probably as soon as the first signal from Gistar came in months ago. So what they’ve been doing is stalling things until it got there.”
Caidwell nodded. “It makes sense. You’ve got to hand it to them-they almost had it tied up. If it wasn’t for McClusky
who knows?”
A solemn silence descended and persisted for a while. Eventually Lyn looked inquiringly from one man to another. “So what happens now?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” Packard replied. “It’s a complicated situation all around,”
She looked at him uncertainly for a second. “You’re not saying they might get away with it?”
“It’s a possibility.”
Lyn stared as if she couldn’t believe her ears. “But that’s ridiculous! You’re telling us that for. . . I don’t know how many years, people like this have been keeping whole nations backward, sabotaging education, and supporting all kinds of idiot cults and propaganda to stay on top of the pile, and there’s nothing anybody can do? That’s crazy!”
“I didn’t put the situation as definitely as that,” Packard said. “I said it’s complicated. Being pretty sure of something and being able to prove it are two different things. We’re going to have to do a lot more work to make a case out of it.”
“But, but . . .” Lyn searched for words. “What else do you need? It’s all wrapped up. Bombing that relay outside Pluto has to be enough on its own. They weren’t acting for the whole planet when they did that, and certainly not in its interests. There has to be enough in that to nail them.”
“We don’t have any way of knowing for sure that they did it,” Packard pointed out. “It’s pure speculation. Maybe the relay just broke down. Maybe Calazar’s organization did it. You couldn’t pin anything on Sverenssen that’d stick.”
“He knew it was going to happen,” Lyn objected. “Of course he was mixed up in it.”
“Knew on whose say-so?” Packard countered. “One little girl at Bruno who thinks she might have overheard something that she didn’t understand, anyway.” He shook his head. “You heard Norman’s story. Sverenssen could produce witnesses lined up all down the hall to state that he never had anything to do with her. She became infatuated, then went running to Norman with a silly story to get even when Sverenssen wasn’t interested. Such things happen all the time.”
“What about the fake signals he got her to send?” Lyn persisted.
“What fake signals?” Packard shrugged. “All part of the same game. She made up that story. They never existed.”
“But the Thurien records say they did,” Lyn said. “You don’t have to tell the whole world about Alaska right now, but when the time’s right you can wheel in a whole planet of Ganymeans to back you up.”
“True, but all they confirm is that some strange signals came in that weren’t sent officially. They don’t confirm where they came from or who sent them. The header formats could have been faked to resemble Farside’s.” Packard shook his head again. “When you think it through, the evidence is not anywhere near conclusive.”
Lyn turned an imploring face toward Caidwell. He shook his head regretfully. “He’s got some good points. I’d like to see them
all go down just as much as you would, but it doesn’t look as if the case to do it is there yet.”
“The problem is you can never get near them,” Benson said, coming back into the conversation. “They don’t make many slips, and when they do you’re never around. Now and again you get something leaking out like what happened at Bruno, but it’s never enough to be a clincher. That’s what we need-something to clinch it. We need to put somebody on the inside, close to Sverenssen.” He shook his head dubiously. “But something like that needs a lot of research and planning, and it takes a long time to select the right person for the job. We’ll start working on it, but don’t hold your breath waiting for results.”
Lyn, Caldwell, and Pacey were all staying at the Washington Central Hilton. They ate dinner together that evening, and over coffee Pacey talked more about what they had learned in Packard’s office.