"Why, George," Loveral said, swiftly examining the litter of metal and
wood which was spread over a table behind Atkinson. There was a
home-made hammer in Atkinson's hand. "What have we here, George?"
"Something for you," Atkinson said, tightening his fingers about the
handle of the hammer.
Loveral grinned his famous Loveral grin. "That's fine. What could it
be?"
"None of your damned business."
"_George_," Loveral said, his smile still white but his eyes narrow and
quick.
The woman was behind them. Her voice screeched. "George, I told you. Why
didn't you listen, George? You should have listened to me. You--"
Loveral held up a hand, still watching Atkinson. "Now tell me, George,
what is it you're making for me?"
Atkinson raised the hammer slightly.
Loveral stood very still. "That's a nice hammer, George."
Atkinson's eyes were black beneath his thick brows.
"You made that, didn't you?" Loveral asked.
"Yes, I made that," Atkinson said. "I made that and I made something
else. Another minute and I'll have that finished, too."
"George," said Loveral, stepping quietly forward, "I don't like to say
this, of course. You've been one of our very best members. But nobody
works here, George. We can't allow that. You know the rules."
"I know the rules, all right."
"Well, then," Loveral said, extending his hand toward the hammer, "we'll
just destroy this and whatever else you might have been making. We'll
just forget it ever happened. We'll get along real fine that way,
George. We'll just be such good friends."
"We'll just go to hell," said Atkinson, snatching his hammer away.
Loveral's smile disappeared. "I'll tell you, George. I have to mean
business with this. You know the reasons. If we allow anybody to work
here, then there's going to be trouble. That isn't our plan. We're here
to grow within ourselves and expand culturally. Not to commercialize a
beautiful world like Dream Planet."
Atkinson stood unmoving, and Loveral could see the way the man's muscles
were tight, like steel springs, and the way his eyes burned deep inside
their blackness.
"We've given you everything you need," Loveral explained, trying to
adjust the smile on his lips again. "Everybody has everything they want.
But, you see, if you sit there and work and make something that someone
else doesn't have, then the whole system is destroyed. Then someone will
want what you've made. We'll have jealousy and hatred and fighting. This
is the stuff of which wars are made, George. You know that. It starts
with small things like this, but it grows. When it does, the structure
of our life here will collapse. You wouldn't want that, would you,
George?"
"Yes!" Atkinson said, his mouth white at the edges. "I'd like to see the
whole rotten thing collapsed and blown to hell!"
Loveral's teeth snapped together and his lips grew tight. He could feel
a muscle jumping along his neck.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account