She answered quietly, “That will be enough of that, dear. Mother does what is best for you.”
Mr. Perkins changed the subject smoothly as John Thomas began to cloud up. “In any case, now that I’ve come all this way, may I see the creature? I’m terribly interested.”
“Uh, I suppose so.” Johnnie got up slowly and led the stranger outside.
Mr. Perkins looked up at Lummox, took a deep breath and let it out. “Marvelous!” He walked around him, admiring. “Absolutely marvelous! Unique. . . and the biggest e.-t. specimen I’ve ever seen. How in the world was he shipped?”
“Why, he’s grown some,” John Thomas admitted.
“I understand he parrots human speech a bit. Can you coax him to do it?”
“Huh? He doesn’t ‘parrot’. . . he talks.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Hey, Lummie, how are you, boy?”
“I’m all right,” Lummox piped. “What does he want?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing. He just wanted to see you.” Mr. Perkins stared. “He talks! Mr. Stuart, the laboratory must have this specimen.”
“That’s out, I told you.”
“I’m prepared to go much higher, now that I’ve seen him. . . and heard him.”
John Thomas started to say something rude, checked himself and said instead, “Look, Mr. Perkins, are you married?”
“Why, yes. Why?”
“Any kids?”
“One, a little girl. She’s just five.” His face softened.
“I’ll make you a deal. We’ll swap even. No questions asked and each of us does as he likes with his ‘specimen.'”
Perkins started to flare up, then suddenly grinned. “Touché! I’ll shut up. But,” he went on, “you were taking a chance. One or two of my colleagues would have taken you up. You can’t understand what a temptation a specimen like this is to a man of science. Really.” He looked longingly at Lummox and added, “Shall we go in?”
Mrs. Stuart looked up as they came in; Mr. Perkins shook his head briefly. They sat down and Mr. Perkins fitted his finger tips together. “Mr. Stuart, you have forbidden me to discuss a possible sale, but if I tell the director of the Lab that I didn’t even put the proposition, I will look foolish. Would you let me state what the museum has in mind. . . just for the record?”
“Well. . .” John Thomas frowned. “I guess there’s no harm in that.”
“Thanks. I must do something to justify my travel expenses. Let me analyze the situation. That creature your friend Lummox. . . or let’s say ‘our friend Lummox’ for I liked him as soon as I saw him. Our friend Lummox is under sentence of death, isn’t he? A court order.”
“Yes,” John Thomas admitted. “But it hasn’t been confirmed by the Space Department yet.”
“I know. But the police have already made attempts to kill him, without waiting for final approval. Right?”
John started to use bad language, then glanced at his mother and refrained. “The stupid idiots! Anyhow, they can’t kill Lummox; they’re too dumb.”
“I agree with your sentiments. . . privately. That buffoon chief of. police ought to have his commission taken away. Why, he might have destroyed an absolutely unique specimen. Imagine!”
Mrs. Stuart said crisply, “Chief Dreiser is a fine gentleman.”
Mr. Perkins turned to her and said, “Mrs. Stuart, I did not mean to cast slurs on a friend of yours. But I stick by my guns; the Chief had no right to take things into his own hands. Such behavior is worse on the part of a public official than it is when done by a lay citizen.”
“He had public safety to think about,”. she insisted.
“True. Perhaps that is an extenuating circumstance. I take back my remarks. They are off the subject and I did not intend to start an argument.”
“I’m glad to hear you did not, Mr. Perkins. Shall we get back to the subject?”
John Thomas felt himself warming a little to the scientist-Mum had slapped Perkins down just the way she did him-and, besides, he liked Lummox. Mr. Perkins continued, “Any time now, tomorrow, or even today, the Department of Spatial Affairs will approve the destruction of Lummox and. . .”
“Maybe they’ll turn it down.”