The Lovers   ::   Фармер Филип Хосе

'It's what I've been waiting for,' Fobo said.

He turned to face Hal.

'From the moment the Gabriel landed, we've been digging under it, and–'

'Our sound-detection equipment–'

'–caught the noise of the underground trains directly below the ship. But we dug only when the trains were moving through so the digging would be covered up. Normally, a train would go through the tunnels every ten minutes. But we routed them through every two minutes or so and made sure that they were long freight trains.

'Only a few days ago we completed filling the hole under the Gabriel with gunpowder. Believe me, we all breathed easier after it was done, for we'd feared we might be heard despite our precautions or that our shorings might break under the great weight of the ship. Or that, for some reason, the captain might decide to move the ship.'

'Then you blew it up?' Hal said dazedly.

Things were going too fast for him.

'I doubt that. Even with the tons of explosives we set off, they could not damage too much a vessel built as solidly as the Gabriel. As a matter of fact, we did not wish to damage it, for we want to study it.

'But our calculations showed that the shock waves going through the metal plates of the ship would kill every man in the ship.'

Hal went to the window and looked out. Against the moon-bright sky was a pillar of smoke; soon, the entire city would be covered with it.

'You had better get your men aboard at once,' Hal said. 'If the explosion only knocked out the officers on the bridge, and they regain consciousness before you reach them, they will press a button that will trigger an H-bomb.

'This will blow everything up for miles around. Its explosion will make your powder charge seem a baby's breath. Far worse, it will release a deadly radioactivity that will kill millions more – if the winds go inland.'

Fobo turned pale, though he tried to smile.

'I imagine our soldiers are on board by now. But I'll phone them just to make sure.'

He returned after a minute. Now, he did not have to make an effort to smile.

'Everyone on board the Gabriel died instantly, including the personnel on the bridge. I've told the captain of the boarding party not to tamper with any mechanisms or controls.'

'You've thought of everything, haven't you?' Hal said.

Fobo shrugged, and he said, 'We are fairly peaceful. But, unlike you Terrans, we are really 'realists.' If we have to take action against vermin, we do our best to exterminate them. On this insect-ridden planet we have had a long history of battling killers.'

He looked at Macneff, who was on all fours, eyes glazed, shaking his head like a wounded bear.

Fobo said, 'I do not include you in the vermin, Hal. You are free to go where you want, do what you want.'

Hal sat down in a chair. He said, in a grief-husked voice, 'I think that all my life I've wanted just that. Freedom to go where I wanted, do what I wanted. But, now, what is there left for me? I have no one–'

'There is much for you, Hal,' said Fobo. Tears ran down his nose and collected at the end.

'You have your daughters to care for, to love. In a short time, they will be through with their feeding in the incubator – they survived the premature removal quite well – and will be beautiful babies. They will be yours as much as any human infants could be.

'After all, they look like you – in a modified feminine way, of course. Your genes are theirs. What's the difference whether genes act by cellular or photonic means?

'Nor will you be without women. You forget that she has aunts and sisters. All young and beautiful. I'm sure that we can locate them.'

Hal buried his face in his hands, and he said, 'Thanks, Fobo, but that's not for me.'

'Not now,' Fobo said softly. 'But your grief will soften; you will think life worth living again.'

Someone came into the room. Hal looked up to see a nurse.

'Doctor Fobo, we are bringing the body out. Does the man care for one last look?'

Hal shook his head. Fobo walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

'You look faint,' he said. 'Nurse, do you have some smelling salts?'

Hal said, 'No, I won't need them.'

Two nurses wheeled a carrier out. A white sheet was draped over the shell. Black hair cascaded from beneath the sheet and fell over the pillow.

Hal did not rise. He sat in the chair, and he moaned, 'Jeannette! Jeannette! If you had only loved me enough to tell me...'

THE END