22
With Friends Like These . . .
the Professor seemed unaffected by the otherwise universal giddiness. Phrnnx turned to the elder.
“Professor, I’m telling the truth! Tell them, make them listen, we’ve got to … I”
The Professor turned a spare eye on him. “Oh, I believe you. If those muftils could control their glee long enough to listen to you, they’d no doubt believe you, too.” He paused. “Have you looked at the sky recently?”
Phrnnx ran to a port and stared wildly upward.
“The Shield’s gone!”
The Professor favored his announcement with a first-degree nod, indicating positive acknowledgment. “Indeed it is. Commander Rappan had left orders with Commander Second Alo to drop it as a sign of good faith the moment the Terrans agreed to sign the mutual-defense-pact edicts with us.” He looked thoughtfully at the port. “The Jones and his mate seemed to know exactly when the generating machinery on the satellite cut off. Even the annuals were acting hi a most peculiar fashion as we returned to the ship.” He shivered slightly.
“I, for one, shall be less unhappy than I first thought at the prospect of leaving this place.”
“What makes you think that, now with the Shield off, they’ll hold to their agreement to help us?”
“Two reasons, youngster. First of all, the Jones said that they would, and I have a hunch that they are the kind of folk who put much store by their word. And also, I kind of think they could have turned it off anytime they wanted to, after our initial penetration.”
Phrnnx did not answer. He was watching the sky grow darker outside the port as the ship rose beyond the atmosphere, watching the stars come out, remembering a picture … a little boy, two Yop scouts, and a battleship. Then a little boy and a battleship. Then just a little boy. And the machine that had soothed his traumas, deep under the crust of the planet.