The Long Result Read Online Free PDF Page B

to introduce me to the delegation; then you can take my car and I’ll ride to the Ark with —’
    ‘Get out of my way,’ she said between her teeth. ‘I’ve shepherded these people all the way from Tau Ceti, and I’m not going to hand them over now to some damnfool Terran bureaucrat. Where’s this wagon of yours?’
    ‘But—’
    She stepped forward. At the last possible moment, seeing she was determined literally to push me aside if she had to, I got out of her way. It would make things worse than ever if the first sight the Tau Cetians were treated to on arrival was physical violence between humans. Behind her, I made a frantic signal to Asprey, waiting at the wagon. As I’d told myself a few minutes ago, he was no fool. He gave a nod which the girl saw, but was able to mistake for a greeting to herself, and I knew he was aware as I was of the risk involved in having a courier here who might explode into bad temper at any moment.
    I kept a smile on my face, just in case the aliens were capable of interpreting human expressions, but it didn’t reflect my churning emotions.
    Fortunately she seemed to regard Asprey and Kubishev as respectable – perhaps because, like most Starhomers, they were technical men. Shortly she came back to address her charges through a sound transformer carried over her shoulder on a strap.
    The whole business of disembarking the rest of the ship’spersonnel was being held up while people watched the aliens – and me. With commendable politeness they stood back to give the visitors precedence as, moving with a sort of repressed urgency due to the interaction between their fast subjective-time level and the fifteen per cent greater gravity here than at home, they followed their courier to the truck and allowed themselves to be shown into the airlock. Having doggedly put on the suit which Kubishev offered, Kay Lee Wong got in with them.
    The instant she was out of sight, I moved. I didn’t care what comments I might provoke. The courier system was based on the assumption that during the psychologically disturbing experience of a starflight aliens should only have to adjust to the vagaries of one human being, then get the chance to settle down in a specially prepared environment before meeting a wide range of other people. But the Bureau’s couriers were handpicked for extreme tolerance, stability and adaptability – they could stand the pace, even if they had to deal with a fast-metabolism species. This girl wasn’t up to it.
    I ran straight to Asprey, reading in his grave expression the fact that he realized the girl was near breaking-point.
    ‘Is there a phone in your cab?’ I whispered, unsure of the sound-insulation of the truck.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Good. Who’s going to take charge of the visitors at the Ark?’
    ‘I think they’ve briefed Dr bin Ishmael.’
    ‘Great!’ That was a reliable man; I’d met him some time before. ‘Well, look – as soon as you’re on the road, call him. Tell him to get the courier out of sight of the visitors as soon as they arrive. Make sure there’s a medical doctor on hand to shoot her full of pacificum and forcefeed her a good meal and put her to bed till she recovers from her exhaustion. We’ll find someone to take care of the aliens. Got that?’
    Asprey nodded. ‘He may not like my telling him,’ he warned.
    ‘The hell. This is a Bureau order and it comes from me. He can take the argument to Chief Tinescu if he likes – maybe to the Minister. Now get going before she becomes suspicious.’
    Without waiting to see Asprey comply, I doubled back to my own car and ordered it to make for the Ark. As soon as it was rolling I seized the phone and called Tinescu.
    With the always-maddening sweetness of the Bureau’s robot secretaries, the answer came that Tinescu was out of the building.
    ‘Oh, blast!’ I said aloud. The machine on the other end didn’t react; oaths weren’t part of its programming. ‘Well, then, record this. Chief, I