“I don’t know.”
“Of course, it depends on your definition of a big shot. Who’s included in that category, Jake?”
“You know, the slick-talking ones; the fancy dressers; the guys that walk around and tell other guys what to do. We do all the work and they get all the big pay.”
“I suppose that would cover scientists, professional men, executives, technicians of all sorts, engineers, teachers—all that crowd of no-goods.”
“Yeah, them are the ones.”
“And once you got them out of the way, the regular fellows would have a chance; chaps that don’t spend all their time taking baths and reading books and using big words; good Joes that don’t mind picking their noses in public.”
“We got as much right as anybody—”
“Jake, who’s Corasol?”
“He’s—I don’t know.”
“I thought I overheard his name somewhere.”
“Uh, here’s the communication center,” Jake cut in.
Retief swung into a parking lot under a high blank façade. He set the brake and stepped out.
“Lead the way, Jake.”
“Look, Mister, the corporal only wanted me to show you the outside—”
“Anything to hide, Jake?”
Jake shook his head angrily and stamped past Retief. “When I joined up with Sozier, I didn’t figger I’d be getting in this kind of mess . . .”
“I know, Jake; it’s tough. Sometimes it seems like a fellow works harder after he’s thrown out the parasites than he did before.”
A cautious guard let Retief and Jake inside, followed them along bright lit aisles among consoles, cables, batteries of instruments. Armed men in careless uniforms lounged, watching. Here and there a silent technician worked quietly.
Retief paused by one, an elderly man in a neat white coverall, with a purple spot under one eye.
“Quite a bruise you’ve got there,” Retief commented heartily. “Power failure at sunset,” he added softly. The technician hesitated, nodded, and moved on.
Back in the car, Retief gave Jake directions. At the end of three hours, he had seen twelve smooth-running, heavily guarded installations.
“So far, so good, Jake,” he said. “Next stop, sub-station Number Nine.” In the mirror, Jake’s face stiffened. “Hey, you can’t go down there—”
“Something going on there, Jake?”
“That’s where—I mean, no; I don’t know.”
“I don’t want to miss anything, Jake. Which way?”
“I ain’t going down there,” Jake said sullenly.
Retief braked. “In that case, I’m afraid our association is at an end, Jake.”
“You mean . . . you’re getting out here?”
“No, you are.”
“Huh? Now wait a minute, Mister; the corporal said I was to stay with you.”
Retief accelerated. “That’s settled, then. Which way?”
* * *
Retief pulled the car to a halt two hundred yards from the periphery of a loose crowd of brown-uniformed men who stood in groups scattered across a broad plaza, overflowing into a stretch of manicured lawn before the bare, functional facade of Sub-station Number Nine. In the midst of the besieging mob, Sozier’s red face and bald head bobbed as he harangued a cluster of green-uniformed men from his place in the rear of a long open car.
“What’s it all about, Jake?” Retief inquired. “Since the parasites have all left peacefully, I’m having a hard time figuring out who’d be holed up in the pumping station—and why. Maybe they haven’t gotten the word that it’s all going to be fun and games from now on.”
“If the corporal sees you over here—”
“Ah, the good corporal. Glad you mentioned him, Jake. He’s the man to see.” Retief stepped out of the car and started through the crowd. A heavy lorry loaded with an immense tank with the letter H blazoned on its side trundled into the square from a side street, moved up to a position before the building. A smaller car pulled alongside Sozier’s limousine. The driver stepped down, handed something to Sozier. A moment later, Sozier’s amplified voice boomed across the crowd.
“You in there, Corasol. This is General Sozier, and I’m warning you to come out now or you and your smart friends are in for a big surprise. You think I won’t blast you out because I don’t want to wreck the plant. You see the tank aboard the lorry that just pulled up? It’s full of gas—and I got plenty of hoses out here to pump it inside with. I’ll put men on the roof and squirt it in the ventilators . . .”
Sozier’s voice echoed and died. The militiamen eyed the station. Nothing happened.
“I know you can hear me, damn you!” Sozier squalled. “You’d better get the doors open and get out here fast—”
Retief stepped to Sozier’s side. “Say, Corporal, I didn’t know you went in for practical jokes—”
Sozier jerked around to gape at Retief.
“What are you doing here!” he burst out. “I told Jake—where is that—”
“Jake didn’t like the questions I was asking,” Retief said, “so he marched me up here to report to you.”
“Jake, you damn fool!” Sozier roared. I gotta good mind—”
“I disagree, Sozier,” Retief cut in. “I think you’re a complete imbecile. Sitting out here in the open yelling at the top of your lungs. For example: Corasol and his party might get annoyed and spray that fancy car you’ve swiped with something a lot more painful than words.”
“Eh?” Sozier’s head whipped around to stare at the building.
“Isn’t that a gun I see sticking out?”
Sozier dropped. “Where?”
“My mistake; just a foreign particle on my contact lenses.” Retief leaned on the car. “On the other hand, Sozier, most murderers are sneaky about it; I think making a public announcement is a nice gesture on your part. The Monitors won’t have any trouble deciding who to hang when they come in to straighten out this mess.”
Sozier scrambled back onto his seat. “Monitors?” he snarled. “I don’t think so. I don’t think you’ll be around to do any blabbering to anybody.” He raised his voice. “Jake! March this spy over to the sidelines. If he tries anything, shoot him!” He gave Retief a baleful grin. “I’ll lay the body out nice and ship it back to your cronies. Accidents will happen, you know. It’ll be a week or two before they get around to following up—and by then I’ll have this little problem under control.”
Jake looked at Retief uncertainly, fingering his empty rifle.
Retief put his hands up. “I guess you got me, Jake,” he said. “Careful of that gun, now.”
Jake glanced at Sozier, gulped, aimed the rifle at Retief, and nodded toward the car. As Retief moved off, a murmur swept across the crowd. Retief glanced back; a turret on the station roof was rotating slowly. A shout rose; men surged away from the building, scuffling for way; Sozier yelled. His car started up, moved forward, horns blaring. As Retief watched, a white stream arced up from the turret, catching the sun as it spanned the lawn, down to strike the massed men in a splatter of spray. It searched across the mob, came to rest on Sozier’s car. Uniformed men scrambled for safety as the terrified driver gunned the heavy vehicle. The hose followed the car, dropping a solid stream of water on Sozier, kicking and flailing in the back seat. As the car passed from view down a side street, water was overflowing the sides.
“The corporal will feel all the better for an invigorating swim in his mobile pool,” Retief commented. “By the way, Jake, I have to be going now. It wouldn’t be fair to send you back to your boss without something to back up your story that you were outnumbered, so—”
Retief’s left fist shot out to connect solidly with Jake’s jaw. Jake dropped the gun and sat down hard. Retief turned and headed for the pumping station. The hose had shut down now. A few men were standing, eyeing the building anxiously. Others watched his progress across the square. As Retief passed, he caught scattered comments:
“—seen that bird before.”
“—where he’s headed.”
“—feller Sozier was talkin to . . .”
“Hey, you!” Retief was on the grass now. Ahead, the blank wall loomed up. He walked on, briskly.
“Stop that jasper!” a shout rang out. There was a sharp whine and a black spot appeared on the wall ahead. Near it, a small personnel door abruptly swung inward. Retief sprinted, plunged through the opening as a second shot seared the paint on the doorframe. The door clanged behind him. Retief glanced over the half-dozen men confronting him.
“I’m Retief, CDT, Acting Chargé,” he said. “Which of you gentlemen is Manager-General Corasol?”
* * ** * *
Corasol was a tall, wide-shouldered man of fifty, with shrewd eyes, a ready smile, capable-looking hands, and an urbane manner. He and Retief sat at a table at one side of the large room, under a maze of piping, tanks and valves, Corasol poured amber fluid into square glass tumblers.
“We spotted you by the blazer,” he said. “Baby blue and gold braid stand out in a crowd.”