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"About working your land here, Vinson went on.  The fields aren't too good, but they could be got in
shape again. I'll be glad to help on that."
"Why, thanks, stumbled Birrel,  but you see, we'll be leaving very soon, going back to Vega "
"Oh, sure, I know that, Vinson said heartily.  But, of course, you're planning to come back here or you
wouldn't have bought your folks old farm. Might as well get some profit and use out of the place till then.
Now, we'll go over the land together and figure."
Birrel did not know what to say to that. No one had dreamed that such ridiculous but real problems as
this would come up when this old farm had been bought as cover for a rendezvous. In fact, they never
would have arisen, if Karsh had met him here as planned. The doing away with Karsh by Tauncer had
pulled the foundation out from under everything.
Vinson misinterpreted Birrel's silence, and said quickly,  I didn't mean right now. Just dropped in for a
social call but I thought I'd mention it. I'll come back later and walk over it with you."
He rose to his feet and Birrel felt sharp relief, as he and his wife went to the door.
"Sure would like to have you come over for dinner sometime before you leave, Vinson said.
His wife added coyly,  You're our celebrities here now, you know. In the village they're talking about
having a Welcome Home celebration for you."
When the two had left, Birrel turned and looked blankly at Lyllin.  A Welcome Home celebration. For
God's sake, that's all I need right now."
He hurried back to the rear room, to find Tauncer lying quietly and Harper squirming restlessly.
Tauncer smiled.  You look worried, Commander. Things not going well? I'm afraid you're a little beyond
your depth."
Birrel looked at him steadily, and asked,  Who's coming, Tauncer?"
Tauncer's smile faded into a wary look.  What do you mean?"
"You're expecting someone to help you or you wouldn't be so cocky, Birrel said.  Who?"
"I haven't any idea what you're talking about, Tauncer said lightly. But his smiling stopped.
Birrel's forebodings deepened. He prowled the house and grounds more vigilantly than ever, and every
time a car hummed down the road or a flitter buzzed over, he stopped and listened.
The hot noon hours went by. The sun passed its zenith and now big clouds began to build in the western
sky. Birrel began to chafe restlessly at this waiting. He realized it would take Brescnik a little while to find
among the technicians of the Fifth a man who could operate a vera-probe. But, even so, he should have
been able to get one up here by fast flitter by now.
The bastions of cloud in the west swelled higher, and humidity became intolerable. Birrel went out and
looked around again. From a distance came the sound of Vinson's auto-tractors lumbering about the
fields on their appointed programs. The sky darkened, and Birrel thought that a storm was building. He
came back to the house to find the black cat sitting on the porch and looking at him with an insolent air of
ownership.
Lyllin met him at the door.  No one?"
"No one, he said.  What's the matter with Brescnik? A flitter will have trouble locating this place, if a
storm comes up, and "
A flash and then a crash of thunder interrupted him. Birrel swore.  That's fine."
"It won't last long, will it? said Lyllin.
He gloomily said that he wished he knew. At that moment they heard a scratching and mewing outside
the door.
"The cat, said Lyllin.  I think it's scared of the storm and wants in."
"Let it go to the barn, he said.
Lyllin smiled, and went to the door and opened it. The black cat stalked in, keeping well away from her,
with its tail erect and a general look of being annoyed at the delay in answering the door.
Birrel started to say that for sheer insolence the cats of Earth took the palm, but another crash interrupted
him and this time the old house shook to its foundations. The thunder came closer quickly, and now the
flashes of lightning outside the rain-dashed windows were blinding.
Then as the uproar lulled for a moment, he thought he heard the buzz of a flitter close overhead. He raced
back through the kitchen to the porch, and by another world-illumining flash he glimpsed the flitter making
a rough landing between the house and the barn..
Birrel waited for the next flash. It showed two men climbing out of the flitter. He raised his shocker.
The two were running toward him through the rain, but it was too dark to see their faces. Why didn't
another flash come? Then one did, and he saw them clear and close.
One was Joe Garstang. The other was a young officer with the badge of a Technic-First-Class, who
looked a bit scared as they ran up onto the porch out of the smashing rain. Garstang shook himself and
growled,  I've seen worse storms on other worlds, but I never saw one come up so bloody quick."
"What are you doing here? demanded Birrel.  Why aren't you with your ship?"
"Brescnik told me to come along. By the way, this is your vera-probe operator. Vathis, T-first-class."
"Why did Brescnik send you? What's wrong?"
Garstang waited until the reverberations of another crash of thunder died away, and the old house
stopped shaking. Then he said, with a puzzled look on his broad face,  We're not sure anything's wrong.
But Brescnik's worried. Traffic normal merchant traffic is only running one way down at that
spaceport. Ships keep going out, but none come in."
He paused, then added,  Brescnik thinks that the UW authorities are quietly evacuating the space port."
Birrel thought of that, and he did not like the shape or sound of it.
He asked,  You haven't any evidence why?"
Garstang shook his head.  Not a glimmer. All we have is a guess. You know what that guess is."
Birrel knew. If Charteris and Mallinson and the rest had some foreknowledge that Orion squadrons were
on their way to strike, they'd get their ships off the spaceport. And if that was what it was, he had better
get the Fifth off too.
But he would be going blind, if he took off now, with no information as to Orion's plans. His worries had
suddenly increased tenfold, but he had to delay long enough to probe Tauncer. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]