Zeus, Venus, Diana and Forrester sat in the Court of the Gods, listening
to a large, blue-skinned individual with bright red eyes and two long
white fangs coming from a lipless mouth. The eyes were like a cat's,
with slitted pupils, and the general expression on the individual's face
was one of feral hatred and bestial madness. However, as he had
explained, he was not responsible for the arrangement of his features.
He was, he kept saying, only interested in the general welfare. What was
more, it was his business to be interested. He was, as a matter of fact,
a cop: Bor Mellistos, of the Interstellar Police.
"My rank," he had told them mildly, "is about the equivalent of your
Detective Inspector."
"Technically," he was saying now, "you are all four guilty of being
accessories--as I understand your local law phrases it. However--"
He smiled. It made him look unbelievably horrible. Forrester tried not
to pay any attention to it.
"However," he went on, "in view of the fact that none of you could
possibly have known that you were, in fact, accessories--that is, that
you were dealing with a criminal group, if you understand me--plus the
fact that Mr. Forrester, as soon as he did discover the facts, called us
at once through the power machine--I feel that we can overlook your part
in the matter."
Venus frowned. "Wait a minute. I'm not sure I understand this at all.
What crime are the Gods supposed to have committed?"
"Not crime, miss," Bor Mellistos said. His eyes twinkled. Forrester
gulped and turned away. "Crimes. Misuse of a neural power machine, for
one--and the domination and enslavement of a less advanced intelligent
culture for another. Both those are very serious crimes."
"Less advanced culture?" Forrester said. "You mean us?"
"I'm afraid so, sir," Bor Mellistos said. "You see, all the members of
my culture are attuned to the power nodes of one neural machine or
another, but this power is not meant to be misused. We have been
searching for this group for a long time now."
"And you first got wind of them on Earth about three thousand years
ago?"
"A little more than that, actually," Bor Mellistos said, "if you don't
mind the correction."
"Not at all," Forrester said, looking at the fangs of the Detective
Inspector.
"We were alerted after the radiations had been coming in for some time.
The search for this group wasn't nearly as urgent then."
"And that's why they had to go into hiding?" Diana asked.
"Correct, miss," Bor Mellistos said. "The only one we managed to catch
was the woman calling herself Aphrodite, or Venus." He looked at the
substitute Venus. "That's the one you replaced, miss."
"How did you catch her?" Forrester pursued.
"Well," Bor Mellistos said, turning a faint shade of orange with
embarrassment, "she was--ah--engaged in a secret liaison with a mortal
at the time. Knowing that two of the other gentlemen would be furious
with her if they discovered this fact--"
"Mars and Vulcan," Forrester supplied.
"Quite correct, sir," Bor Mellistos said. "Knowing, as I say, that they
would be furious, she had taken special pains to hide herself. When the
alarm reached the others that we were coming, they could not warn her.
As a result, when she returned to Mount Olympus, we were waiting for
her."
"Serves her right!" Zeus said with indignation.
Bor Mellistos said: "Quite," very politely.
"And then," Forrester said, "you patrolled this place for a while."
Bor Mellistos nodded. "We left about three hundred years ago, finally
deciding that they had gone elsewhere. By the way, do you know where
they were hiding all this time?"
"My guess," Diana said, "is that they were here on Earth, of course."
"Naturally, miss," Bor Mellistos said. "But where?"
Zeus shrugged. "All sorts of places. I ran a tailor shop myself,
pressing and cleaning. I understand that Poseidon and Pluto entered
freak shows--they were fine attractions, too. Pan lived mostly in the
forests, doing well enough for himself running wild. Diana and Athena
ran a small hairdressing studio in Queens. And Venus--"
"Please," Venus interrupted.
"Perfectly honorable profession," Zeus objected. "One of the oldest.
Perhaps the very oldest. And I don't see why--"
"Please!" Venus insisted.
Zeus shut up with a little sigh.
"At any rate," Bor Mellistos said, "that's the story up to date. And now
there's only the question of the Overseer positions. Would you like to
fill them?"
"Who?" Venus asked. "_Us?_"
"Well," Bor Mellistos said, "you have the experience. And we do need
someone to take over. You see, three thousand years ago your technical
attainments were not large. There was little need for an Overseer. Now,
however, you are nearly at the stage where you will be invited to join
the Galactic Federation. And we must make sure you do not do any
irreparable harm to yourselves during the next few years."
"Well," Forrester said, "how could we--"
"If you'll permit me, sir," Bor Mellistos said, "I can explain. You
would work much as the so-called Gods did--but with no publicity, and a
greater sense of responsibility, if you understand me. Earth would never
know you were there."
"I'd have to--stay away from mortals?" Forrester asked.
"Exactly," Bor Mellistos said.
Well, Forrester thought, it had its compensations. In the three days
that the Detective Inspector had been on Earth, Forrester had had time
to think and to find out some things. Gerda, for instance, was getting
married to Alvin Sherdlap. Forrester wondered what kind of love would
let a woman choose a name like Gerda Sherdlap, and decided it was better
not to think about it.
What did he have to go back to? History classes? Students? Even students
like Maya Wilson?
Well, he was sure he could do better than that. He looked at Diana and
became even surer.
"The remaining eleven Overseers," Bor Mellistos was saying, "will be
along shortly. You will then be able to draw fully on the machine. You
need merely follow world events and make sure that any--ah--regrettably
_final_ decisions are not made. Your actions will, of course, be very
much undercover."
Forrester nodded. "This mass arrest of the Gods is going to cause an
upheaval all by itself."
"Quite true, sir. But that will be worked out. I'm afraid I don't really
know the details, but doubtless the other eleven who are coming will
inform you more thoroughly on that score."
Forrester sighed. "About the Gods--what kind of punishment will they
receive?"
"Well, sir," Bor Mellistos said, "it varies. Vulcan, for instance--the
person who called himself Vulcan, or Hephaestus--will probably get off
with a lighter sentence than the others. He was a mechanic, brought
along under some duress to service the machine. But the sentences will
be severe, you may be sure. Very severe."
Forrester didn't feel like asking any more questions about that. There
was a pause. He looked at Diana again, and she looked back at him.
"Do you accept?" Bor Mellistos said.
Forrester and the others nodded.
Bor Mellistos said: "Very well. In that case, I will inform the other
eleven Overseers already picked that they will be met by you here, on
Mount Olympus, and that--"
But Forrester wasn't listening.
He had begun whistling, very softly.
The song he was whistling was Tenting Tonight.