Red Planet (17 page)

'Company business!’

'What sort of Company business and who is it?’

'This is the Resident's proctor. I've come for James Marlowe, Junior.’

'You might as well go away again. You won't get him.’ There was a whispered exchange outside the door, then the lock was rattled.

'Open up that door,’ came another voice. ‘We have a warrant.’

'Go away. I'm switching off the speaker.’ Mr Marlow did so.

The pressure lock indicator showed presently that the visitors had left, but shortly it indicated occupancy again. Mr Marlowe switched the speaker back on. ‘If you've come back, you might as well leave,’ he said.

'What sort of a welcome is this, Jamie my boy?’ came Mr Sutton's voice.

'Oh, Pat! Are you alone?’

'Only my boy Francis and that's all.’

They were let in. ‘Did you see anything of proctors?’ Mr Marlowe inquired.

'Yep, I ran into ‘em.’

'Pop told them that if they touched me he'd make them sorry,’ Frank said proudly, ‘and he would, too.’

Jim caught his father's eye. Mr Marlowe looked away. Mr Sutton went on, ‘Now what's this about Jim's pet having evidence for us? Let's crank him up and hear him talk.’

'We've been trying to,’ Jim said. ‘I'll try again. Here, Willis —’ Jim took him in his lap. ‘Now, look, Willis, do you remember Headmaster Howe?’

Willis promptly became a featureless ball.

'That's not the way to do it,’ objected Frank. ‘You remember what set him off before. Hey, Willis.’ Willis extended his eyes. ‘Listen to me, chum. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mark,’ Frank continued in a fair imitation of the Agent General's rich, affected tones.’ Sit down, my boy.’

'Always happy to see you,’ Willis continued in exact imitation of Beecher's voice. He went on from there, reciting perfectly the two conversations he had overheard between the headmaster and the Resident Agent General, and including the meaningless interlude between them.

When he had finished and seemed disposed to continue with all that had followed up to the present moment, Jim shut him off.

'Well,’ said Jim's father, ‘what do you think of it, Pat?’

'I
think it's terrible,’ put in Jim's mother.

Mr Sutton screwed up his face. ‘Tomorrow I am taking myself down to Syrtis Minor and there I shall take the place apart with my two hands.’

'An admirable sentiment,’ agreed Mr Marlowe, ‘but this is a matter for the whole colony. I think our first step should be to call a town meeting and let everyone know what we are up against.’

'Humph! No doubt you are right but you'll be taking all the fun out of it.’

Mr Marlowe smiled. ‘I imagine there will be excitement enough to suit you before this is over. Kruger isn't going to like it—and neither is the Honourable Mr Gaines Beecher.’

Mr Sutton wanted Dr MacRae to examine Frank's throat and Jim's father decided, over Jim's protest, that it would be a good idea to have him examine Jim as well. The two men escorted the boys to the Doctor's house. There Mr Marlowe instructed them, ‘Stay here until we get back, kids. I don't want Kruger's proctors picking you up.’

'I'd like to see them try!’

'Me, too.’

'I don't want them to try; I want to settle the matter first. We're going over to the Resident's office and offer to pay for the food you kids appropriated and, Jim, I'll offer to pay for the damage Willis did to Headmaster Howe's precious door. Then —’

'But, Dad, we oughtn't to pay for that. Howe shouldn't have locked him up.’

'I agree with the kid,’ said Mr Sutton. ‘The food, now, that's another matter. The boys took it; we pay for it.’

'You're both right,’ agreed Mr Marlowe, ‘but it's worth it to knock the props out of these ridiculous charges. Then I'm going to swear out a warrant against Howe for attempting to steal, or enslave, Willis. What would you say it was, Pat? Steal, or enslave?’

'Call it steal; you'll not be raising side issues, then.’

'All right. Then I shall insist that he consult the planet office before taking any action. I think that will stop his clock for the time being.’

'Dad,’ put in Jim, ‘you aren't going to tell the Resident that we've found out about the migration frame-up, are you? He would just turn around and call Beecher.’

'Not just yet, though he's bound to know at the town meeting. He won't be able to call Beecher then; Deimos sets in two hours.’ Mr Marlowe glanced at his watch. ‘See you later, boys. We've got things to do.’

Doctor MacRae looked up as they came in. ‘Maggie, bar the door!’ he called out. ‘We've got two dangerous criminals.’

'Howdy, Doc.’

'Come in and rest yourselves. Tell me all about it.’

It was fully an hour later that MacRae said, ‘Well, Frank, I suppose I had better look you over. Then I'll have a look at you, Jim.’

'There's nothing wrong with me, Doc.’

'Start some more coffee while I take care of Frank.’ The room was well stocked with the latest diagnostic equipment, but MacRae did not bother with it. He tilted Frank's head back, told him to say
aaaah!,
thumped his chest, and listened to his heart. ‘You'll live, he decided. ‘Any kid who can hitch-hike from Syrtis to Charax will live a long time.’

'Hitch-hike?’ asked Frank.

'Beat your way. It's an expression that was used way back when. Your turn, Jim.’ He took even less time to dispose of Jim. Then the three friends settled back to visit.

'I want to know more about this night you spent in the cabbage head,’ Doc announced. ‘Willis can understand, since any Martian creature can tuck his tail in and live indefinitely without air. But by rights you two should have smothered. The plant closed up entirely?’

'Oh, yes,’ Jim assured him, then related the event in more detail. When he got to the point about the flashlight MacRae stopped him.

'That's it, that's it. You didn't mention that before. The flashlight saved your lives, son.’

'Huh? How?’

'Photosynthesis. You shine light on green leaf and it can no more help taking in carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen than you can help breathing.’ The doctor stared at the ceiling, his lips moving while he figured. ‘Must have been pretty stuffy, just the same; you were short on green leaf surface. What kind of a torch was it?’

'A G.E. Midnight Sun. It
was
stuffy, terribly.’

'A Midnight Sun has enough candle power to do the trick. Hereafter I'll carry one if I'm going further than twenty feet from my front stoop. It's a good dodge.’

'Something that still puzzles me,’ said Jim, ‘is how I could see a movie that covered every bit of the time I've had Willis, minute by minute, without missing anything, and have it turn out to be only three or four hours.’

'That,’ Doc said slowly, ‘is not nearly so mysterious as the other matter, the matter of why you were shown this.’

'Huh?’

'I've wondered about that, too,’ put in Frank. ‘After all, Willis is a pretty insignificant creature—take it easy, Jim! What was the point in running over his biography for Jim? What do you think, Doc?’

'The only hypothesis I've got on that point is so wildly fantastic that I'll keep it to myself, thank you. But on the point of time, Jim—can you think of any way to photograph a person's memories?’

'Uh, no.’

'I'll go further and state flatly that it is impossible. Yet you described
seeing
what Willis
remembered.
That suggest anything to you?’

'No,’ admitted Jim, ‘it's got me stumped. But I did see it.’

'Sure, you did—because seeing takes place in the brain and not in the eye. I can close my eyes and see the Great Pyramid shimmering in the desert heat. I can see the donkeys and hear the porters yelling at the tourists. See ‘em? Shucks, I can smell ‘em—but it's just memory. Now back to what I was saying, Jim. When only one hypothesis covers the facts, you've got to accept it. You saw what the old Martian wanted you to see. Call it hypnosis.’

'But—But —’ Jim was wildly indignant; it felt like an attack on his very inner being. ‘But I did see it, I tell you. I was there.’

'I'll string along with Doc,’ Frank told him. ‘You were still seeing things on the trip back.’

'The old boy did so make the trip back with us; if you had kept your eyes open, you would have seen him.’

'Easy there,’ cautioned Doc, ‘if you lugs want to fight, go outside. Has it occurred to you that both of you might be right?’

'What? How could we be?’ objected Frank.

'I don't like to put words to it, but I can tell you this: I've lived long enough to know that man does not live by bread alone and that the cadaver I perform an autopsy on is not the man himself. The most wildly impossible philosophy of all is materialism. We'll leave it at that.’

Frank was about to object again when the lock signalled visitors; the boys’ parents were back. ‘Come in, come in, gentlemen,’ the doctor roared. ‘You're just in time. We were having a go at solipsism. Pull up a pulpit and take part. Coffee?’

'Solipsism, is it?’ said Mr Sutton. ‘Francis, pay no mind to the old heathen. You listen to what Father Cleary tells you.’

'He'll pay no mind to me anyhow,’ MacRae answered. ‘That's the healthy thing about kids. How did you make out with the Lord High Executioner?’

Mr Marlowe chuckled. ‘Kruger was fit to be tied.’

The called meeting of the colonists took place that evening in the town hall, central building of the star-shaped group. Mr Marlowe and Mr Sutton, having sponsored the meeting, arrived early. They found the meeting-room doors closed and Kruger's two proctors posted outside. Mr Marlowe ignored the fact that they had been attempting to arrest Frank and Jim only a few hours ago; he offered them a civil good evening and said, ‘Let's get the place opened up. People will be arriving any minute now.’

The proctors did not move. The senior of them, a man named Dumont, announced, ‘There'll be no meeting tonight.’

'What? Why not?’

'Mr Kruger's orders.’

'Did he say why?’

'No.’

'This meeting,’ Mr Marlowe told him, ‘has been properly called and will be held. Stand aside.’

'Now, Mr Marlowe, don't make things tough for yourself. I've got my orders and —’

Mr Sutton crowded forward. ‘Let me handle him, Jamie.’ He hitched at his belt. Behind the men, Frank glanced at Jim with a grin and hitched at
his
belt. All four of them were armed, as were the proctors; the two fathers had decided not to depend on Kruger's self-restraint while waiting for instructions from Syrtis Minor about the warrant.

Dumont looked nervously at Sutton. The colony had no real police force; these two were clerks in the Company's office and proctors only by Kruger's deputization. ‘You people have got no call to be running around armed to the teeth, inside the colony,’ he complained.

'Oh, so that's it?’ Mr Sutton said sweetly. ‘Well this job calls for no gun. Here, Francis—hold my heater.’ With empty holster he advanced on them. ‘Now would you like to be tossed out gently or would you prefer to bounce?’

For years before coming to Mars Mr Sutton had used something other than his engineering degree to dominate tough construction gangs. He was not much bigger than Dumont but immeasurably tougher. Dumont backed into his cohort and stepped on his toes. ‘Now see here, Mr Sutton, you've no—Hey! Mr Kruger!’

They all looked around. The Resident was approaching. He took in the scene and said briskly, ‘What's this? Sutton, are you interfering with my men?’

'Not a bit of it,’ denied Mr Sutton. ‘They were interfering with me. Tell them to stand aside.’

Kruger shook his head. ‘The meeting is cancelled.’

Mr Marlowe stepped forward. ‘By whom?’

'
I
cancelled it.’

'By what authority? I have the approval of all councillors and will, if necessary, get you the names of twenty colonists.’ Twenty colonists could call a meeting without permission from the council, under the colony's rules.

'That's beside the point. The rule reads that meetings are to consider matters of public interest; it cannot be construed as of public interest to agitate about criminal indictments in advance of trial—and I won't let you take advantage of the rules to do so. After all, I have the final word. I do not intend to surrender to mob rule and agitation.’

A crowd was forming, colonists come to the meeting. Marlowe said, ‘Are you through?’

'Yes, except to say that these others and you yourself should return to your quarters.’

'They will do as they please—and so will I. Mr Kruger, I am amazed to hear you say that a civil-rights case is not of public interest. Our neighbours here have boys who are still under the care, if you call it that, of Headmaster Howe; they are interested in how their sons are treated. However, that is not the purpose of the meeting. I give you my word that neither Mr Sutton nor I intend to ask the colony to take any action about the charges against our sons. Will you accept that and withdraw your proctors?’

'What is the purpose, then?’

'It's a matter of urgent interest to every member of the colony. I'll discuss it inside.’

'Hummph!'

By this time several councillors were in the crowd. One of them, Mr Juan Montez, stepped forward. ‘Just a minute. Mr Marlowe, when you called me about this meeting, I had no notion that the Resident objected.’

'The Resident has no option in the matter.’

'Well, that's never come up before. He does have a veto over actions of meetings. Why don't you tell us what the meeting is for?’

'Don't give in, Jamie!’ It was Doctor MacRae; he shouldered forward. ‘What kind of nincompoop are you, Montez? I'm sorry I voted for you. We meet when it suits us, not when Kruger says we may. How about it, folks?’

There was a murmur of approval. Mr Marlowe said, ‘I wasn't going to tell him, Doc. I want everybody here and the doors closed when I talk.’

Montez went into a huddle with other councillors. Out of it came Hendrix, the chairman. ‘Mr Marlowe, just to keep things regular, will you tell the council why you want this meeting?’

Jim's father shook his head. ‘You okayed the meeting. Otherwise I would have collected twenty signatures and forced a meeting. Can't you stand up to Kruger?’