"Can you talk?"
"Yes," said Dan, "if I can stay awake."
"Can you give us a summary?"
"Sure." Dan told him briefly what had happened.
Kielgaard was silent a moment. Then he said, "What do you think
'charge' is?"
"I haven't been in any condition to think. Maybe it's a surgically
implanted battery, set to run down after so long."
"Too clumsy. What about radioactivity?"
"H'm. Yes, you mentioned a mine on the inner planet. Maybe they mine
radioactive ore. That would explain why I have _some_ charge. There's
residual radioactivity even in the atmosphere of Earth."
"That's so," said Kielgaard. "But not every planet has it. I'm
wondering about this other agent you mentioned seeing. He sounds to me
like someone from Trans-Space. And that's bad."
"They play dirty," Dan conceded.
* * * * *
"Worse than that," said Kielgaard's tiny voice. "They recruit their
agents from Lassen Two. Maybe that's a break. Unlike Earth, Lassen Two
is nearly radiation-free. And Trans-Space doesn't use finesse. They'll
pump Porcys full of agents loaded down with organo-transmitters.
Visual, auditory and olfactory. They'll broadcast on every wave-length,
suck out as much information in as short a time as they can, then
either pull some dirty trick or slam the Porcyns an offer. That is, if
everything goes according to plan.
"But meanwhile," he added, "one or more of their agents is bound to
stand in front of a free 'Your charge' device somewhere in the city.
Very likely, that agent will be radiation-free and some Porcyn, for
the first time in his life, is going to see a bulb that doesn't even
flicker. If the Porcyns are as scientifically advanced as we think, and
if Trans-Space is as dirty as usual, there may be a rat-race on before
we know it."
Dan lay gloomily still.
"Dan," said Kielgaard, "where were you standing in relation to the
other agent? Did he come up from behind or was he in front of you when
you reached the statue?"
"I was in front of him. Why?"
"Because then you were in his range of vision. _He_ may not have
noticed you, but his organo-transmitter would. The chances are you
appeared on the screen back at Trans-Space headquarters. They record
those scenes as they come in and their experts go over them frame by
frame. Unless you happened to be behind someone, they'll see your image
on the screen, spot you here and there in other scenes from other
agents, study your actions and recognize you as an agent just as
surely as you recognized their agent."
"Yes," said Dan wearily, "of course they will." He was thinking that if
he had been more awake yesterday, he would have thought of this himself
and perhaps avoided it. But he couldn't be alert without sleep and who
could sleep in a heaving boat in a thunderstorm?
"This changes things," Kielgaard was saying. "I'm going to see if we
can get a little faster action."
"I think I'd better get some more sleep," Dan answered. "I may need it
tomorrow."
"I agree," said Kielgaard. "You'll have to keep your eyes open. Good
night, Dan, and good luck."
"Thanks."
Dan rolled over on his side. He tried for a moment to remember how
the other agent had been standing and whether anyone had been between
them to block his view, but he couldn't be sure. Dan decided there was
nothing to do but assume the worst. He blanked his mind. Soon a feeling
of deep weariness came over him and he fell asleep.
* * * * *
In the morning, Dan and the Milbuns ate a hurried breakfast. Dan helped
Mr. Milbun grease his rowing machine, weights, springs and chinning
bar, so they wouldn't rust in his absence. Milbun worked in a somber
mood. All the Milbuns, in fact, were unusually quiet for a family going
on vacation. When they went out into the hall, carrying no baggage,
they even took the elevator to the third floor.
"Better save our strength," said Mr. Milbun.
The street seemed to Dan to have a different atmosphere. People were
walking quietly in groups, their eyes cool and alert. The Milbuns
walked in front of the apartment houses Dan had passed the day before,
and across the street he saw the place where the chiseled motto had
read:
Freedom
Devisement
Fraternity
It was gone. Some workmen nearby were lifting a stone slab onto a cart.
Dan blinked. The motto now read:
Alertness
Devisement
Vigilance
The Milbuns plainly noticed it, too. They drew closer together and
looked around thoughtfully. Carefully keeping away from brass plates
labeled SWEEPER, they followed a devious route that led to the statue.
The statue had changed, too. The hand that gripped the circle was now
hidden by a massive shield. The other hand still held what looked like
a magnifying glass, and the motto was still "I Devise." But the shield
gave the whole statue a look of strange menace.
Across the street, near the place where Dan had seen the Trans-Space
agent, stood several men wearing orange capes, barred black across the
shoulders. Nearby, the brass plate opened and a man in work clothes
handed out a box and went back in.
At a store entrance up the street, watching them, stood an
average-looking man in a purple cape, his look intent and calculating.
Mavis glanced at the statue and took Dan's arm. "Devisement," she said,
"they won't take you now, will they, before vacation?"
Dan kept an uneasy silence and Mr. Milbun said, "Of course not, Mavis.
Where's the belt?"