Neptune by Ben Bova

Author:Ben Bova [Bova, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

* * *

Once the meeting broke up, Millard brought Ilona, Humbolt and Meitner to his office, where he ordered a luncheon from one of his assistants.

“It’s a cheerful afternoon,” he said, gesturing to the sunlit balcony beyond his office’s sweeping windows. “Why don’t we eat outside?”

From the expression on the man’s face, Ilona got the impression that Millard felt they could talk more freely outside, without anyone possibly eavesdropping.

Once they were seated in the warm sunshine around a circular table with their lunches before them, Millard said, “You got a glimpse of what I’m facing.”

Humbolt reached for a slice of bread as he said, “They sure don’t look enthusiastic.”

“They’re frightened,” said Millard. “You’ve brought them news that they don’t want to hear.”

“Darbin kept them in line, though.”

Millard smiled grimly. “Darbin has seen to it that you won’t be here to plead your case. I imagine he’s half hoping that you’ll break your necks while you’re out at Neptune.”

Ilona felt her brows knitting. “Really. A man may smile and smile and still be a villain.”

Meitner stared at Millard. “You don’t really think he’ll sabotage our ship, do you?”

“Of course not. But if anything goes wrong with your vessel while you’re alone out there, I’m sure Darbin won’t shed too many tears.”

“But the problem will still exist!” Ilona insisted. “Killing us won’t solve anything.”

Millard carefully put down his fork and replied, “If it’s been two million years since the aliens left our solar system, what are the chances that they’ll return while Darbin and his entire generation are still living?”

No one answered.

Breaking the silence, Millard said, “I’ve found that a good deal of politics consists of sweeping problems under the rug and leaving them for future generations to deal with.”

Still none of them had a response to offer.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.