Unusuals – everyone? To bring in a nonhumanoid life form which’ll probably want to colonize here once it’s destroyed us?’
‘Except,’ Barnes pointed out, ‘it’s not going to destroy us; we’re going to destroy it.’
‘You just never know for sure about these things,’ Gram said. ‘They might gain a foothold. That’s what we have to prevent.’
Barnes said, ‘From a calculation of the distance from which the message came, it’s computed that he – and they – won’t be here for two more months.’
‘They may have a faster-than-light drive,’ Gram said shrewdly. ‘Provoni may not be aboard the
Gray Dinosaur
; he may be on one of their ships. And hell, the
Gray Dinosaur
is fast enough; remember, it was the prototype of a whole new line of interstellar transportation type ships; he got the first one and away he went.’
‘I’ll admit this,’ Barnes said. ‘Provoni may have modified the ship’s drive; he may have beefed it up. He always was a tinkerer. I wouldn’t rule it out entirely.’
‘Cordon will be executed immediately,’ Gram said. ‘Get it done now. Notify the media, so they can be present. Round up sympathizers.’
‘Ours? Or theirs?’
Gram spat out, ‘Ours.’
‘In addition,’ Barnes asked, scratching out notes on a pad of paper, ‘may I have permission to bomb the 16th Avenue printing plant?’
‘It’s bomb proof,’ Gram said.
‘Not exactly. It’s divided, like a beehive, into—’
‘I know all about it – I’ve read your damn plodding, tiresome memos about it for months. You have a thing about that 16th Avenue printing plant, don’t you?’
‘Shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t it have been destroyed long ago?’
‘Something keeps me from doing it.’
‘Why?’ Barnes said.
Presently Gram said, ‘I worked there, once. Before I rose in the Civil Service. I was a spy. I know almost everyone there; they were onetime friends. They never found out about me… I didn’t look like I do now. I had an artificial head.’
‘Christ,’ Barnes said.
‘What’s the matter with that?’
‘It’s just so – absurd. We don’t do that any more; we haven’t done that since I took office.’
‘Well, this was before you took office.’
‘So they still don’t know.’
‘I’ll give you the authority to break down the wall of the place and arrest all of them,’ Gram said. ‘But I won’t give you permission to bomb them. But you’ll see I’m right; it won’t make any difference; they’ll have the news of Provoni
on the air.
In two minutes, they’ll blanket the Earth – two minutes!’
‘The second their transmitter goes on the air—’
‘Two minutes. Anyhow.’
Presently Barnes nodded.
‘So you know I’m right. Anyhow, go ahead with the execution of Cordon; I want it done by six o’clock tonight, our time.’
‘And the business about the sharpshooter and Irma—’
‘Forget that. Just get Cordon. We’ll snuff her later. May-be one of the nonhumanoid life forms could smother her with its sack-like, protoplasmic body.’
Barnes laughed.
‘I’m serious,’ Gram said.
‘You have a lurid idea of what the nonhumanoids are going to turn out to look like.’
‘Blimps,’ Gram said. ‘They’ll look like blimps. Only with tails. It’s the tails you have to watch for, that’s where the poison is.’
Barnes rose. ‘May I leave now and start the procedure re Cordon’s execution? And the attack on the 16th Avenue Under Men printing plant?’
‘Yes,’ Gram said.
Lingering at the door, Barnes asked, ‘Would you like to attend the execution?’
‘No.’
‘I could have a special box made up for you from which you could see but into which no one—’
‘I’ll watch it on closed-circuit TV.’
Barnes blinked. ‘Then you don’t want it telecast over the regular planet-web system? For everybody to see?’
‘Oh, yeah, Gram said, glumly nodding. ‘Of course; that’s half of it, isn’t it? All right, I’ll simply watch it like
‘Except,’ Barnes pointed out, ‘it’s not going to destroy us; we’re going to destroy it.’
‘You just never know for sure about these things,’ Gram said. ‘They might gain a foothold. That’s what we have to prevent.’
Barnes said, ‘From a calculation of the distance from which the message came, it’s computed that he – and they – won’t be here for two more months.’
‘They may have a faster-than-light drive,’ Gram said shrewdly. ‘Provoni may not be aboard the
Gray Dinosaur
; he may be on one of their ships. And hell, the
Gray Dinosaur
is fast enough; remember, it was the prototype of a whole new line of interstellar transportation type ships; he got the first one and away he went.’
‘I’ll admit this,’ Barnes said. ‘Provoni may have modified the ship’s drive; he may have beefed it up. He always was a tinkerer. I wouldn’t rule it out entirely.’
‘Cordon will be executed immediately,’ Gram said. ‘Get it done now. Notify the media, so they can be present. Round up sympathizers.’
‘Ours? Or theirs?’
Gram spat out, ‘Ours.’
‘In addition,’ Barnes asked, scratching out notes on a pad of paper, ‘may I have permission to bomb the 16th Avenue printing plant?’
‘It’s bomb proof,’ Gram said.
‘Not exactly. It’s divided, like a beehive, into—’
‘I know all about it – I’ve read your damn plodding, tiresome memos about it for months. You have a thing about that 16th Avenue printing plant, don’t you?’
‘Shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t it have been destroyed long ago?’
‘Something keeps me from doing it.’
‘Why?’ Barnes said.
Presently Gram said, ‘I worked there, once. Before I rose in the Civil Service. I was a spy. I know almost everyone there; they were onetime friends. They never found out about me… I didn’t look like I do now. I had an artificial head.’
‘Christ,’ Barnes said.
‘What’s the matter with that?’
‘It’s just so – absurd. We don’t do that any more; we haven’t done that since I took office.’
‘Well, this was before you took office.’
‘So they still don’t know.’
‘I’ll give you the authority to break down the wall of the place and arrest all of them,’ Gram said. ‘But I won’t give you permission to bomb them. But you’ll see I’m right; it won’t make any difference; they’ll have the news of Provoni
on the air.
In two minutes, they’ll blanket the Earth – two minutes!’
‘The second their transmitter goes on the air—’
‘Two minutes. Anyhow.’
Presently Barnes nodded.
‘So you know I’m right. Anyhow, go ahead with the execution of Cordon; I want it done by six o’clock tonight, our time.’
‘And the business about the sharpshooter and Irma—’
‘Forget that. Just get Cordon. We’ll snuff her later. May-be one of the nonhumanoid life forms could smother her with its sack-like, protoplasmic body.’
Barnes laughed.
‘I’m serious,’ Gram said.
‘You have a lurid idea of what the nonhumanoids are going to turn out to look like.’
‘Blimps,’ Gram said. ‘They’ll look like blimps. Only with tails. It’s the tails you have to watch for, that’s where the poison is.’
Barnes rose. ‘May I leave now and start the procedure re Cordon’s execution? And the attack on the 16th Avenue Under Men printing plant?’
‘Yes,’ Gram said.
Lingering at the door, Barnes asked, ‘Would you like to attend the execution?’
‘No.’
‘I could have a special box made up for you from which you could see but into which no one—’
‘I’ll watch it on closed-circuit TV.’
Barnes blinked. ‘Then you don’t want it telecast over the regular planet-web system? For everybody to see?’
‘Oh, yeah, Gram said, glumly nodding. ‘Of course; that’s half of it, isn’t it? All right, I’ll simply watch it like
Similar Books
