“What happened to them, I wonder?” said Sabina.
Bucky shrugged. “Probably they found a more hospitable world. Better climate, better atmosphere, fewer germs and viruses that could wipe them out. I won’t say we’ll never know, but we won’t know until we can reach the stars and find them.”
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” said Sabina.
“Yes, it is.” Bucky picked up the translation and handed it to Gloria. “Put this in the safe—the one in my suite.”
“Right.” She took it from him and headed off.
“Damn!” said Bucky excitedly. “Greek! Who’d have thought it?”
“We were actually visited,” said Sabina. “Isn’t that remarkable?”
“It’s going to be more remarkable when I go on television and tell the world,” said Bucky. “And prove to them that the White House is still lying to them!”
He went behind his desk, sat down in his leather chair, opened a drawer, and pulled out a cigar.
“Do you have to do that?” asked Sabina, making a face.
“I have a victory cigar about once every six or seven years,” said Bucky, taking a puff. “And this is my biggest victory of all.”
“Most people take victory drinks,” she suggested hopefully.
“I want my head to be totally clear when I address the public,” he answered.
Jerry entered the office, looking pleased with himself.
“Well?” asked Bucky.
“Nine o’clock tonight, Eastern time,” said Jerry. “I bought you time on ABC; the other two majors won’t change their schedules to accommodate you.”
“They’re going to wish they had,” replied Bucky confidently. “This speech will demote them to the minors.”
“Every cable network is covering it as a news event,” continued Jerry. He flashed a sudden grin. “Even the SyFy Network wants to cover it. They have no idea what you’ll be talking about—none of them do—but they’re sure it’s about the Moon.
“Sign ’em up,” said Bucky. “Hell, they’ve always believed in this stuff. The rest of the world hasn’t—but they will after tonight.”
Gloria returned from Bucky’s suite. “Okay, it’s locked away,” she announced.
“Good,” said Bucky. “I don’t figure to lose it between here and the studio down on the second floor, but I feel better with a copy of it there. I don’t know who our secret benefactor was, but I’d bet half my fortune that if we went back to the Archives tomorrow, it wouldn’t be there.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Sabina.
“It wasn’t that difficult to find once we doped out where to look,” answered Bucky. “It couldn’t have gone unnoticed all these years. My guess is that it’s back where it came from, some attic or underground vault that maybe three people in the world know about.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” admitted Jerry. “But now that you say it, it makes sense.”
“That’s because you’re not quite the devious bastard that I am,” said Bucky with a chuckle.
“Thank goodness.” Jerry returned his smile.
“Well,” said Gloria, “I’d better make sure the studio’s spic and span and ready for the press.”
“No press,” said Jerry. “This is going out on the airwaves. It’s a speech, not an interview or a press conference.” He turned to Bucky. “At least, I think that’s what it is. You didn’t say anything about wanting questions.”
“That’s fine. This announcement speaks for itself.” Bucky frowned. “I’ll show photos of the plate, of course—we’ll have the lab make ’em even bigger before the speech—but I wish I had the plate as well.”
“You know what would have happened if we’d tried to walk off with it,” said Jerry.
“Yeah,” acknowledged Bucky. “Everyone could visit us on Sundays for the next fifty years.”
“The plate is secondary,” said Sabina. “The important thing is the message.”
“Yeah, of course it is,” said Bucky. He smiled. “At least I’m not announcing their pending conquest of the Earth.”
“Or that the Sun is going nova,” added Gloria.
“Or that there really are four-armed green swordsmen on Mars,” said Jason.
“Yeah, there are worse messages to read,” agreed Bucky.
Then, suddenly, he froze.
“Bucky,” said Jerry, “are you okay?”
“Leave him alone,” said Gloria quickly. “I’ve seen him like this a couple of times before.”
“He looks like he’s having a stroke,” said Sabina, also worried.
“He’s all right, believe me,” insisted Gloria.
“Damn!” snapped Bucky, coming back to life.
“Are you okay?” asked Jerry solicitously.
“I am definitely not okay,” growled Bucky, starting to pace back and forth across the office. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to Jerry. “Cancel the telecast.”
“Are you crazy?”
“You heard me. Cancel it. If ABC won’t return our money, let ’em keep it.”
“But—”
“Just do it! Gloria, contact my pilot. Have him meet me at the corporate jet in an hour. Then you’ll have to make a very private phone call; I’ll be here so I can cut in and vouch for who you are if necessary.”
“Where are we going, Boss?” asked Jason.
“You’re not going anywhere,” said Bucky. “This is something I have to do alone.”
41
“So what do you think, George? We should have heard something by now.”
Cunningham sat back. He’d just finished a conference with the Pentagon people. The brass were unhappy. Tired of congressmen trying to force weapons they didn’t need down their throats to keep the armaments people in their home states happy. “We need better detection equipment,” General Maybury had complained. “For roadside bombs. Nelson tells us sure, they’re getting to it, but let’s concentrate for now on that new upgraded jet CRY has developed.” He was referring to Brig Nelson, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Maybury and his people knew Cunningham had limited control over the situation, but they needed to vent. So they brought it to him. One more advantage of divided government.
The president looked across the desk at Ray. “We’ll be okay,” he said. “Blackstone bought time on ABC tonight. So they’re obviously on board.”
“But he canceled.”
“He’s trying to make up his mind what he wants to say. Relax.”
“Not till I’m sure we’re clear of this.”
“Hey, Ray, take it easy. You know, you tend to be a bit pessimistic. You didn’t even think they’d bite.” They’d just finished watching security-camera images of Jerry and Blackstone going through the archives. Taking pictures of the Greek plate. It was perfect.
Ray had a worried look in his eyes. “I knew we’d be able to manage Jerry okay. He tends to think well of everybody. I just had my doubts about getting it past Blackstone. That son of a bitch trusts no one. And I’m still surprised they figured out the Holmes reference. I wouldn’t have had any idea what Lou was talking about.”
Lou, of course, was the staff member who’d made the call. And the president couldn’t resist gloating. “We couldn’t just phone and tell him where to look. Too simple. It would likely have aroused their suspicions. I wanted Blackstone to lock onto something else rather than asking himself whether the call was genuine.”
“I know all that, George. But what made you think he’d understand?”
“Bucky was once a member of the Tuscaloosa Baker Street Irregulars. No way he could miss it.”
Ray sighed. “Well, you were obviously right. I’ll tell you, I feel a lot better than I did this morning when we came in. I think we got lucky. I wasn’t sure what we’d have done if he hadn’t known what we were talking about. Or, worse, hadn’t bought the story. If he came after us.”