71
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
“Well, what can I do for you this time, Mr. Hinkel?*’ Cleve said pleasantly.
“As long as you brought the subject up, Emmett, there really are one or two things about the upcoming meeting that—”
Cleve interrupted, still calm. “Is there something wrong with the plans for the upcoming meeting, Mr. Hinkel?”
“Nothing that can’t be corrected easily enough,” said Hinkel, cheerfully. “How reassuring.”
“Yes. Now Bess—that’s my chief camerawoman, you know—”
“No, I didn’t know.”
“Uh. Well anyway, one thing she simply insists on is that we locate at least one crew between the Reykjavik and the alien. It’s necessary in order for us to be able to properly document the full drama of your departure from the ship, and all. Ideally, of course, we’d need another crew similarly placed with respect to the alien ship. I don’t suppose you’d okay that?” He ended on a hopeful note. “No, I’m afraid…”
“Well, don’t let it trouble you, Commander! I have instructed my staff not to get underfoot in any way— barring what needs to be done to perform required journalistic activity, of course.”
“That’s certainly a considerable relief to me, Mr. Hinkel. It means that you’ll react favorably, quietly, when I-inform you that I cannot permit a crew to be stationed between the Reykjavik and the alien vessel. No . . .” Cleve raised a hand to still the incipient protest, “… allow me to explain.
“If your crew assumes any position, at a respectable distance, between here and the Murrin ship, it could conceivably come into the line of fire from the Reykjavik’s weaponry.”