Between Planets Read Online Free PDF Page B

steps.
    There were other people about, though not many. Once someone grabbed Don in the dark; he struck out wildly, smashed his fist into something flabby and heard a muffled grunt. The doctor merely pulled him along the faster.
    The doctor stopped at last, seemed to be feeling around in the dark. There came a feminine squeal out of the blackness. The doctor drew back hastily and moved on a few feet, stopped again. “Here,” he said at last. “Climb in.” He pulled Don forward and placed his hand on something; Don felt around and decided that it was a parked autocab, its top open. He climbed in and Dr. Jefferson got in behind, closing the top after him. “Now we can talk,” he said calmly. “Someone beat us to that first one. But we can’t go anywhere until the power comes on again.”
    Don was suddenly aware that he was shaking with excitement. When he could trust himself to speak he said, “Doctor—is this actually an attack?”
    “I doubt it mightily,” the man answered. “It’s almost certainly a drill—I hope. But it gave us just the opportunity that I had been looking for to get away quietly.”
    Don chewed this over. Jefferson went on, “What are you fretting about? The check? I have an account there.”
    It had not occurred to Don that they were walking out on the check. He said so and added, “You mean that security policeman I thought I recognized?”
    “Unfortunately.”
    “But—I think I must have made a mistake. Oh, it looked like the same man, all right, but I don’t see how it would have been humanly possible for him to have followed me even if he popped into the next cab. I distinctly remember that at least once my cab was the only cab on an elevator. That tears it. If it was the same cop, it was an accident; he wasn’t looking for me.”
    “Perhaps he was looking for me.”
    “Huh?”
    “Never mind. As to following you—Don, do you know how these autocabs work?”
    “Well—in general.”
    “If that security cop wanted to tail you, he would not get into the next cab. He would call in and report the number of your cab. That number would be monitored in the control-net board at once. Unless you reached your destination before the monitoring started, they would read the code of your destination right out of the machine. Whereupon another security officer would be watching for your arrival. It carries on from there. When I rang for an autocab my circuit would already be monitored, and the cab that answered the ring likewise. Consequently the first cop was already seated at a table in The Back Room before we arrived. That was their one slip, using a man you had seen but we can forgive that as they are overworked at present!”
    “But why would they want me ? Even if they think I’m uh, disloyal, I’m not that important.”
    Dr. Jefferson hesitated, then said, “Don, I don’t know how long we will be able to talk. We can talk freely for the moment because they are just as limited by the power shutdown as we are. But once the power comes on we can no larger talk and I have a good deal to say. We can’t talk, even here, after the power comes on.”
    “Why not?”
    “The public isn’t supposed to know, but each of these cabs has a microphone in it. The control frequency for the cab itself can carry speech modulation without interfering with the operation of the vehicle. So we are not safe once power is restored. Yes, I know; it’s a shameful set up. I didn’t dare talk in the restaurant, even with the orchestra playing. They could have had a shotgun mike trained on us.
    “Now, listen carefully. We must locate that package I mailed to you—we must . I want you to deliver it to your father…or rather, what’s in it. Point number two: you must catch that shuttle rocket tomorrow morning, even if the heavens fall. Point number three: you won’t stay with me tonight, after all. I’m sorry but I think it is best so. Number four: when the power comes on, we will ride around for a