Part 10 (2/2)
”Of course,” impatiently. ”You knew we weren't from Earth when we firstmade contact.”
”When will I get to come back?”
”There's no reason for you to, ever. We have work geared to yourcapabilities to keep you busy and happy from here on out.”
”But,” Keeley sat down slowly, ”leave Earth forever?”
”What has Earth done for you, that you should feel any ties to it?” Thesubst.i.tute sat down again.
”I was born here.”
”To live like an animal in a cardboard hut that the next rain will melt away. To wear ragged clothes and live on beans and sc.r.a.p vegetables except forfree lunch at school.”
”I don't get no free lunch!” retorted Keeley, ”I work ever morning in theCafeteria for my lunch. I ain't no charity case.”
”But Keeley, you'll have whole clothes and good quarters and splendid foodin our training center.”
”Food and clothes ain't all there is to living.”
”No, I grant you that,” admitted the subst.i.tute. ”But the world calls youstupid and useless. We can give you the opportunity to work to your fullcapacity, to develop your mind and abilities to the level you're capable ofachieving instead of sitting day after day droning out kindergarten pap with aroomful of stupid ...”
”I won't have to do that all my life. When I get to high school. ..”
”With marks like yours? No one's going to ask you how smart you are.
They're going to see all the 4s and 5s and all the minuses on the citizens.h.i.+pside of your card and you'll never make it into high school. Besides, Keeley,you don't need all these petty little steps. Right now, you're trained in mathand physics past college level. You'll go crazy marking time.”
”There's other stuff to learn besides them things.”
”Granted, but are you learning them? Spell because.”
”Bee-that's not important!”
”To this earth it is. What has changed you, Keeley? You were wild to go...”
”I got to thinking,” said Keeley. ”All afternoon I been thinking. How comeyou guys pick brains off of Earth? What's the matter with your world, whereever it is? You guys ain't leveling with me somewhere.”
The subst.i.tute met Keeley's eyes. ”There's nothing sinister about us,” hesaid. ”We do need brains. Our world is -different. We don't range fromimbeciles to geniuses like you do. The people are either geniuses on yourscale or just vegetables, capable of little more than keeping themselvesalive. And yet, from the vegetable ranks come the brains, but too seldom forour present needs. We're trying to find ways to smooth out that gap betweenthe haves and the have-nots, and some years ago we lost a lot of our 'brains'in an experiment that got out of hand. We need help in keeping civilizationgoing for us until more of the native-born fill in the vacancy. So werecruit.”
”Why not pick on grownups then? There's plenty of big bugs who'd probablygive an arm to even look at your s.h.i.+p.”
”That's true,” nodded the subst.i.tute, ”but we like them young so we cantrain them to our ways. Besides, we don't want to attract attention. Fewgrownups could step out of the world without questions being asked, especiallyhighly trained specialists. So we seek out kids like you who are too smart fortheir own good in the environments where they happen to be. Sometimes theyknow they're smart. Sometimes we have to prove it to them. And they're nevermissed for long when we take them. Who is there to ask questions if you shouldleave with me?”
”Aunt Mo,” snapped Keeley, ”And-and-”
”A half-crazy old hag-no one else!”
”You shut up about Aunt Mo. She's mine. I found her. And there is toosomeone else-Miss Amberly. She'd care!”
”Dried up old maid school teacher!” the subst.i.tute returned bitingly.
”For a genius, you're pretty dumb!” retorted Keeley. ”She ain't so very oldand she ain't dried up and as soon as her and Mr. Bennett stop batting so manywords around, she won't be an old maid no more neither!”
”But two out of a world! That's not many to hold a fellow back from all wecould give you.”
”Two's two,” replied Keeley. ”How many you got that will care if you getback from here or not?”
The subst.i.tute stood up abruptly, his face expressionless. ”Are you comingwith me, Keeley?”
”If I did, why couldn't I come back sometime?” Keeley's voice was pleading.”I bet you know a lot of stuff that'd help Earth.”
”And we should give it to Earth, just like that?” asked the subst.i.tutecoldly.
”As much as I should leave Earth, just like that,” Keeley's voice was justas icy.
”We could argue all night, Keeley,” said the subst.i.tute. ”Maybe it'd helpif I told you that Earth is in for a pretty sticky time of it and this is yourchance to get out of it.”
”Can you guys time-travel too?” asked Keeley.
”Well, no. But we can take into consideration the past and the present andpostulate the future.”
”Sounds kind of guessy to me. The future ain't an already built road. We're making some of it right now that I betcha wasn't in your figgering. Nope. Ifwe're in for a sticky time, I'll get stuck too, and maybe do some of theunsticking.”
”That's your decision?”
”Yep.” Keeley stood up and began to stack his books.
The subst.i.tute watched him silently, then he said, ”Suppose I shouldinsist?”
Keeley grinned at him. ”I can be awful dumb. Ask anybody.”
”Very well. It has to be voluntary or not at all. You might as well give methose earphones.” He held out his hand. ”They'll be of no use to you with ourtraining s.h.i.+p gone.”
Keeley snapped the wires and hefted the disks in his hand. Then he put themin his pocket.
”I'll keep them. Someday I'll figure out how come this setup works withoutwords. If I can't, we've got men who can take stuff like this and figger outthe other end of it.”
”You're not so dumb, Keeley,” the subst.i.tute smiled suddenly.
”No, I'm not,” said Keeley. ”And I'm gonna prove it. Starting Monday, I'mgonna set my mind to school. By then I oughta be up with the cla.s.s. I onlyhave to look a coupla times at a page to get it.”
The subst.i.tute paused at the door. ”Your last chance, Keeley. Coming orstaying?”
”Staying. Thanks for the help you gave me.”
”It was just an investment that didn't pay off,” said the subst.i.tute. ”ButKeeley...”
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