‘My own teen hang-ups,’ said Lane cynically, ‘required that I ask the idiots of the Committee. You’re not included among the idiots in my mind.’
‘Nevertheless,’ smiled the older man, ‘I feel a great need to manifest an image of boldness for the benefit of all those teen
age adults out there.’ He waved vaguely, taking in half the room. Still smiling, he opened the door, and went out, closing it behind him. Lane returned to his desk, and he was sitting there, frowning to himself, striving to think of what else to do, when Scott came running in breathlessly. He laid a sheet of paper on the big desk, and pointed with a trembling forefinger at the last two lines.
The senior fleet commander gazed down at the paper without at first grasping the full meaning of what was printed there. The document, a single sheet, was a computer copy of a test flight order for
Omnivulture 2681-E,
Captain Peter Sennes, active flight officer, pilot, and two passengers.
The names of the passengers, as given on the last two lines
’
were Susan Lane and Bud Jaeger.
What the man at the desk did not immediately grasp was the date of the flight. In fact, he glanced up at the plump, competent individual who was hovering so nervously above him, and said irritably, ‘Mr Scott, this is rather a late report. My wife could have been saved a lot of anxiety last Sunday had she known that there was a second passenger on this craft.’ He broke off, scowling: 'As for who that second passenger was, I’m astounded that we only now discover it was the Jaeger boy - ’
He was interrupted. The liaison secretary was pale. ‘Sir,’ he gasped, ‘that document does not refer to last Sunday’s flight. The report came in, and I brought it to you at once. That military craft space-lifted at nine o’clock this morning.’
The fleet commander grabbed at the paper, and with his finger traced the date: August twelve NOAD. As he gazed at it, the normal high-color of his cheeks changed a little. Slowly, then, he shrank down into his chair, and crouched there for a time looking blank. When he finally stirred, he said wearily, ‘Mr Scott.’
‘Yes, sir?'
'When Mr Reid comes, don’t mention Susan. A hard decision have to be made, and I don’t want him influenced the way I may be.’
“Very good, sir.’ Pause. Then, discreetly, 'What about Mrs Lane, Commander?’
The officer smiled wanly. “When I left the house shortly before nine o’clock, my wife believed Susan was sound asleep in her bed. Obviously
’
- he tapped the paper - ‘Susan wasn’t.’ Once more he was silent. The sick expression came back. He said, ‘Please call my wife, and ask her to come down to this office.’ He added dully, ‘I think she ought to be here for whatever develops. And if by any chance we can have a few last words with our dear daughter, that privilege should not be denied her.’ He broke off, ‘Just tell her to come at once. Don’t tell her why, yet,’
Estelle actually slept several times. Twice, she got up for coffee, and then back into the bedroom she drooped. Shortly after two, it became obvious that the
madness must cease. ‘After all,’ she said aloud into the shaded room, hopefully. ‘Susan will be home from school in another hour.
1
Up she got, and into the living room she went, and re-resuming there her task of cleaning. After a weary while, she dragged the cleaning stuff into the den. And she was wiping the bar itself with a specially-impregnated cloth when she saw Susan’s note.
At the exact moment when Andrew Scott was phoning her, she had the den phone receiver in her hand, and was frantically button-pushing Lane’s office number. As a result Scott reported to Lane, ‘I get a busy signal, sir.’
Even as he spoke, a light blinked on the phone multiplex attached to the desk. Andrew Scott stepped discreetly forward, picked up a second receiver, pressed the lighted button, and said hello. He listened wisely, and then said, ‘I’ll see.’ He thereupon placed his palm over the mouthpiece, and said in a low voice, ‘Your wife.’
Reluctantly, his boss held out his hand for the receiver. His expression said that this wasn’t going to be easy. So, as he brought his lips near the mouthpiece, he began at once, at if he would overwhelm her. ‘Estelle, I’ve just discovered that our daughter is aboard
Omnivulture
with Captain Sennes. Dez and I would like you to come over here to my office. Meanwhile, I’ll call Sennes, and see what the situation is. Okay?’
At her end, the blonde woman screamed, ‘Wait!’
It was an arresting yell. Her husband jiggled a little as the sound poured into his eardrum. But he waited while she read him the note their daughter had written.
As he listened, Lane’s face and eyes tried to reject his own responsibility in what had happened. It was distinctly unfair - a horrifying coincidence, it seemed at this moment - that the aliens had somehow used Captain Senncs’s test flight routine as
a means of their spy escaping from earth. But he had to get Estelle off the line, and en route, swiftly while, in fact, he did attempt to communicate with
Omnivulture 2681-E.
So he said reassuringly, ‘I can’t believe that Captain Sennes would be a party to a runaway marriage with a teen-age girl. In the first place, I’ve never thought of him as a marrying man -
1
‘What’s that?’ said his wife sharply. ‘What did you say?’ There was a pause, while the man savored the meaning of his own words as they must have sounded to her. And it was not good. Before he could speak, her voice came again, savagely, “When I see you next, be prepared to have your goddamn face slapped,’ she said.
The situation was so fantastically much worse than she realised, that her husband could only grit his teeth in self-control, as he said, ‘If I deserve it, I’ll take it.’ He attempted to soothe her. ‘Now, listen, let me do what I said - phone Sennes right now, while you’re on your way over.’
‘It would be much faster if you called him/ said the woman,
‘
and then phoned me right back.’
‘For God’s sake, Estelle/ yelled her husband, ‘stop arguing with me and get over here!’
He disconnected hastily, and looked up with a pale countenance at his aide. Things are going to get worse, I know, but that will do for a start.’
Andrew Scott said diplomatically, ‘Maybe the situation isn’t as bad as we fear. Maybe they are on Tombaugh, or somewhere.’ ‘Let’s not delude ourselves/ was the curt reply. ‘It’s obvious now why the enemy is moving in. They’re going to cover, and protect, and defend our beautiful
Omnivulture
so that little Bud escapes with his information.’
The secretary said in a formal tone, 'Commander, have I your permission to attempt to contact Captain Sennes?’
The request brought a sudden breathlessness to Lane. Naturally, he wanted to say, yes, of course, go ahead. The words wouldn’t come, because — because he didn’t want to hear what was technically obvious: that Susan was already dead. He finally managed to gulp, ‘They’re probably beyond die orbit of Mars by now.’
‘Then the communication computer will automatically use the carrier system of instant transmission via one of the orbiting stations out there. Correct?’
‘I suppose that’s true/ agreed Lane reluctantly. He sighed. ‘All right. Go ahead.’
Two things happened, then, almost at the same instant.
The corridor opened, and Desmond Reid, carrying a small
suitcase, walked in. He waved at the two men, but apparen
tl
y saw that they were busy. For he put up his hand, and pointed toward the conference room, and shaped his mouth to the
sotto voce
words: ‘Call me when you’re through.’ He strode on into the conference room, and the last Lane saw of him, he was shaking hands with Lee David.
That event was probably first by several moments.
The second thing: As the fleet commander turned his attention back to Scott, he saw that the liaison aide was holding the receiver out to him. The plumpish man said in his most imperturbable secretarial voice, ‘Captain Sennes on the line, sir.’
When Bud Jaeger arrived at the designated Omnivulture hangar, he was asked to sign in and then to sit in the adjoining waiting room. While he sat, people - all men - charged past both ways in an intermittent stream. There was the sound of many human voices, and whenever a certain door was opened, a vibration came through from whatever was beyond. The vibration was not exac
tl
y a sound, though it had sound in it. It was a feeling of power that, somehow, he had not previously experienced on earth.
The alien boy sat very still, taking it all in. Two male clerks who worked behind the grilled wickets, glanced at him periodically. Finally, one said to the othe
r, ‘That’s the quietest kid I’ve ever seen. He hasn’t moved, or lifted a finger, since he sat down. What’s he scheduled for.’
The second man studied the sign-in sheet. ‘The Sennes flight
a passenger.’
The first man grinned. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘that’s a switch for Sennes - a boy passenger. Maybe he’s getting strange in his old age.’ He added, ‘The kid is probably petrified with fear.’
They both laughed. And clearly considered the excessive boy stillness of the ‘boy’ explained.
It was not until fourteen minutes to nine that Captain Sennes arrived with a Susan breathless from last moment hurrying. ‘Whee
!
Bud! ’ said the girl, nervously.
‘This way,’ said Captain Sennes. He opened the door that led to the vibration, with its sense of vast open spaces.
Bud climbed to his feet, puzzled. “What are you doing here?’ he asked Susan,
‘I’ll tell you later,’ was the reply. She added, 'The ride is so great, the rest doesn’t matter.’ She was following the flight officer by the time she uttered that enigmatic sentence. Hastily, Bud set out after her.
The two young people almost literally pursued Captain Sennes through a tangle of spacecraft to
w
here the great, sleek machine 2681-E waited for them. As Sennes assisted, first Susan and then Bud up to the in-ramp of the ship, the boy was still uncertain as to the reason for her presence. He followed Susan forward, and dutifully, on her instructions, sat down and fitted on the safety belts. But when he saw her do the same for herself, he protested, ‘You’re not going along?’
She nodded.
‘B-but you’ve already been once,’ the boy protested wildly, as if somehow that concept had a genuine meaning, as if it made sense. When the girl seemed not to accept that meaning, he added urgently, ‘Susan, wait - don’t -
’
On the other side of the girl, Captain Sennes had his earphones on, and with a dexterous twist or two, fastened himself in with the safety belts. On the great viewplate at their feet, the vaulted dome above the craft showed open.
While Bud watched in confusion, unable to decide what to do next, the vault opening appeared to come down toward them. As the flight continued, the boy hunched down into his part of the
seat. He
looked blank. His normally bright eyes had a partly closed slant to them. It gave them a glazed effect.
When the spacecraft was less than half an hour out from base Susan, who had been suppressing yawns for some minutes, said sleepily, ‘Gee, I can hardly keep my scanners open, I was awake most of the night. So I think I’ll squeeze out the light for a while. Sack?’
‘Sack,’ said Peter Sennes.
In a minute more, the two males were, in a manner of speaking, alone. The girl slept with her head tilted slightly to one side and nestling down on her left shoulder. ‘Fact is,’ the man said to the boy, ‘since we’re making a long trip, I put some relaxer in her orange juice at breakfast.’
Bud nodded, but said nothing. His bright eyes flicked a little, he registered the words. But the rule was to speak no more than necessary. Let the hypnotic victim do his own rationalising for his illogical acts.
For some reason, he himself was not quite as disturbed by the presence of a Susan who was asleep, as he had been by a Susan awake. Thus, the hours went by, and he sat there as the magnificent machine flew all the way to the orbit of Mars, and kept right on hur
tling
along into the fantastic distances between Mars and Jupiter.
About three o’clock, Susan stirred, stretched, and opened her eyes. ‘Aren’t we at Tombaugh yet?’ she asked, stifling a yawn.
Her question had the effect of a double-acting catalyst.
Just like that, her aliveness penetrated again to Bud. And the shock of her being on the ship returned.
The boy saw that the words had brought a puzzled frown into Sennes’s face and eyes: ‘Tombaugh?’ the man echoed. But he seemed to be thinking. Bud watched him anxiously.
Oh, my father.
.. He sent the silent appeal out into space ..,
When are you coming? I need you.
And, in fact, out there in space, the invisible observer was during those moments involved in the intricate task of matching velocities with the hurtling
Omnivulture.
Succeeded.
My son,
he said,
you have done well.
But Susan is aboard,
the boy answered uneasily .. .
And she just now asked where we were going.
The father was instantly concerned.
Did you do exactly as you were trained to do when you interviewed Captain Sennes?
Yes. I dropped the crystal at kis feet when he was turned away from me for a few moments. As soon as 1 did that I repeated the words that I was told
,
Good!
But, my father, they forgot to say there shouldn’t be any other passengers.
It was an unfortunate oversight,
soothed the father . ..
not to realise that you might become attached to someone.
But it's Susan, and she’s a member of my outfit,
Bud protested.
Your escape is the important thing, my son. Now, heed me! You say Susan has just asked Captain Sennes about the vessel’s destination?
Yes. But, first, about Susan
-
What was Captain Sennes’s reply?
The father’s telepathic communication ignored Bud’s question.
He hasn’t answered yet. He’s sitting here looking very tense.
These active flight officers are trained to be immune to ordinary hypnotism. You bypassed his defenses. It never even occurred to him that a boy would try anything like that. But the effect is undoubtedly wearing
off,
now that he’s wondering about how he got to the wrong destination. So you know what you must do.
Oh!
What's the matter?
Captain Sennes is talking to somebody.
Instead of immediately taking the phone receiver from his secretary’s extended hand. Fleet Commander John Lane climbed to his feet and said, ‘Tell
Captain Sennes to hold for a minute.’ Hurriedly, he walked over to the conference room, opened it, and beckoned Reid to come out. Quickly, then, he explained to the older man about
Omnivulture
- but he named only Bud and Captain Sennes; did not mention Susan. He finished in a harsh voice, ‘Dez, what do you think? I feel I may have to order that unit destroyed. Do you concur?’
The Committee chairman was amazed. Under no circum-
1
stances. This may be our opportunity to establish communication with these beings - which you have told me was the only sensible course.’
Relief flooded the younger man’s face. He said hastily, ‘Dez, thank God for that decision. It was my own, also. But I thought I might be letting personal considerations influence me in this emergency.’
‘How do you mean?’ Reid was puzzled.
‘Susan is aboard.’
The older man turned pale. His face actually became gray. Finally, he gulped, and said shakily, ‘Does Estelle know?’
Lane shook his head. ‘Not yet. But she’s on her way down here. So she’ll know shortly.’
Having spoken, he stepped over to the red button. Placed his finger on it. And then looked up questioningly at the other. ‘Do you agree?’
‘Plan D?’ asked his friend, simply.
'What else? The president, the cabinet members, all top echelon authorised to be interconnected with this computer, should hear every word, and be ready for immediate decisions. Correct?
’
‘Correct,’ was the steady-toned reply.
Lane pressed the button.
Having done so, he nodded to Reid. ‘Tell the boys to come out here. We may need their help.’
As he walked back to his desk, he was aware of the blond youth and the intese, dark-haired one, coming forth. Moments after that he was saying to Scott in a low voice, ‘When my wife arrives, you brief her.’
‘Very good sir,’ was the equally low-voiced reply.
Lane now accepted the receiver from Scott’s hand. He spoke into it in the formal tone of someone who knows that important people, indeed, were listening in, and that they would need all the information they could get. ‘This is Fleet Commander John Lane. Am I addressing Captain Peter Sennes aboard
Omnivulture 26S1-E
in flight six hours out from earth?’
‘Yes, Commander. And I believe that I have a problem ,. which I have just become aware of.’
‘Captain Sennes,’ said Lane, ‘you may tell me your problem in a moment. First, we want to know where you are.’
‘Quadrant 31, Four-point-zero-three.’
Lane’s voice changed slightly in pitch when he spoke again, almost as if he were standing on the bridge of the
Oriole.
His tone was firm and commanding, as he said ‘To all unit captains near that reading - approach and stand by.’ Once more, he addressed Serines, and now his voice was again clear and showed awareness that other ears were listeneing: ‘Captain
!
he said, ‘we have reason to believe that the boy who is one of your two passengers is an alien enemy, and if you can persuade him, we would like to have a conversation with him. Now, what is your problem?’
‘I have just become aware,’ was the calm answer, ‘that I was hypnotised by the boy yesterday morning. I believe I have now successfully dehypnotised myself. And I shall attempt to carry out your request. Just a moment, sir.’
There was silence.
My father, they want to talk to me from earth. They know!
The parent was greatly disturbed.
This is very serious. Let me feedback to ship-base and ask instructions.
Shall I talk to Commander Lane?
Yes.
But -
reluctantly -
he’s a hooter.
He’s also the senior earth fleet commander. So find out what he wants. But make no admissions about yourself.
Lane had urgently beckoned to Lee David and Mike Sutter, ‘Get onto those phone extensions, and you talk to Bud first.’
The two boys grabbed the phones indicated silently by Andrew Scott. And Mike with a nod deferred to his outfit leader.
Captain Sennes’s voice came first. ‘My passenger, Bud Jaeger,
1
he said, ‘has a microphone and receiver fitted over his head, and is ready for communication.’
‘Bud,’ said Lee David, ‘this is Lee David of the Red Cats.’ ‘Whee,’ said the alien boy into everybody’s speaker system. ‘What’s the problem, Bud?’ said Lee.
What shall I say, my father?
Ask him what he wants.
But I
know
what he wants. And you can't refuse to answer a direct question from your outfit leader. It's in the rules.
Lee was speaking again: ‘Bud, do you still regard yourself as a jabber?’
‘Y-yes, of course. You haven’t scraped me, have you?’
‘Not yet,’ said Lee. ‘But you’re either a jabber or you’re not. And a jabber goes by the rules.’
‘I kind of liked being in an outfit. We don’t have anything like that. What would a jabber do in a situation like this?’
‘What kind of situation is it, Bud? What’s the problem?’
‘My father says I mustn’t answer that. And where I come from, a boy is with his father and does what he says.’
There was an interjection - Mike’s urgent voice: ‘Bud, our goal is peace. You know and I know, the adults can’t or won’t allow peace. So the jabbers have to achieve it. Sack?’
‘But how do I know answering your questions will bring peace?
5
At that point, Lee gestured at Mike for silence, and then he made a face at Lane. The man said promptly into his mouthpiece, ‘Bud, this is the fleet commander, John Lane.’
‘You’re Susan’s father. You’re a booter.’
“Yes, I may be all those things. But I also know the problem. We’d like to talk to your leaders. They don’t ever reply to our attempts at communication. Why, Bud, why?’
‘Because you dropped bombs on our main planet without warning.’
‘No - we didn’t!’
'Somebody did. We’re trying to find out who. That’s why I’m here. We’ve got to find out.’
‘Earth didn’t do it, Bud.’
‘That’s why they won’t communicate. They figure you’d lie, and so we’d never be sure.’
‘Just a moment, Bud.’ Lane placed his palm over the mouthpiece and said
sotto voce
to his secretary, ‘Get microfilm copies from the computer of all documents and photos relating to every space expedition. Now!’
‘Yes sir.’
Lane removed his palm, and said, ‘What do you think, Bud? You’ve looked us over.’ ‘People like you and Mr Jaeger are pretty awful. But some of the others were nice.’