"General Margrave here, Straut. I'm glad you're back on your feet.
There'll be some scientists from the State University coming over.
Cooperate with them. You're going to have to hold things together at
least until I can get another man in there to--"
"Another man? General Margrave, I'm not incapacitated. The situation is
under complete control--"
"It is, is it? I understand you've got still another casualty. What's
happened to your defensive capabilities?"
"That was an accident, sir. The jeep--"
"We'll review that matter at a later date. What I'm calling about is
more important right now. The code men have made some headway on that
box of yours. It's putting out a sort of transmission."
"What kind, sir?"
"Half the message--it's only twenty seconds long, repeated--is in
English. It's a fragment of a recording from a daytime radio program;
one of the network men here identified it. The rest is gibberish.
They're still working over it."
"What--"
"Bryant tells me he thinks there may be some sort of correspondence
between the two parts of the message. I wouldn't know, myself. In my
opinion, it's a threat of some sort."
"I agree, General. An ultimatum."
"Right. Keep your men back at a safe distance from now on. I want no
more casualties."
* * * * *
Straut cursed his luck as he hung up the phone. Margrave was ready to
relieve him, after he had exercised every precaution. He had to do
something fast, before this opportunity for promotion slipped out of
his hands.
He looked at Major Greer. "I'm neutralizing this thing once and for
all. There'll be no more men killed."