pleasant but not friendly, attractive and not sexy. The last girl to sit behind that desk was dismissed when she came to work one day wearing argyle socks.
When a swirling spout of earth-coloured clouds formed in front of Jan and then consolidated into the form of a grinning, four armed man about five feet tall she was sure she was being tested.
"May I help you, sir?"
"My purpose I will not hedge, I've come to speak with Morgan Edge."
"Yes, sir. Do you have an appointment?"
"Just tell this Edge that Towbee's here, and he will see me, never fear."
"Mr. Edge is only available by appointment, sir. Galaxy Communications is a very large company. If you would write a letter specifying what you would like to talk to Mr.Edge about I'm sure it would be a better idea."
"T-O-W-B-double E, tell him that and he'll see me."
"Towbee?"
"That's my name. The very same."
"Just a moment, sir." Jan pressed a button on her desk's inter-office picture phone and addressed the facelift that flashed on the screen.
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