supposed to think the same way he does—that’s why NASO sent you here, right?
Okay—I want to know what you think.”
Would Zambendorf risk it? Not if he were uncertain whether or not the warning
was a bluff, Massey was sure. But now of course, with the seemingly impossible
alliance between Zambendorf and Massey having so recently come about, and over
an issue that the mission’s directors were apparently incapable of
comprehending, Zambendorf would not be left in any uncertainty on the matter.
Therefore any conclusions based upon his presumed ignorance of the true state of
affairs concerning the Taloid weapons would be invalidated. If Lang was basing
his strategy on a bluff, Massey had an opportunity to undermine its entire
foundation.
Massey looked up and ran his eyes slowly over the three faces waiting across the
table for his reply. “Maybe Zambendorf is a rogue and a scoundrel in some ways,
and maybe his concept of ethics doesn’t exactly measure up to society’s ideal,
but basically his values are just and humane. If he has any real doubts, he
won’t gamble.”
“You’re sure?” Leaherney asked, sounding uneasy.
“No, it’s just my opinion. That is what you asked for, and it’s all I can
offer.”
“But you are reasonably confident,” Giraud persisted.
Massey frowned and bunched his lips for a moment, then exhaled suddenly and
nodded. “Reasonably,” he conceded, quite truthfully.
Leaherney looked from Giraud to Lang, then back again, and finally at Massey.
“Then if no one has anything more to add, we need detain you no longer. Thanks
for your time.”
“Thank you,” Massey said, just a trifle stiffly. He remained expressionless as
he rose to leave, but inwardly he was smiling broadly.
After Massey left, Leaherney emitted a long sigh, slumped back in his chair, and
took a cigar from the box in the center of the table. He rolled the cigar
beneath his nose and eyed Lang curiously while he savored the aroma of the
tobacco. “Okay, Caspar,” he said. “And now would you mind telling us exactly
what that whole stunt was supposed to mean?”
“Sorry about the melodramatics, but I didn’t want to tell you the latest until
after we’d talked to Massey,” Lang replied. “Your reactions needed to be
genuine.” He paused for a second to survey the other two briefly, and then
informed them, “Our military-intelligence people are pretty certain that,
improbable as it may seem, Massey and Zambendorf are now working together.”
A puzzled frown crossed Giraud’s face. “But if that’s so and we send Zambendorf
a warning, Massey will tell him it’s just a bluff.”
“As he’s supposed to,” Lang agreed.
Giraud’s expression became even more perplexed. “So . . . what good will it do?”
he asked.
“It will conflict with other information that will reach Zambendorf through the
other two channels that we’ve identified,” Lang replied. “That NASO
captain—Campbell—has been leaking classified information to Thelma like a sieve
ever since we left Earth, and a number of the scientists are sympathetic to
Zambendorf’s humanitarian ideals concerning the Taloids. I intend to plant
information that will find its way to Zambendorf from both those sources,
indicating that the bluff story we fed Massey was intended simply to put us on
record as having tried to warn Zambendorf off—thereby exonerating us from any
blame for his actions—and that really the Paduans do have smart missiles.”
“Zambendorf won’t know what to believe,” Leaherney said. He stopped to think for
a second and shook his head bemusedly. “In fact I’m not even sure I know
myself.”
“And I agree completely with Massey’s prediction that Zambendorf won’t gamble if
he’s in any doubt as to the true situation,” Lang said. He smiled humoriessly,
braced his hands on the edge of the table in preparation to rise, and looked at
Giraud. “The next thing we have to do is arrange a descent to Padua for another
meeting with Henry. No doubt he’ll be pretty mad when James Bond tells him what
happened to his invasion, but if all goes well and Zambendorf backs down, I
don’t think we’ll have too much trouble persuading Henry that the whole thing
was just a temporary setback. A week from now we’ll all be back on track.”