"Yes, sir."
"What's your own personal impression of General Shorter?"
"The old man?" the corporal asked in surprise. "He's okay."
"Feel free to discuss this," Mr. Flison said. "We'd like to know,
really, what your opinion is."
"Like I say, he's okay. He's got a job to do. You know, he busted me
once. General Shorter personally, I mean. Hell, I don't hold it against
him, though. He's got his job to do, I got mine. I wouldn't say anything
against General Shorter, no, sir. He's a soldier. I mean, you know ...
he's a soldier."
After the corporal was dismissed, Mr. Tucker said, "Well, gentlemen, I
guess we've about wrapped it up here. I think this is enough. Anybody's
mind changed? I don't think we need any more, do you?"
Mr. Wallace sighed heavily. He looked down at his hands.
* * * * *
General Shorter was still at his writing desk when he was notified that
Mr. Tucker would like to see him first thing in the morning.
"Another day of it, eh?" the general asked the sergeant who brought the
message.
"No, sir. From the other crew, I hear they're planning to leave
tomorrow."
The general's face relaxed. His smile reflected weary tolerance. "Had
enough in one day, have they? It's about time they let us get back to
work."
After the sergeant left, the general wrote a final paragraph:
"I've just been informed the 'investigation' is completed. In record
time, it seems. They finished up in the mess tonight, talking to some of
the men. So what did it all really accomplish? They took a long ship
that could better have been used somewhere else. Half my men are down
with the virus. They almost cost me my schedule. And to what end? Just
another piece of paper somewhere. Put Miracastle on the scale against
some nice, heavy report and see which way the scale tips."
The general closed the diary. It was late now. He was very tired.
* * * * *
Mr. Tucker, after breakfast, knocked on the general's door.
"Come in," General Shorter called.
The civilian entered. The general dismissed the orderly with a nod. "And
I'll need some clean towels for tonight," he called. His voice was
hoarse.
"Yes, sir."
The door closed. The two of them were alone.
"Sit down. Excuse the cold. Got it last night. What do you say to a
brandy?"
"Don't let me stop you."
"I never drink alone."
"Perhaps you'd better," Mr. Tucker said.
The general had paused just short of the cupboard. He turned slowly. "In
that case, I'll make an exception, this once." He poured. "Just what did
you mean by that, sir? Let's get to the point."
"General Shorter, we're going to have to ask you to come back with us."
The general bent slightly forward. His lips were partly open, as though
he were listening to hear a second time.
"Why," he said, "I've too much work to do, sir. I'm afraid that's out of
the question. It's just not possible at all."
Mr. Tucker waited.
General Shorter poured himself another brandy. His back was to the
civilian.
"There's nothing more important, right now, than my job here," he said.
He drank the brandy in a single gulp.
"I don't see how it can wait, General," Mr. Tucker said.
The general's lips were dry. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment
against the alcohol and the cold. He licked his lips. "What's the formal
charge?"
Mr. Tucker bent forward. His voice was soft and curious, as though the
question were his final effort to understand something that puzzled him
for a long time. "What do you think it is, General?"
"What could it be?" the general said sharply. "I follow orders, sir. I
was sent out here to make this planet suitable for human habitation.
This is exactly what I have been doing." His voice was growing
progressively more angry and with an effort he curbed himself. "Put
yourself in my position. I did what any field commander would have done.
It was too late to stop it. I've got--It's a question of the limits of
normal prudence. A matter of interpretation, sir."
The general was in the process of pouring still another drink. The
slender brandy glass broke under the force of his anger. He opened his
palm. Blood trickled from between his fingers.
The general looked up from the hand and fleeting annoyance came and went
before he was recalled to present reality. His eyes met Mr. Tucker's.
Mr. Tucker suddenly shivered as if touched by a wind from beyond the
most distant stars, a wind which whispered: The aliens are among us.
"General," Mr. Tucker said, "the formal charge is murder."