-Editorial, New China Journal, Taipei, Taiwan, PRC
'No, that's not it. We'll straighten out the bickering, trust me on that. What really prevents us is that we don't know what to do when we get there. How do we take the machines apart to bring them back for study? What's inside them? We don't want our people cutting into some piece of equipment the wrong way and ruining it, the way we did with your recorder. We particularly don't want one of our people touching the wrong thing and getting killed-or accidentally blowing up the whole Starlab. You don't want that either, do you? That would be no good for either of us. So what we need, you see, is for us to have really good, solid, detailed information about the machines before we leave-'
On the way to the room where the Docs were held, Dopey waddling sullenly ahead, Hilda reflected complacently that the skills of interrogation didn't change no matter who you were interrogating, eyewitness, felon, bizarre freak from interstellar space-all the same. Dopey had achieved a small concession from her: she had undertaken to get one of the Pat Adcocks drafted to keep him company. And now she had gained his cooperation in something that really mattered.
She hoped Merla Tepp had learned something from the exchange. The woman was clearly nervous, but that was not surprising in the presence of one of those bizarre freaks. Anyway, she controlled it well, at least until they reached the Docs' room. The great, pale golems were standing statue like as usual, a medic attendant sitting quietly in a corner of the room taking notes on their behavior-not that there was any behavior to note, Hilda thought. Then, as Tepp got her first good look at them, a flash of pure horror escaped her control for a moment.
Even Dopey noticed it, as he was trying to get up on his platform. Panting, he piped up, 'Do not fear, Cadet Tepp. They will not harm you. The bearers are-were-a highly civilized, intelligent race. It is a pity that it was necessary to modify them, but now they can do nothing without orders. Please, will you help me up there? I am very fatigued.'
Tepp hesitated. Annoyed, Hilda picked the little turkey up herself. She was surprised to find how light he was, and how hot his body.
He didn't speak, merely gazed at the nearest Doc. Who touched his white-foam 'beard' ruminatively for a moment, then moved swiftly to the side of the attendant. Gently, but irresistibly, he took the notepad from the man and began to draw.
Tepp made a small, worried sound, then said tightly, 'Excuse me, please, Brigadier.' She fled. Hilda was annoyed. The smell was getting to her, of course, but she was not going to let it interfere with her job. And neither should Tepp. Hilda crowded over beside the Doc, watching in satisfaction as the creature swiftly began to draw a recognizable diagram of the recorder.
Twenty minutes later Hilda, clutching the first batch of drawings, found Merla Tepp waiting for her in the cold outside air.
Hilda gave her a curious look. 'Are you all right?'
'Certainly, Brigadier. I'm sorry. It's just I thought I was starting my period.'
Hilda looked her over more carefully, with dawning suspicion. She leaned forward and sniffed Tepp's lips. The odor was definite. 'Do you always vomit when you're having your period?'
'No, Brigadier. I'm in excellent health. I think I may have eaten something-'
'I think,' Hilda said sharply, 'that you just can't stand touching the little freak. Is that it?'
Tepp was clearly shamefaced. 'I'm uncomfortable, yes. I'm sorry.'
'Sorry isn't good enough,' Hilda said, meditating.
'Oh, please, ma'am, no!' Tepp begged, fully aware of what might be coming next. 'I do dislike them, yes, but it doesn't interfere with my duties.'
'What do you call what just happened?'
'I give you my word it won't happen again. Please, Brigadier! It means so much to me to have the chance to work with you-'
'Get in and drive,' Hilda said, cutting the conversation short.
In a way she wasn't displeased. It wasn't entirely a bad thing for an American to loathe and despise aliens of any kind. But to take this one on as her aide?
That was going to take further thought. On the way back to the Bureau Hilda devoted herself to catching up on the news on the car's* screen. The UN was making trouble again; a speaker at a convention of police chiefs noted an encouraging drop in the number of terrorist actions in the past few weeks; nothing important, really. But she stayed with it, and did not speak again to Cadet Tepp.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
'Come on,' Dannerman said to Pat Adcock, half-pulling her out of the car. They stood silent in the packed snow, while the hooded figure in the parka kept them covered with an assault rifle. It was a weapon Dannerman knew well-well enough to suppress any thought of resistance. 'Just stand still,' Vassili was whispering nervously. 'Do not startle her; she is quite young, and may do something foolish.'
Her? She? But when the person with the rifle stood up and waved them forward Dannerman saw that it was a woman, all right, in fact no more than a girl, long hair spilling out from beneath the hood of her parka. And suddenly she was not alone. A larger figure, definitely a man, definitely also carrying a rifle, came out of the door to join her. He said something peremptory in Ukrainian. Beside Dannerman the man named Vassili groaned, objected, surrendered. 'He says to you must immediately take off your outer garments.'
'Here?' Pat cried in surprise. 'We'll freeze!'
'But,' said Bogdan, his English worsening with strain, 'must do it, get weapons of you.' And suddenly he had them covered with a gun of his own.
They didn't freeze, though Dannerman's teeth were chattering by the time he had been patted down and his carry gun and radio transmitter removed. Then they were allowed into the house that stood all by itself on the desolate hill.
It was warm there. In fact, the house was a pleasant and wholly unanticipated oasis of comfort. They came in through a kitchen, complete with every device modern domestic technology had to offer; they entered a living room with a huge picture window and a wall screen, as well as two or three expensive exercise machines scattered
