Part 9 (1/2)

”Hi, Stella,” he grinned. ”Mr. Andrusco in his office?”

”Why, I don't know. Suppose I give him a ring--”

He stopped the hand that was reaching for the telephone. ”No need of that. I think I'll just surprise him. After all, it's been some time.”

He turned the k.n.o.b of John Andrusco's door slowly.

Livia was with him. When he entered, they both stood up hastily, their eyes wide and their mouths unhinged.

Livia reacted first. She cried out his name, and then sat down heavily, as if the words had been a physical force.

”Hi, Livia,” Tom said casually. ”Good to see you again, Mr. Andrusco.

Sorry that I haven't been around--but things have been pretty hectic for me lately.”

”How did you get here?” Andrusco's voice was choked.

”I've been here all weekend, if you want to know.” Tom seated himself blithely. ”As a matter of fact, the Homelovers Building has had quite a lot of visitors this weekend.”

”What do you mean?”

”You know the staff of cleaning personnel that invades this place every Sat.u.r.day? Well, there were some changes made this particular weekend.

I'm sure you'll be interested in hearing about them.”

Livia said: ”Shall I call the police, John?”

”The police were represented,” Tom said. ”Don't worry about that. In fact, the top technicians from three government agencies were doing the housework around here this weekend, Mr. Andrusco. They probably didn't get the building much cleaner--but they swept up a lot of other things.

Yes, they certainly uncovered other things.”

Andrusco walked over to Livia, and touched her shoulder in a comforting gesture. The sight of them made Tom scowl.

”All right!” he said roughly. ”I'm not blaming you for what you're doing. But things were getting out of hand, Mr. Andrusco. That's why we had to put a stop to it.”

”And have you?” Andrusco asked politely.

”I'm afraid so. It was quite a shock, let me tell you. We didn't know what to expect when we dissected this building of yours. But the last thing we expected to find was--a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.”

Andrusco smiled. ”It was cleverly done. You'll have to admit that.”

”I do,” Tom said fervently. ”You've got those s.p.a.ce flight experts absolutely insane with curiosity. They'll want to hear the whole story.

Will you give it to them?”

The man shrugged. ”It doesn't matter, I suppose. I presume the engines have been dismantled?”

”Made inoperable, yes. It would have been a great trick, if you could have done it.”

Livia spoke sadly. ”It was the only thing we could have done. There's no place on this Earth where we could have erected a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p without being observed. So we created this building. In time, we would have perfected the mechanism and left this silly planet of yours.”