The Helpful Hand of God Page 5

once!"

  "A great idea. It should fix up everything to lock the stable doornow that the horse is stolen."

  * * * * *

  He went to the plant and felt the air of resentment as soon as hestepped inside. Dalon was patrolling among his men, his haggard facebecoming more haggard each time the red-haired personnel supervisorwent by with her hips swinging and her head held high in hurt, aloofsilence. The guards were pacing their beats in wordless quiet,Graver's technicians were speaking only in the line of duty. The girlswere not talking even to one another but in the soft, melting glancesthey gave the Vogarians they said _We understand_ in a manner moreeloquent than any words.

  In fact, far too eloquent. He considered the plan of having Brennforbid the girls to look at the guards, discarded that as impractical,for a moment wildly considered ordering the guards not to look at thegirls, discarded that as even more impractical, and went, muttering,to Larue's office.

  Larue was at his desk, his face lined with fatigue.

  "It's been a difficult job," he said, "but we'll meet the deadline."

  "Good," Kane answered. "Did Brenn phone you about having that edictremoved?"

  "Ah--which one?"

  "Which one? You mean...."

  He turned and ran from the office.

  A girl was removing the offending edict from the nearest bulletinboard. Another, later, one proclaimed:

  _We must abandon as hopeless the suggestion of some that if there mustbe an Occupation force, we would like for it to be these men whom wehave come to respect, and many of us to love. This can never be. OnlyCommander Y'Nor will leave the ship at Vogar, there to select his ownOccupation force, while the men now among us continue directly on tothe Alkorian war from which many of them will never return._

  _We must not resent the fact that on this, their last day among us,these men are forbidden to speak to us or to let us speak to them norsay that this is unfair when Commander Y'Nor's Occupation troops willbe permitted to associate freely with us. These things are beyond ourpower to change. We must accept the inevitable and show only by oursilent conduct the love we have for these warriors whom we shall neversee again._

  Kane gulped convulsively, read it again, and hurried back to Larue'soffice.

  "How long has that last edict been up?" he demanded.

  "About twelve hours."

  "Then every shift has seen it?"

  "Ah ... yes. Why--is something wrong with it?"

  "That depends on the viewpoint. I want them removed at once. And tellthat sanctified old weasel that if this last edict of his gets mehanged, which it probably will, I'll see to it that he gets the samemedicine."

  He went back into the plant and made his way through the bare-legged,soft-eyed girls, looking for Dalon. He overheard a guard say in low,bitter tones to another: "... _Maybe eight hours on Vogar, and wecan't leave the ship, then on to the battle front for us while Y'Norand his home guard favorites come back here and pick out theirharems_--"

  He found Dalon and said to him, "Watch your men. They're resentful.Some of them might even desert--and Y'Nor wasn't joking about thatgallows for us last night."

  "I know." Dalon ran his finger around the collar that seemed to begetting increasingly tighter for him. "I've warned them that theOccupation troops would get them in the end."

  * * * * *

  He found Graver at a dial-covered panel. The brown-eyed secretary--hereyes now darker and more appealing than ever--was just leaving, anotebook in her hand.

  "Since when," Kane asked, "has it been customary for technicians toneed the assistance of secretaries to read a dial?"

  "But, sir, she is a very good technician, herself. Her paper work isnow done and she was helping me trace a circuit that was fluctuating."

  Kane peered suspiciously into Graver's expressionless face.

  "Are you sure it was a circuit that was doing the fluctuating?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Did you know that half of Dalon's guards seem to be ready to jumpship?"

  "Yes, sir. But their resentment is not characteristic of mytechnicians."

  He realized, with surprise, that that was true. And Graver, incontrast to Dalon's agitation, had the calm, purposeful air of a manwho had pondered deeply upon an unpleasant future and had taken stepsto prevent it.

  "I have no desire to hang, sir, and I have convinced my men that itwould be suicide for part of them to desert. I shall do my best toconvince Dalon's guards of the same thing."

  He went back through the plant, much of his confidence restored, andback to the ship.

  Y'Nor was pacing the floor again, his impatience keying him to a moodmore vile than ever.

  "This ship will leave at exactly twenty-three fifteen, Vogar time,"Y'Nor said. "Any man not on it then will be regarded as a deserter andexecuted as such when I return with the Occupation force."

  He stopped his pacing to stare at Kane with the ominous anticipationof a spider surveying a captured fly.

  "Although I can operate this ship with a minimum of two crewmen, Ishall expect you to make certain that every man is on board."

  Kane went back out of the ship, his confidence shaken again, and backto the plant.

  * * * * *

  Night came at last and, finally, the first shielded tank of fuel wasdelivered to the ship. Others followed, one by one, as the hours wentby.

  It was almost morning when Graver came to him and said, "My duties andthose of my men are finished here, sir. Shall we go to prepare theship for flight?"

  "Yes--get busy at it," Kane answered. "Don't give the commander anyexcuse to get any madder than he already is."

  An hour later the last of the fuel went into the last tank and washauled away. Someone said, "That's all," and a switch clicked. Amachine rumbled off into silence, followed by others. Control panelswent dark. Within a minute there was not a machine running, not apanel lighted.

  Dalon's whistle for Guard Assembly sounded, high and shrill. A girl'svoice called to one of the guards: "Hurry back to your ship,Billy--the thunder hawks might get you if you stayed--" and broke on asob. Another girl said, "Hush, Julia--it's not his fault."

  He went out of the plant, and past Larue's office. He saw that thebrown-eyed secretary was gone, her desk clean. Larue was still there,looking very tired. He did not go in. The fuel had been produced, hewould never see Larue again.

  He took the path that led toward town. Part of the Whirlpool starcluster was still above the horizon, a white blaze of a thousand suns,and the eastern sky was lightening with the first rays of dawn. Adozen girls were ahead of him, their voices a low murmur as theyhurried back toward town. There was an undertone of tension, all ofthe former gaiety gone. The brief week of make-believe was over andthe next Vogarians to come would truly be their enemy.

  He came to the hilltop where he had met the mountain girl, thought ofher with irrational longing, and suddenly she was there before him.

  The pistol was again in her belt.

  "You came with all the stealth of a plains ox," she said. "I couldhave shot you a dozen times over."

  "Are we already at war?" he asked.

  "We Saints have to let you Vogarians kill some of us, first--ourpenalty for being ethical."

  "Listen to me," he said. "We tried to fight the inevitable in the LostIslands. When the sun went down that day, half of us were dead and therest prisoners."

  "And you rose from prisoner to officer because you were too selfish tokeep fighting for what was right."

  "I saw them bury the ones who insisted on doing that."

  "And you want us to meekly bow down, here?"

  "I have no interest of any kind in this world--I'll never see itagain--but I know from experience what will happen to you and yourpeople if you try to fight. I don't want that to happen. Do you thinkthat because a man isn't a blind chauvinist, he has to be a soullessmonster?"

  "No," she said in a suddenly small voice. "But
I had hoped ... we weretalking that day of the mountains beyond the Emerald Plain and afrontier to last for centuries ... it was just idle talk but I thoughtmaybe that when the showdown came you would be on our side, afterall."

  She drew a deep breath that came a little raggedly and said with alightness that was too forced:

  "You don't mind if I have a silly sentimental fondness for my world,do you? It's the only world I have. Maybe you would understand if youcould see the Azure Mountains in the spring ... but you never will,will you? Because you lied when you said you weren't my enemy and nowI know you are and I"--the lightness faltered and broke--"am yours ...and the next time