Reuben looked at May. Did one speak directly to the man who wore the
stars, even in reply to such an accusation?
"Answer him, Reuben," May said kindly.
"I am May's man Reuben, of the eighty-third level, an Atomist," he said.
"Explain," said the other general heavily, "if you can, why all
eighteen of the warheads you procured today failed to fire."
"But they did!" gasped Reuben. "The Recon missile report said there
was blast damage from the three that got through and it didn't say
anything about the others failing to fire."
The other general suddenly looked sick and May looked even kindlier.
The man who wore the stars turned inquiringly to the chief of the
Maintainers, who nodded and said: "That was the Recon missile report,
sir."
The general snapped: "What I said was that he would _attempt_ to
sabotage the attack. Evidently he failed. I also said he is a faulty
double, somehow slipped with great ease into my good friend May's
organization. You will find that his left thumb print is a clumsy
forgery of the real Reuben's thumb print and that his hair has been
artificially darkened."
The old man nodded at the chief of the Maintainers, who said: "We have
his card, sir."
Reuben abruptly found himself being fingerprinted and deprived of some
hair.
"The f.p.s check, sir," one Maintainer said. "He's Reuben."
"Hair's natural, sir," said another.
The general began a rear-guard action: "My information about his hair
seems to have been inaccurate. But the fingerprint means only that
Ellay spies substituted his prints for Reuben's prints in the files--"
"Enough, sir," said the old man with the stars. "Dismissed. All of you.
Rudolph, I am surprised. All of you, go."
* * * * *
Reuben found himself in a vast apartment with May, who was bubbling and
chuckling uncontrollably until he popped three of the green capsules
into his mouth hurriedly.
"This means the eclipse for years of my good friend Rudolph," he
crowed. "His game was to have your double sabotage the attack warheads
and so make it appear that my organization is rotten with spies. The
double must have been under post-hypnotic, primed to admit everything.
Rudolph was so sure of himself that he made his accusations before the
attack, the fool!"
He fumbled out the green capsules again.
"Sir," said Reuben, alarmed.
"Only temporary," May muttered, and swallowed a fourth. "But you're
right. You leave them alone. There are big things to be done in your
time, not in mine. I told you I needed a young man who could claw his
way to the top. Rudolph's a fool. He doesn't need the capsules because
he doesn't ask questions. Funny, I thought a coup like the double
affair would hit me hard, but I don't feel a thing. It's not like the
old days. I used to plan and plan, and when the trap went _snap_ it was
better than this stuff. But now I don't feel a thing."
He leaned forward from his chair; the pupils of his eyes were black
bullets.
"Do you want to _work_?" he demanded. "Do you want your world stood on
its head and your brains to crack and do the only worthwhile job there
is to do? Answer me!"
"Sir, I am a loyal May's man. I want to obey your orders and use my
ability to the full."
"Good enough," said the general. "You've got brains, you've got push.
I'll do the spade work. I won't last long enough to push it through.
You'll have to follow. Ever been outside of Denv?"
Reuben stiffened.
"I'm not accusing you of being a spy. It's really all right to go
outside of Denv. I've been outside. There isn't much to see at first--a
lot of ground pocked and torn up by shorts and overs from Ellay and us.
Farther out, especially east, it's different. Grass, trees, flowers.
Places where you could grow food.
"When I went outside, it troubled me. It made me ask questions. I
wanted to know how we started. Yes--started. _It wasn't always like
this._ Somebody built Denv. Am I getting the idea across to you? _It
wasn't always like this!_
"Somebody set up the reactors to breed uranium and make plutonium.
Somebody tooled us up for the missiles. Somebody wired the boards to
control them. Somebody started the hydroponics tanks.
"I've dug through the archives. Maybe I found something. I saw
mountains of strength reports, ration reports, supply reports, and yet
I never got back to the beginning. I found a piece of paper and maybe
I understood it and maybe I didn't. It was about the water of the
Colorado River and who should get how much of it. How can you divide
water in a river? But it could have been the start of Denv, Ellay, and
the missile attacks."
The general shook his head, puzzled, and went on: "I don't see clearly
what's ahead. I want to make peace between Denv and Ellay, but I don't
know how to start or what it will be like. I think it must mean not
firing, not even making any more weapons. Maybe it means that some of
us, or a lot of us, will go out of Denv and live a different kind of
life. That's why I've clawed my way up. That's why I need a young man
who can claw with the best of them. Tell me what you think."
"I think," said Reuben measuredly, "it's magnificent--the salvation of
Denv. I'll back you to my dying breath if you'll let me."
May smiled tiredly and leaned back in the chair as Reuben tip-toed out.
* * * * *
What luck, Reuben thought--what unbelievable luck to be at a fulcrum of
history like this!
He searched the level for Rudolph's apartment and gained admission.
To the general, he said: "Sir, I have to report that your friend May is
insane. He has just been raving to me, advocating the destruction of
civilization as we know it, and urging me to follow in his footsteps. I
pretended to agree--since I can be of greater service to you if I'm in
May's confidence."
"So?" said Rudolph thoughtfully. "Tell me about the double. How did
that go wrong?"
"The bunglers were Selene and Almon. Selene because she alarmed me
instead of distracting me. Almon because he failed to recognize her
incompetence."
"They shall be brainburned. That leaves an eighty-ninth-level vacancy
in my organization, doesn't it?"
"You're very kind, sir, but I think I should remain a May's
man--outwardly. If I earn any rewards, I can wait for them. I presume
that May will be elected to wear the five stars. He won't live more
than two years after that, at the rate he is taking drugs."
"We can shorten it," grinned Rudolph. "I have pharmacists who can see
that his drugs are more than normal strength."
"That would be excellent, sir. When he is too enfeebled to discharge
his duties, there may be an attempt to rake up the affair of the double
to discredit you. I could then testify that I was your man all along
and that May coerced me."
They put their heads together, the two saviors of civilization as they
knew it, and conspired ingeniously long into the endless night.