Footfall

“How’d she do?” Jack asked.

“Pretty good.”

“Trouble was, there wasn’t much anybody could do with the information,” Curtis added.

“They’ve done something with theirs,” Sherry said. “Governments surrender, and now they’ve got human diplomats talking to other governments, and some of their tame politicians broadcasting to the rest of the world …”

“Like Lord Haw Haw,” Ransom said.

“What gets me is some of the bastards buy it,” Curtis said.

“Sticks and carrots,” Je

“A big deal for the undeveloped countries,” Reynolds said.

“It could be a big deal for us one of these days,” Ransom said. “How far are we from being an undeveloped country?”

“And getting closer all the time,” Reynolds agreed.

There had been no more big rocks since the Foot, but i

Transportation, factories, crossroads, big ocean vessels: you never knew what would be hit or when. America was slowly becoming a loose-knit chain of semi-independent feudalities, and there was nothing you could do about it.

“They hit another one today,” Je

“Show-offs,” Reynolds said.

“Impressive, though,” Ransom said.

“Perhaps what we need is another pep talk,” Admiral Carrell said. “The President too. What’s depressing is the stories we get out of Africa. There are people in their puppet governments who like the way things are.”

“Quislings,” Curtis said. “Vidkun Quisling was an ideologic convert to the Nazis.”

“Yeah, but what’s attractive about the snouts? Why would anybody want them in charge?” Clybourne demanded.

“Africa’s so divided you can find a group to cooperate with anything if it will put them on top,” Ransom said.

“Unity,” Sherry said. “They’ll unite us—”

“-even if it kills us,” Reynolds finished.

“Here’s to Unity!” Sherry lifted her glass in a toast.

Curtis raised a clenched fist and sang off-key. “And the Inter-nation-ale unites the hu-man race.”

Reynolds leaped on it. “More than the human race. All the sapient races. Thinkers of the galaxy, unite! You have nothing I lose but your chains.”

“Down with arboreal chauvinism!” Sherry shouted.

“And you want these guys to cheer up the President?” Jack Clybourne’s voice was dull and serious in the general laughter. “They don’t care who wins!”

“Hey!” Ransom protested.

“You didn’t see it,” Clybourne said. “I did. A huge cargo barge stuffed full of people. Just ordinary people from Kansas. Men, women, kids. Dogs. Dolls. All mashed into jelly. If you’d see it, you wouldn’t talk like this!”

“We’ve seen it,” Joe Ransom said.

“They’ve seen your ship,” Carol said. “Your ship, and the bodies in Kansas, they’ve all of them seen all of that.”

“Films? If you’d been there, if you’d smelled it, you’d hate the snouts with your minds and guts!”

“Come off it,” Curtis said.

“Hey, we’re all on the same side,” Carol said. “Come on. Have a drink.”

“Maybe we’ve all had too much,” Sherry said.

“You don’t really think we’ll surrender?” Ransom asked.

“I won’t,” Clybourne said.

“Well, we won’t either. Our problem is that we’re in here. Outside we might have something to do, some way to help rebuild the country. In here we’re useless.”

“They also serve,” Curtis muttered, “who only stand and wait. That’s our problem, Jack. We’re supposed to plan for failure. What can we do if Archangel doesn’t work? And every damn one of us knows that Archangel is it! Damn right all our eggs are in that basket. There isn’t another basket and there won’t be more eggs. So here we sit, waiting …”

“And the longer we wait,” Ransom said, “the longer it takes to finish Archangel, the better the chances the snouts will find out about it. Or drop a rock on Bellingham for the pure hell of it.” He raised his glass. “Here’s to you, Mr. Clybourne. I just hope you got all the CBs.”

“There’s another problem,” Admiral Carrell said.

“Yeah?”

“That message inviting us to discuss surrender terms. It was received here fine.”

“So?—” Ransom prompted.

Je

“It wasn’t heard ten miles away,” Admiral Carrell said.

“Tightbeam!” Reynolds said.

“Tightbeam, direct to here,” Curtis added. “It took you a week to find out?”

“Direct to here?” Clybourne looked puzzled. “A message for the President sent here—”

“And nowhere else,” Ransom said.

“We’ve got to get the President out of here!” Clybourne shouted.

“In due time,” Admiral Carrell said. “However they got their information—”

“Quislings,” Curtis muttered.

“Perhaps. However they learned, they have had a week and more to act on their knowledge. They have not done so.”

“But we’re safe here,” Carol protested. “Aren’t we?”

“Against what?” Curtis demanded. “Nothing’s safe from another Foot.”

“They won’t do that,” Sherry protested.

“How do you know?” Clybourne demanded.

“Harpanet. They don’t attack the top leadership of a herd. If humans surrender …”

“Which we won’t,” Ransom said. He raised his glass. Curtis clinked glasses with him.

“If we did,” Sherry continued. “The President would probably become a high official, an advisor to their herdmaster. It’s the way they work. They won’t kill the President if they can help it. It would be like starting a court trial by shooting the other fellow’s lawyer. They just don’t do things that way.”

“They don’t offer conditional surrender terms, either,” Curtis said. “They’re learning.”

This was the heart of Michael. The bridge looked like an unfinished Star Trek movie set. Around the walls were large viewscreens and control consoles, with acceleration couches made of webbing at each station, and two large command chairs in the center. Scattered through it all were wooden desks, tables, and drafting tables, nearly all covered with blueprints.

Some of the wall screens were split, blueprint at the bottom and camera view of that area at the top. As Harry watched, one of the screens flashed, and a new drawing appeared at its bottom.

“Done, by God!” Max Rohrs stood. “Harry, break out the champagne!”

“Right on!”

General Gillespie rose from his seat at one of the wooden desks. “Are we really done, Max?”

“Well … Ed, we both know this ship won’t ever be finished, we’ll be making changes right up to launch time, but yeah, we’re done. You can tell the President that as of tomorrow noon we can launch on twenty-four hours notice.”

Harry retrieved champagne from a small portable refrigerator. It would have to go, along with the desks and tables and file cabinets. It was good champagne, Mum’s. There were a dozen crystal glasses in the refrigerator too. “How many glasses, General?” Harry asked.

“Three just now,” Gillespie said.

Harry worried the cork out and let it fly to the ceiling. He poured and handed glasses out, then lifted one. “A willing foe, and sea room.”

Gillespie made a face. “I’d as soon the snouts weren’t willing at all. I just want to win.”

Max Rohrs said, “Ed, we’ve just worked a miracle.” He went over to the calendar and drew a ring around the date. “A real live one hundred percent miracle.” He lifted his glass. “So God bless us, there’s none like us. You too, Harry. You were a damn big help.”

“Thanks.”