"Affirmative," the psiman said. "A store ship docked there twenty hours
before the attack. Among other things, it left newspapers containing
the article."
"Very good," I said calmly. "Send a general order to suspend all future
activity with the planted releases. Send it by psimen only, no mention
on any other Naval signaling equipment, there's a good chance now it
might be 'overheard.'"
I strolled out slowly, in command of the situation. Keeping my face
turned away so they couldn't see the cold sweat.
* * * * *
It was a fast run to Udrydde where my billionaire's yacht, the
_Eldorado_, was waiting. The dockyard commander showed me the
ship, and made a noble effort to control his curiosity. I took a
sadistic revenge on the Navy by not telling him a word about my
mission. After checking out the controls and special apparatus with
the technicians, I cleared the ship. There was a tape in the automatic
navigator that would put me on the course mentioned in all the
articles, just a press of a button and I would be on my way. I pressed
the button.
It was a beautiful ship, and the dockyard had been lavish with their
attention to detail. From bow to rear tubes she was plated in pure
gold. There are other metals with a higher albedo, but none that
give a richer effect. All the fittings, inside and out, were either
machine-turned or plated. All this work could not have been done in the
time allotted, the Navy must have adapted a luxury yacht to my needs.
Everything was ready. Either Pepe would make his move--or I would sail
on to my billionaire's paradise planet. If that happened, it would be
best if I stayed there.
Now that I was in space, past the point of no return, all the doubts
that I had dismissed fought for attention. The plan that had seemed so
clear and logical now began to look like a patched and crazy makeshift.
"Hold on there, sailor," I said to myself. Using my best admiral's
voice. "Nothing has changed. It's still the best and _only_ plan
possible under the circumstances."
Was it? Could I be sure that Pepe, flying his mountain of a ship and
eating Navy rations, would be interested in some of the comforts and
luxuries of life? Or if the luxuries didn't catch his eye, would he be
interested in the planetary homesteading gear? I had loaded the cards
with all the things he might want, and planted the information where he
could get it. He had the bait now--but would he grab the hook?
I couldn't tell. And I could work myself into a neurotic state if I
kept running through the worry cycle. It took an effort to concentrate
on anything else, but it had to be made. The next four days passed very
slowly.
vii
When the alarm blew off, all I felt was an intense sensation of relief.
I might be dead and blasted to dust in the next few minutes, but that
didn't seem to make much difference.
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