Harvey stopped him. He explained briefly his experience in discovering
asteroid juncture faults for the Asteroid Association. He explained
that once, according to theory and great evidence, a large planet
existed between Mars and Jupiter. The planet exploded, forming the
asteroid belt, and throwing out large, errant chunks of itself which
moved in various peculiar orbits about the Sun.
"Plymouth is such a chunk, and," added Harvey complacently, "I will
undoubtedly be paid one thousand credits from the Asteroid Association
later on when I show that Plymouth comes from that shattered planet's
surface. And I will prove also, for the first time, that that shattered
planet contained a surface soil on which vegetable life was rampant.
Plymouth is such a proof."
Gramenger writhed and sweated. He pointed to the pile of dirt. "But you
haven't proved--"
Harvey turned to the lawyer. "May I ask your astrological sign, sir?"
The lawyer grimaced. "Why? I don't believe in astrology. I have been
told it's Taurus."
Harvey smiled. "This is a fine coincidence. My fiancee's sign is also
Taurus. I am Pisces. The two signs are especially in affinity with one
another. I believe you can trust me, sir." He looked straight into the
lawyer's eyes.
* * * * *
The lawyer grinned lopsidedly after a moment and turned to Gramenger.
"We can trust him," he said. "He's right all the way down the line.
Anyway, we couldn't waste time in finding out."
"All right!" Gramenger rapped the words out half-angrily. "Take care of
it, Phil. Get Parsons & Carey on the 'phone, and ask them to send all
their engineers and equipment out. Pronto!" The lawyer nodded briefly
at Harvey and left the room.
"As for you," said Gramenger. He gulped and stopped. With trembling
fingers he began shoving the pile of dirt back into the paper bag.
Harvey thought a minute.
"I wonder if I could use your 'phone?" he asked.
Gramenger growled an assent. Harvey sat on the edge of the desk. "Get
me outside," he told the operator, who turned out to be a machine
somewhere in the building. The mechanical voice told him to press the O
key. He pressed the O key. "Get me Mars," he said. The mechanical voice
changed to a human voice. "Get me the Hotel de Mars on Mars," he said.
Gramenger was staring at him. A voice at the other end came through
thinly. "Let me speak to Anna Christina Morley at the Registration
desk," he said. Gramenger sat down, beginning to smile and staring
at Harvey as if not only a new planet but a new type of man had been
discovered.
Harvey said, "Anna, dearest? I shall speak very plainly, very quickly.
I am a man of few words--What?"
His leathery face lost a little color. "But you _are_ my fiancee, you
know."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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