‘I hope so. But it cleared things up no end – it untied a million knots. Even that other thing – brotherly love? It’s a very nice concept – you see, I never had any brothers.’
That’s probably one thing that was the matter with you. There’s nothing warmer than that, certainly, and there never will be.’
‘And I suppose you got the thought – it must have jumped up and smacked you’ – Lola’s hot blush was visible even through her heavy tan – ‘how many times I’ve felt like running my fingers up and down your ribs and grabbing a handful of
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those muscles of yours, just to see if they’re as hard as they look?’
‘I’m glad you brought that up; I don’t know whether I would have dared to or not. You’ve got to stop acting like a Third instead of an Operator; and you’ve got to stop acting as though you had never been within ten feet of me. Now’s as good a time as any.’ He took off his shirt. ‘Come ahead.’
‘By golly, I’m going to!’ Then, a moment later, she said, ‘Why, they’re even harder] How do you, a scientist, psiontist, and scholar keep in such shape as that?’
‘An hour every day in the gym. Many are better – but a hell of a lot are worse.
‘I’ll say.’ She finished her Chericol, picked up the ginger ale, sat down in her chair, leaned back, and put her legs up on the bed. “That was a relief of tension if there ever was one. I haven’t felt so good since they picked me as home-town candidate – and that was a mighty small town and eight months ago. Bring on your dragons, Clee, and I’ll slay ’em far and wide. But I can’t actually be like she is …’
‘Thank God for that. Deliver me from two such pretzel-benders aboard one ship.’
‘… But I could have been a pretty good actress, I think.’
‘Correction, please. “Outstanding” is the word.’
Thank you, kind sir. And women, like men, do bring up certain memories, to … to…’
To roll ’em around on their tongues and give their taste-buds a treat.’
‘Exactly. So where I don’t have any appropriate actual memories to bring up, I’ll make like an actress. Check?’
‘Good girl! Well, we’ve been in screen long enough, I guess. Fare thee well, little sister Brownie, until we meet again.’ He tossed the remains of their refreshments, trays and all, into the chute, picked up his shirt, and started out
‘Put it on, Clee!’ she whispered, intensely.
‘Why?’ He grinned cheerfully. ‘It’d look still better if I peeled down to the altogether.’
‘You’re incorrigible,’ she said; but her answering smile was wide and perfectly natural. ‘You know, if I’d had a brother something like you it would have saved me a lot of wear and tear. Ill see you in the morning before breakfast.’
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And she did. They strolled together to breakfast – not holding hands, but with hip almost touching hip. Relaxed, friendly, on very cordial and satisfactory terms. Lola punched breakfast orders for them both. Belle drove a probe, which bounced – Lola’s screen was tight, although her brown eyes were innocent and bland.
But during the meal, in response to a double-edged, wickedly-barked remark of Belle’s, a memory flashed into being above Lola’s shield. It was the veriest flash, instantly suppressed. Her eyes held clear and steady; if she blushed at all it did not show.
Belle caught it, of course, and winked triumphantly at Garlock. She knew, now, what she had wanted to know. And, Prime Operator though he was, it was all Garlock could do to make no sign; for that fleetingly-revealed memory was a perfect job. He would not have – could not have – questioned it himself, except for one simple fact: it was of an event that had not happened and never would.
And after breakfast, at some distance from the others, he told her, ‘You’re an Operator, all right; Brownie – and it takes a damn good one to lie like that with her mind!’
Thanks to you, Clee. And thanks a million, really. I’m me again -1 think.’
Then, since Belle was looking, she took him by both ears, pulled his head down, and kissed him lightly on the lips.
‘I know I said you’d have to kiss me next time,’ Lola said, very low, ‘but this act needs just this much of an extra touch. Anyway, such little, tiny, sisterly ones as this, and out in public, don’t count.’
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THREE
Lola and Garlock went to town in the same taxi. As they were about to separate, Garlock said:
‘I don’t like those hell-divers – yellow, green, or any other color – and you, Brownie, are very definitely not expendable. Are you any good at mind-bombing?’
‘I never heard of such a thing.’
‘You isolate a little energy in the Op field, remembering of course, that you’re handling a hundred thousand gunts. Transpose it into osmium or uranium or anything good and heavy. For one of these monsters you’d need two or three micro-grams. For a battleship, up to maybe a gram or so. ‘Port it to the exact place you want it to detonate. Reconvert and release instantaneously. One hundred percent conversion atomic bomb, tailored exactly to fit the job. Very effective.*
‘It would be. My God, Clee, can you do thatT
‘Sure – so can you. Any Operator can.’
‘Well, I won’t. I never will. Besides, I’d probably kill too many people, besides the monster. No, 111 ‘port back to the Main if anything attacks me. I’m chain lightning at that.’
‘Do that, then. And if anything unusual happens give me a flash.’
Til do that. ‘Bye, Clee.’ She turned to the left; he walked straight on toward the business center, to resume his study at the point where he had left off the evening before.
For over an hour he wandered aimlessly about the city receiving, classifying, and filing away information. He saw several duels between guardians and yellow and green-bat monsters, to none of which he paid any more attention than did the people around him. Then a third kind of enemy appeared – two of them at once, flying wing-and-wing – and Garlock stopped and watched.
While they did not really closely resemble flying saber-toothed tigers, that was the first impression that leaped into
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Oarlock’s mind. Their bodies were black and yellow and sleek, like a tiger’s, but they had almost man-like faces – except for the sharp, beakish noses. They dived swiftly, on great gray wings, tiger’s claws extended.
Two bow-legged guardians came leaping as usual, but one of them was a fraction of a second too late. That fraction was enough. While the first guardian was still high in air, grappling with one tiger, the other swung on a dime – the blast of air from his right wing buffeting people in the crowd below and knocking four of them flat – and took the guardian’s head off his body with one savage swipe of a frightfully-armed paw. Disregarding the carcass, both attackers whirled sharply at the second guardian, meeting him in such a way that he could not come to firm grips with either of them, and that battle was very brief indeed. More guardians were leaping in from all directions, however, and the two tigers were forced to the ground and slaughtered.
Since six guardians had been killed, eight guardians marched up the street, dragging grisly loads. Eight bodies, friend and foe alike, were dumped into a manhole; eight creatures squatted down and cleaned themselves meticulously before resuming their various patrols.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, Garlock felt Lola’s half-excited, half-frightened thought: ‘Clee, do you read me?’
‘Loud and clear.”
‘There’s something approaching that’s certainly none of my business – maybe not even yours.”
‘I’m coming,” he sent, and with the thought he was beside her. ‘Where?’
She pointed a thought. He followed it. Far away yet, but coming fast, was an immense flock of the winged tigers!
Lola licked her lips. ‘I’m going home, if you don’t mind.”
‘Go on.’
She disappeared.
‘Jim!’ Garlock thought. ‘Where are you?’
‘Observatory. Need me?’
‘Yes. Bombing. Two point four microgram loads. Focus spot on my right – teleport in.’
‘Coming in on your right.’
‘And I on your left!’ Belle’s thought drove in as he had
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never before felt it driven. Being a Prime, she did not need a focus spot and appeared only an instant later than did James.
‘Can you bomb?’ Garlock snapped.
What do you think?’ Belle snapped back.
A moment of flashing thought and the three Tellurians disappeared, materializing five hundred feet in the air, two hundred feet ahead of the van of that horrible flight of monsters, drifting before it.
Belle got in the first shot. Not only did the victim disappear – a couple of dozen around it were torn to fragments and the force of the blast staggered all three Tellurians.