The outer sh.e.l.l of the rocket dome opened before and closed behind them. Jordan set the controls in neutral and lifted his hands, muttering to himself. They were gliding through the lip of the inner sh.e.l.l. Home.
"Cheer up," said Cameron breezily. "You"re not really prisoners, you know."
Nona seemed content, though Jordan didn"t. Docchi said nothing, the light gone from his face. Anti wasn"t with them; she was floating in the tank of acid. The gravity field of the asteroid made that necessary.
The ship sc.r.a.ped gently and they were down. Jordan touched a lever; pa.s.senger and freight locks were open.
"Let"s go," said Dr. Cameron. "I imagine there"s a reception committee for you."
There was. The little rocket dome held more ships than normally came in a year. The precise confusion of military discipline was everywhere in evidence. Armed guards lined either side of the landing ramp down which they walked.
At the bottom, a large telecom unit had been set up. If size indicated anything, someone considered this an important occasion. From the screen, larger than life, Medicouncilor Thorton looked out approvingly.
The procession from the ship halted in front of the telecom unit.
"A good job, Dr. Cameron," said the medicouncilor. "We were quite surprised at the escape of the four accidentals, and your disappearance, which coincided with it. From what we were able to piece together, you deliberately followed them. A splendid example of quick thinking, Doctor. You deserve recognition for it."
"Thank you," said Cameron.
"I"m sorry I can"t be there to congratulate you in person, but I will be soon." The medicouncilor paused discreetly. "At first the publicity was bad. Very bad. We thought it unwise to conceal an affair of such magnitude. Of course the unauthorized broadcast made it impossible.
Fortunately, the gravital discovery came along at just the right time.
I don"t mind telling you that the net effect is now in our favor."
"I hoped it would be," said Cameron. "Nona--"
"You"ve spoken about her before." The medicouncilor frowned. "We can discuss her later. For the moment, see that she and the rest of the accidentals are returned to their usual places. Bring Docchi to your office at once. I want to question him privately."
Cameron stared at him in bewilderment. "But I thought--"
"No objections, Doctor," snapped Thorton. "Important people are waiting for you. That is all." The telecom darkened.
"I think you heard what he said, Dr. Cameron." The officer at his side was very polite. He could afford to be, with the rank of three big planets on his tunic.
"Very well," Cameron answered. "But as commander of the asteroid, I request that you furnish a guard for the girl."
"Commander?" repeated the officer. "That"s funny--my orders indicate that I am, until further notice. I haven"t got that notice." He looked around at his men and crooked a finger. "Lieutenant, see that the little fellow--Jordan, I think his name is--gets a lift back to the main dome. And you can walk the pretty lady to her room. Or whatever it is she lives in." He smiled negligently at Cameron. "Anything to oblige another commander."
The medicouncilor, Thorton, was waiting impatiently on the telecom when they got to Cameron"s office.
"We will arrive in about two hours," he said immediately. "When I say we, I mean a number of top governmental officials and scientists.
Meanwhile, let"s get on with this gravital business." He caught sight of the commander. "General Judd, this is a technical matter. I don"t think you"ll be interested in it."
"Very well, sir. I"ll stand guard outside."
The medicouncilor was silent until the door closed behind General Judd. "Sit down, Docchi," he said with unexpected kindness. He paused to note the effect. "I can sympathize with you. You had everything you wanted nearly within your reach. And, after that, to return to Handicap Haven--well, I can understand how you feel. But since you did return, I think we can arrange to do something for you."
Docchi stared at the man on the screen. A spot of light pulsed on his cheek and then flared rapidly over his face.
"Sure," he said casually. "But there are criminal charges against me."
"A formality," said the medicouncilor. "With a thing like the discovery--or rediscovery--of the gravital drive to think about, no one is going to worry much about your unauthorized departure from the asteroid."
Medicouncilor Thorton sounded pleased. "I don"t want to mislead you.
We can"t do any more for you medically than has already been done.
However, you will find yourself the center of a more adequate social life. Friends, work, whatever you want. Naturally, in return for this, we will expect your full cooperation."
"Naturally." Docchi blinked at him and got to his feet. "Sounds interesting. I"d like to think about it for a minute."
Cameron planted himself squarely in front of the screen. "Maybe I don"t understand. I think you"ve got the wrong person."
"Dr. Cameron!" Thorton glowered. "Please explain."
"It was an easy mistake to make," said Cameron. "Cut off from communication, the gravital drive began to work. How? Why? Mostly, who did it? You knew it wasn"t I. I"m a doctor, not a physicist. Nor Jordan, he"s at best a mechanic. Therefore it had to be Docchi, because he"s an engineer. He could make it work. But it wasn"t Docchi.
He had nothing to do with--"
"Look out!" cried Thorton too late.
Cameron fell to his knees. The same foot that brought him down crashed into his chin. His head snapped back and he sprawled on the floor.
Blood trickled from his face.
"Docchi!" shouted Thorton from the screen.
Docchi didn"t answer. He was crashing through the door. The commander was lounging against the wall. Head down, Docchi ran into him. The toaster fell from his belt to the floor. With scarcely a pause, Docchi stamped on it and continued running.
The commander got to his feet and retrieved the weapon. He aimed it tentatively at the retreating figure; a thought occurred to him and he lowered it. He examined the damaged mechanism. After that, it went gingerly into a tunic pocket.
m.u.f.fled shouts were coming from Cameron"s office. The general broke in.
The medicouncilor glared at him from the screen. "I can see that you let him get away."
The disheveled officer straightened his uniform. "I"m sorry, sir. I"ll alert the guards immediately."
"Never mind now. Revive that man."
The general wasn"t accustomed to giving resuscitation; it was out of his line. Nevertheless, in a few minutes Cameron was conscious, though somewhat dazed.
"Now then, Doctor, if it wasn"t Docchi who was responsible for the sudden functioning of the gravital drive, who was it?"
With satisfaction, Cameron told him. He had not been wrong about the girl. Listening to the detailed explanation of Nona"s mental abilities, the general was perplexed, as generals sometimes are.
"I see." The medicouncilor nodded. "We overlooked that possibility altogether. Not the mechanical genius of an engineer. Instead, the strange telepathic sense of a girl. That puts the problem in a different light."
"It does." Cameron pressed his aching jaw. "She can"t tell us how she does it. We"ll have to experiment. Fortunately, it won"t involve any danger. With the monitor system we can always control the gravital drive."