They had prepared for a water landing, of course. The rocket went down to the bottom, but before it was more than a few dozen feet under the surface, Mitkey opened the door — especially equipped to open from the inside — and stepped out.
Over his regular clothes he wore a neat little diving suit that would have protected him at any reasonable depth, and which, being lighter than water, brought him to the surface quickly where he was able to open his helmet.
He had enough synthetic food to last him for a week, but it wasn’t necessary, as things turned out. The nightboat from Boston carried him in to Bridgeport on its anchor chain, and once in sight of land he was able to divest himself of the diving suit and let it sink to the bottom after he’d punctured the tiny compartment that made it float, as he’d promised Klarloth he would do.
Almost instinctively, Mickey knew that he’d do well to avoid human beings until he’d reached Professor Oberburger and told his story. His worst danger proved to be the rats at the wharf where he swam ashore. They were ten times Mitkey’s size and had teeth that could have taken him apart in two bites.
But mind has always triumphed over matter. Mitkey pointed an imperious yellow glove and said, «Scram,» and the rats scrammed. They’d never seen anything like Mitkey before, and they were impressed.
So for that matter, was the drunk of whom Mitkey inquired the way to Hartford. We mentioned that episode before. That was the only time Mitkey tried direct communication with strange human beings. He took, of course, every precaution. He addressed his remarks from a strategic position only inches away from a hole into which he could have popped. But it was the drunk who did the popping, without even waiting to answer Mitkey’s question.
But he got there, finally. He made his way afoot to the north side of town and hid out behind a gas station until he heard a motorist who had pulled in for gasoline inquire the way to Hartford. And Mitkey was a stowaway when the car started up.
The rest wasn’t hard. The calculations of the Prxlians showed that the starting point of the rocket was five Earth miles north-west of what showed on their telescopomaps as a city, and which from the Professor’s conversation Mitkey knew would be Hartford.
He got there.
«Hello, Brofessor.»
The Herr Professor Oberburger looked up, startled. There was no one in sight. «Vot?» he asked, of the air. «Who iss?»
«It iss I, Brofessor. Mitkey, der mouse whom you sent to der moon. But I vas not there. Insteadt, I —»
«Vot?? It is imbossible. Somebody blays der choke. Budt — budt nobody knows about that rocket. Vhen it vailed, I didn’t told nobody. Nobody budt me knows —»
«And me, Brofessor.»
The Herr Professor sighed heavily. «Offervork. I am going vhat they call batty in the bel —»
«No, Brofessor. This is really me, Mitkey. I can talk now. Chust like you.»
«You say you can — I do not belief it. Vhy can I not see you, then. Vhere are you? Vhy don’t vou —»
«I am hiding, Brofessor, in der vail chust behind der big hole. I vanted to be sure efferything vas ogay before I showed myself. Then you vould not get eggcited and throw something at me maybe.»
«Vot? Vhy, Mitkey, if it iss really you und I am nodt asleep or going — Vhy, Mitkey, you know better than to think I might do something like that!»
«Ogay, Brofessor.»
Mitkey stepped out of the hole in the wall, and the Professor looked at him and rubbed his eyes and looked again and rubbed his eyes and —
«I am crazy,» he said finally. «Red bants he vears yet, und yellow — It gannot be. I am crazy.»
«No, Brofessor. Listen, I’ll tell you all aboudt.»
And Mitkey told him.
Gray dawn, and a small gray mouse still talking earnestly.
«But, Mitkey —»
«Yess, Brofessor. I see your point, that you think an intelligent race of mices und an intelligent race of men couldt nodt get along side by sides. But it vould not be side by sides; as I said, there are only a ferry few beople in the smallest continent of Australia. Und it vould cost little to bring them back und turn offer that continent to us mices. Ve could call it Moustralia instead of Australia, und ve vould instead of Sydney call der capital Dissney, in honor of —»
«But, Mitkey —»
«But, Brofessor, look vot ve offer for that continent. All mices vould go there. Ve civilize a few und the few help us catch others und bring them in to put them under der ray machine, und the others help catch more und build more machines und it grows like a snowball rolling down hill. Und ve sign a non-aggression pact mitt humans und stay on Moustralia und raise our own food und —»
«But, Mitkey —»
«Und look vat ve offer you in eggschange, Herr Brofessor! Ve vill aggsterminate your vorst enemy — der rats. Ve do not like them either. Und vun battalion of vun thousand mices, armed mitt gas masks und small gas bombs could go right in effery hole after der rats und could eggsterminate effery rat in a city in vun day or two. In der whole world ve could eggsterminate effery last rat in a year, und at the same time catch und civilize effery mouse und ship him to Moustralia, und —»
«But, Mitkey —»
«Vot, Brofessor?»
«It vould vork, but it vould not vork. You could eggsterminate der rats, yess. But how long vould it be before conflicts of interests vould lead der mices trying to eggsterminate der people or der people trying to eggsterminate der —»
«They vould not dare, Brofessor! Ve could make veapons that vould —»
«You see, Mitkey?»
«But it vould not habben. If men vill honor our rights, ve vill honor —»
The Herr Professor sighed.
«I — I vill act as your intermediary, Mitkey, und offer your broposition, und — Veil, it is true that getting rid of rats vould be a greadt boon to der human race. Budt —»
«Thank you, Brofessor.»
«By der vay, Mitkey. I haff Minnie. Your wife, I guess it iss, unless there vas other mices around. She iss in der other room; I put her there chust before you arriffed, so she vould be in der dark und could sleep. You van to see her?»
«Vife?» said Mitkey. It had been so long that he had really forgotten the family he had perforce abandoned. The memory returned slowly.
«Vell,» he said «— ummm, yess. Ve vill get her und I shall construct quvick a small X-19 prochector und — Yess, it vill help you in your negotiations mitt der governments if there are sefferal of us already so they can see I am not chust a freak like they might otherwise suspegt.»
It wasn’t deliberate. It couldn’t have been, because the Professor didn’t know about Klarloth’s warning to Mitkey about carelessness with electricity — «Der new molecular rearrangement of your brain center — it iss unstable, und —»
And the Professor was still back in the lighted room when Mitkey ran into the room where Minnie was in her barless cage. She was asleep, and the sight of her — Memory of his earlier days came back like a flash and suddenly Mitkey knew how lonesome he had been.
«Minnie!» he called, forgetting that she could not understand.
And stepped up on the board where she lay. «Squeak!» The mild electrical current between the two strips of tin-foil got him.
There was silence for a while.
Then: «Mitkey,» called the Herr Professor. «Come on back und ve will discuss this —»
He stepped through the doorway and saw them, there in the gray light of dawn, two small gray mice cuddled happily together. He couldn’t tell which was which, because Mitkey’s teeth had torn off the red and yellow garments which had suddenly been strange, confining and obnoxious things.
«Vot on earth?» asked Professor Oberburger. Then he remembered the current, and guessed.
«Mitkey! Can you no longer talk? Iss der —»