Invaders From Earth by Robert Silverberg

Author:Robert Silverberg [Silverberg, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780967178387
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 1958-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

11

For a moment Kennedy stood frozen, listening to the fierce wind swirl around him, not knowing what to say. By revealing his knowledge of Ganymedean he had committed a major blunder.

“Well?” Gunther demanded. “How come you speak Ganny?”

“I…”

He stopped. Engel came to his rescue.

“That’s the only word he knows,” the tall linguist said. “Couple of days ago he was visiting me and when he left I said good-bye to him in Ganny. He wanted to know what I had just said, and I told him. There’s no harm in that, Gunther.”

Uncertainly the outpost chief released his grip on Kennedy’s arm. Kennedy realized Engel was saving his own skin as well as his by the lie; evidently it was out of bounds for him to speak the native tongue.

But he saw his advantage. “Look here, Gunther—I’m not a Corporation man and I’m only technically under your command. Where do you come off threatening to shoot me for saying good-bye to a Ganny in his own language? I could let Bullard know and he’d bounce you down to tenth-level for a stunt like that.”

In a short sharp sentence Gunther expressed his opinion of Corporation Executive Bullard. Then he said, “Let’s go back into the dome. This is no place to stand around having a chat.”

Without waiting for further discussion he signaled to have the lock opened. Kennedy was more than happy to turn his back on the bleakness of the open Ganymedean field.

They stripped off their spacesuits in silence, and racked them. Gunther said, “Suppose we go to my quarters, Kennedy. We can talk about things there.”

“Should I come too?” Engel asked.

“No, you get about your business. And watch out how much classified info you teach to visitors next time, Mr. Engel. Clear?”

“Clear,” Engel muttered, and turned away.

Gunther’s quarters proved to be considerably more auspicious than the other rooms under the dome. A wide window gave unrestricted view of the entire area, but could be opaqued at the touch of a button; the cot was general issue and ascetic, but extra ventilator controls and brighter room lights indicated to Kennedy that Gunther was no subscriber to the theory that a commanding officer should share every privation of his men.

He opened a closet and took out a half-empty bottle of liquor. The label had been removed and a new one substituted, reading Properly of Robert Gunther.

“Care for a drink?”

Kennedy did not, but he nodded deliberately. “Sure. Don’t mind if I do. Straight?”

“There’s ice,” Gunther said. He fixed the drink, handed it to Kennedy, and said, “I’m sorry I blew up over such a little thing out there. You have to understand what life’s like here, Kennedy. It’s not easy on the nerves. Not at all. I try to maintain discipline over myself as well as the others, but there are times when my nerves just pop. I’m sorry it had to happen to you, that’s all.”

Kennedy smiled. “You practically ordered me off to the firing squad because I knew a word of Ganny. How come the language’s so top-secret?”

It was a telling question.

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