10. Joke Three
"It never occurred to me to doubt it," Bob relayed from the Hunter. "I'm sure I would have died under the same conditions. We saw him on the ground. Bob poured oil on and around him, and lighted it. 'The soil was packed hard, and contained enough moisture to make penetration a slow job."
"You tried it yourself?"
"Not at that spot," the alien had to admit, "but-"
"But you still feel sure," Seever interrupted Bob's relay. "All right, you may be-may have been- quite right. General experience carries weight no one can reasonably ignore, though I do wish you'd tested that soil on the spot and at the time. I also think we'd better learn more about the desChenes boy who was watching. It would be best if you could check him yourself, but pretty awkward to arrange. I'll try, but if you can make any suggestions-this sounds like our talk seven years ago, doesn't it?"
Bob admitted that it did, and brought the discussion back to order.
"I admit it would be worthwhile to find just what that young clown has been up to, and whether your suspicion could have any basis," he said. "We still have the search, though. What about that? It's too rough today, you said, Jen?"
"Yes,” the girl amplified, "even with a couple more paddlers we couldn't have held position long while Mae was down. It's going to be bad for another couple of days, we think."
"Hm." Bob frowned. "And we have less than half the planned area mapped. Well, I don't see what we can do-that's a pity; I should think this arm would get me off work for a week or two, and that would give us a lot of useful time. I wish those diving out-fits would come."
"We'd still need a boat to get out there, unless you're thinking of swimming a mile or so from North Beach, searching until you're worn out, and then swimming back," Maeta pointed out
"You could do it."
"No doubt, but I wouldn't. I'm sane. Not for anything short of life and death-I mean-" She fell silent, and a blush showed even on her dark skin. Bob laughed, genuinely and without bitterness.
"All right, Mae, I know this isn't like rescuing a drowning child. We all know the search is just a hope, and maybe not such a good one as I want to believe, and it would be silly for you to take too much risk. I feel bad enough about the chances you've already been taking. There are sharks there sometimes, and they're not always polite enough to show a fin as they approach. Tell me, could a power boat hold position out there with this wind and chop? If it could, we could send the Hunter down the way we did before."
"It would be all right as long as the engine held out," the girl said slowly. "I'd certainly be willing to take a minor chance like that, for something this important we might be able to borrow the Paukes' Vaevae, if they're not using it now. We'd have to go out by the channel; she draws too much for the passage by North Beach. I'll ask them if we can use her tomorrow, if you like. Are you sure you won't have to work? You still have one good arm."
"How about it, Doc? What's PFI policy in this situation?"
"Pretty tolerant," replied Seever. "If it weren't for the Hunter, you'd be in bed for a week, and certainly off work."
"If it weren't for the Hunter I'd be well on my way to being stiff by now. But never mind, and pardon the interruption; I know what you mean. Go on."
"Of course I can't report all your injuries, partly because they'd be unbelievable and the Hunter has made them improvable. The arm should be an excuse for a few days, though; I think you can count on some search time."
"If the weather doesn't get any worse," amended Jenny.
It didn't, though it got no better for several days. The Paukes were willing to lend their boat with the understanding that Maeta would be in charge of it, and for several more days the search went on.
By Wednesday the wind had dropped, and it was possible to use Maeta's outrigger again; Jenny had not yet gotten around to patching her kayak. On Thursday, Bob went back to regular working hours. On Saturday, July tenth, the girls detected a large mass of metal.
They were farther out now, and the water was deep enough to restrict Maeta's bottom activities even when she wore a weighted belt, so the operation had been slowing down. Morale, even for the quietly determined | Teroa girl, had been deteriorating. Jenny would probably have failed to come out several times if the possibility of Maeta's discovering the spaceship in her absence had not occurred to her.
They had another paddle, as Mrs. Seever had been helping for most of the week, but the work was getting more exhausting for the diver all the time. The detector could not be left unchecked for more than a very few minutes at a time; the bottom was so irregular that it was likely either to get tangled in coral or be so far from the mud as to be ineffective.
Consequently, when the strong signal came and had been carefully verified, they decided to stop and buoy the area and then, though it was still early in the afternoon, bring the canoe back to North Beach and get word to Bob and the Hunter. Jenny also mentioned the chance to fix her own kayak at last.
Part way down the road, she discovered that the brake of her bicycle was not working. It was a minor inconvenience, since the road was fairly level, but it caused all of them to think.
The group broke up at the Seever home-hospital. Mrs. Seever stayed there, Jenny went to the beach where her kayak was lying, and Maeta went out the causeway to the refinery to report to Bob and the Hunter. She found them easily enough, since no fuss was made about adults' going anywhere on the island, and her presence gave the two a strong suspicion why she was there; but there were too many people around for her to report details. It was nearly two hours before Bob could leave his station and walk back to the shore with her and hear the full report. She gave it as soon as they were more or less out of hearing from the group.
"There's a place about thirty-five feet long and ten wide where the detector buzzes when it's within a foot of the bottom," she started. "That's at the edges. It sounds off two or three feet up when it's near the center of the area."
"That sounds good," the Hunter answered through Bob. "The ship I was chasing was about twenty-five of your feet long and four in diameter-much larger than my own."
"It could also be one of those midget Japanese subs from the big war," Bob pointed out. "I never heard of their operating in this area, though. Old Toke has always said that his own secrecy measures back in the thirties, arranging for wrong 'corrections' to maritime charts and that sort of thing, kept them from sending a task force here to get the oil source. I'd doubt it myself. I know the published charts don't show Ell but I'd be very surprised if the navy of any major nation didn't know about the place. I just don't think we were a big enough target early in World War II handy as we were for our own folks. Anyway, even if a sub is a possibility, this has to be checked out. Thanks a lot, Mae."
"There won't be time today," Maeta pointed out,nodding toward the low sun. "It'll be dark almost as soon as we could get out there."
"That's all right. I'm off tomorrow anyway," Bob said happily. "We'll let the Hunter down to feel it over and make sure, and then-well, he can tell us what sort of sign or note to make and leave down there for his people when they come back. Maybe he'll even be able to tell us when they're likely to come."
"You're very sure of that, aren't you, Bob?" the girl said softly.
"Of course. We're sure they've been here, from what happened to that generator shield you found."
"Couldn't the other one-the one the Hunter was chasing years ago-have done that?"