Week after week of boredom followed and she almost wished Georgi or someone else would _look_ for trouble ... even if it were something she could not handle, for although she was stronger than average and more beautiful, she was still a woman first, and she knew if the right man....
"Did you know that radio communication is maintained between Earth and Mars?" the Alaric Arkalion on Mars asked Temple.
"Why, no. I never thought about it."
"It is, and I am in some difficulty."
"What"s the matter?" Temple had grown to like Arkalion, despite the man"s peculiarities. He had given up trying to figure him out, feeling that the only way he"d get anywhere was with Arkalion"s co-operation.
"It"s a long story which I"m afraid you would not altogether understand. The authorities on Earth don"t think I belong here on the Nowhere Journey."
"Is that so? A mistake, huh? I sure am glad for you, Alaric."
"That"s not the difficulty. It seems that there is the matter of impersonation, of violating some of the clauses in Public Law 1182.
You"re glad for me. I"m likely to go to prison."
"If it"s that serious, how come they told you?"
"They didn"t. But I--managed to find out. I won"t go into details, Kit, but obviously, if I managed to embark for Nowhere when I didn"t have to, then I wanted to go. Right?"
"I--uh, guess so. But why--?"
"That isn"t the point. I _still_ want to go. Not to Mars, but to Nowhere. I still can, despite what has happened, but I need help."
Temple said, "Anything I can do, I"ll be glad to," and meant it. For one thing, he liked Arkalion. For another, Arkalion seemed to know more, much more than he would ever say--unless Temple could win his confidence. For a third, Temple was growing sick and tired of Mars with its drab ochre sameness (when he got to the surface, which was rarely), with its dank underground city, with its meaningless attention to meaningless detail. Either way, he figured there was no returning to Earth. If Nowhere meant adventure, as he suspected it might, it would be preferable. Mars might have been the other end of the galaxy for all its nearness to Earth, anyway.
"There is a great deal you can do. But you"ll have to come with me."
"Where?" Temple demanded.
"Where you will go eventually. To Nowhere."
"Fine." And Temple smiled. "Why not now as well as later?"
"I"ll be frank with you. If you go now, you go untrained. You may need your training. Undoubtedly, you will."
"You know a lot more than you want to talk about, don"t you?"
"Frankly, yes.... I am sorry, Kit."
"That"s all right. You have your reasons. I guess if I go with you I"ll find out soon enough, anyway."
Arkalion grinned. "You have guessed correctly. I am going to Nowhere, before they return me to Earth for prosecution under Public Law 1182.
I cannot go alone, for it takes at least two to operate ... well, you"ll see."
"Count me in," said Temple.
"Remember, you may one day wish you had remained on Mars for your training."
"I"ll take my chances. Mars is driving me crazy. All I do is think of Earth and Stephanie."
"Then come."
"Where are we going?"
"A long, long way off. It is unthinkably remote, this place called Nowhere."
Temple felt suddenly like a kid playing hookey from school. "Lead on,"
he said, almost jauntily. He knew he was leaving Stephanie still further behind, but had he been in prison on the next street to hers, he might as well have been a million miles away.
As for Arkalion--the thought suddenly struck Temple--Arkalion wasn"t necessarily leaving his world further behind. Perhaps Arkalion was going home....
Stephanie picked up the phone eagerly. In the weeks since her first meeting with Mrs. Draper of the C.E.L., the older woman had been a fountain of information and of hope for her. Stephanie for her part had taken over Mrs. Draper"s job in her own section of Center City: she was busy contacting the two hundred mothers and fifty sweethearts of the Nowhere Journey which had taken Kit from her. And now Mrs.
Draper had called with information.
"We"ve successfully combined forces with some of the less militant elements in both houses of Congress," Mrs. Draper told her over the phone. "Do you realize, my dear, this marks the first time the C.E.L.
has managed to put something constructive through Congress? Until now we"ve been content merely to block legislation, such as an increase in the Nowhere contingent from...."
"Yes, Mrs. Draper. I know all that. But what about this constructive thing you"ve done."
"Well, my dear, don"t count your chickens. But we _have_ pa.s.sed the bill, and we expect the President won"t veto it. You see, the President has two nephews who...."
"I know. I know. What bill did you pa.s.s?"
"Unfortunately, it"s somewhat vague. Ultimately, the Nowhere Commission must do the deciding, but it does pave the way."
"For what, Mrs. Draper?"
"Hold onto your hat, my dear. The bill authorizes the Nowhere Commission to make as much of a study as it can of conditions--wherever our boys are sent."
"Oh." Stephanie was disappointed. "That won"t get them back to us."
"No. You"re right, it won"t get them back to us. That isn"t the idea at all, for there is more than one way to skin a cat, my dear. The Nowhere Commission will be studying conditions--"
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"How can they? I thought everything was so hush-hush, not even Congress knew anything about it."
"That was the first big hurdle we have apparently overcome. Anyway, they will be studying conditions with a view of determining if one girl--just one, mind you--can embark on the Nowhere Journey as a pilot study and--"
"But I thought they could make the journey only once every seven-hundred-eighty days."
"Get Congress aroused and you can move mountains. It seems the expense entailed in a trip at any but those times is generally prohibitive, but when something special comes up--"
"It can be done! Mrs. Draper, how I love to talk with you!"