Star Science Fiction No 5 by Frederik Pohl (ed.)

Author:Frederik Pohl (ed.)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci-Fi., Science Fiction, Anthology
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Published: 1959-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Albert followed Mr. Demarest blindly. His entire attention was concentrated on recovering from Mr. Southfield.

He had been one up, thanks to Mr. Demarest. Now, how could he have stayed one up? How should he have resisted Mr. Southfield’s dizzying display of personality?

He played the episode back mentally over and over, trying to correct it to run as it should have. Finally he succeeded, at least in his mind. He saw what his attitude should have been. He should have kept his shoulders squared and his vocal cords loose, and faced Mr. Southfield confidently. Now he saw how to do it.

He walked erectly and firmly behind Mr. Demarest, and allowed a haughty half-smile to play on his lips.

He felt armed to face Mr. Southfield all by himself— or, since it seemed Mr. Southfield was not the Regional Director after all, even to face the Regional Director!

They stopped in front of a large double door guarded by an absolutely motionless man with a gun.

“Men,” said Mr. Demarest with cheerful innocence, “I wish you luck. I wish you all the luck in the world.”

Cal looked suddenly stricken but said, with casualness that didn’t fool even Albert, “Wouldn’t you like to come in with us?”

“Oh, no. Mr. Southfield told me only to bring you here. I’d be overstepping my bounds if I did any more. But all the good luck in the world, men!”

Cal said hearty goodbyes. But when he turned back to Albert he said, Despairing: “The brushoff.”

Albert could hardly take it in. “But— we get to make our presentation to the Regional Director, don’t we?”

Boersma shrugged hopelessly, “Don’t you see, Albert? Our presentation won’t be good enough, without Demarest. When Mr. Southfield sent us on alone he was giving us the brushoff.”

“Cal—are you going to back out too?”

“I should say not! It’s a feather in our cap to have got this far, Albert. We have to follow up just as far as our abilities will take us!”

Albert went to the double door. He worried about the armed guard for a moment, but they weren’t challenged. The guard hadn’t even blinked, in fact.

Albert asked Cal, “Then we do still have a chance?”

“No, we haven’t got a chance.”

He started to push the door open, then hesitated again. “But you’ll do your best?”

“I should say so! You don’t get to present a proposition to the Regional Director every day.”

With determination, Albert drew himself even straighter, and prepared himself to meet an onslaught twice as overbearing as Mr. Southfield’s. One single thought was uppermost in his mind: defending his sales resistance. He felt inches taller than before; he even slightly looked down at Cal and his pessimism.

Cal pushed the door open and they went in.

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