While Jules was lining up his finders to determine the exact line of the beam, he said. ‘Better unlimber the launchers, Evie, and break out some bombs. Just in case somebody wants to argue with us on the way in. I’ll handle the other stuff.’
‘That’s a thought…’She broke off, and her tone changed. But just suppose that’s their bear n?’
‘Could be; so we’ll have to look out even more carefully when we land. But they know that. So if everything’s smooth they’ll engineer a safe approach we won’t have to. They know who we are – I hope.’
His words were optimistic, but his tone was grim. Things had gone fatally wrong tonight. They had given the right signal at the rendezvous – but the wrong people had responded. Now they had to find out why!
CHAPTER FOUR – THE HEAD
Democracy as practiced in the twentieth century failed because it could not cope with the dynamic tyranny of the Communist powers. This failure had its roots firmly anchored by the end of the third decade of that century and, though there was a period in the sixties and seventies when détente looked promising, the deteriorating world situation with regard to population and ecology brought the failure into focus. Even the formation of the North American League – comprising Canada, the United States of America and Mexico – on the eve of the twenty-first century could not stop democracy’s decline. The Congress of the N.A.L. argued and filibustered, but could not agree on any effective action to contain the enemy that was rapidly devouring the so-called Third World of developing nations. The Russo-Chinese War, which had at first looked like a boon to the democratic powers, actually served to strengthen the Soviet Union, honing their skills and whetting their appetites for bigger game. With no other rivals to his ideological leadership, the Premier of Russia could act. He issued orders, the recipients of which either obeyed them or were promptly shot.
(vanMees, History of Civilization, Reel 21, slot 1077.)
The laser beam that was to guide them in was weak, indicating that it was coming from a considerable distance away. While Yvette stood guard against any possible sneak attacks, Jules fiddled with the control panel to convert their ‘car’ into an atomic powered jet capable of speeds up to a thousand kilometers an hour. As they burned their way through the atmosphere, heading southeast, the male d’Alembert kept a close watch on his ultra sensitive radar screens to avoid any other aircraft.
‘I wonder where we’re going,’ Yvette said after a few minutes of flight.
‘Well, it can’t be more than four hundred and fifty kilometers away, or they wouldn’t be able to reach us with a straight-line laser beam. Our bearing indicates Miami – there’s nothing beyond that in this direction but ocean.’
‘Headquarters could be on a floating platform or in some undersea base,’ Yvette speculated. ‘Or it could be in some isolated spot between here and Miami.’
‘Possibly. We’ll just have to wait a few minutes more to find out.’
But as the minutes passed it became more and more apparent to them that Miami was indeed their goal.
For twenty minutes they slid down the beam, slowly losing altitude as they did so. The half-hour stun Jules had given their two passengers would be wearing off shortly, and he was considering giving them an extra short jolt when their target came into view. Slowing down to gain maneuverability, the d’Alemberts looked the site over.
The building was enormous, at least ninety stories high and towering over its closest rival by almost forty floors. Bright floodlights at the base kept the lower half of the structure constantly lit as bright as daylight and, even though this was an extremely late hour of the night, more than half the windows in the broad side of the building were lit. The silhouettes of people working could be seen passing by many ,of the open windows.
‘Impressive place,’ Yvette commented.
‘Scan it before we go in. I’d like to know where-we’re headed.’ He pulled the car to a stop while they were still a kilometer away from the building, and there they hovered for several seconds while Yvette completed her check.
Switching on her special sensing equipment, she scrutinized the building from top to bottom. ‘The place is armed like a fortress. Big guns, probably capable of knocking out a cruiser, but they’re all well hidden. They’re all warm, but none of them are fully energized at the moment.’
Jules considered that. ‘That doesn’t tell us any m ore than we could have guessed by ourselves. Headquarters would certainly be armed that way; the enemy camp might be, as well. How about visual? What building is that, anyway?’
Yvette switched easily to a magnified TV picture. ‘Hall of State, Sector Four.
That would make sense. Four has always been the most loyal sector, and State would be the best place to hide the Service.’
‘Check. Where’s our beam coming from?’
‘Rooftop. There’s a small broadcaster located in a circle of light. I see one human figure standing in the circle, and infra shows one other person standing in the darkness out side that ring.’
‘What do you think?’
‘I’d risk it,’ Yvette said without hesitation.
‘We’ve got no choice, really.’ Jules stroked his chin. ‘We have no other leads, no where else to go but home. Alors, in we go. Just keep your hand on the launchers, in case.’
Jules approached gingerly, heading for that spot of light on the roof. As they came nearer, the figure standing in the light grew more distinct. It was a girl, young and skinny – though not too bad looking for an Earther, Jules thought. She had long black hair that fell halfway down her back, and was wearing a beige sweater dress and brown tights. She had a throat-mike around her neck – and two heavy-duty Mark Twenty-Nine Service blasters in her hands.
After dropping the car to within two hundred meters, Jules stopped and hovered in the air over the girl’s head and waited for her to make the next move. When she saw that he was coming no closer, her highly distinctive, throaty contralto voice came again from the speaker. ‘It’s safe to talk now if we don’t say too much. Are you armed?’
‘Yes.’ Jules, as per her suggestion, was not saying too much.
‘Good. You won’t need these, then.’ The girl walked out into the very c enter of the ring of light, put the brutal hand weapons down on the roof and stepped back to her former position. In essence, she was disarming herself and putting herself at their mercy – a gesture they would have appreciated were it not for the person on the roof who, according to their sensors, was still in the darkness.
‘You recognize my voice, of course,’ the girl went on. ‘Yes.’ Jules was getting by on as little conversation as possible. Yvette kept silent; so far, only Jules’ voice had been broadcast. It might be of some advantage if potential enemies thought there was only one person in the car.
‘I suppose you have a retinascope,’ the girl went on. ‘Yes. Hold on a minute.’ He switched off the corn and turned to his sister. ‘What do you think of this?’
‘They want us to identify someone by retinal pattern. But the only person we have a comparison disk on is the Head himself. 1f they’re the genuine article, they’ll know that.’
‘Which means that either the girl or her friend in the shadows is the Head – and that means we’ll have to rough up our boss a bit before we can establish his identity.’
Yvette bit her lip. ‘Well, they have to convince us about themselves one way or another, and that would do it. Besides, what else can we do?’
‘Nothing,’ Jules agreed, and again flipped the blue switch. ‘Go ahead. What do you suggest?’
‘Land anywhere you please and one person will come aboard. Unarmed.’
‘Khorosho,will do.’ Jules dropped down outside of the illuminated circle and, stun-gun in hand, opened the port on his sister’s side.
The person who had been standing in the shadow approached slowly. All that could be seen of him in the dark ness as he came near with empty hands outstretched was that he was a man of medium height, medium build, and that he was almost completely bald. He put his hands in through the port and Yvette, taking one of his wrists in each hand, helped him through the narrow opening. The front compartment of the car was now quite cramped, so the d’Alemberts weren’t too worried about violence from this gentle- looking man. Nevertheless, Yvette held him securely, his arms behind his back, while Jules applied the retinascope to the Earthman’s right eye.
Jules took a long time comparing the actual eye pattern to the one recorded on the card his father had given him. But there could be no mistake – they were identical. Almost reverentially he whispered, ‘The Head himself. I’m sorry, sir…’