"Yes, sir. I know that. I raised the same objection myself. But you missed the point, sir. There were four worms in that hut!"
"Young man, there are some very good reasons why napalm was outlawed as a weapon of war. If you'll wait a moment, I'll show you one of them-" He was fumbling with his jacket. One of his aides stepped up to help him, but Dr. Kwong brushed him peevishly aside. He unzipped the tunic and dropped it to the floor, then he opened his shirt to reveal a withered right arm and a mass of white scar tissue that stretched from his neck to his waist, and probably a good way down his leg as well. He walked with a slight limp as he stepped around the podium. "Take a good look-this is what napalm can do to a human being. I was seven years old. United States soldiers came to my village, looking for the enemy. The enemy was long gone, but they burned the village anyway. And most of the villagers too. I have lived all of my life carrying the scars of your country's crime against mine.
"Many other nations had to suffer the same ravages to discover sanity in the ashes-and it took a long time for it to happenbut the peace-loving nations of this world finally enforced a lasting peace against the imperialistic savageries of the United States. Napalm was the most pernicious of the American weapons to be restricted. There are too many thousands of crippled men and women who can tell you why. Look and see what it does to the human body, young man. There is no easy healing here-there is no healing at all, only scars. And now-you stand there in your ignorance, your bare-faced naivete, and dare to tell me that the United States is using such weaponry again? In disregard of all the treaties and United Nations mandates?"
"That's not the issue!" I was screaming now. "You grandstanding son of a bitch! You think the worms are so goddamned friendly, why don't you go in and see for yourself? They have one here at the center! He's in a glass-walled room-why don't you go in and try hand-feeding him! Then you'll find out if they're man-eaters!"
"Sit down!" That was Dr. Olmstead, pointing at me and shouting through a bullhorn-where the hell had he gotten that? Dr. Kwong was shouting back at me, "I've seen the specimen-and that's a feral animal. It has no inhibitions and only animal intelligence. It may be that the other creatures we've observed do have some intelligence. Had you let me finish, I would have discussed that point. We have been making attempts to establish contact with them, but since you and your cohorts have been burning every one of them you come in contact with, you've made it impossible for us. You're the ones who've made them into an enemy-you and your execrable military mind-set!"
Off to my right, one of the African delegates was standing and shouting now. "Don't be sidetracked! Let's deal with this napalm issue! The United States is in violation of-"
"What about the fourth Chtorran?"
"You can't bomb your way to peace," called someone else, and still another voice responded, "It's a helluva start!"
"Come on," the curly-haired man said, grabbing my arm. "You're getting out of here!" He gestured to the MPs. "That way-"
"Huh? What is this? You can't-"
"Shut up, stupid! You want to get out of here in one piece?" He pushed me roughly forward.
"Wait a minute! What about the fourth Chtorran-? Wait a minute!"
TWENTY-THREE
THE TWO MPs moved through the crowd like destroyers. One of them had my arm in a steel grip and was pulling me after him-I caught quick glimpses of roaring faces turning toward me, but I couldn't even shout. Curly-hair, holding my other arm in an equally painful vise, brought up the rear. We were out the side door of the auditorium so fast we could have been on rails.
"This way-" the MP said, jerking me sideways into a hallway. Behind us, I could hear the angry outcry rising. "Damn!" said curly-hair bitterly. "You just started a riot."
"Uh, sorry about that."
"Be smart for a moment. Shut up." To the MPs he said, "Tailor shop."
"Right." They grabbed me between them, one on each sideone hand under the armpit, the other under the elbow-and we moved. They held me like I was furniture; it didn't matter if I moved my feet or not to keep up-we moved. Curly took the lead, angling right into a dark service corridor, then left into a broom closet, opening up a door where no door should be.
We stepped through and there was silence. We were in darkness.
"Wait a minute." Curly was punching something into a wall terminal. Dim red ceiling lights came up and I could see we were in another corridor, only this one was featureless. To the MPs he said, "You can let go of him now. You, come with me."
I followed him into a small room. There were a desk and two chairs. He slapped his clipboard down onto the desk and sat down behind it. He pointed at the other chair and I sat down too. He opened a drawer and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, shook one out and lit it. He did not offer one to me.
So-this was to be an interrogation.
I remembered something I had seen in a movie. I leaned forward and shook a cigarette out of the pack for myself.
"I didn't say you could smoke."
"You didn't say I couldn't." I glared back at him.
He grinned abruptly. "It won't work. I saw the same movie." I shrugged and stubbed the cigarette out. "I don't smoke anyway."
He didn't laugh. He let the grin fade and studied me for a moment, thoughtfully. At last he said, "You have something for me?"
"Huh?"
"You were trying to find me this morning, weren't you?" He tapped his chest.
"Huh?" And then I saw it. His name badge. WALLACHSTEIN. "Oh!" I said, realizing. "But the directory said you don't exist."
"You better believe it." His chair creaked alarmingly when he leaned back. "I'm not even here now. This is all a hallucination you're having. Now, I believe you have something for me?" He held out his hand.
I was still smarting. I folded my arms. "I want some answers first."
His hand was still outstretched. "Listen, stupid, you're in big trouble, so be a good boy for a while and maybe I can get you out of here quietly. Maybe." The air had gotten noticeably chillier.
"I didn't ask to be rescued from anything. You dragged me in here against my will-"
"You want to go back? That can be arranged too. Just give me the package that Obie gave you, and Sergeants Kong and Godzilla will put you right back in the center of what you started. Although I think you'd be a lot better off with us. We did you a favor and you might want to say thank you."
"Yeah-and I might want to say `fuck you' too! I'm getting really tired of all the `oughts' and `shoulds' and `musts' that are being dropped on me. And all without explanations. Nobody ever explains anything. And then you get pissed off because I'm not following the rules! So fuck you! I was told that if I couldn't find you I should destroy the package. Well, I couldn't find you. You don't exist. Now, which way is out-?"
"Sit down, Jim," he said. "You made your point. Besides, the door's locked until I'm ready to unlock it."
It was his use of my name that stopped me.
He'd been expecting me. And something else-he'd purposely sat down next to me in the auditorium! And the MPs too! They'd had me bracketed since ...
"How long?" I asked.
"How long till I unlock the door?"
"No. How long have you-whoever you are-been watching me?"
"Oh, that. Since about three minutes after you checked my name in the directory. You've been under surveillance ever since.
"The woman on my right-the one during Dr. Zymph's presentation?"
"Uh huh, and the two lieutenants on your left as well. I don't know what you're carrying, but Obie says it's important." He added, "I don't mind telling you that I'm curious to see what Obie thinks is too dangerous to send over a wire-even a secure and coded one." He leaned forward to drop his cigarette into an ashtray. "May I have it, please?"