Almost but not quite too late Hilton saw through that perfect act. He seized her right hand in both of his, held it up over her head, and waved it back and forth in the sign of victory.
"Socked me with my own club!" he exulted, laughing delightedly, boyishly. "And came within a tenth of a split red hair! If it hadn"t been so absolutely out of character you"d"ve got away with it. _What_ a load of stuff! I was right--of all the women on this project, you"re the only one I"ve ever been really afraid of."
"Oh, d.a.m.n. Ouch!" She grinned ruefully. "I hit you with everything I had and it just bounced. You"re an operator, chief. Hit "em hard, at completely unexpected angles. Keep "em staggering, completely off balance. Tell "em nothing--let "em deduce your lies for themselves. And it anybody tries to slug you back, like I did just now, duck it and clobber him in another unprotected spot. Watching you work has been not only a delight, but also a liberal education."
"Thanks. I love you, too, Teddy." He lighted two cigarettes, handed her one. "I"m glad, though, to lay it flat on the table with you, because in any battle of wits with _you_ I"m licked before we start."
"Yeah. You just proved it. And after licking me hands down, you think you can square it by swinging the old shovel that way?" She did not quite know whether to feel resentful or not.
"Think over a couple of things. First, with the possible exception of Temple Bells, you"re the best brain aboard."
"No. You are. Then Temple. Then there are ..."
"Hold it. You know as well as I do that accurate self-judgment is impossible. Second, the jam we"re in. Do I, or don"t I, want to lay it on the table with you, now and from here on? Bore into that with your Cla.s.s A Double-Prime brain. Then tell me." He leaned back, half-closed his eyes and smoked lazily.
She stiffened; narrowed her eyes in concentration; and thought. Finally: "Yes, you do; and I"m gladder of that than you will ever know."
"I think I know already, since you"re her best friend and the only other woman I know of in her cla.s.s. But I came in to kick a couple of things around with you. As you"ve noticed, that"s getting to be my favorite indoor sport. Probably because I"m a sort of jackleg theoretician myself."
"You can frame that, Jarve, as the understatement of the century. But first, you are going to answer that question you sidestepped so neatly."
"What I did to Bill? I finally convinced him that n.o.body expected the team to do that big a job overnight. That you could have ten years. Or more, if necessary."
"I see." She frowned. "But you and I both know that we _can"t_ string it out that long."
He did not answer immediately. "We _could_. But we probably won"t ...
unless we have to. We should know, long before that, whether we"ll have to switch to some other line of attack. You"ve considered the possibilities, of course. Have you got anything in shape to do a fine-tooth on?"
"Not yet. That is, except for the ultimate, which is too ghastly to even consider except as an ultimately last resort. Have you?"
"I know what you mean. No, I haven"t, either. You don"t think, then, that we had better do any collaborative thinking yet?"
"Definitely not. There"s altogether too much danger of setting both our lines of thought into one dead-end channel."
"Check. The other thing I wanted from you is your considered opinion as to my job on the organization as a whole. And don"t pull your punches.
Are we in good shape or not? What can I do to improve the setup?"
"I have already considered that very thing--at great length. And honestly, Jarve, I don"t see how it can be improved in any respect.
You"ve done a marvelous job. Much better than I thought possible at first." He heaved a deep sigh of relief and she went on: "This could very easily have become a G.o.d-awful mess. But the Board knew what they were doing--especially as to top man--so there are only about four people aboard who realize what you have done. Alex Kincaid and Sandra c.u.mmings are two of them. One of the three girls is very deeply and very truly in love with you."
"Ordinarily I"d say "no comment", but we"re laying on the line ...
well ..."
"You"ll lay _that_ on the line only if I corkscrew it out you, so I"ll Q.E.D. it. You probably know that when Sandy gets done playing around it"ll be ..."
"Bounce back, Teddy. She isn"t--hasn"t been. If anything, too much the opposite. A dedicated-scientist type."
She smiled--a highly cryptic smile. For a man as brilliant and as penetrant in every other respect ... but after all, if the big dope didn"t realize that half the women aboard, including Sandy, had been making pa.s.ses at him, she certainly wouldn"t enlighten him. Besides, that one particular area of obtuseness was a real part of his charm.
Wherefore she said merely: "I"m not sure whether I"m a bit catty or you"re a bit stupid. Anyway, it"s Alex she"s really in love with. And you already know about Bill and me."
"Of course. He"s tops. One of the world"s very finest. You"re in the same bracket, and as a couple you"re a drive fit. One in a million."
"Now I can say "I love you, too", too." She paused for half a minute, then stubbed out her cigarette and shrugged. "Now I"m going to stick my neck way, way out. You can knock it off if you like. She"s a tremendous lot of woman, and if ... well, strong as she is, it"d shatter her to bits. So, I"d like to ask ... I don"t quite ... well, _is_ she going to get hurt?"
"Have I managed to hide it _that_ well? From _you_?"
It was her turn to show relief. "Perfectly. Even--or especially--that time you kissed her. So d.a.m.ned perfectly that I"ve been scared green.
I"ve been waking myself up, screaming, in the middle of the night. You couldn"t let on, of course. That"s the h.e.l.l of such a job as yours. The rest of us can smooch around all over the place. I knew the question was extremely improper--thanks a million for answering it."
"I haven"t started to answer it yet. I said I"d lay everything on the line, so here it is. Saying she"s a tremendous lot of woman is like calling the _Perseus_ a nice little baby"s-bathtub toy boat. I"d go to h.e.l.l for her any time, cheerfully, standing straight up, wading into brimstone and lava up to the eyeb.a.l.l.s. If anything ever hurts her it"ll be because I"m not man enough to block it. And just the minute this d.a.m.ned job is over, or even sooner if enough of you couples make it so I can ..."
"Jarvis!" she shrieked. Jumping up, she kissed him enthusiastically.
"That"s just wonderful!"
He thought it was pretty wonderful, too; and after ten minutes more of conversation he got up and turned toward the door.
"I feel a lot better, Teddy. Thanks for being such a nice pressure-relief valve. Would you mind it too much if I come in and sob on your bosom again some day?"
"I"d love it!" She laughed; then, as he again started to leave: "Wait a minute, I"m thinking ... it"d be more fun to sob on _her_ bosom. You haven"t even kissed her yet, have you? I mean _really_ kissed her?"
"You know I haven"t. She"s the one person aboard I can"t be alone with for a second."
"True. But I know of one chaperone who could become deaf and blind," she said, with a broad and happy grin. "On my door, you know, there"s a huge invisible sign that says, to everyone except you, "STOP! BRAIN AT WORK!
SILENCE!", and if I were properly approached and sufficiently urged, I might ... I just _conceivably_ might ..."
"Consider it done, you little sweetheart! Up to and including my most vigorous and most insidious attempts at seduction."
"Done. Maneuver your big, husky carca.s.s around here behind the desk so the door can open." She flipped a switch and punched a number. "I can call anybody in here, any time, you know. h.e.l.lo, dear, this is Teddy.
Can you come in for just a few minutes? Thanks." And, one minute later, there came a light tap on the door.
"Come in," Teddy called, and Temple Bells entered the room. She showed no surprise at seeing Hilton.
"Hi, chief," she said. "It must be something both big and tough, to have you and Teddy both on it."
"You"re so right. It was very big and very tough. But it"s solved, darling, so ..."
"_Darling?_" she gasped, almost inaudibly, both hands flying to her throat. Her eyes flashed toward the other woman.
"Teddy knows all about us--accessory before, during and after the fact."
"_Darling!_" This time, the word was a shriek. She extended both arms and started forward.