The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus ssr-11

by Harry Harrison

  There was a loud sneeze and the guard reappeared.

  “Don’t you care how dusty it is in there?”

  “We work in here. Never go near that hall. What difference does it make to you?”

  “Not healthy.” The guard rubbed his nose on the back of his hand. One of nature’s gentlemen. “Maybe he’s hiding in here.” He kicked the pile of dummies.

  “Stop that! You break anything and you are in trouble.” The speaker pushed the guard’s shoe aside, straightened the limb he had assaulted.

  Would he notice the extra figure?

  Surely they could hear my heart hammering. The blood thudding in my ears.

  “Or maybe he is in here,” the guard said. Pointing at me. Looking me square in the face. The others looked. I looked back and wondered what I should do when they found me.

  “I made that thing myself,” one of the technicians said. “Can we get on with this search? We’ll be working after quitting time if we don’t start moving.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the guard said. “Now show me again on the map.”

  I began to shiver with released tension when the door closed behind them at last. Although it was not hot at all I was soaked with sweat. I tremored over to the chair and dropped into it.

  “Jim,” I confided to myself, “you are getting too old for this kind of crap.”

  I laid the breathing apparatus next to the chair and kept the white clothing on. When they came back I was ready to do the dummy act again.

  But they didn’t return. Perhaps it was past their work time. Or, more likely, everyone was involved in the search. So what did I do next? I had eluded my pursuers for the moment-but I was still trapped on the island. They would have searched the ferry by now. If I could make it to the ferry after dark, hide there. Then maybe I could get off the island when it left. A slim reed to lean on. That was the only way off the island and they knew it. It would be searched again before it pulled out.

  What then? The answer was very simple. I needed help. Although I was the rat that walked alone, I could see where a little aid and succor might very well be in order. Should I stay in this room? The lights stayed on, but the skylight in the ceiling above darkened. I was probably as safe here until morning as I would be anyplace else. And a good deal might be accomplished before the sun came up.

  I took out the phone and dialed the number.

  “Believer,” I said when he answered. “I wonder if you would be kind enough to do me a little favor.”

  Chapter 20

  The search for Angelina was still on; he told me about that first. And I’ll give him credit. He did not laugh when I told him where I was and why I was here. He listened while I explained, in great detail, what had happened. Then he asked a few cogent questions.

  “It is going to be alright,” he finally said.

  “I’m glad to hear you say that, but things here look plenty black at this time.”

  “After darkness comes the sunshine. I’m going to call James and see if the new computer can help. And I have a few ideas of my own.”

  “I’m glad of that, because that is a few more than I have.”

  “Stay put. Don’t get caught. I’ll get back to you. Get some rest.”

  Rest! Trapped inside a diorama, inside a nuclear power plant on an island with no exit. Yet it wasn’t a bad idea. I arranged some of the drop cloths into a nest behind a partition where I couldn’t be seen easily if anyone should come in. I lay tense for some time, waiting for the sound of approaching footsteps. Then I must have fallen asleep because the next thing that I was aware of was vibration of the phone waking me up.

  “We have the germ of an idea but we need a few more facts. Were the guards in uniform?”

  “Blue with gold buttons.”

  “Did they wear badges? “

  I tried to remember. “No. Just name tags.”

  Bolivar had some more questions, then wished me a good night. I thanked him and this time I was too tired to stay worried. When I opened my eyes again the skylight was getting light. Just to make the day complete the rain was thrumming down on it again. I felt absolutely rotten. Sore, bleary-eyed, depressed. I took off my face and rubbed the stubble on my face. I heard a tiny voice speaking. I looked around, the room was empty, then I heard it again. I held my face close to my ear.

  “Chicken soup… “ it said plaintively.

  “You’ll get fed when I get fed-and not an instant before. But I’ll get you a drink of water though, I need one myself.”

  I found a big sink, with paint brushes soaking in it, well to the rear of the workshop. I splashed water on both my faces, then drank from my cupped hands. Carefully poured water into the tiny funnel to slake the face’s thirst. The phone vibrated in my pocket. I switched it on.

  “Are you alright? “ Bolivar asked.

  “Tired and miserable-but still free.”

  “Try and stay that way for a little while longer. I have found out that there are night watchmen on the island. They are the only ones who overnight on the island. The rest of the staff commute by ferry. I’ll be on the first ferry trip of the day. “

  “I hope you know what you are doing.”

  “I do. I am an officer in the Health and Security Police and you are one of our agents. ”

  “I am? I’ve never heard of the organization.”

  “Neither has anyone else. James created it and planted it in the government memory banks. There are so many kinds of police on Fetorr that one more won’t be noticed. How do we get together?”

  “If they see me they’ll grab me!”

  “Not if you are with me. “ .

  I thought for a moment. “Come in the front entrance with the others,” I told him. “Then turn left, through a large room and down the hall. You’ll come to an escalator-but don’t take it. Phone me and I’ll join you.”

  “Agreed! Over and out. “

  I put the face back on-ignoring its whimpered plea for chicken soup-and went back to the display that was under construction. I couldn’t possibly hide there as I had hidden myself the night before, not for any length of time. I put the clothes and breathing apparatus on the dummy and restored it to its original position. Then went out the door I had originally entered by and back along the hall behind the dioramas. To the far end where I wouldn’t be seen-unless another deliberate search was taking place. I sat down with my back to the wall and even managed to doze off again.

  I was awake the moment the phone vibrated.

  “Where are you?”

  “By the escalator you mentioned. “

  “Stay there-I’m on my way.”

  A feeling of great relief passed over me. I didn’t know what Bolivar had in mind, but I knew that he would get me out of this particular mess. I opened the door to the hall and there he was in a very smart and official uniform.

  Standing next to him were the two guards who had tried to grab me. And a clutch of business types in white lab coats. I started to draw back, but Bolivar stepped forward and put his arm around my shoulder.

  “You did a magnificent job, Inspector Kidogo. The department is proud of you.” He thrust his right hand out and I shook it. And palmed something metallic that was in his hand.

  “Now tell me inspector-do you recognize anyone here?”

  “I certainly do. These two men here.”

  Instead of seizing me the two guards trembled with fear.

  “Is it true that they threatened you with violence and tried to force you into certain undesirable actions?” I nodded agreement. “Good. One last thing then. What is it that they wanted you to do?”

  “They wanted me-against my will-to work with radioactive material!”

  “That’s it!” Bolivar shouted and stabbed an accusatory finger at the group of men behind the guards. Who now looked as terrified as the guards. “Show these men your identification, inspector.”

  I reached into my pocket and produced the palmed badge. A very official-looking one in gold with blue letteri
ng that spelled out Health and Security Police. They stared at it as though it were a poisonous snake and trembled with fear. Bolivar punched a number into his phone; there was only dumb silence among the electrical employees as he spoke.

  “Yes, general, we have the evidence. The security on the island was easily penetrated, just as you feared. Inspector Kidogo easily eluded the so-called guards here. He actually entered the nuclear enclosure and photographed everything. And there is more than that, sir. The rumor that we heard, about the scientists here using forced labor for nuclear cleanup is true. They won’t be able to hide that spill any longer. We have the evidence! Yes, sir, thank you, sir. They are all under arrest? Of course. They have no place to run to.” He hung up and glared a very impressive glare.

  “The Security Police choppers on their way. If you attempt to leave this building you will be shot at once. Nowclear out your desks because none of you will ever be coming back here! ”

  They turned and staggered off, their careers in ruins and only prison awaiting them. It was very nice to see. When the last trembling back had disappeared, Bolivar and I went out the front door and walked towards the waiting ferry.

  “Congratulations,” I said. “That was very neatly done.”

  “You can thank James. It was his idea-and he fed it all into the computerized files. The psychology was perfect because they knew that they were all guilty of breaking a number of laws. Now, while they are waiting for the ax to fall we will make our getaway. And I think that I will phone the authorities as soon as we are clear, to report this lot. They are criminals and deserve what they will get. I’m afraid that the only copter here is the one I came in, so they will have a long wait. We’ll take the copter and be clear of this place as soon as possible.”

  “We can’t.” I dropped into a chair in the empty cabin as the ferry got under way. “I still have to pull off the demolition job for Chaise. And that will be impossible now with everyone in this place stirred up and waiting for the police.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll do the job before we leave.”

  I gaped, openmouthed, shook my head in disbelief. Said, “What, what?”

  “Just a matter of putting two and two together. You told me that Chaise had given you the explosive. Which, I assume, you have left in a safe spot.”

  “Bar. On shore.”

  “Good. As I flew in I had that explosive in my mind. As I dropped down for a landing I saw how easy it would be to do.”

  “Easy? Excuse me if you think that I am acting like a moron this morning. That is only because I feel like one. What did you see when you were landing this morning?”

  He grinned mightily-and pointed up into the sky. I followed his finger-and my face broke into an echoing grin even bigger than his.

  There was the answer in the sky.

  The great cables that carried the electricity from the island!

  “The only vessel that uses this channel is the ferry. The tower is sited on the rocky headland just above the shore. There are no roads or buildings near it or below it. If the tower is dropped correctly it-and the cables-will fall into the sea without injuring a soul.”

  “And it will hit the water with an immense sizzling that will be heard all the way to the stock exchange. All the lights will go out and all the maglev trains will be stopped in their tracks. I’m glad that we are flying!”

  Once ashore we headed directly to the bar. We enjoyed a beer and a bearburger before I retrieved my bag. And a cup of chicken soup as well, for my face, so it wouldn’t fall off from fatigue. Bolivar was driving a rental runabout from the copter field. There was little traffic on the road out of town. We waited until there was none before we took the service road that led to the electricity tower. We parked halfway there behind a jumble of large rocks, then went the rest of the way on foot.

  I looked up at the great steel mass of the tower and shook my head. “I am forced to admit that I know nothing at all about demolition.”

  Bolivar gently took the explosive from my hands. “I never heard you say that before. I grew up believing that you could do anything.”

  “Well, I am forced to admit, almost anything.”

  “Demolition is the first thing I learned when I started lunar exploration. This baby is going to make some mark when it comes down.”

  A fence topped with razor wire ringed the base of the tower. Now this was something I did know about. I unlocked the gate while Bolivar measured the steel structure with his eyes.

  “See how the four legs are embedded in the rock? Solid and just about immovable. But as they rise up higher they thin down so that eventually the four legs form a single lattice that supports the cross bar and the cables.”

  I leaned back, looking up, farther and farther, until I almost fell over backwards.

  “That is one awfully high tower.”

  “Nice, isn’t it? Almost as good as rock climbing. See you in a bit.”

  The explosive was slung in the bag over his shoulder, and he was off before I could say another word. Warn him to be careful? Wish him luck?

  He was a good and experienced climber. I would have stopped for breath by this time. He just went at it hand over hand at a steady pace. Reached the junction of the four legs. That should be it. But no, he went on until he appeared to be as high as the cables pendant from their immense insulators. Then he stopped. A dark smudge against the bright metal of the tower.

  And seemed to remain there for an awfully long time.

  I don’t know much clock time passed before he started back down. Subjective time seemed to last and last. And then I could see that he was moving back down, surely and steadily. He jumped the last few meters, smiling and wiping the grit from his hands.

  “A piece of cake. Timed to blow in two hours.”

  “We’ll have a front seat for the show.”

  “We will indeed.”

  He drove the rental runabout back to the heliport. Which had a neat little robobar that did a fine line in hooch. I washed away some of the fatigue with internal lubrication. Bolivar had a mineral water and looked at his watch. “After you finish knocking that one back, Dad, we are up and away.”

  The sun was behind us we flew over the dark beaches. Everything on the ground had been washed clear by the night’s rain. Our copter passed low over the thick cables, turned in a lazy circle.

  “Ferry is still tied up,” I said. “No one below-no traffic on the road either.”

  “Just about time-” Bolivar said when the ball of flame flared out. Changed to dark billows of smoke.

  For long moments nothing happened. The copter bumped a bit when the sound of the explosion reached us.

  “Now,” Bolivar said.

  And it was going. The top of the tower was bending, falling almost gracefully. Then the giant insulators began to turn and twist, the immense cables stirring and writhing. Falling.

  I could see lightning spear out as the falling cables broke, twisting as though in pain. Twisted and fell, faster and faster, followed by the ruined tower. Splashing down into the sea in great furrows of waves that stretched across the width of the channel.

  “That will give those criminals back on the island something to think about,” Bolivar said with great satisfaction. “Normally I wouldn’t enjoy doing something like this. But anyone who drafts holidaymakers into clearing up atomic debris deserves no less.”

  I am pleased to say that I was in complete agreement.

  Chapter 21

  Before we parted at the heliport we called James one last time. Still no news, still no luck in finding Kaia’s elusive living quarters. It had been easier to crack into the government records than it was now to get past the privacy barriers of that exclusive city. When Bolivar was gone I picked up my bag and trudged wearily back into Fetorrscoria. I was too tired to go very far. When I came to a liquor store, with a bench out in front of it for the alcoholics, I knew I had reached journey’s end. Popping a cold beer I settled back in the sun and called Chais
e.

  “Pretty good job if I say so myself.”

  “Where are you?”

  I told him and hung up. By the time I had finished the beer his car rolled up. The door opened and I climbed in. I threw the fake ID he had supplied me with onto the back seat. Took off my face and heard one last plaintive “chicken soup?” as I threw it back there as well.

  “Plenty of people saw me in Swartzlegen. And I had to use the face and ID to rent a copter. Since the maglev train pretty obviously wasn’t running. Did you like the job I did?”

  “I would be more pleased if you hadn’t seen fit to cut off all communication.”

  “If you mean all the bugs you planted on me-of course I got rid of them. I do value my privacy.”

  “You will be going to the depository tonight.”

  “No thanks? No day off? No pat on the back?”

  “Don’t be tiresome, diGriz. This will be your last assignment, as I promised. I should think that you would be very pleased that our relationship will soon be over.”

  I would be pleased when it really was over. I did not trust him in the slightest. Once back at the warehouse he got right down to business.

  “Igor. Bring the large box from the car and then go away.”

  Igor scuffled back with it, dropped it onto the table and went out. Chaise took a photograph from the box and passed it over to me.

  “This man is known as Iba Ibada, nicknamed Iba-illfavored for obvious reasons.”

  Too true! A man of average, height and schlumpy build. He wouldn’t have looked that bad had it not been for the jagged scar that ran down from his forehead, across his nose-leaving a deep dent-and down his cheek. It had been coarsely stitched up, so roughly that the scars of the sutures still showed.

  “Industrial accident,” Chaise said. “Machine caught him. He was sewn up by the first-aid assistant, who obviously had little experience. Then Iba was fired from the job for taking the rest of the day off from work. He was very grateful to me when I found him employment on the cleaning squad at the depository. In addition to his salary I pay him very well, to enable him to indulge in his repulsive vices. He is appreciative and does me favors. You will take his place tonight.”