I’ll show him the way, personally,’ said Scott into the intercom. He glanced at Lane. ‘When, sir?’
‘Right now,’ Lane replied.
’We’ll be there in two minutes,’ Scott said into the instrument.
He broke the connection, and motioned toward the hall door. 'After you, Commander.’
They went out into the hallway, Scott opening and then closing the door.
Silence settled over the room after they had gone, except for the faint, faint sound that energy makes in machinery that is always at ‘on’.
On the giant viewplate, the stars continued to shift positions slightly, as the superbattleship that was out there (and from which file star scene was being broadcast) continued in its orbit around the earth.
From that screen, a voice said suddenly: Tosition now 116-27 angle 52, and all is well,
Midnight came and passed. Then one a.m. ., . and later. On the king-sized bed in the master bedroom of the Lane residence, there was a movement in the darkness. The figure on the far right stirred. Another pause. Then the light over there turned on. It revealed Estelle Lane sitting up.
On his side of the bed, Lane turned over sleepily, opened his eyes, and looked at his wife questioningly. As he saw that she was staring at him accusingly, he also sat up, and said, 'What’’ the matter?’
‘It’s a quarter to two,’ said the woman in an irritable voice. ‘Captain Sennes should have brought Susan home by this time.’ Lane gave her a for-heaven’s-sake-is-that-what-you-awakened- me-for glare. He started to slide back under the sheets, except that the expression in her face made him think better of it. He remained seated, and he said in a mild, reassuring tone, ‘They’re probably having a bite to eat after the show.’
It was obviously not a sufficient comment for the woman, that he changed his tactics. He sat all the way up, and said irritably, “What’s the worry about Captain Sennes when you’re never concerned about her being out with that gang of young rascals she runs around with?’
‘This is a man,’ said Estelle.
Lane was scathing. ‘You’ve got it all mixed up,’ he said. “When I was sixteen, about 20 per cent of high school boys got to about 80 per cent of the girls, starting at age fourteen. The other boys were mostly nice, decent kids. Some of them, I know, hoped vaguely that a girl would proposition them, but you and I know that isn’t the way it works. Now, here’s my point. You can’t tell me those 20 per cent of aggressive boys aren’t still around, and that 80 per cent girls aren’t still vulnerable to them.’
‘Men are different,’ said Estelle, with determination.
‘Men are more discriminating, you mean. The average halfway decent man has learned not to grab at every available woman. It’s too hard to shake them loose, once you’ve got them. And most men discover that early in the romantic part of their life.’ 'You seem to know a lot about it,’ said Estelle; and for a moment it looked as if his reply had changed the direction of her thought.
‘Look, honey’ - her husband spoke patiently - ‘you know the whole sad story of my experience with women. I told you every unhappy detail before we got married,’
‘To hear you describe it, you were the biggest boob who ever came up from the deep,’ she said with asperity.
‘Where girls and women were concerned, yes/ said Lane. 'And please note: I never did get your story of your experiences. As I recall it, there was a long silence in that department, whenever the subject came up.’
‘Don’t try to get off the subject,’ said the blonde woman.
The man sat there, and he was visibly in a state of mixed emotions. One emotion that struggled to find a way to be communicated was a desire to point out that it was she, not he, who had gotten off the subject. Another emotion seeking for life of its own was a kind of here-we-go-again anger. But it was the third emotion that won: a sense of helplessness in the face of superior mental footwork.
He said with a sigh, ‘I’m suit the captain will look after the daughter of a fleet commander on his first time out with her. Now, go to sleep.’
But it was he who slid down under the sheets, not she. The woman remained in her erect position, and said, ‘Just why did you invite Captain Sennes for dinner?’ She added as an afterthought, ‘So soon after your return.’
‘Darling, my having been away doesn’t change what goes on at the Space Control building. That place never stops.’ He turned on his side facing away from her. His voice was slightly muffled, as he continued, ‘All of a sudden - just like that, looking at the guy - I realised that here was a chance for Susan to size up a Real Man, instead of those vicious kids.’ He finished, ‘I thought, maybe that’s the real problem here. The best men are away. Girls and women lose their perspective.’
‘I can’t quite believe,’ said the woman, ‘that the thought came to you “just like that”.’- When he did not answer, she also was silent for a while. Then she reached over and turned out the light. But as she was starting to slide down under the sheets, she hesitated. Her voice came out of the darkness: ‘How long is Captain Sennes grounded?’
Lane’s answer was a sleepy mumble. ‘Originally,’ he said, "eight to ten weeks. But in view of the uproar over the alien thing, the expedition he was leaving on has been postponed. My guess is it will be cancelled. But he’ll be on flight duty in eight weeks, no matter what, I imagine.’
Another pause. The silence was, however, thoroughly alive with a thought. It was the thought that was in the woman’s tone as she finally said, drawing out each syllable as if the meaning in the words was just too much, ‘E-i-g-h-t - w-e-e-k-s!’
‘Go to sleep,’ Lane muttered irritably.
After still another pause, there was the sound and vaguely visible movement of the figure on the far right finally and reluctantly going down all the way under the sheets.
There was also a permeating impression that he was not about to be spending her time sleeping.
In the bedroom, aproximately fifteen minutes took about an hour of subjective time to go by. The same amount of actual time expended itself outside. At the end of those minutes, a man and a girl were to be seen coming along the night street in front of the Lane residence. For a time they were in the shadowed area between two street lights. But as they emerged into the brightness opposite the Lane gate, the two became recognisable as Susan and the space officer whose photograph John Lane had held in his hands that morning., none other than the handsome Captain Peter Sennes.
As Susan and the captain went through the Lane gate, the Subsurface a block up the street discharged a number of passengers. Two of these, both male figures, started along the street that would presently take them past the Lane residence. At first, in the distance, they looked like men. By the time they were in the shadow region between the lights, something about the way they walked implied youthfulness. As they now emerged into the brightness opposite the gate, they became the familiar figures of Mike Sutter and Lee David.
The two boys were silent, and seemed to be in a thoughtful mood as they walked. It was Mike who casually glanced toward the Lane veranda. For a moment his face was merely receptive. In fact, he actually did the well-known stereotype: he started to look away.
It was the double-take phenomenon, then. He looked again, jerkily this time, and simultaneously caught at Lee’s arm, stopping him. From that moment, and for the minute or so that followed, it was all automatic. First, their heads turned and became fixed. Then, more slowly, their bodies moved around until they were standing almost touching. Throughout, they stared at what was happening on the veranda.
Susan and Sennes had reached the point, after some verbal maneuvering by the man, where he was unlocking the door for her. He turned from the task in such a way that he blocked any intent she might have had to simply take the key and slip past him into the house. Truth was, the possibility that she might attempt such a disappearing act was a thought in the man’s mind only. Truth was, the erotic implications of Senne’s earlier holding remarks had pass
ed completely over the girl’s head. And now, she accepted the key from him and presented her right cheek for him to kiss, like the good little jabber that she was.
Without hesitation, Captain Sennes put his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth, firmly but briefly. Susan started to struggle, and then as he removed his lips from hers, she protested in a muffled voice, ‘Not my lips ,,. my cheek. It’s all right on my cheek.’ The reason her voice was muffled was because, as she started to resist, the man expertly drew her face against his chest. For him it was the moment he needed to shift his hold on her and obtain a firmer grip on his next maneuver.
‘No,’ he said, ‘not your cheek.’ Having spoken, he used the hand that held the back of her head to keep her head steady while, with a quick movement, he again placed his Ups against hers. All she could do after that was squirm helplessly. She apparently soon realised that she was completely captured by his overwhelming strength^ for she presently merely stood there, her lips passive against his, and waited.
During the almost-minute of that kiss, Mike and Lee at the gate watched with differing emotions. It was all happening too quickly for genuine emotions to break through. What both boys showed at first was shock. At no time during the actual event did Lee indicate jealousy. He simply remained in a physiologic reaction of something akin to dismay. On the other hand, Mike with his quicker responses came out of his freeze state, and lunged at the gate. He was fumbling at the catch when Lee’s restraining hand stopped him. Lee made a peremptory gesture, and after a moment Mike nodded. The two boys backed slowly to the right until they were standing behind a tree.
As they did so, on the veranda Captain Sennes relaxed his hold on Susan. She began to fight again, and he thereupon allowed her to break free. As she did so, she gasped, ‘Till I’m nineteen, I should only be kissed on my right cheek, and I want you to remember that in future.’ She spoke in a severe, censuring tone.
‘Lips are much sweeter,’ said Sennes.
‘Good night,’ said Susan firmly.
'You liked it, didn’t you?’ Sennes persisted.
It’s against outfit rules.’ Her voice implied that that was all that needed to be said about the matter.
The man was not to be put off. ‘But you did like it?’ he said.
There was a pause. 'Well/ said the girl finally in her honest fashion, ‘I’m looking forward to when I’m nineteen.’
"You weren’t wishing it was someone else kissing you?’ Sennes asked.
It was too complicated a thought for Susan. Since she hadn’t wanted anyone to lip-kiss her, the idea of wanting it to have been someone else that kissed her, was outside of her reality. And - just like that - she was confused. The confusion manifested in a sudden shyness. Her body twisted in a girlish gesture of modesty, a muscle effort hitherto unknown to her. Abruptly, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, which was also something she had not previously experienced. Thus, in the space of moments, her energy level fell from the height where one couldn’t hurt other people with simple, unantagonistic honesty into that negative depth where one tried to withdraw from situations with false responses.
While she was in that abyss, she said, 1. didn’t have time to wish.’
‘Now, you’re beginning to sound like a woman,’ the man said in an accusing tone.
And that was a new thought. “How do you mean?’ Puzzled.
‘I mean, playing a game, pretending you don’t understand - avoiding a direct answer.’
That was too much twist even for a Susan in a confused state. Since she hadn’t had the original feeling attributed to her, the concept that she was now being false about a falseness simply, and abruptly, snapped her back to a semblance of normalcy. Not quite, but almost. ‘You want a direct answer?’ she said.
The officer hesitated. His experience told him that she was somehow escaping him. He forced a smile. ‘I don’t like the gleam in your eye,’ he said.
And that was false. There was no gleam, no ulterior motive; no concept of what he was talking about. All in a flash he realised that he was losing control of the situation. Because he wasn’t quite clear as to what was going wrong, he made a hasty attempt to salvage her for the future. ‘Remember,’ he said, ‘you promised to go with me on a flight Sunday,’
‘Cap it,’ said jabber Susan Lane. ‘If mother says yes.’'
Sennes turned away. ‘I’ll be here at eight.’ He headed rapidly down the steps, before she could deny him. ‘ ’Night,’ he flung over his shoulder.
On her part, Susan started to enter the house. In the doorway she seemed to run into an invisible barrier. She actually took a step backward in order to turn and look after the man. The action was as automatic as it was because, in truth, it had no clear thought behind it. The series of madnesses that had been projected at her during those final minutes were still spinning around in her head. And so, she was still shy as she watched Captain Sennes open the gate, step out to the street, and close the gate behind him. He looked up and saw Susan. He waved at her. She returned the wave uncertainly.
The young officer smiled with triumph. Once more he waved, and then in his best military walk paraded off down the street. Since he was magnificently strong, one of the physical marvels who had been selected and trained for the special hazardous work of active flight duty, he made a graceful movement out of every step. He disappeared from Susan’s sight behind a high hedge. It was a good exit.
On the porch, Susan stood with a faraway look in her eyes, not really thinking, and not feeling. ‘ ’Night,’ she murmured in such a low voice that only she heard it.
Whereupon, she went inside, and closed the door.
Slowly, Lee and Mike emerged from behind the tree. They stood, then, watching the distant figure of Captain Sennes as he entered the elevator of the monorail. On Lee’s face there was finally a tiny suggestion of grief. Mike was grim, but he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. ‘Now, you’re going to leave this to me, aren’t you, Lee?’ The older boy did not reply, and Mike’s expression and manner indicated, that he took the silence as agreement.
At this point, Mike said, ‘Here I was thinking that these late monthly district meetings are pretty hard to take; and then we run into an unsuspected situation with one of our members, and maybe they’re not so bad after all.’
Again, there was no answer from Lee. ‘Let’s go,’ said Mike, He grabbed the blond boy’s arm and pulled at him. Lee went without a word.
Inside the Lane house, the figure on the far right side of the king-size bed slowly changed position. In the almost darkness, it was difficult to make out the difference, but the impression that came up from the alteration in shape was that, suddenly, the woman there had relaxed.
Moments after that - since Susan had already made it into bed in another part of the house in one minute and thirty-eight seconds — the entire Lane household was sound asleep.
Next morning ..
The invisible watcher moved at the pace that a human walks behind Bud Jaeger. The alien child, who maintained the shape of a human boy, did his shuffling walk and appeared to be carrying his books under one arm exactly like the other teenagers. The communication that passed between father and son was brief.
The father said: We have the impression that the human- manned space fleet in orbit around Earth has been alerted against a possible attack.
You mean, said the boy, they know our fleet is out there in the near distance?
No, was the reply. Obviously, if they knew txie were around or located us, they would attack. What this means is that John Lane has made his report, and the human space authorities are taking no chances.
Why are you telling me this?
I want you to hear anything Susan Lane says about her father when you are with the outfit. His movements may be the key to our decision. If, for example, he is suddenly placed back aboard his command skip, that could be the signal that they have spotted us.
You have nearly always been present, my father, when I am with
the outfit. So you are as aware as I.
Yes, and that will continue where possible. But I cannot enter buildings, and it is my intention to follow John Lane occasionally, and so you will be by yourself. I assure you I shall be absent no oftener that is absolutely necessary.
Very well, said the boy, I will watch Susan.
The had come to the school gate, and Bud now entered the campus. His unseen father remained hovering just off the sidewalk and away from the human traffic, but he also was up high enough to avoid any kind of energy conflict with passing vehicles. From this position he watched Bud walk along toward the school steps that would presently take him to that entrance. And he was starting along the road in that direction when he saw Mike Sutter. The alien came back to the gate. Moments later, Mik emerged from the gate and stationed himself outside. It was an unexpected development. The watcher stayed where he was, and waited.
Approximately one minute and a hundred teenagers passed by. At that time, one of the approaching boys suddenly had a familiar look to him. The familiar figure was first only a head among many heads, then a head and shoulders. Still almost hidden by a group of other young people, Lee David approached the gate. He was evidently in deep thought because he did not see Mike until the slender youth stepped out, took his arm, and drew him off to one side. To the invisible watcher there was no longer any doubt. Something different was about to happen.
The fact (of the difference) did not seem to occur to Lee. The blond leader of the Red Cats outfit nodded at Mike, and then said, 'About last night, Mike . . . I’ve decided to trust Susan. Sack?’
The dark-haired boy shook his head in a slow, grave way. ‘It’s too late,’ he said.
Lee stared at him, blankly at first. In that state, he echoed, ’Too late?’
Mike nodded. He looked unhappy but determined.
For a moment longer, the blankness remained on the older boy’s face. Then a rush of color darkened his cheeks and forehead. He said through clenched teeth, ‘Damn you, you had no
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