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"They said NO in a loud - voice until the money was mentioned. After that they
ran an -accounting of the treasury, and gave Amalfi his head. They had a few
additional facts to work from that I haven't told you yet, most of which seem
to indicate that we can dispossess this tramp without too much damage to our
own city, and very possibly before the cops - even hear that anything's
happening. All the same, bear in mind that they think of nothing but the city
as a whole. If some of us get- killed in the process they won't care, as long
as the city itself gets
- off cleanly. They're not sentimental."
"I already know t~iat," Chris said, with feeling. "But- how do I come into all
this? Why does the Mayor want to talk to me? I don't know anything but what
you've told me-apd besides, h'e's already made up his mind."
"He's made up his mind," Anderson agreed, "but you know a lot that he doesn't
know. As we get closer to Argus Three, he wants you to listen to the
broadcasts from the Argidae, and anything we may pick up from the tramp, and
fill him in on any clues you hear."
"But why?"
-' "Because you're the only person on -board who knows the tramp at first
hand," the perimeter sergeant said, with slow, deliberate emphasis. "It's your
old friend Scranton."
"But-that can't be so! There were hundreds of us - put on board from
Scranton-all adults but me-"
"Press-gang sweepings," Anderson said with cold disgust. "Oh, there were one
or two specialists we found a use for, but none of them ever paid any
attention to city
politics. The rest were bulgy-muscled misfits, a large pro. portion of them
psychotics. We cured them, but w~ couldn't raise their IQ's; without something
to sell, or thc Interplanetary Grand Prix, or heavy labor to keep theij minds
off their minds, they're just so many vegetables, We-Irish and I-couldn't find
even one worth taking intc our squads. We've made citizens of the three good
special. ists, but the rest will be passengers till they die.
"But you're the happy accident of that crew right now, Chris. The City Fathers
say that your history aboard Scranton shows that you know something about the
town, Amalfli wants to mine that knowledge. Want to tackle it?",
"I-I'll try."
"Good." The perimeter sergeant turned to the miniature tape recorder at his
elbow. "Here's a complete transcript of everything we've heard from Argus
Three so far. Aftes you've heard it and made any comments that occur to you,
Amalfii will begin to feed us the live messages, from the bridge. Ready?"
"No," Chris said, more desperately than he could eves have imagined possible
for him. "Not yet. My head is about to bust already. Do I get off from school
while this is going on? I couldn't take it, otherwise."
"No," Anderson said, "you don't. If a live message comes through while you're
in class, we'll pull you out. But you'll go right back in again. Otherwise
yOUT schooling will go right on just as before, and if you can't take the new
burden, well, that'll be too bad. You'd bettes get that straight right away,
Chris. This isn't a vacation, and it isn't a prize. It's a job, for the
survival 0/the city, Either you take it or you don't; either way, you get no
special treatment. Well?"
For what seemed to him to be a long time, Chris sal and listened to his
echoing Okie headache. At last, howev. er, he said resignedly:
"I'll take it." --
Anderson snapped the switch, and the tape began to rur on the spoois.
The earliest messages, as Anderson had noted, werc vague and brief. The later
ones were longer, but ever more cryptic. Chris was able to worry very little
more information out of them than Amalfi and the City Fathen already had. As
promised, he spoke to Amalfi-but fron
the Andersoris' apartment, through a hookup which fed what he had to say to
the mayor and to the machines simultaneously.
The machines asked questions about population, energy resources, degree of
automation and other vital matters, not a one of which -Chris could answer.
The Mayor mostly just listened; on the few occasions when his heavy voice cut [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]