Homer opened the glove compartment and tossed the cube in among the rags and scraper and the dog-eared road map and the other odds and ends.
He felt the terror and the loathing and the wild agony begin to drain out of his bones and he sat quietly in the car, trying to readjust his mind to this new situation?that Steen must be an alien.
He dipped his hand into his pocket and found the replica of the radiator ornament. And that was the key, he knew?not only the key to the many streets of homes, but the key to Steen and the alien world.
They hadn't meant for him to keep the ornament, of course. If he had returned the way he'd entered the world of the Second Bank, the teller more than likely would have demanded that he give it back. But he'd returned another way, an unexpected way, and it still was in his pocket.
And the radiator ornament, of course, was the reason that Steen had insisted that anyone who leased a house must also buy a car. For the ornament was a key that bridged one world and another. Although, thought Homer, it was rather drastic to insist that a man should buy a car simply so he'd have the correct radiator ornament.
But that might be the way, he told himself, that an alien mind would work.
He was calmer now. The fear still lingered, but pushed back, buried just a little.
Exactly how is a man supposed to act, he asked himseff, when he learns there are aliens in the land? Run screeching through the streets, rouse all the citizens, alert the law, go baying on the trail? Or does he continue about his business?
Might he not, he wondered, take advantage of his knowledge, turn it to his own benefit?
He was the only human being on all of Earth who knew.
Steen might not like it known that he was an alien. Perhaps it would be worth a lot to Steen not to have it known.
Homer sat and thought about it. The more he thought, the more reasonable it seemed that Steen might be ready to lay plenty on the line to keep the fact a secret.
Not that I don't have it coming to me, Homer told himself. Not that he hasn't caused me a heap of worry and trouble.
He put his hand into his pocket. The miniature ornament was there. There was no need to wait. Now was as good as any time.
He turned the ignition key and the motor came to life. He backed out of the driveway and took the road to Happy Acres.
The development was dark and quiet. Even the usual advertising signs were turned off in the shop fronts.
He parked in front of Steen's office and got out. Opening the trunk, he found the jack handle in the dark.
He stood staring toward the gate. There was no sign of the gateman. But that was a chance he'd have to take. If the old fool tried to interfere, he could handle him.
For a moment, in front of the door to Steen's office, he hesitated, trying to reassure himself. Certainly there would be another closet, some way to get to those other worlds, inside the office.
He struck savagely at the glass in the door with the jack handle. The glass splintered and rained down, with crashing, tinkling sounds.
Homer waited, tense, listening, watching. Nothing stirred. The old gateman, if he was around, apparently had not heard the crash.
Carefully, Homer reached through the broken glass and manipulated the night lock. The door swung easily open. He walked inside and closed the door behind him.
In the empty office, Homer paused until his eyes became accustomed to the deeper darkness. He moved forward, groping with his hands, and found the desk. He could make out the dim bulk of a filing case. There should be a door somewhere. Perhaps not a door into the street, but a door into a hideout?some room where Steen could disappear to eat and rest and sleep; some place that might have a touch of his alien home about it.
Homer moved from the desk to the filing cabinet and felt along the wall. Almost immediately, he found a door. He took a firmer grip on the jack handle and twisted on the knob. He walked through the door and there was the room, lighted a garish green by a lantern suspended from the ceiling.
There was sound and the sense of movement. Homer's hair stood straight on end and he felt his skin trying very hard to roll up his back. The hairy monster reached out a paw and grabbed him by the shoulder just as Homer swung around to dive back through the door.
The monster's paw was heavy and very strong. It was hairy and it tickled. Homer opened his mouth to scream, but his tongue dried up and his throat closed and he couldn't make a sound. The jack handle slipped from his numb fingers and clattered to the floor.
For a long moment, he stood there in the grip of the hairy monster and he supposed it had a face, but he could not see the face, for the hair grew all over it and drooped down where its face should be. The monster was a large one, with massive chest and shoulders that tapered down to a slim, athletic waist. Frightened as he was, Homer still could not keep from thinking that it looked a lot like an English sheepdog with a wrestler's body.
And all the while, there was something rolling on the floor and moaning.
Then the hairy monster said, in halting, stumbling syllables: 'You Mister Jackson, you are not?' Homer made a croaking sound.
'I apologize,' the monster told him. 'I very poor at your words. I work on your planet survey, but not so good with words.' He motioned at the thing moaning and rolling on the floor. 'That was good with words.'
The hairy hand dropped from Homer's shoulder. 'That,' it said, gesturing at the floor again, 'your Mister Steen.'
'What is wrong with him?' Homer blurted out. 'Is he sick or something?'
'He die himself,' the monster said.
'You mean he's dying and you're just standing there…'
'No, no. He?how do you word it right??he unlive himself.'
'You mean he's killing himself? Committing suicide?'
'Yes,' the monster said. 'He does it very well. Do you no agree?'
'But you can't…'
'He take great pride in it. He make spectacular. He jus starting now. He work up to grand finale. You must stay and watch. It be something to remember.'
'No, thank you,' Homer said faintly.
Homer turned to go, but the monster put out a hairy paw an, stopped him. 'You must not be afraid of us. I stay half myself, allright? Could change entirely into human, but much trouble. Good enough this way?'
'It's all tight,' said Homer.
'We owe you debt,' the monster said. 'This Mister Steen of yours got things all scrambled up.'
'I'll say he did,' said Homer feelingly.
'He just a stumblebum. Bungler. He likewise is a joker.'
'Joker?'
'Clown? Wise guy? You know?he made the joke. Sometimes very sly joke, but stupid just the same.' The monster leaned forward to peer into Homer's face. 'Your planet, it has its jokers, too?'
'Yes, indeed,' Homer said. 'There's one down the hall from me. His name is Gabby Wilson.'
'So you understand then. A joker not too bad if that is all he is. But take a joker who makes mistakes and that is most bad. You have name for it. Smart aleck?'
'That's the name,' said Homer.
'We make projects for the planets, for very many planets. We try to make each project fit the planet. The kind that will help the planet, the kind it needs the most.'
'Like foreign aid,' Homer supplied.
'So this bungler,' said the monster, his voice rising in forthright and honest wrath, 'this smart aleck, this nincompoop, this Mister Steen of yours, what do you think he does? He came to Earth as project manager?and he brings wrong plan! He is like that other times, going off not cocked. But this, it is too much. Final straw.'
'You mean this Happy Acres business was never meant for Earth, but for some other planet?'
The monster draped his arm around Homer's shoulder in a gesture of understanding and affection. 'That exactly what he do. No need of Happy Acres here. You still have room enough for all your people. No need to double
