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But that wasn t Willis Gram s way. He was a fighter who had made his way to the top, literally,
over a pile of bodies. Willis Gram is planning what to do right now, he realized. The total military
capability will be compressed to take aim on this one ship, a ten-year-old junk heap . . . or maybe it
wasn t anymore. Maybe it shone like a god at day. A god visible in the shimmering sun.
 I m going to stay locked in the bathroom until you re gone, Kleo said sniffily from behind the
locked door.
 Okay, he said. Lugging his armload of clothes, he headed for the elevator.
 I am Amos Ild, the tall man with his huge white hairless head, his hydrocephalic-like head,
supported by thin tubes of very strong plastic, said.
They shook hands. Ild s paw was damp and cold, like his eyes, Gram thought. And then he
thought, He never blinks. My God, he s had his eyelids removed. He probably takes pills and works
around the clock, twenty-four hours a day. No wonder Great Ear was progressing so well.
 Sit down, Mr. Ild, Council Chairman Gram said.  It is very nice of you to come here,
considering the immense value of your work.
 The officials who brought me here, Amos Ild said in a high-pitched squeaky voice,  tell me
that Thors Provoni has returned and will land within less than forty-eight hours. Surely this is a far
more important matter than Great Ear. Tell me or give me the documents that contain all that s
known about the aliens Provoni has reached.
Gram said,  Then you believe it is Provoni? And he really has an alien or a bunch of aliens with
him?
Statistically, Amos Ild said,  by the third order of neutrologics, the analysis would have to
deduce itself to that summation. It probably is Provoni; he probably has one or more aliens with him.
They say he blacked out all video transmissions and then transmitted both video and audio bits from
his ship. What else?
 Missiles, Gram said,  which reach his ship, do not detonate.
 Even if they re not set on contact-detonation but proximity-detonation?
 Right.
 And he remained in hyperspace more than fifteen minutes?
 Yes, Gram said.
 Then you should infer that he has an alien with him.
 On the TV program he said it was  wrapped around his ship , you know sort of sheltering it.
 Like a mother hen sheltering her eggs, Amos Ild said.
 We may all be that, soon. Unhatched eggs sat on by a cosmic chicken.
Gram said,  Everyone said I should get your opinion as to what to do.
 To destroy it; concentrate all your 
 We can t destroy it. What I want from you is the answer as to how we should react when
Provoni lands and emerges from it. Should we make one last try, with him outside the ship? Where the
alien can t help him? Or if we got him upstairs here, to my office, got him alone . . . it couldn t
follow.
 Why not?
 If it wrapped up his ship, it must weigh tons. The elevator couldn t take it.
 Couldn t it be a thin sort of shroud? Like a veil? Ild leaned toward him.  Have you calculated
the weight, the mass, of his ship?
 Sure. Here. Gram riffled through a bunch of reports, found one, handed it to Ild.
 One-eight-three million tons, Ild read.  No, it s not a  thin sort of shroud. It has enormous
mass. I understand it s landing in Times Square. You ll have to have riot squads clear the area in
advance; that s obvious and mandatory.
 So what if he doesn t have room to land on, except on the heads of his supporters? Gram asked
irritably.  They know he s coming; they know he s going to plop down, retrorocketwise. If they re too
damn dumb to 
Amos Ild said,  If you are going to consult with me, you must do precisely what I tell you. You
will consult no other advisors, form no other opinions. In effect, I will become and act as the
government until the crisis is over, but, of course, every decree will carry your signature. I particularly
do not want you consulting Police Director Barnes. And secondly, you should not consult the
Extraordinary Committee for Public Safety. I will stay with you twenty-four hours a day until this is
over; I see you notice my missing eyelids. Yes, I take zaramide sulphate. I never sleep I can t afford
to. There s too much to be done. You will also stop consulting with whatever odd individual happens
along, as you customarily do. I am the only one who will advise you, and if this is not satisfactory, I
will return to Great Ear.
 Jesus, Gram said, aloud. He tuned himself into the brain of Amos Ild, searching for additional
data. The interior thoughts were identical to the expression in words; clearly, Ild s mind did not work
like other people s, who said one thing and thought another.
And then an idea came to him from his own mind, something Ild had missed. Ild would be his
advisor. But Ild had not stipulated that he had to take the advice; he was under no obligation to do
more than merely hear it.
 I have taped what you just now said, he told Ild.  What we both said. Oral swearing is legal
swearing, as ruled in Cobb versus Blaine. I swear to do as you say. And you swear to give me your
undivided attention; during this crisis you have no employer but me. Agreed?
 Agreed, Ild said.  Now give me all the information you have dealing with Provoni.
Biographical material, papers he did in graduate school, news reports; I want all news dispatched to
me here in this building the moment it s picked up by the media. They will pipe it to me and I will
decide whether it should be publicly broadcast or otherwise released.
 But you can t stop it from being released, Gram said.  Because he takes over the channels; he
 
 I know that. I mean all news additional to the direct speeches made by Provoni over TV. Ild [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]