"They"re diamonds."
"What makes you think so?"
"They"re diamonds all right."
Harriman stopped and unwrapped a cigar. Presently he said, "Those diamonds were where you found them because I put them there."
A flashlight went off behind Harriman; a voice said, "Hold the rock up higher, Jeff."
The reporter called Jeff obliged, then said, "That seems an odd thing to do, Mr. Harriman."
"I was interested in the effect of outer s.p.a.ce radiations on raw diamonds. On my orders Captain LeCroix placed that sack of diamonds in the ship."
Jeff whistled thoughtfully. "You know, Mr. Harriman, if you did not have that explanation, I"d think LeCroix had found the rocks on the Moon and was trying to hold out on you."
"Print that and you will be sued for libel. I have every confidence in Captain LeCroix. Now give me the diamonds."
Jeff"s eyebrows went up. "But not confidence enough in him to let him keep them,.maybe?"
"Give me the stones. Then get out."
Harriman got LeCroix away from the reporters as quickly as possible and into Harriman"s own ship. "That"s all for now," he told the news and pictures people. "See us at Peterson Field."
Once the ship raised ground he turned to LeCroix. "You did a beautiful job, Les."
"That reporter named Jeff must be sort of confused."
"Eh? Oh, that. No, I mean the flight. You did it. You"re head man on this planet."
LeCroix shrugged it off. "Bob built a good ship. It was a cinch. Now about those diamonds--"
"Forget the diamonds. You"ve done your part. We placed those rocks in the ship; now we tell everybody we did--truthful as can be. It"s not our fault if they don"t believe us."
"But Mr. Harriman--"
"What?"
LeCroix unzipped a pocket in his coveralls, hauled out a soiled handkerchief, knotted into a bag. He untied it--and spilled into Harriman"s hands many more diamonds than had been displayed in the ship--larger, finer diamonds.
Harriman stared at them. He began to chuckle.
Presently he shoved them back at LeCroix. "Keep them."
"I figure they belong to all of us."
"Well, keep them for us, then. And keep your mouth shut about them. No, wait." He picked out two large stones. "I"ll have rings made from these two, one for you, one for me. But keep your mouth shut, or they won"t be worth anything, except as curiosities."
It was quite true, he thought. Long ago the diamond syndicate had realized that diamonds in plentiful supply were worth little more than gla.s.s, except for industrial uses. Earth had more than enough for that, more than enough for jewels. If Moon diamonds were literally "common as pebbles" then they were just that--pebbles.
Not worth the expense of bringing them to earth. But now take uranium. If that were plentiful-- Harriman sat back and indulged in daydreaming. Presently LeCroix said softly, "You know, Boss, it"s wonderful there."
"Eh? Where?"
"Why, on the Moon of course. I"m going back. I"m going back just as soon as I can. We"ve got to get busy on the new ship."
"Sure, sure! And this time we"ll build one big enough for all of us. This time I go, too!"
"You bet."
"Les--" The older man spoke almost diffidently. "What does it look like when you look back and see the Earth?"
"Huh? It looks like-- It looks--" LeCroix stopped. "h.e.l.l"s bells, Boss, there isn"t any way to tell you. It"s wonderful, that"s all. The sky is black and--well, wait until you see the pictures I took. Better .yet, wait and see it yourself."
Harriman nodded. "But it"s hard to wait."
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
"FIELDS OF DIAMONDS ON THE MOONU!".
"BILLIONAIRE BACKER DENIES DIAMOND STORY Says Jewels Taken Into s.p.a.ce for Science Reasons"
"MOON DIAMONDS: HOAX OR FACT?".
"--but consider this, friends of the invisible audience: why would anyone take diamonds to the moon? Every ounce of that ship and its cargo was calculated; diamonds would not be taken along without reason. Many scientific authorities have p.r.o.nounced Mr. Harriman"s professed reason an absurdity. It is easy to guess that diamonds might be taken along for the purpose of "salting" the Moon, so to speak, with earthly jewels, with the intention of convincing us that diamonds exist on the Moon--but Mr. Harriman, his pilot Captain LeCroix, and everyone connected with the enterprise have sworn from the beginning that the diamonds did not come from the Moon. But it is an absolute certainty that the diamonds were in the s.p.a.ce ship when it landed. Cut it how you will; this reporter is going to try to buy some lunar diamond mining stock--"
Strong was, as usual, already in the office when Harriman came in. Before the partners could speak, the screen called out, "Mr. Harriman, Rotterdam calling."
"Tell them to go plant a tulip."
"Mr. van der Velde is waiting, Mr. Harriman."
"Okay."
Harriman let the Hollander talk, then said, "Mr. van der Velde, the statements attributed to me are absolutely correct. I put those diamonds the reporters saw into the ship before it took off. They were mined right here on Earth. In fact I bought them when I came over to see you; I can prove it."
"But Mr. Harriman--"
"Suit yourself. There may be more diamonds on the Moon than you can run and jump over. I don"t guarantee it. But I do guarantee that those diamonds the newspapers are talking about came from Earth."
"Mr. Harriman, why would you send diamonds to the Moon? Perhaps you intended to fool us, no?"
"Have it your own way. But I"ve said all along that those diamonds came from Earth. Now see here: you took an option--an option on an option, so to speak. If you want to make the second payment on that option and keep it in force, the deadline is nine o"clock Thursday, New York time, as specified in the contract. Make up your mind."
He switched off and found his partner looking at him sourly. "What"s eating you?"
"I wondered about those diamonds, too, Delos. So I"ve been looking through the weight schedule of the Pioneer."