Part 15 (2/2)
AM That was what Deston wanted. There hadn't been enough generations yet to wipe out all the genes of throwbacks to the independent, intractable type. Conditioning might not hold; it was possible that some of them were even smart enough to pose as tractable, although the electronicists swore that their instruments were far too sensitive and comprehensive for that. Whatever the cause, in any case of real trouble checking the lockets even once every day wasn't enough. Occasionally Punsunby himself had to go to The World to order whatever steps might have to be taken to be sure of the elimination of all mals before too much harm was done.
Deston pulled back and set his jaw. ”Now ain' t that a d.a.m.n something!” he gritted. ”Well, the regular quarterly visit is only twelve clays away-and maybe there'll be an emergency-I hope!-so we'll sit here and keep Lord Byron under surveillance every minute. I know you girls don't like this kind of Peeping Tomming, so you'll be excused. Perce?”
”Sure.” ”Here?” ”Okay by me.”
”That's three. Talk to some of the graduates, will you, Perce, so we won't have to maker the s.h.i.+fts too long? I'll take the first s.h.i.+ft, starting now.”
Chapter 18 HUNCHERS.
COMPANY AGENT A C B A A B A was a busy girl. She mated a dozen more couples that afternoon, then shot her aircar out to Suburb Fourteen, which was under construction. It was a beautiful layout, the girl thought, as she brought her car to a halt and looked the suburb over from a height of ten thousand feet. Rolling, heavily-wooded hills, a nice lake sparkling in the suns.h.i.+ne, and two winding streams. Lovely landscaping and curving, contoured drives. Over sixteen hundred of its two thousand homes should be done now-but were they? There wasn't a single house on Thirtieth Drive yet!
Frowning, she took a map of the suburb out of a compartment and scanned it. Then she compared it carefully with the terrain below. There was no one at work there this afternoon, of course, but she knew the call-code of the foreman of the project, so she punched it forthwith.
Her screen brightened, showing the head and shoulders of a man, who put both hands flat on his head and said, ”Be happy, Agent.”
”Be happy, Kubey! You're 'way, 'way behind sked on Sub Fourteen. How come?”
”I know, Agent, but there wasn't a thing I could do about it. Five of my best people went mal on me last week and the replacements they sent me were absolute gristle-heads. All five of 'em fouled up their machines so bad I had to get a whole crew of...
”That's enough. Be happy, Kubey!” ”Be happy, Agent.”
She snapped the set off and gnawed at her lower lip. An Agent didn't yap at d.a.m.n stupid dumb jerks of People-it wouldn't do any good to, anyway, they didn't know anything -A B F A D A A was the lout who'd let this job get all fouled up-she'd do her yapping high enough up so it might do some good. She punched b.u.t.tons viciously and a blue-jeweled, billiard-ball-bald man grinned at her.
”Keep your tights on, Acey,” the Blue advised her, before she could say a word. ”The World is not coming to an end.”
”But what the h.e.l.l's with it, Sub Fourteen being so d.a.m.n far minus on sked?” she demanded. ”Keep on fouling off and I'm going to have to start installing on it before it's finished!”
”So what? There'll be all the finished houses you'll need, long before you'll need 'em, so...”
” 'So what?' ” she almost screamed. ”Because it never happened before with anybody else and because it's absolutely contra-Regs, that's what! And you know it as well as I do! It's your business to keep ahead of me, and by...”
. Shut up!” The man's grin had disappeared; his face was stern and cold. ”I know my business as well as you know yours, Acey.”
”Well, then, why... Oh! But Abie, if you're having as much mal trouble as that, why didn't you tell me?” ”You just said why not. It's Abie business, not Acey, so just keep your tights on. And keep all this under your headband if you don't want to get hopped bow-legged.” He cut cam; and after a moment of lip-biting indecision, she did the same.
Then, shrugging her shapely shoulders, she set course for Suburb One and the immense apartment house in which she and eight-hundred-odd other AC's lived. She landed on the roof, parked her little speedster in its stall, and walked a hundred yards or so to a canopied, but unguarded hole with a stainless-steel pipe emerging from it. She slid unconcernedly down the slide-pole's three-hundred-foot length to the thirty fourth floor, where the general offices were. She walked seventy yards along a main corridor, turned left into a narrower one, went fifty yards along that, and turned left again into a large room half full of desks. Some twenty girls, of about her own age and size-and with pretty much her own spectacular shape-and as many young men, were already there. Some were at desks, working; some were at scanners, studying; some were sitting or standing by couples or in groups, talking or playing games; some singles were reading. All wore the headlight-like green jewels. The girls all wore the same uniform she did; the men all wore yellow whipcord battle-jackets, black whipcord breeches, and high-laced red-leather boots.
”Hi, Bee-ay!” one of the men called. (Since everyone in the house was an Acey, other letters of each symbol were used infra-house). ”You jump a mean knight; come on over and play me some chess.”
”Not enough time on the chron, Apey, I've got to red-tape it for a good hour yet,” and she strode purposefully to her desk.
She had hardly seated herself, however, when a big, good-looking, fair-haired young fellow came over and perched hip-wise on the corner of her desk.
”Hi, beautiful,” he said, swinging one big boot in a small arc. ”What do you know for real sure that's new?” ”Hi, Crip-mental, that is-nothing at all. Should I?” ”Hope. Everything is perfect in this our perfect World.” He squared his shoulders as though he had made a momentous decision and glanced quickly around. No one was within earshot; no one was paying any attention to their customary fete-d-fete.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out two soft, almost transparent pouches. He bent over, pulled his locket out from under his jacket, said, ”Well, beautiful, I'll see you after,” slipped one of the pouches over his locket, tightened its drawstring, and put the now insulated locket back where it had been. Then, handing her the other pouch, he indicated silently that she was to do the same.
The girl's eyes widened and her face went suddenly stiff, but she pouched her locket and replaced it under her sweater, between her boldly outstanding b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”So we're both mals,” she said, quietly. ”Mals of the worst type-hunchers. I've been afraid you were, too... and you, too, for me, I suppose... well, there goes the last secret between us-I hope? Except I mean of course...”
He managed a grin. ”Of course. As far as I know, sweetheart. What held me up was-well, I may get flamed for this, and I didn't want you to be, too... but you've been flirting with the flamers and if you go there's nothing left for me. That's the way you look at it, too, isn't it?”
”Of course, darling. I wouldn't live an hour, after. You came out because you noticed I was going off the beam?” ”How could I help but notice? But I wonder-is your hunch the same as mine? Something so wild-so utterly utter-that there are no words for it? That goes, some way or other, clear up to the Company itself?”
”That sounds like the same pattern, so I guess it's the same hunch. Something 'way out; beyond all understanding, sense or reason. I can't get even a clue to it. But these...?” She indicated the lockets. ”Coms? Up to the Three-A's, maybe? And you blocked 'em? I'd never have thought of anything like that-but of course girl Sciencers First don't really...”
”I don't know that they're corns; I was afraid to do any testing. But I knew something was riding you and I had to do something. But all I blocked was audio-if anybody is on us they're getting everything else and the well-known fact that we're in love will account for tension and so on-I think. I suppose you've heard the gossip that twelve Aceys from this house went absento -probably mal and probably flamed?”
”I've heard-and with that and this horrible hunch I've been jittering like a witch. It got so bad that I yapped at a Blue this afternoon-Old Baldy A B F A D A A himself.”
”Almighty Company fend you!” he gasped. ”You are asking for a flame!”
”Not in that, Beedy. No fear of him howling. He can't howl. He's so far minus sked on Sub Fourteen that I'm going to have to go contra-Regs...” She explained the housing situation... so I could kick him right in the face and he couldn't even kick me back because I'm strictly on sked. He said he'd bop me bow-legged if I leaked about it, but that was all.”
The man whistled softly through his teeth. ”That much mal trouble?” He thought for a moment, then threw off his dark mood. ”Retrieve the insulator and slip it to me when I get back.”
He moved quietly away, then came back with appropriate noise. He resumed his former position, put both pouches into his pocket, and said, ”I just had a cogent and gravid idea, my proud and haughty beauty. How about us taking five and going down stairs and tilting us a couple of flagons?”
”I'd love to, my courteous and sprightly knave, but I've simply got to get this red tape out first. An hour, say?”
”An hour's a date, you beautiful thing, you.” He took his leg off the desk and straightened up. ”I've got somered-taping of my own to do. So, as Old Baldy would say, keep your...”
Beedy! Is that nice?” She laughed up at him; two deep dimples appeared. ”Besides, as you very well know, I always do!”
In an hour the paper-work was done. (While People all got half a s.h.i.+ft off on Compday, Company Agents got theirs on any day other than Compday). Bee-ay and Beedy tilted their flagons, ate supper together, and went to their rooms. Not only to separate rooms, but to separate wings of the immense building.
She, however, did not sleep at all well; and when she went to work Sonday morning she was still keyed up and tense-for no real reason whatever.
The job went along strictly as usual until, at hour sixteen plus fifty, she had just finished installing her last pair of newmates of the day and was getting into her aircar to go home. While she was getting into the front seat a pair of heavily-insulated arms went around her and a strong gloved hand went over her mouth. She bit and fought, but the glove was bite-proof and the man was big and fast and immensely strong. He dragged her out of the driver's seat and into the back, where he let her struggle; holding her only tightly enough to prevent her escape. In the meantime a smaller man, also dressed in a full-coverage suit that looked like asbestos but wasn't, cut three wires of the aircar's power supply and got into the front seat. The car shot straight up out of sight of the ground, darted northward, and came to ground on the flat top of a high, bare-rock mesa.
”Are you going to behave yourself?” the big man asked.
She nodded behind the glove and he released her completely.
”What the h.e.l.l goes on?” she demanded, sitting up properly and putting her hair to rights with her fingers. ”You'll get the flame for this.”
”I think not,” he said, quietly. ”You're not frightened, I'm very glad to see.”
Frightened? Me? Of any person or People ever born? High Company beyond!”
”Good girl. We've made a few poor picks, but you and your friend A C B D will make out.”
”Beedy? You've got him, too? Where are you taking us, I if I may ask?” The last phrase was pure sneer.
”You may not ask,” was the calm reply.
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