said. “It could be anywhere in an area of hundreds of thousands of square
kilometers. So we have to assume that the next time we see Zambendorf will be
when he decides to make his appearance at Padua and wheel in this messiah he’s
manufactured. We won’t get an opportunity to confront him again until then.”
“What we’d like is your professional opinion as one of the mission’s senior
psychologists on Zambendorf’s probable reaction to the course of action that we
have in mind,” Giraud said.
There would have been no point in Massey’s feigning disinterest. He raised his
head and thrust out his chin inquiringly, but remained silent. Lang waited for a
moment, and then resumed in a strange, curiously ominous voice, “As I’m sure we
all know, modem infantry-launched homing missiles for use against armor and
low-flying aircraft are pretty devastating weapons. They carry smart electronics
for target identification and tracking, and are designed to be very simple to
use—without requiring specially trained personnel. The Taloids could learn to
fire them very quickly.” Lang tossed out his hands in a brief motion and let his
meaning hang for just a second. “If, ah … if anything like that just happened
to have been included in the weapons that we shipped down to Henry, it could be
real bad news for anyone who tried a slow-speed, low-level run over the city in
a surface lander, couldn’t it?”
Massey’s eyes were blazing even before Lang had finished, and his beard quivered
with indignation. “What are you saying? That would be murder! You can’t—”
Lang held up a hand protectively. “Hey, take it easy, Gerry. Just . . . take it
easy. I was talking hypothetically. But suppose that Zambendorf believed that
the Paduans really did have weapons like that. . . . You see my point—he’s got
his own people down there with him, plus the crew of the shuttle they hijacked.
. . . What would he do? Would he back off and forget this whole damnfool thing
about going for Padua, or would he risk it, and to hell with the others down
there? Or would he do something else? What do you think?”
A short silence went by. “Are you asking me to make a prediction?” Massey asked
guardedly.
Lang shook his head. “No—only an opinion. As Charles said, we’re interested in
what you think in your professional capacity as one of the mission’s
psychologists. We’ve some important decisions to make and not much time to make
them in. We just want to be sure that we don’t overlook anything that might be
relevant.”
Massey stared down at the table again, now very thoughtful. If his opinion was
being sought and respected, perhaps he had judged the situation too hastily.
“Why should Zambendorf believe anything like that?” he asked, looking up.
“We call the lander via the comnet and tell him,” Lang replied simply.
“They wouldn’t reply,” Massey objected. “You’d be able to pinpoint their
location.”
“Not necessarily,” Giraud said. “They could route their transmission through a
surface relay dropped anywhere on Titan—or maybe several of them. We could
locate the relays if we wanted, but it wouldn’t help us get a fix on the
lander.”
Massey nodded distantly as his mind raced to absorb the implications of what was
being said. Surely there was some way he could turn this situation to advantage,
he told himself. Lang and the others would have deduced a long time ago NASO’s
real purpose in sending him with the mission, which would give them no reason
for supposing that he and Zambendorf should since have discovered any common
interests. All of their plans would be based on the assumption—now false—that he
and Zambendorf would have nothing to communicate. The possibilities were
intriguing.
After another long silence, Lang said, “Obviously the thought could cross his
mind that we might be bluffing—in fact with a guy like Zambendorf, it’s probably
the first thing he’d think of. But on the other hand, the international
political and commercial implications of the situation are big—very big, as
Zambendorf is only too well aware. Who’s to say what we might do when the chips
are down? Would he risk it with all those other people down there? You’re