The Mysterious Planet: читать книгу онлайн полностью и бесплатно

The phone rang almost as he finished, before Bob could ask the obvious question. Griffith picked it up, and the smile on his face deepened. “Yes?… Yes, sir!… In fifteen minutes!”

He was whistling softly as he hung up. “Simon’s face gave him away this morning,” he said casually. “I guessed that he’d changed his mind.”

“But why?” Bob asked.

His father shook his head. “I can only guess. He’s a lot more complicated than you’d think, Bob. But it was partly because he felt it would win our approval, and he wants approval pretty badly; partly, I suppose, because it looked like the grand and noble gesture. It doesn’t matter. We can’t spend our time analyzing our friends. We have to take them as they are. You ready?”

The car was waiting as they came out, and the way was cleared straight through to the Fleet Commander’s office in a hastily converted hangar. This time, the aides rushed Griffith and the two boys in at once.

Admiral Wallingford stood up and came around his desk with an outstretched hand. “Griffith!

Hey, you’re filling out! Used to be just a gangling kid when you served under me on the old Lance of Arcady! I suppose this is your boy, Bob? Right. And Juan Roman. Quite an adventure you had. I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

He sounded completely sincere, and Bob noted that his father was now relaxed and smiling.

“It didn’t seem that way yesterday, Admirals I even tried to send in a private message to joggle your memory, but your flunkies wouldn’t have it.”

Wallingford nodded. “So young Jakes was telling me. Crazy kid! Actually told me what I could do with his captaincy—not that I’d have commissioned him anyhow, though I expected to have to restore him at the Academy, or some such. But I was grateful when he told me you’d had trouble, so I upped that phony ensign rating you gave him to Junior Leftenant for the duration, with indefinite leave. Then I called in my aides and told them what would happen the next time they pulled a trick like that. I got so worked up I near forgot to call you.

Anyhow, what can I do for you, young man?”

He sat back quietly as Commander Griffith ran through the outline of his arguments, handing over the papers that held a more detailed account. When it was finished, he nodded, and turned to the two boys.

He was still pleasant, but Bob was soon sweating under his cross-questioning. Just what had they seen when they came up to the Ionian and the black ship, anyhow. Under the merciless questions, he began to realize that nothing had been very definite; the view in the screen had been bad; and they’d only come in on the tail end of the whole business. He found himself pouring out his theory that it had all been a fake, and was almost ready to believe it again.

“Good idea,” Wallingford approved. “I like that. Wouldn’t stand up, of course, but no man should ever forget that somebody may just be trying to trick him. Go on, what about your vision under high-drive while you were watching the black ship run away? Sure you weren’t too busy with your theory to concentrate?”

When Wallingford had finished questioning Bob, he reviewed it all again, and then started in on Juan. There he stopped and did a quick double-take. Juan Roman remained as quiet as ever under his questioning, but each question brought forth an answer that took care of it completely, nailed it down, and tied the answer into all that had been said before.

Wallingford held up his hands. “Look, suppose you just tell me everything. Then, if I have any question, I’ll ask them. If you take that long about everything I ask, we’ll never get done.”

When Juan was finished, the Admiral considered silently. “Sounds pretty complete,” he admitted. “Only I understand you didn’t use emergency code. Do you mean to say your father was a merchant captain and you never picked up that information about shipping?”

“I picked it up, yes,” Juan admitted levelly. “But after I got the microphone inside the suit, I thought if I didn’t use it, anyone hearing me would know there was no regular crewman or officer there to send the message. And they would be more concerned and come faster. They would not first stop to ask long details, like who was captain, and what registry, and how long could I hold out. Also, I knew help was coming by the light that flashed. I was not despairing for myself. I was unhappy because help could not come to my father.”

Wallingford shook his head slowly, staring at the boy. He blinked again. “Never would have thought of not using code like that, would you, Griffith? Well, I think I can say I believe your story. But what can I do about it?”

“Stop this stupid attack until we can find out what the race on Planet X is like!” Griffith suggested quickly.

“Maybe. You’ve got a lot of truth and wisdom on your side. None of us, except addlebrains like Jergens here, wants war. If you’re right—and I suspect you are, pretty much—we stand a good chance of being wiped out. On the other hand, maybe we can’t risk peace. A culture superior to ours in strength and weapons might simply enslave us. Besides, it’s strange that with such ships they haven’t tried reaching the inner planets, where their own peace suggestions are thickest. If we can’t trust them—and this is still debatable—then our only hope is a quick attack in full strength.”

“Does that mean I’ve failed?” Bob’s father asked.

“No.” Wallingford considered it carefully. “No, you’ve done all you can. You’ve convinced me I should take this matter up with the staff back on Mars. But I don’t think we can change their minds now, to be honest about it. If the full account had reached them first, they might have gone slower. But they’ve pretty much made up their minds. So have the top circles of the Federation government, and it takes a lot to unmake those minds. The very idea of an alien race in the Solar System—one with ships and weapons—scares them. It’s only recently that we’ve stopped being afraid of our own kind, that we’ve quit fighting amongst ourselves; you can’t expect us to trust any other race yet. Look, I’ll do everything I can, and promise nothing. Fair enough?”

Commander Griffith nodded. “All I expected, really.”

“Good, then that’s settled. Now get out of here, before I get further behind in my work.”

Wallingford chuckled, and reached for the pile of papers in front of him. He looked up, just as the others reached the door. “Dinner’s at seven, young man, and my wife will want to meet you again. Wish I could invite the boys, but we’re cramped for space. I’ll send the car around.” Then he buried his head in his work again.

Commander Griffith was dressing for the dinner when Simon Jakes finally came in. For some reason he seemed uncertain and more awkward than usual. Bob looked up quickly, and was surprised when his father paid no particular attention to Jakes. He adjusted the tie that he could have fixed perfectly with one hand, untied it, and studied his face in the mirror.

“Know how to tie one of these things, Simon?” he asked. “I’m out of practice.”

Simon brightened. “Sure, sir. Here.” His fingers were no longer awkward as he made a neat knot and pulled the ends out to just the right degree.

“Thanks,” Griffith told him. “Oh, yes—thanks for passing on the word I wanted to see the Admiral. We had quite a session, and he’s agreed to take things up with the staff—though he thinks nothing much will come of it. Think I look good enough to dine with him tonight?”