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his system. Then you and he will have your little talk and you ll first call off
this war, or you ll both be enjoying novas in your own backyards. It s about
time that people learned how to get along with one another!
But I have little authority.
I have, smiled Barden in a completely self-satisfied manner. I have
all the authority necessary to demand that your superiors and your
scientists meet their contemporaries of your enemy and peacefully.
What are you going to do with me?
Do you know both languages?
No, answered the alien. That s why we use the mentaphone.
What do you know of the space motor?
Very little. It is, as you know, dangerous. We are forbidden to
experiment on it.
You know it is dangerous? asked Barden.
We have excellent reason to believe so. Our studies have been
purely theoretical. But tell me, how do you hope to accomplish this mission
of yours?
One of you four will be permitted to land and carry our message.
One of the enemy race will do likewise.
The alien disagreed. You can never land, he said. You cannot even
approach.
No? said Barden harshly. Well, we ll plant our motors first. And
you ll use whatever you have to communicate with them and you ll tell em
all. Then, my squat friend, there had better be a ten-thousand-piece brass
band playing the Solar Anthem as we land! Or else!
* * * *
Tom Barden sat in an easy chair, relaxing. He was watching the others, who
were glaring at one another and trying to conceal their thoughts.
Lanthar he of Procyon and Grenis of Sirius both knew that the Terran
who sat there so easily was not fooling.
Now, said Barden, what s the story? I ve told you what happened,
and why I m angry. This warfare must stop, and Sol, too, must be protected.
Only by complete agreement can all three of us occupy the sky in safety.
Otherwise, there may be but two of us and perhaps only one.
You Lanthar what do you know of the space motor?
I ll tell, said the one from Procyon. I ve been in disagreement with
the plan, but outvoted. We discovered it and its danger. We d have worked
upon it, but we could not permit it to be used in space because of attack.
We could not try it on a planet, because of the danger. Remember, we
were at war, and could afford to take no chances. There was a large faction
which outvoted me and then they permitted its theft from a false
laboratory. It is amusing, Terran, to go into the full details of how this
laboratory was set up, run, and finally thefted. We actually treated it as
though it held one of our high secrets, but we were lax only in the total
number of guards we used. They succeeded.
The purpose of this was to permit them to try it out. That would mean
their destruction. I ve insisted that a dead enemy is of no value
We follow your reasoning, all of us, said Barden. And go further.
We state that an enemy is a total loss per se, and we avoid the expense.
Now, Grenis, you stole the plans?
We did, said the Sirian. But there was something wrong. Not only
did we steal the plans, but we inspected their plant. While they were setting
up their laboratory they forgot to include some means of accepting and
dissipating enough transmitted power to make the work look real. There
was a quite large discrepancy between the power used and the power we
calculated would be needed to carry on such a program. So we became
suspicious which started when we were able to penetrate the place in the
first place.
What we found was interesting, said the Sirian. But we were
suspicious. We studied it carefully, and it seemed perfect. But, Terran,
came again the suspicion. For if this were so perfect, why weren t they
using it?
Because it might be a trap, he went on. And like he and his, we
dared not establish a space laboratory because of the fear of attack. So we
were completely stopped.
Lanthar grunted. So he and his bunch went to work on a method of
contacting other people at a great distance, he said. It took them a long
time, and they were without success at all until they succeeded in
contacting you.
That is correct, said Grenis, making an apology. We have
detectors capable of working on the gravitic effects. A nova would disrupt
both the magnetic and the gravitic levels sufficiently to warn us immediately.
And we knew that any race which was not suspicious of an enemy would try
it
I see, said Barden angrily. Then we have you to thank? And you,
he said to Lanthar, knowing that this was done, tried to protect us?
Not basically, apologized the man from Procyon. You see, we did
not know you nor even where you were in the galaxy. You meant nothing
to us at all then, except as a consulting service for our enemy completely
hidden and quite safe. We did not want you to go into nova because that
would have warned them. We knew that after a period of time, with no sign
of failure, they d try it!
A fine pair of stinkers, sneered Barden. Well, he said with a laugh,
Now you ll co-operate with us all, or else! But Lanthar, how can you be
certain that nova will occur?
Lanthar of Procyon stood up and smiled tolerantly. Me ? he said.
I know only what I ve been told about it. Strangely enough, it came to me in
a dream, too!
* * * *
Somewhere in the galaxy, two scientists consulted their time predictions.
They agreed silently that sufficient time had been permitted, and that their
detectors had shown no warping of the magneto-gravitic continuum.
Despite the questionable value of negative evidence, they felt safe.
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