He pushed the wall-button and we had the spaceship scene again. Men and
Martians were loading large crates into the port of the ship. The other
bulky boxes were being moved across the beach from the opening in the
hill.
"Leaving soon now," Blekeke said as he switched the lights on. "That
most of vital equipment. Other going boom. We work awful quickness,
yups?"
"Just how do you mean?" I asked, more to kill time than out of real
curiosity.
"Ha! You not knowing how quickness we work since morning--since getting
Maxwell brain band on measure machine Sun Ray...."
Maxwell exclaimed; "Oh, hell, of course! Son of a blunder! _That's_ how
you got it."
* * * * *
I had already figured that out, and I guessed it was the information
Blekeke had gained from Maxwell's mind that was forcing him to act now,
before he had planned.
"When learned you planning 'vestigate SRI, had move fast," Blekeke
corroborated. "So did. Not know you law man till then. Only that
Langston mind stopped 'nosis. Not even knowing why. Worried for
while--whew!" He wiped the mock perspiration from his brow and smiled.
I said, "The thugs who attacked Maxwell and me were Grogan's men. May I
ask now--just out of curiosity--were they telenized, or was Grogan?"
Blekeke seemed happy to reply. "Grogan. Reighardt happened work on
Grogan in CI. Also your brain wave number in file, but I getting first
on Sun Ray machine."
I had wondered about that, and there was another question that was
bothering me.
"When you started that blood dripping in the bathtub," I said, "was that
a deliberate attempt to scare me away, or was that part of the standard
treatment?"
"Standard," Blekeke replied. "Subject no longer trust own senses after.
But recognize 'nosis, so trying frighten you. Work good on others."
I started to ask another question, but he switched on the spaceship
loading scene again.
A crane was hauling the last huge crate into the hold. All the
humans--the SRI cultists--were apparently aboard ship. None were
visible. A few Martians stood near the ship, some of them looking toward
the hillock opening, and some watching the loading.
Suddenly two policemen came into view on the screen, walking casually
over the hill in which the opening was located. At the top they halted
and looked out over the ocean.
One of the men looked over his shoulder and pulled a bottle from an
inside pocket. He offered it to his companion, who shook his head. The
man shrugged and took a deep swallow himself, tucking the bottle inside
his jacket again.
I caught a sudden note of mild alarm from Blekeke's mind, which reminded
me that he was still listening for careless thoughts of mine.
The policemen continued walking toward the beach, heading to the right
of the spaceship. I saw one of the Martians step back into the shadow
of the ship. The others followed the policemen with their eyes.
"We best going now," Blekeke said. He reached to turn off the
picture....
And his hand froze. He saw the same thing I saw, and at just about the
same time.
He saw a dog.
And he must have felt the triumphant, incoherent chortle that gushed
from my mind.
* * * * *
The dog was a small, ragged, spotted terrier. It came trotting
absentmindedly over the hill after the policemen, and at the top it
stopped. It quivered. It sat down, pointed its nose at the spaceship and
opened its mouth in a howl I could almost hear.
Then the scene was gone; the lights in the room glowed; Blekeke was
pointing the blaster at me.
And his trigger finger was trembling.
He was shaking, very slightly, all over. His red-hued skin had turned a
much paler shade.