what you have done. Alex Kincaid and Sandra Cummings are two of them. One of the
three girls is very deeply and very truly in love with you.”
“Ordinarily I’d say ‘no comment,’ but we’re laying it on the line . . . well . . .”
“You’ll lay that on the line only if I corkscrew it out of you, so I’ll Q. E. D. it. You
probably know that when Sandy gets done playing around it’ll be . . .”
“Bounce back, Teddy. She isn’t-hasn’t been. If anything, too much the opposite. A
dedicated-scientist type.”
She smiled-a highly cryptic smile. For a man as brilliant and as penetrant in every other
respect . . . but after all, if the big dope didn’t realize that half the women aboard, includ-
ing Sandy, had been making passes at him, she certainly wouldn’t enlighten him.
Besides, that one particular area of obtuseness was a real part of his charm. Wherefore
she said merely: “I’m not sure whether I’m a bit catty or you’re a bit stupid. Anyway, it’s
Alex she’s really in love with. And you already know about Bill and me.”
“Of course. He’s tops. One of the world’s very finest. You’re in the same bracket, and as
a couple you’re a drive fit. One in a million.”
“Now I can say `I love you, too,’ too.” She paused for half a minute, then stubbed out
her cigarette and shrugged. “Now I’m going to stick my neck way, way out. You can
knock it off if you like. She’s a tremendous lot of woman, and if . . . well, strong as she
is, it’d shatter her to bits. So, I’d like to ask . . . I don’t quite . . . well, is she going to get
hurt?” “Have I managed to hide it that well? From you?”
It was her turn to show relief. “Perfectly. Even-or especially-that time you kissed her.
So damned perfectly that I’ve been scared green. I’ve been waking myself up,
screaming, in the middle of the night. You couldn’t let on, of course. That’s the hell of
such a job as yours. The rest of us can smooch around all over the place. I knew the
question was extremely improper-thanks a million for answering it.”
“I haven’t started to answer it yet. I said I’d lay everything on the line, so here it is.
Saying she’s a tremendous lot of woman is like calling the Perseus a nice little
baby’s-bathtub toy boat. I’d go to hell for her any time, cheerfully, standing straight up,
wading into brimstone and lava up to the eyeballs. If anything ever hurts her it’ll be
because I’m not man enough to block it. And just the minute this damned job is over, or
even sooner if enough of you couples can make it so I can . . .”
“Jarvis!” she shrieked. Jumping up, she kissed him enthusiastically. “That’s just
wonderful!”
He thought it was pretty wonderful, too; and after ten minutes more of conversation he
got up and turned toward the door. “I feel a lot better, Teddy. Thanks for being such a
nice pressure-relief valve. Would you mind it too much if I come in and sob on your
bosom again some day?”
“I’d love it!” She laughed; then, as he again started to leave: “Wait a minute, I’m
thinking . . . it’d be more fun to sob on her bosom. You haven’t even kissed her yet,
have you? I mean really kissed her?”
“You know I haven’t. She’s the one person aboard I can’t be alone with for a second.”
“True. But I know of one chaperone who could become deaf and blind,” she said, with
a broad and happy grin. “On my door, you know, there’s a huge invisible sign that says,
to everyone except you, ‘STOP! BRAIN AT WORK! SILENCE!’, and if I were properly
approached and sufficiently urged, l might . . . I just conceivably might . . .”
“Consider it done, you little sweetheart! Up to and including my most vigorous and
most insidious attempts at seduction.”
“Done. Maneuver your big, husky carcass around here behind the desk so the door
can open.” She flipped a switch and punched a number. “I can call anybody in here,
any time, you know. Hello, dear, this is Teddy. Can you come in for just a few minutes?
Thanks.” And, one minute later, there came a light tap on the door.
“Come in,” Teddy called, and Temple Bells entered the room. She showed no surprise
at seeing Hilton.
“Hi, chief,” she said. “It must be something both big and tough, to have you and Teddy
both on it.”
“You’re so right. It was very big and very tough. But it’s solved, darling, so . . .”
“Darling?” she gasped, almost inaudibly, both hands flying to her throat. Her eyes
flashed toward the other woman. “Teddy knows all about us-accessory before, during
and after the fact.”
“Darling!” this time the word was a shriek. She extended her arms and started forward.
Hilton did not bother to maneuver his “big, husky carcass” around the desk, but simply
hurtled it, straight toward her. Temple Bells was a tall, lithe, strong woman; and all the
power of her arms and torso went into the ensuing effort to crack Hilton’s ribs. Those
ribs, however, were highly capable structural members; and furthermore, they were
protected by thick slabs of hard, hard muscle. And, fortunately, he was not trying to
fracture her ribs. His pressures were distributed much more widely. He was, according
to promise, doing his best to flatten her whole resilient body out flat.
And as they stood there, locked together in sheerest ecstasy, Theodora Blake began
openly and unashamedly to cry.
It was Temple who first came up for air. She wriggled loose from one of his arms, felt
of her hair and gazed unseeingly into her mirror. “That was wonderful, sweetheart,” she
said then, shakily. “And I can never thank you enough, Teddy. But we can’t do this very
often . . . can we?” The addendum fairly begged for contradiction.
“Not too often, I’m afraid,” Hilton said, and Theodora agreed . . .
“Well,” the man said, somewhat later, “I’ll leave you two ladies to your knitting, or
whatever. After a couple of short ones for the road, that is.”
“Not looking like that!” Teddy said, sharply. “Hold still and we’ll clean you up.” Then, as
both girls went to work: “If anybody ever sees you coming out of this office looking like
that,” she went on, darkly, “and Bill finds out about it, he’ll think it’s my lipstick smeared
all over you and I’ll strangle you to death with my bare hands!”
“And that was supposed to be kiss-proof lipstick, too,” Temple said seriously-although
her whole face glowed and her eyes danced. “You know, I’ll never believe another
advertisement I read.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, if I were you.” Teddy’s voice was gravity itself,
although she, too, was bubbling over. “It probably is kiss-proof. I don’t think `kissing’ is
quite the word for the performance you just staged. To stand up under such punishment
as you gave it, my dear, anything would have to be tattooed in, not just put on.”
“Hey!” Hilton protested. “You promised to be deaf and blind!”
“I did no such thing. I said, `could,’ not “would.’ Why, I wouldn’t have missed that for
anything!”
When Hilton left the room he was apparently, in every respect, his usual self-contained
self. However, it was not until the following morning that he so much as thought of the
sheaf of papers lying unread in the drawer of Theodora Blake’s desk.
Chapter 7
Knowing that he had done everything he could to help the most important investigations
get under way, Hilton turned his attention to secondary matters. He made arrangements
to decondition Javo, the Number Two Oman Boss, whereupon that worthy became
Javvy and promptly “bumped” the Oman who had been shadowing Karns.
Larry and Javvy, working nights, deconditioned all the other Omans having any contact
with BuSci personnel; then they went on to set up a routine for deconditioning all
Omans on both planets.
Assured at last that the Omans would thenceforth work with and really serve human
beings instead of insisting upon doing their work for them, Hilton knew that the time had
come to let all his BuSci personnel move into their homes aground. Everyone, including
himself, was fed up to the gozzel with spaceship life-its jam-packed crowding; its flat,
reprocessed air; its limited variety of uninteresting food. Conditions were especially
irksome since everybody knew that there was available to all, whenever Hilton gave the
word, a whole city full of all the room anyone could want, natural fresh air and-so the
Omans had told them-an unlimited choice of everything anyone wanted to eat.
Nevertheless, the decision was not an easy one to make. Living conditions were