Dead Weight by E. C. Tubb

Author:E. C. Tubb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Authentic
Published: 1957-03-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Gerald Waterman leaned back in his seat and wished that it wasn't impolite to yawn. Despite the air conditioning, the assembly chamber seemed stuffy, or perhaps it was the psychological effect of listening to too many boring speeches. Even Rayburn seemed subdued, and the visitors in the public gallery, tourists mostly, had nothing to arouse their interest but the spectacle of one senator after another rising to say what he or she had to say about the Calcutta project.

The reporters were frankly bored. In their section, half-filled with the monitoring panels of the newsfax cameras scattered throughout the chamber, they smoked and dozed and furtively played poker. The concentric rows of senators, their aides, secretaries and various officials of the World Council, sat and smoked, or doodled, or leaned back with closed eyes, perhaps deep in concentration or most likely asleep. A few wore headphones, but the majority did not.

Gerald breathed deeply, hoping to kill his desire to yawn by oxygenating his blood, then reached for his headphones, turning the switch to English. The phones remained silent, naturally; there was little point in the interpreters translating the senator's own language. Gerald turned the switch to French, a language with which he was familiar, then relaxed as the smoothly-modulated voice of a female interpreter murmured in his ears.

"...I say that this proposal should not be passed without due and serious consideration from each and every member of the Council. I am not one to stand in the path of progress—my record on that score can speak for itself, but I do feel that it would be wrong, criminally wrong, to rush in and grant this fantastic expenditure before every angle and facet of the project has been thoroughly discussed. I can only repeat, as I have done so often, that no nation, or group of nations, no matter how big their hearts and how generous their inclinations can..."

Gerald switched off the headphones. Trust Rayburn to hog the last few minutes, even though he was only using his mouth to make empty sounds. The Calcutta project would be adjourned until the next session when it would, if Gerald knew his politics, be passed by an overwhelming majority. Rayburn was only delaying the inevitable.

The assembly broke up and Gerald approached Rayburn to remind him that he was now on leave. The senator, as usual, proved awkward, fie stared at his aide as though he had uttered an obscenity.

"Leave? But you can't take leave. Hell, man, don't you realize the work we have to do before the next meeting?"

"It's all taken care of, senator," soothed Gerald. "And you did give me permission to visit my father at this time. It was just after we returned from Hainan," he reminded. "Now I've made all the arrangements."

"Then I suppose you'll have to go." Rayburn grumbled, but inwardly he was pleased. Gerald had a habit of being around at the most awkward times, and there were certain things he wanted to attend to. "Don't be too long," he warned.

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