She was no more dressed for bed than I was, unless she made a habit of
sleeping in her best evening togs. Anger blazed in her eyes for a
second, then that faded, and she tried to look all sweetness and
light.
"I was trying on some new clothes," she said innocently.
A lot of people might have believed her. The emotional field she threw
out, encouraging utter belief in her every word, was as powerful as
any I'd ever felt. I just let it wash past me and said: "Come into my
room for a few minutes, Jack; I want to talk to you."
I didn't put any particular emphasis into it. I don't have to. She
came.
Once we were both inside my shielded room with the walls vibrating
with ten thousand voices and a hush area in the center, I said
patiently, "Jack, I personally don't care where you go or what you do.
Tomorrow, you can do your vanishing act and have yourself a ball, for
all I care. But there are certain things that have to be done first.
Now, sit down and listen."
She sat down, her eyes wide. Evidently, nobody had ever beaten her at
her own game before.
"Tonight, you'll stay here and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we go for a
tour of Viking, first thing in the morning. Tomorrow afternoon, as
soon as I think the time is ripe, you can sneak off. I'll show you how
to change your appearance so you won't be recognized. You can have all
the fun you want for twenty-four hours. I, of course, will be hunting
high and low for you, but I won't find you until I have finished my
investigation.
"On the other hand, I want to know where you are at all times, so that
I can get in touch with you if I need you. So, no matter where you
are, you'll keep in touch by phoning BANning 6226 every time you
change location. Got that number?"
She nodded. "BANning 6226," she repeated.
"Fine. Now, Brock's agents will be watching you, so I'll have to
figure out a way to get you away from them, but that won't be too
hard. I'll let you know at the proper time. Meanwhile, get back in
there, get ready for bed, and get some sleep. You'll need it. Move."
She nodded rather dazedly, got up, and went to the door. She turned,
said goodnight in a low, puzzled voice, and closed the door.
Half an hour later, I quietly sneaked into her room just to check. She
was sound asleep in bed. I went back to my own room, and got some sack
time myself.
* * * * *
"It's a pleasure to have you here again, Miss Ravenhurst," said Chief
Engineer Midguard. "Anything in particular you want to see this time?"
He said it as though he actually enjoyed taking the boss' teenage
daughter through a spacecraft plant.
Maybe he did, at that. He was a paunchy, graying man in his sixties,
who had probably been a rather handsome lady-killer for the first
half-century of his life, but he was approaching middle age now, which
has a predictable effect on the telly-idol type.
Jack Ravenhurst was at her regal best, with the kind of _noblesse
oblige_ that would bring worshipful gratitude to the heart of any
underling. "Oh, just a quick run-through on whatever you think would
be interesting, Mr. Midguard; I don't want to take up too much of your
time."
Midguard allowed as how he had a few interesting things to show her,
and the party, which also included the watchful and taciturn Colonel
Brock, began to make the rounds of the Viking plant.
There were three ships under construction at the time: two cargo
vessels and a good-sized passenger job. Midguard seemed to think that
every step of spacecraft construction was utterly fascinating--for
which, bully for him--but it was pretty much of a drag as far as I was
concerned. It took three hours.