Superintendent Philander stood watching the natives feeding, and he
could not help seeing how they appeared to appreciate the new food.
After some time he said admiringly, "It looks like you've hit on
something, George. If it continues to work out, we'll feed all of 'em
this stuff, and I'll requisition plenty more next time the freighter
comes in."
They left the compound, carefully locking both gates behind them, and
walked back to the office. Once there, Hanlon said, "I see you have a
chess set, sir. Do you play? I love the game."
"You do?" Philander's eyes gleamed. "It's been a long time since there
was anyone here who did."
"Then I hope you'll let me come in occasionally for a game. I get
lonesome here. The other guards aren't worth talking to, and I'm not
educated enough in science or technology to get in on the arguments of
the engineers and other technies."
"Sure, sure, come in any time. I'll be mighty glad to have you, for I
love chess. I get lonesome, too, and I have to stay a whole year at a
time. Feel free to come in any evening."
Back in his room Hanlon left tremendously satisfied with the evening's
work. He had done something for the natives that would help make their
intolerable situation more bearable until the time came when they could
be freed of their slavery ... and he had made a new friend who could
prove very useful.
He was very anxious for the next work-period to come, so he could talk
to Geck via the voice-transformer. For he was not yet adept enough at
telepathy to be sure he had got all the information needed about the use
of nitrates in the Guddu's diet.
But the next day when he went to herd his crew from their compound and
down into the mine, he could not help noticing at first glance how much
sprightlier they looked than the other crews. The minute they had
reached the stope he unearthed the machine from its hiding place and got
into conversation with the friendly Guddu.
"The food stuff?" he asked eagerly. "Is it something you can use?"
"Oh, yes. An-yon," Geck almost sputtered in his eagerness, and words
tumbled out so swiftly Hanlon could hardly translate them. "It are
wonderful! Can you fix so all we can have?"
"Yes, they'll all be fed rations of it from now on, although perhaps not
much until the ship can bring more from another planet. I don't know how
much we have on hand. But the Boss-man liked my idea, and is going to
see to it that there is always some on hand for all the natives. He'll
probably spread the word to the other mines and factories, too."
"Almost us ingest too many last dark," Geck gave what Hanlon knew was a
shamefaced laugh. "It such very good eat us become ..." he hesitated.
"Drunk, you mean?" Hanlon laughed. "I can see it might do that to you.
You'll have to warn the others about that."
They chatted away for some minutes, about how much the Guddus
appreciated Hanlon's thoughtfulness.
"Say, I just wondered," Hanlon interrupted Geck's thanks. "Do you have
any idea where your planet is located in space? I mean, do you know the
suns closest to yours, anything about their distances or magnitudes?"
Geck's thoughts and expression were a blank, and it took most of the
work-period even to make him understand what Hanlon was trying to ask.
When he did finally manage to grasp the thought-concept, his answer was
a decided negative.
"No, An-yon, us know nothing about other sun other planet. Before humans
come suppose we only intelligent life anywhere. Things you call suns us
thought little fires light sky at night. Wonder many night who build.
Wonder what is burn where is nothing. Wonder why only one big fire come
day. Wonder why big fire die come night."
Hanlon's disappointment about that was tempered somewhat when the
checker came running into his room where he was resting before dinner,
to tell him that his crew had suddenly got out almost half a ton more
ore that day than any previous record he had made.
* * * * *
A new cook had come to the mine recently. He had a fox terrier, and
Hanlon got into the habit of playing with the dog, to keep up his
ability to handle animal minds, and to learn more of the technique. He
was always careful to say out loud the command for whatever trick he
wanted the animal to perform, but actually he was controlling its brain
and nerves and muscles.
One evening he was working thus with the dog when Gorton, his head-wound
still bandaged, came into the messhall. Seeing Hanlon with the terrier,
his heavy lip curled.
"So th' fair-haired boy's also a animal trainer, eh?"
"That he is," Cookie said from the doorway leading into the kitchen.
"And good, too! He's got Brutus doing things I never knew a dog could
do."
Gorton sneered again. "Teachin' tricks t' a dog is kid stuff."
"Can you do it?" the cook asked sarcastically.
"Who'd bother t' try?"
Hanlon looked up, blandly. "You couldn't expect that of Mr. Gorton,
Cookie. To teach an animal to do tricks you have to know more than it
does."
"Why, you ..." Gorton started forward, his face aflame, while the other
men roared with laughter at the rough wit.
But the big guard did not reach Hanlon. One of the newer guards, a giant
Swede named Jenssen, stopped him. "Aw, lay off the kid, Gort. He's okay.
That stunt of feeding the Greenies fertilizer makes 'em turn out lots
more work, and we'll get us bigger bonuses 'cause of it."
But Gorton was not the type to know when to quit. Nor was he high enough
in the ethical scale to know appreciation for the fact that it was the
very man he had been reviling who was the first to go to his aid when he
was hurt.
Hanlon had come to realize that the big man was determined to provoke
him to another fight. He knew that tempers were edgy and explosive in
this enervating heat, and usually tried to bear Gorton's insults and
petty meannesses in silence. He wouldn't demean himself by descending to
the big guard's low level ... although occasionally, when the heat was
too much even for him, as tonight, he couldn't resist making some
answer.
Gorton, he had long since decided, was one of those men who, having
nothing of worth to offer the world, did their utmost to tear down and
humiliate anyone who had. And his smallness of soul and intellect were
shown by the sort of tricks he was continually pulling, thinking them
smart.
Such as scrawling with chalk on Hanlon's room door, "Super's pet";
continually upsetting Hanlon's beverage cup, or "accidentally" dropping
things in Hanlon's plate of food.
The young SS man could have moved to another place at the table, but he
wouldn't give the big guard that satisfaction.
But one of Gorton's tricks backfired to such an extent that it had
disastrous results for Gorton himself. That was the night he, knowing
that Hanlon had been the last at the compound, sneaked out and unlocked
all the gates. He figured, of course, that it would be apparent to
everyone that it was Hanlon's rank carelessness that had allowed all the
Greenies to escape.
But to the surprise of everyone--except Hanlon--not a single one had
left; all were inside their huts the next morning.
Philander came running when he heard about it. "Who did it?" he demanded
angrily.
"Th' punk there, o' course!" Gorton sneered.
Philander swivelled about, surprise on his face. "You, George? Did you
forget to lock the gates?"
"No, sir, I locked them all when I went in to dinner."
"He's lyin'. He was th' last one t' bring up his gang."
"That's true, I was. But I know I locked all the gates very carefully,
as always."
One of the engineers spoke up. "I saw him doing it, Pete. I also saw one
of the other guards leave the messhall for a few minutes just before we
sat down to eat. When he came back I saw him grinning mysteriously as
though very self-satisfied about something."
"Who was that?"
"Sorry, I name no names."
"I tell," big Jenssen spoke up. "It was Gort. He's got it in for George.
He's one big fool!"
Philander wheeled in rage. "I told you, you brainless slob, to leave
Hanlon alone, and by Jupiter, I mean it! Cut it out! One more stunt, and
you go into irons, then back to Sime for an interview with His Highness.
You go back next trip anyway. I'm done with you."
The rest of the men stood by in hostile silence, and it was clear from
their attitudes that this time Gorton had gone too far. How it happened
none of the natives had run away, puzzled them all.
But Hanlon guessed, and when he had taken his crew down to work he
called Geck to him, and by means of the transformer asked about it.
"Was one Guddu in hut by main gate who first see gate were open. Him
mind-tell all we to run far into forest. This crew us stop all they.
Tell other Guddu how kind are you. How you get we 'oigm'-food. Tell how
you's work to make all we free; make free all Guddu everywhere. Us say
maybe so we's all get free now small time. But say come humans with
shock-rod, hunt we, hurt we, make we work more hard, be more cruel to
we. Say then plan of you never get chance to make all we free all time."
Hanlon bowed his head in silent thanks for the tremendous compliment. "I
only hope I can justify your faith in me, Geck," he said humbly. "It
will be a miracle if I can bring it about, but I certainly intend to
keep on trying. It will take some time, you know that. I can't possibly
do anything until after I leave here. But if it's humanly possible, I'll
bring the fleet here to free you."
"Us know will be hard, that maybeso it never come we be free," the Guddu
said. "But us know you are only hope. So us help you all us can. Guddu
in mines try get more rock out as you say. But Guddu who help humans
build big egg you call 'ships' do most. Each day some of they find way
break something, do wrong thing. Two Guddu spoil much metal when jump in
vat where metal be melt."
"Oh, no!" Hanlon cried in shocked anguish. "That was wonderfully brave
of them, but none of the others must ever do things like that! Tell them
not to sacrifice their lives that way! I feel sure from all the reports
it isn't needed. I'll be going back in another few weeks, and the humans
won't have any of those biggest ships ready by then. Those are the only
ones we need to fear--the little ships don't count."
It was too bad Hanlon did not know what else the humans were building,
besides ships, at the shipyards.
Hanlon's campaign to "get in good" with Philander was bearing tasty
fruit, for the two were becoming fast friends. They spent many evenings
over a hotly-contested chess board. It was plain now that the nervous,
worried superintendent felt he could relax in the company of this young,
naive guard, for the latter was so patently no challenge to his
position. Besides, it was also very evident that he liked Hanlon as a
man. Day by day his attitude grew more fatherly.
Hanlon, on his part, came to realize more the true, innate measure of
Philander's inherent worth as a man, a gentleman, and an engineer. He
had a fine mind, was well read, and thought deeply on many subjects
outside his own technical line.
"All he needs are some psychiatric treatments to reduce that awful
inferiority complex of his," Hanlon mused one night as he walked back
slowly to his room. "Then he'll really be the big, fine man he's capable
of being, and will forget all this conspiracy nonsense."
Thus Hanlon felt he was taking no special chance one night when the two
were standing on the little porch of the office, their game ended, and
Hanlon about to leave. He glanced up at the brilliant night sky.
"Sure looks different here than it does back on Terra," he said
conversationally. "Naturally it would, seeing we're so far away from
there. But I never get tired of looking at it, and trying to see if I
can figure out some of the brighter suns." He pointed to one bright star
directly overhead. "That's Sirius, I know. It's always directly above
you."
Philander laughed heartily. "No, Sirius is almost exactly opposite.
Don't forget we're about a hundred light years out from Sol."
Hanlon made himself look crestfallen. "And there I was sure I knew one
of 'em, at least." He yawned pretentiously. "Well, guess I'll hit the
hay. Reckon the stars'll stay put, whether I can pick 'em out or not."
Philander laughed again, and clapped him on the back in comradely
fashion. "I wouldn't wonder. Goodnight, George."
"'Night, Mr. Philander." And as Hanlon walked back to his own room his
heart was light. He'd learned another important fact about their
location in space--the approximate distance from Sol.