by Herb Hughes
“I did what I could. The editor and I are, well…”
“But why is he being that way? The stuff they print is not even true.”
“Are you sure, my dear? I mean, you’ve only got Jack’s word.”
“And Dokie’s.”
“That odd little man? As I told you before, you can’t trust his word. He is a hardened criminal who is well known for his verbal fabrications. He has been arrested many times. Why, you can’t believe anything he says. And Jack? How well do you know him? I’ve heard he’s, well, this is so indelicate, but I’ve heard through reliable sources that he has a, well, how do I say this? I’m sorry to mention it, but by all accounts, it does appear that he is illegally using a laser rifle, one that he keeps hidden somewhere.”
Sheffie dropped her fork and looked McGurke in the eye. He looked so sincere. There was a moment of silence before he continued, “There are witnesses who substantiate what the editor is printing. You know how desperately the rangers need lasers. It is not only unlawful to keep a laser rifle from them, but it is also unconscionable. And then there is the matter of the other woman that the newspaper has discovered. Sheffie, my dear, Jack Wheat may not be the man you think he is.”
Sheffie looked down at her plate and said, “I can’t believe that, Jonathan. Jack is a good, honest man. But this newspaper editor, well, you act like you are old enemies and that he won’t do anything for you, but I understand you are the owner of the newspaper, through a series of holding companies.” She looked up and stared into his eyes. “Who is being dishonest here, Jonathan?”
“I own the newspaper? Why, who told you something like that? I mean, well, it’s true I do own a lot of companies in Lisbon. Perhaps one of them owns some small percentage of the newspaper. It’s possible, I suppose. I’ll ask my accountant about that tomorrow. But I assure you, my dear, I have no influence over the editor.”
“Of course not. Well, I know you did your best, Jonathan. It’s getting late.” Sheffie stood and turned toward the foyer.
“But you haven’t touched your dessert, my dear.”
“I’m sure it’s delicious, Jonathan, but I’m not hungry tonight. And I feel my purpose here is over. I need to get back to the hotel and pack. We must leave in the morning. I’m afraid we have become an ‘economic impact’ on the hotel. We’ve been ordered to leave.” Sheffie turned and walked toward the foyer.
“Wait! Where will you go?” McGurke said as he rose and walked after her, quickening his pace to catch up.
“Home, of course.” Her voice became harsh as anger began to get the best of her. “I’ve been gone too long. It’s time the Borderton Library was open for business.”
“You can’t leave! Forget that little one-horse town. A woman of your beauty needs a city like Lisbon. You could conquer this city. This planet! Damn the hotel. I’ll buy it tomorrow and fire the manager.”
Sheffie glanced back a moment but didn’t slow down as she said viciously, “You own the newspaper, and you didn’t fire that lying excuse for an editor!”
“I’ve explained…”
“Besides,” Sheffie interrupted. “I rather like Borderton, Mr. McGurke. And the Borderton newspaper prints the truth.”
McGurke caught up with her and took her arm, twirling her around. “You don’t need the hotel, my dear. Stay here with me, as my wife.” He bent his head down, directly into her face, squeezing her shoulders and forcing his lips onto hers. Sheffie twisted side-to-side, trying to break free. She managed to free enough of her arm to slap McGurke across the face as hard as she could swing. Being forcibly wrapped in his arms, she didn’t have much leverage, but it was hard enough to get the message across. He pulled his face away.
“Let me go, Jonathan McGurke.”
He stared at her angry face a moment then pushed her away. She stumbled backward, catching herself before falling.
“All right,” McGurke shouted at her. “Go back to your little piece of crap town. You could have had everything, lady. EVERYTHING! Go ahead. Go waste your life on that washed up, cheating Rhino hunter.”
Sheffie turned and ran through the house and out the door then down the spiral stairs to street level, tears streaming down her face.
Chapter 36
During the ride to Avery’s, Jack lost track of the conversation and, for most of the trip, was silent as the other three talked. He couldn’t help it. His mind kept going back to the charging Rhino he killed outside the restaurant, the one that fell at his feet. If he hadn’t made a perfect second shot…
Then he thought about the trip to the library and what Vishay had said about repeating rifles. That was the answer, of course. It was the best alternative they had. A perfect shot would not be necessary with a repeating rifle. Continue to fire, over and over, until the animal fell to the ground. Rangers could bring a Rhino down quickly, before it went on a bloody rampage.
Being only one man, Jack Wheat could not solve Lisbon’s Rhino problem. It was literally impossible. But a force of rangers equipped with repeating rifles could do the job. They were already stationed one at every intersection. Add one in the middle of each block and equip them with repeating rifles and most Rhinos would be brought down before they could kill.
Jack thought about Jonathan McGurke. Perhaps he was evil. Perhaps not. There was no question he was ambitious. And he was intelligent. But more than intelligent, he was clever. He knew how to play the game. Everything he did had a purpose. The office of Mayor of Lisbon was the highest political office on the planet. It was the most important job on Agrilot, yet the people in that job kept getting voted out in short order because of the worsening Rhino problem. Still, McGurke was making his big move now. Why? What would he gain if he stole the office only to be voted out in the next election? That was not Jonathan McGurke. He would not be making his move if he were not sure he would be able to remain in office. There was only one possibility. Jonathan McGurke had a solution to the Rhino problem! And, the more Jack thought about it, the more he realized McGurke’s solution was repeating rifles.
Once McGurke became Mayor and solved the Rhino problem, he would be in the office forever. He would be the closest thing to a king that Agrilot had ever or might ever see. Perhaps he would declare himself king. If he solved the Rhino problem planet-wide, he might get away with doing so. But whether king or not, once McGurke became Mayor of Lisbon, he would ruin Jack Wheat. He would, in fact, use his new power to insure Jack’s neck found the end of a noose.
When the four of them entered Avery’s house, they went through slowly so that that Mac could gawk and be amazed at all the strange things in every room. Then they wandered outside, to Avery’s lab in the back. While they were looking around, Jack asked, “Could McGurke carry on a secret project, say an invention of some sort, without anyone knowing about it?”
“Sure,” Dokie said. “McGurke’s companies have scientists and inventors and all sorts of people working for them. They invent stuff, and he gets the patents. He never gets dirt under his fingernails, but he gets filthy rich off their work.”
“Yes,” Avery said. “I know some of the inventors who work for him. They’re quite willing to let him get rich from their labors since they receive the funding they need and a handsome paycheck in return. Jonathan McGurke’s fingernails are dirty with money. He has the capital the scientists do not have. They can perform their research without financial concerns. I, myself, have been offered a job by his companies multiple times. In fact, he personally extended me a standing offer, but I told him I prefer to work alone. Thank goodness I can afford to. Family money, of course.”
“I think he’s invented repeating rifles,” Jack said. “And he’s keeping it a secret.”
Dokie and Avery stared at Jack a moment. Mac scratched his head and looked around the workshop.
“I keep my ear out for everything McGurke’s doing,” Dokie said. “I don’t trust him so I try to stay ahead of his game. I've picked up a lot, including rumors about secret projects, but I'v
e never heard anything about repeating rifles. If you had a bunch of guys working on a project like that, seems like it would leak out.”
“Not if you handled it properly,” Avery said. “Different groups could work on small subsets of the project. Only a few people at the top would need to know what the end product was. The more complicated the invention, the easier it would be to keep it secret. But why would you want to? Wouldn’t you want to give people hope by telling them you were working on something that would save lives?”
“McGurke give people hope?” Dokie said. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“If it’s a big chess game like Dokie says, and I’m starting to believe you’re right, sidekick, then he wouldn’t want anyone to know until he became Mayor. If word got out early, Davis and the general public would demand the rangers get equipped with repeating rifles. Once that was done, McGurke would have no way to steal the mayor’s office.”
“I suppose that's possible,” Avery said. “But how could he stand back and let people get killed when he could stop it?”
“He doesn’t care about other people,” Dokie said. “He only cares about Jonathan McGurke. The more people that get killed now, the easier it would be for him to step in later, solve the problem, and claim he was the one who saved thousands of lives. He gets to be the hero in the end. And he gets the biggest job on the planet, Mayor of Lisbon.”
“King of Agrilot,” Jack said, though more to himself than the others.
“Oh, shit,” Dokie said. “Hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. If he solves the Rhino problem, he might be able to make himself King of the whole damned planet.”
Avery stood silently, staring at the floor. Finally, he said, “He would let people die to further his own goals?”
“He not only would,” Dokie answered, “He already has. Avery, he’s been doing that for years. You know what happens to homeowners who don’t make their payments. That’s only the start. It goes a lot deeper than a few people getting beat up. You’ve got to face reality.”
Avery stared at Dokie for several moments then finally said, “Okay. Perhaps I have sometimes worn blinders, not wanting to believe bad things. Yes, I’ve got to be more realistic. But the question now becomes, what are we going to do about it?”
“The first thing we’ve got to do,” Jack said, “Is explore this room Mac is talking about. My inner voice is telling me this is important and can’t wait. At the same time, though, we’ve got to find out if McGurke has repeating rifles or something else that will allow him to solve the Rhino problem. If he does, and we could steal his plans, I know a blacksmith who could build them for us. And I bet he can make them better than McGurke’s people. We could beat him to the punch, not so much to save Davis’ job but to save lives in Lisbon. And everywhere else.”
“As if Davis was worth saving,” Dokie said. “Why don’t you run for Mayor, Jack?”
“Besides not wanting the job,” Jack said, “I couldn’t get elected to shovel horse manure right now. Davis is a far better choice than McGurke,”
“Very true,” Avery said. “But if McGurke does have repeating rifles and we steal them from him, well, isn’t that like… like stealing?”
“Stealing from McGurke is more of a civic duty,” Dokie said. “If he has repeating rifles and he’s not using them to save people because of his political ambitions, he deserves to lose everything he’s got.”
“I have no reservations about stealing inventions from McGurke if it will save people’s lives,” Jack said.
“Quite right. I see your point.”
“We need a plan,” Dokie said.
“We’ve got to get to this room,” Jack said. “And quickly. It’s a three-day ride to the end of the Spine. That’s not fast enough. Avery, could your automobile make the trip?”
“Why, I believe so. Part of the desert is sand only. We may have to go around that, go further north where the ground is firmer. I would not want to try to climb a sand dune.”
“But the automobile will only hold one person,” Dokie said. “Two if you get married first.”
“I am building something they used to call a ‘trailer’ on old Earth. It hooks to the automobile and tags along behind. It’s small, but it could carry the three of you. It’s almost done. Working together, we could finish it in a few hours.”
“Could it carry a mule, too?” Mac asked.
“Hmm. I’m not sure. It would be crowded. But why?”
“Well, sir,” Mac whined, “When we leave that big room, the three of you are coming back to Lisbon. I don’t want to come back. I don’t like all this stuff that’s going on here. And I don’t like big cities. I’m tired of people looking at me like I was a plague. And I’m sure enough tired of people spitting on me. That only had to happen once to get real old. I want to go back to my own bed where I’ll be nice and safe. After we finish, I want to go straight home on Toadstool.”
“Three people and a mule plus supplies?” Avery said. “That would be crowded. It’s just, well, I had not planned on carrying that much.”
“What about two people and a mule?” Jack asked. “We can strap the supplies to the rails.”
“That might work,” Avery answered. “If you don’t mind smelling the mule up close.”
“Two people?” Dokie said. “I get the feeling I’m not going to like this.”
“We’ve got to find out if McGurke’s scientists have invented repeating rifles,” Jack explained. “Or whatever it is. Something is going on, or he wouldn’t be making his move right now. He’s too shrewd. But I wouldn’t be able to search. As long as the newspaper keeps running its smear campaign, I can’t do anything in Lisbon. Nobody will cooperate with me. I’ll be more help in this room Mac is talking about. Dokie, you have a lot of connections, some pretty interesting ones. You can ask around discretely. Get your friends working on McGurke’s secrets. See what you can find out. If you get some answers, when we get back you and I will make Jonathan McGurke a little lighter in the hardware area.”
“Gotcha. I’d love to see this place Mac is talking about, but I understand. I’m the man for the job. If anything is going on, I’ll root it out.”
“Be careful,” Jack warned. “Ask discretely and find out, but don’t act on anything until I get back. Do not go in and confront McGurke or any of his people. And do not try to steal anything from him. Gather information only. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Clearly?”
“Why, Jack, would I take it upon myself to do something like that?”
“Yes, you would. That’s why I want you to promise me you’ll wait until I get back before you do anything.”
“Okay, okay. Information only. I gotcha.”
Jack turned to Avery. “How long will the trip take?”
“In the automobile, about a day each way. Maybe a day to explore the room. We should be back in three days, I would think. Unless we run into problems with the automobile, of course.”
“Okay, Dokie,” Jack said. “You can wait three days. Gather information. Breaking into other people’s businesses is not only illegal; it’s dangerous, especially when that business is owned by Jonathan McGurke. If they are carrying out secret projects, there will be armed guards. Break-ins can wait till I get back.”
“Yes, sir!”
Chapter 37
Jack rubbed Sheffie on the shoulder gently, waking her slowly. She had fallen asleep in the chair waiting for him. Her bags were packed and neatly stacked by the door.
“Jack! Where were you? I was so worried.”
“I’ve arranged a carriage to take you home to Borderton. It’s waiting outside. I also hired a pair of Rhino hunters I know, good ones. They’ll ride on top, one with the driver and one on the rear.”
“What are you talking about? Aren’t you going home with me?”
“I can’t go back, not now. The entire front page of this morning’s paper is about me. They want to arrest me and put me on trial. The ne
wspaper editor wants to hang me.”
“What? That makes no sense. Why?”
“The paper accuses me of secretly using a laser rifle to kill Rhinos. They’re also calling for Andropov’s arrest and Davis’ impeachment. McGurke is planning to take over the city as soon as he can. I’ll be arrested if I don’t find a place where I can disappear. Borderton is no longer a safe haven for me. The warrant for my arrest would get there before I did.”
“A laser? It’s not true. They can’t prove…”
“I’m… I’m afraid it is true, Sheffie. It’s a small laser my father gave me when I was young. My family slipped it through somehow. I was a kid when I started hunting. Sixteen years old. I thought I needed an advantage. Frankly, I was as raw as they came and likely would not have survived without the laser. It worked, and fame came quickly. As I got older and more mature, I should have quit. Buried it or something. Maybe left it on the doorsteps of a ranger station. But the fame was, well, intoxicating. The laser became a habit that I couldn’t stop. Now… My reputation… It’s out now. I can’t hide it anymore.”
“Oh, dear. Jonathan was telling the truth.”
“Only about that. I’m sorry for deceiving you. Hell, I’m sorry for deceiving everybody all these years. I can’t undo it. It’s too late to destroy the laser and bury the secret with it. Even if I did, the newspaper has created enough doubt that I would never live it down. When they catch me, I will go to prison at the least. But before they do, I’ve got to solve the Rhino problem and stop McGurke from taking over.”
They were silent a moment as they stared into each other’s eyes. Sheffie broke the silence when she said, “Where will you go?”
“Mac found some sort of underground room. The technology is far beyond anything we have. I believe it could be important. We’ve got to find out. When we finish, I’ll come back here and do everything I can to solve the Rhino problem, as long as I can dodge the rangers. But it won’t be forever. They will eventually find me and arrest me. Maybe if I can help solve the Rhino problem, they will go easier on me.”
