consent, so this isn't like that. There won't be any cutting into your heads. They think there's a chance they can get more dope on that thing in your skulls with some new X-ray thing-don't ask me what it is, all I know is it takes a long exposure and you can't wiggle. Have you eaten anything since you were in the Pit?'
'A couple of crackers, but-'
'That's too bad. It might slow things down.'
Alarm bells went off in Dannerman's head. 'Does that mean we get put to sleep?'
'Now, how would I know that? Sounds plausible, though, doesn't it? Some sort of tranquilizer, I think. Nothing big, I'm sure of that.'
'Now, really, Hilda-'
'Really, Danno,' she began, her voice suddenly harsher, 'there's no sense arguing about it. I'm not asking for your consent. I'm just telling you what's going to happen because you don't have any ch-'
Then she stopped in mid-breath. She didn't even finish the word 'choice.' Her eyes went unfocused for a moment. Then she blinked and looked at them again. 'You two stay here,' she barked, and hurried out of the room.
Pat turned wonderingly to Dannerman. 'What the hell was that all about?'
He gave her an abstracted look. 'What? Oh, she got a message. In her private phone,' he explained. 'The little button in her ear; you probably didn't even notice it.'
'What kind of message?' Pat demanded. He shook his head. 'Dan! Tell me what's happening here! Do you think they're going to operate on us anyway? They can't do it without our signatures, can they?'
Dannerman considered the question. 'That's what the law says,' he said. And didn't add that the Bureau had its ways of getting around laws. And decided that if the next person through that door was carrying anything that looked like a hypodermic, then that would be the nine to get physical.
The next person who entered wasn't carrying a needle. He wasn't even hospital personnel. It was Deputy Director Marcus Pell himself. He nodded to Dannerman and spoke to Pat. 'We haven't officially met, Dr. Adcock, but I've seen a good deal of you.'
He was being courtly. Dannerman had no patience with that just at that moment. 'What's going on?' he demanded.
The deputy director sighed. 'I'm not sure I know,' he said. 'There's been a rather surprising new development. There has just been a new transmission from that satellite of yours, Dr. Adcock.'
'But there's nobody there!' Dannerman said.
Pat had a different reaction. She caught her breath. 'Do you think it's one of those funny-looking extraterrestrials?'
'Not this time,' Pell said somberly, studying his agent. 'It was from a human being, Dannerman. He said there were a bunch of people up there in orbit. He said they were going to come back to Earth in the orbiter's Assured Crew Return Vehicle, the emergency vehicle that's supposed to-'
'I know what it's supposed to do,' Dannerman snapped.
'Yes. Well. The funny thing about it, Dannerman, is this guy on Starlab said he was you.'
That took Dan Dannerman back as nothing else had. He goggled at the D.D. 'He says he's me?'
'That's what the man claims. We didn't believe him, of course. So we checked his voiceprint, and by God he was right. He is.'
CHAPTER FOUR
Colonel Hilda Morrisey liked orders that gave her some slack for interpretation, but this time she could have wished for a little less of it. The deputy director's parting order had been no more than, 'Take care of those two and stick around.' That was it. Nothing more specific. Especially nothing more informative, and then he was gone.
So when Dannerman demanded to know what was going on Hilda could only say, 'I don't know any more than you do,' wishing she did. She did turn on the screen in the van so he and Pat Adcock could hear the Bureau's recording of what the world had just heard. There was no secret about that! It had been a voice-only transmission, so the only picture on the screen was the legend Transmission received from Starlab astronomical satellite, 2041 hours, 9 December. Then the voice spoke, tinny, fuzzy, but definitely familiar:
'This is James Daniel Dannerman calling my associates in Arlington from orbit. Pat Adcock was right, except that it's a lot bigger than she thought. I'll try to bring some samples of the stuff we were talking about with me when I come back. That will be very soon, assuming Jimmy Lin can get this Assured Crew Return Vehicle thing working. And assuming that we can all fit in, because there are nine, ah'-the voice hesitated for a moment-'nine persons here, and we don't want to leave anybody aboard. Please acknowledge on this frequency.'
That was it. Broadcast in clear, so every son of a bitch with a radio, all over the world, could have been listening in. And a lot of them had been. 'Is that me?' Dannerman demanded, looking from Hilda to Pat; and, when they only shrugged, 'Well, what does he-I-what do they mean, nine people? Only five of us went up there!'
'How would I know?' Hilda asked reasonably. 'Maybe your friend Artzy-what's-her-name had quadruplets.'
'Space Voice' May Belong to U.S. Intelligence Agent.
A retired member of the U.S. intelligence community has identified the 'voice from space' as belonging to National Bureau of Investigation agent James Daniel Dannerman. Although the source declines to be identified, he states there 'is no damn doubt at all' of the identification, adding that until recently Dannerman was reported to be under house arrest on unspecified charges. Officials of the NBI decline to comment on the report.
- The New York Times
He gave her a dangerous look, but all he said was, 'Play it again!'
So they played it again, and again, and then they switched to a news channel to hear all the things everybody had to say about this astounding report. Hilda gave that five minutes. Then she squirmed ahead to the front seat, phoning ahead to make arrangements at the headquarters. Then she just sat there, the dead phone to her ear,
