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“Of course, safe and secure in the residential caverns. We guard them and protect them – ”
“As well as having a generally good time playing soldier and bossing everybody about.”
“Your criticism is becoming tiring.”
He looked quizzically at his cigar ash, then tapped it into the ashtray before him. Which was made from a shell casing of course. Something black stirred at the very edge of my vision but I made no move to look that way. It was about time Fido made an appearance.
“So what do you want us for?” Floyd asked.
“I thought that was obvious. I want to find out who you are and how much you know about us.”
There was a quick movement from under the table to my chair, out of The Commander’s line of sight. The thing must have then climbed the back of my chair because Aida’s voice whispered in my ear.
“I have done a voice analysis of a recording I made during the interrupted meeting. I stripped away the interference of the voice occulter and now know who the speaker who called himself Alphamega is… ”
“I already know,” I said.
“Know what?” The Commander said. “What are you saying?”
“Sorry, just speaking my thoughts aloud. My thoughts being that you are playing some kind of complicated game, aren’t you? You called me by name-and we have never been introduced. Of course if you were present at the meeting of the young dissidents you would know who I was. And now I know who you are.”
I smiled and let the silence stretch before I spoke.
“The Commander – or Alphamega – which name do you prefer? Since you are both of them rolled into one.”
Chapter 25
I can kill you-quite quickly,” The Commander said coldly and calmly. But at the same time he was stubbing and crunching his cigar out in a most agitated ma
“Temper, temper,” I said. “Since you appear to be in charge of both sides in this internal conflict, and you obviously got us here for a reason – why don’t you just tell us all about it?”
He was scowling now, angry and dangerous. As my mother always said-why was her memory still popping up – you catch more porcuswine with honey than you do with vinegar. Gently, gently.
“Please, Commander,” I pleaded most unctuously, “we’re on your side, even when no one else is. You know exactly what you are doing-while none of your troops has the slightest idea what is happening. Not only are you in charge here, but it looks as though you have managed a mild insurrection on your own terms. You have done an incredible job that no one else was capable of doing. We can help you-if you will let us.”
The scowl faded. Floyd followed my lead, smiled and nodded agreement and said nothing; another cigar was produced and lit. The smoke rose up and the smoker nodded beneficently.
“You are right of course, Jim. The responsibility has been great, the pressure continuous. And I am surrounded by morons-stulteguloj, kretenoj! Centuries of interbreeding and hiding underground has done little to improve their brain capacity. I am amazed that I alone have the intelligence to see this. I’m as different from them as if I had been born on a different planet, the child of superior parents.”
This was sounding familiar. There has never been a strongman, dictator, military ruler, who did not believe that he somehow came from superior stock.
“You are different, sir,” Floyd said, almost humbly. “I knew that as soon as you spoke.”
We had both obviously read the same textbooks. Though I thought he was spreading it on rather thickly. I was wrong.
“You could see that? The difference is obvious I suppose, to someone from Outside. It hasn’t been easy, I tell you. In the begi
“Was it the restlessness of the younger ones that gave you the idea to supply a leader for them to follow?” I asked.
“Not at first. But I began to see that the young were losing respect for the old. About the only people they looked up to were the scientists. From their point of view the scientists were the only ones who at least appeared to be doing new and important things. That’s when I hit on the Alphamega role. They think that I am one of the younger scientists. A rebel who is unable to make any progress against the old ideas, the familiar ways-therefore I have been forced to enlist others of like age and mind.”
“My arms are getting stiff,” Floyd said, smiling. “You wouldn’t mind taking off these clamps for a bit?”
“I would. I want you two just where you are.”
Mercurial, our friend. All warmth gone in an instant, he dragged so hard on the cigar that it crackled and sparked. “We Survivalists watch events pretty closely-all over this planet. With a surveillance network set up before anyone else arrived. Amplified and spread ever since. Not a bird craps, not a polpettone fruit falls that we don’t know about. That I don’t know about. Because I watch the watchers. I watched and saw that a lot of energy and plenty of high-powered work was going into recovering that artifact. There is something very important about it-and I want to know just what. I had a squad steal it and destroy the building, hide their tracks. It was impossible to follow them. Yet you did. I want to know how you did that too. So talk-and talk fast.”
“My pleasure,” I said. “My friend here knows nothing about the artifact. But I do. I am the one who found it first, then tracked it and followed it here. I am the only one who can tell you how it operates – and what incredible things it can do. If you can take me to it I will be happy to show you how it works.”
“That is more like it. You will come with me. Your associate remains here as a guarantee-don’t you agree?” He stood and buckled on a large and offensive-looking sidearm.
“Of course. Sorry about that, Floyd,” I said as I turned my head to face him. Winking with my left eye, the one our captor couldn’t see. “I know that you would come after me and help me if you could. But you can’t. So stay here and you will be safe. You have the word of James Fido diGriz on that.”
“I’ll be okay, Jim. Look after yourself.”
I only hoped that this mixture of i
We walked side by side down the wide hall with its framed portraits of heroes. My companion smiled warmly in my direction. Pulling his gun a bit out of the holster at the same time, then letting it slide back.
“You do understand that if you breathe one word about our conversation you will be no more than a grease spot on the floor?”
“Completely aware, thank you. Absolute silence on that topic, yes, sir. I will look at the artifact and explain its operation. Nothing more.”
Maybe I was smiling on the outside – but I was pretty gloomy on the inside. Jim, you are getting yourself in deeper than a porcuswine in a mudhole. A depressing thought-and a true one. But I really had no choice.
It was quite a long walk and I was getting tired again. When all this was over-of it were ever over-I promised myself a nice long holiday. Head-up, Jim! Think positive and get ready to improvise.