The Governor's eyes never moved, but Jorden shifted in sudden, wild
indecision. Almost simultaneously there were two shots exploding in the
narrow cabin, and then a third. Jorden and Boggs leaped out of their
chairs.
[Illustration]
From the kitchen doorway came the steel-taut voice of Bonnie. "Don't
move any further, Mr. Boggs. Put your hands in the air. Get his gun,
Mark--in the pocket on this side."
For a moment Jorden hesitated, his eyes held by the sight of Boggs' two
gunmen on the floor, blood spreading in tiny rivulets. He took the
pistol from the Governor's pocket and held it in readiness.
"I ought to kill you now, Boggs," he said. "Fortunately, or
unfortunately, we have to set a precedent in such matters if the colony
is to survive. We have to go through the formality of a trial for
sabotaging the power plant and murdering those killed there. Actually,
it would be a good idea if you just took off over the hills and went as
far as you could before the jungle got you. It would save us all a great
deal of trouble."
Hope surged in Boggs' eyes as he recognized that Jorden was incapable of
shooting him down. Then bitterness mingled with that hope. "You won't
get away with this, Jorden. We'll see what the people have to say about
your wife shooting my men down while my back is turned."
"_Their_ backs weren't turned," said Jorden. "Get them out of here now.
If you want to save explanations as to why you came here tonight you
might find a convenient spot and bury them--before you take out over the
hills yourself."
Watching until they could no longer see the lights of Boggs' car, they
closed the door. Bonnie collapsed with a moan, cringing in Jorden's
arms.
"Now they'll kill us all," she said in a lifeless voice. "We haven't got
a chance. For this we followed your great dream of colonizing an outpost
of the Universe!"
* * * * *
That night Roddy was sick. Six days later he was dead. Before they
decided to go through with this section of the program there were long
and heated conferences between Bonnie and Ashby and the staff working at
the test pit. Bonnie insisted the program should be dropped here. They
already knew that Jorden was what they were searching for. They had only
to analyze the factors that had brought him to the test and they would
have what they needed to identify as many colonists as the project
required. He didn't need to be broken down any further.
Ashby knew this was not true. Jorden's basic purpose as a colonist had
not yet been brought into sight. Ashby recognized that his goal was
almost certainly the perpetuation of the colony--and he was the first
one who had maintained such a goal this far--but they had to know the
drive that existed behind the goal. If it should develop a basis wholly
in flight it would still crack before completion of the program.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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