"My name isn't Doc." There was increasing bitterness in his voice.
"It's Leo. It's just that it amuses _him_ to call me that, because I
happen to be a petrologist."
"Oh," said Leila. She watched him cross the room and toss his space
suit onto a hanger, return and sprawl limply in the chair behind the
desk. Then she remembered that she was a reporter with the biggest
story of her life to get. "Perhaps you can tell me something of what I
need to know," she suggested.
Leo Chaikoski stared fixedly at the tangle of papers. "What do you
mean?"
"Well ..." she hesitated. "Something about the general setup here, to
begin with."
"Setup? It's simple enough. Paul Gedner gives the orders to the
Woollies and to the rest of us--officially, he's only the Woolly boss,
but--well, you seem to know him."
"Yes," said Leila.
"I have a degree from North American Geological, so whenever the
Woollies have worked out a jade site, I go out and kick over a couple
of rocks to uncover a new one. It's not a job--the surface supply will
outlast the market. Paige keeps the accounts and production records and
makes out requisitions once in a while and spends the rest of his time
with a book and a bottle. Chandler--was--our maintenance man for the
mechanical equipment. And the Woollies dig the jade and load it when
the rocket comes, and Saturn Colonial pays our salaries."
But Leila seized on the mention of the dead man. She said, "I'm here to
get the facts on Chandler's death, you know."
* * * * *
His head snapped up; the girl fancied she saw alarm flash into his
eyes. Then he looked down again. "You'd better ask the others. They
were both there when it happened; I wasn't."
"But you must know how it happened."
"Chandler was out at the diggings, inspecting a drill, when one of the
Woollies on the job attacked him. There wasn't any provocation, nor any
warning. Paul killed the Woolly with that gun he carries, but Chandler
was done for."
There was a guarded look in the scarred face, and Leila was not
satisfied. She remembered her training in interviewing--the
you-approach.
"What do _you_ think made that Woolly run amok?" she demanded
pointblank.
Leo rose to his feet with a jerk, as if the abrupt question had carried
a physical impact. He said in a savage voice, "I don't think, I--" He
bit off the last word and fell silent, the great scar growing more
apparent as his face paled. His eyes strayed fearfully toward the outer
door; then he looked back at the girl and advancing toward her, lowered
his voice. "Listen, I'll tell you. But you mustn't let _him_ see that
you know.... Paul killed Chandler."
Leila sat open-mouthed. But there was no need for her to say anything;
the words came now from Leo Chaikoski in a jerky torrent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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